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Orange County Story

Story Highlights
  • Three candidates battle in the election for Holly Springs Mayor.
  • Sears, Holleman and "BirdDawg" Austin are the candidates.




Holly Springs Mayoral Race Heats Up

Credit: AP Online

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HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. -

It's the new versus the old, and one candidate who calls himself "BirdDawg" in the Holly Springs race for mayor.

Current Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears, former Mayor Gerald Holleman and newcomer David "BirdDawg" Austin all agree growth is the main issue of this election.

But Sears and Holleman are on opposite sides.

"I want to keep going up and not stop or go backwards. I think, in the past eight years, the town has progressed remarkably well," Sears said.

"The growth is too much, too fast and the quality of life has gone bad," Holleman contested. "We're committed to slowing growth down and putting a moratorium on growth for one year," Holleman said.

Austin said growth is good if it also comes with the expansion of infrastructure. He said a moratorium would be a bad idea in these economic times.

"We're in a recession and it's going to take a long time to come out of this. Developers and builders are already in bad shape," Austin said.

But Austin said there are some projects where the town jumped the gun, spending a lot of money without public input.

"We're renovating the Hunt Center. The citizens didn't even get a vote, and the feeling I get is that it's just a renovation [and] it's still not going to be big enough to accommodate the needs of the people," Austin said.

However Sears said the renovation is something that would be good for the town and its citizens.

"Do we or don't we need a Hunt Center? Everybody agrees we do," Sears said.

Holleman said there are many projects in the works that he doesn't agree with but said the only thing to do now is look forward.

"What's done is done," Holleman said.

All candidates agree voter turnout is the key to a successful election. 

To find out where you can vote click here.

 

 

 

Comments

  • By Dominic Shedrick on 11/02 11:22 PM

    As a resident of Holly Springs, I'm very disappointed in how our town is handling the recreation situation and safety of its citizens. 1. Hunt Center is horrible. I truly believe a new community center is needed. It is very disappointing a decision was made without public opinion. 2. Holly Springs Road!! There is a xwalk on this rode and no one yields for pedestrians. I noticed the town has installed a Yield to Peds sign in downtown, but nothing for a xwalk that services 2 SCHOOLS and a neighborhood.

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