An incumbent with more than 17 years in office and a new Brunswick County resident are vying for the North Carolina House District 17 seat.
Dennis Breen is taking on longtime incumbent Frank Iler to represent District 17 in the N.C. House of Representatives. Representatives serve two-year terms.
The municipal election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters may also cast their ballots absentee by mail and during the early voting period, which begins Thursday, Oct. 15 and goes through Saturday, Oct. 31. Absentee ballots are due at the Brunswick County Board of Elections office by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
Here are the candidates' responses and their thoughts on current issues.
Candidate responses
have been edited for style, grammar and length.
Dennis Breen
Age: 75
Occupation: Lawyer/teacher
Education: J.D., University of Dayton; MAT, State University of New York at Binghamton
Political experience: None
Political affiliation: Democrat
Frank Iler
Age: 84
Occupation: NC House of Representatives; retired business person
Education: Bachelor's degree in business administration, Campbell University; Greensboro Senior High School (now called Grimsley); other management courses
Political experience: Precinct and Brunswick County party chair; NC Representative from Brunswick County, 2009-present
Political affiliation: Republican
What are the top issues facing your district?
Breen: Overdevelopment. Brunswick County is the fastest growing county in the state. However, our infrastructure has not kept pace with our growth. First, we need a concrete plan to attract the development we want. We need to combine housing with roads, sewers schools and medical care. Putting up endless housing developments only makes things worse.
Iler: Clean water and infrastructure.
What goals do you have for your district?
Breen: Stop the proposed toll on the Cape Fear Bridge, provide a concrete plan for development and fight to ensure everyone gets clean water.
Iler: Keep Brunswick County a desirable place to live, raise families and have access to recreation.
Why are you the best candidate for this position?
Breen: I have been a trial lawyer for over 40 years. I have had to handle complex cases in very stressful situations. I have been fighting for people’s rights in both state and federal courts. I would be honored to represent the people of Brunswick County as we fight for a better community.
Iler: Brunswick County deserves a representative who has been here more than five years (27 years for me and in North Carolina since high school), who meets with and listens to the people almost every week, who knows coastal as well as rural issues and who does the work, not just a title-seeker. I have chairmanships and seniority in Raleigh, and a freshman would have neither.
How will you tackle affordability?
Breen: Long time residents have told me they can no longer afford to live in the county, and their kids cannot afford houses here. This is unacceptable. In order to attract quality doctors, nurses, police officers, and firefighters, we need to make sure they can afford to move here and that we can keep the talent we have. We do this by making every developer dedicate ten to twenty percent of their new homes “worker affordable” so local employees can afford to buy those homes.
Iler: Continue to support income-based and senior housing; repeal the 2% grocery tax, which was put on by the Democrats and Gov. Terry Sanford in the 1960s so he could be the education governor (surrounding states, like South Carolina, have no tax on groceries); continue to reduce income taxes and encourage local governments to maintain low property tax rates (basing revenue on growth in the tax base).
How will you increase healthcare access in your district?
Breen: I have already reached out to Duke University School of Medicine to try to entice them into building a wing of their medical school in Brunswick - specifically dealing with skin cancer and geriatric care. They have not responded. However, we need to continue these efforts to make this area a mecca for doctors and nurses.
Iler: Continue to support the improvement of emergency room care, support the certificate of need to keep clinics from skimming the cream-of-the-crop of medical services from existing hospitals and doctors, thereby keeping them in business and responsive to growth.
What’s your plan to improve infrastructure in your district?
Breen: As stated above, we need a dedicated plan to provide for thought-out considered growth. We need to plan from the infrastructure up, rather than planning the new houses down. Our schools are overcrowded and in bad shape, our teachers are underpaid. There is no excuse for this. Planned growth will help end these issues.
Iler: Continue to support the NCDOT in making major well-travelled highways safer and more efficient; support the expensive proposed Carolina Bays Parkway bypass to U.S. 17, as well as the Cape Fear Bridge replacement from Wilmington to Leland. Our regional NCDOT responds well to my requests for traffic signals, pothole repair, as well as requiring developers make major improvements to the roads at their entrances. As chairman of the House Transportation Appropriations Committee that does their budget, I have little trouble getting them on the phone or to visit our problem sites.
How will you approach growth concerns in your district?
Breen: There are 19 municipalities in Brunswick County. We need to meet with each municipality quarterly to help plan proper growth. Together we can do this. However, we all need to work together.
Iler: This is a natural development of our attractive county. I support the county's unified development ordinance and local ones. One must meet zoning and restrictions in the county and municipalities to build new housing or businesses. Many of the unified development ordinances are being updated now. When change in state law is needed, I always listen to the county and 10 towns in our district.
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Savanna Tenenoff covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at stenenoff@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Meet the candidates for NC House District 17
