§ 163-82.25. Mandated voter registration drive.

The Governor shall proclaim as Citizens Awareness Month the month designated by the State Board of Elections annually. During that month, the State Board of Elections shall initiate a statewide voter registration drive and shall adopt rules under which county boards of elections shall conduct the drives. Each county board of elections shall participate in the statewide voter registration drives and conduct voter registration and preregistration drives at public high schools in accordance with local board of education policies, school system administrative procedures, and guidelines of the State Board of Elections.

The Rockingham County Board of Elections will be conducting voter registration drives at the following events…

EDEN RIVERFEST – Saturday, September 18, 2010

MADISON’S 1ST FRIDAY CRUISE IN – Friday, September 3, 2010

MADISON HERITAGE FESTIVAL – Saturday, October 2, 2010

REIDSVILLE CRUISE IN – Friday, September 10, 2010

STONEVILLE FALL FESTIVAL – Saturday, September 25, 2010

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ROCKINGHAM COUNTYBOARD OF ELECTIONS

Janet H Odell, Director

 371 NC 65

PO Box 208

Wentworth, NC 27375

336-342-8107

336-342-8228 fax

PRESS RELEASE

August 17, 2010

“I signed a budget today that does more with less, but still keeps North Carolina moving forward toward a full economic recovery,” said Gov. Perdue. “This year was tough, but next year will be tougher. This budget puts our state on firm ground as we head towards the challenges of next year.”

Perdue submitted a budget to the General Assembly in April that laid out four core priorities – jobs and the economy, education, setting government straight and safer and healthier communities. These remained the focus of budget negotiations and are reflected in the investments made for the next fiscal year.

Jobs and the Economy

The adopted budget provides more than $200 million for several key investments around assistance to small businesses and infrastructure that will help sustain or create 20,000 jobs over the next three years.

- $58 million to establish the North Carolina Mobility Fund that will relieve traffic congestion, improve logistic capabilities and create jobs around the state. 

- $34 million in tax relief by establishing a 25 percent refundable tax credit against unemployment insurance contributions. 

- Investments in the Main Street Solutions program and other small business assistance programs to grow home-grown businesses that create the bulk of new jobs.

Education: Career and College — Ready, Set, Go

- $10 million recurring funds to supply teachers with diagnostic assessment tools that will give them the unprecedented ability to track individual students in real time, showing where they need help so teachers can keep them from falling behind. 

- Funding enrollment growth and financial aid at both the community college and university levels to meet the growing demands on higher education.

Setting Government Straight

The governor’s efforts to find efficiencies and ferret out waste, fraud and abuse were supported with the expectation of saving an estimated $35 million in Medicaid alone. In addition, the budget:

- Reduces spending by $20.5 million by linking inmate medical costs to the Medicaid fee schedule.

- Supplies increased funds for the State Ethics Commission and the State Board of Elections.

Safer and Healthier Communities:

- $8.8 million for the Criminal Justice Law Enforcement Automated Data Services (CJLEADS) project that will merge all criminal data records into one interactive and comprehensive system.

- $4.7 million to expand the VIPER system which ensures that first responders on the ground are adequately equipped to communicate with one another during emergency situations. 

- Funding to begin to establish statewide capacity for law enforcement to collect DNA at the time of the arrest.

- Restoration of the $40 million community mental health reduction which occurred in 2009.

Gov. Perdue signed the budget prior to the July 1 deadline — the first on-time budget in seven years. Since taking office, Perdue has approved cuts to the state budget by more than 12 percent and the elimination of more than 3,500 positions in state government.

See the documents below for more details.

Jobs.pdf

Education.pdf

Setting Govt Straight.pdf

Safer Healthier Communities.pdf

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Press release reposted from: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/NewsItems/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?newsItemID=1197

BILL FLYNN – Keynote Speaker-

Thomas Harrington – Presents John Dyer Award

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Senator Richard Burr 

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Congresswoman Virginia Foxx-

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Sheriff Sam Page

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Senator Phil Berger Sr.

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Representative Bryan Holloway

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Bert Jones – Candidate NC House

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Dan Huffman – Candidate Congress 13th District

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Bill Randall – Candidate Congress 13th District

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Bernie Reeves – Candidate Congress 13th District

Frank Hurley – Candidate Congress 13th District

Eddie Burks – Candidate Congress 13th District

Keith “Zero” Mabe – Candidate Rockingham County Commissioners

John Pierce – Candidate Rockingham County Commissioners

Craig Travis – Candidate Rockingham County Commissioners

Robert Wilson – Candidate Rockingham County Commissioners

Ron Price – Incumbent Rockingham County School Board

Eric Smith – Candidate Rockingham County School Board

• prohibitions on contractors giving to officeholders overseeing contracts;

• stricter requirements for appointees serving on boards and commissions;

• increasing ethical standards for state employees; and

• establishing a cooling off period for state employees working in private business or registering as lobbyists.

Governor Perdue’s Good Government Legislative Package includes the following:

1. Limiting Contractors’ Influence on State Employees

• Prohibits contractors who do a certain level of business with the state from contributing to the officeholder who oversees awarding of the contract.

• Establishes a one year cooling off period for high level state employees from taking certain types of jobs with a company or organization if they have been involved in directly regulating that company or directly administering any contracts with that company.

• Establishes a one year cooling off period for high level state employees from registering as a lobbyist.

2. Setting Strong New Requirements for Appointees on Boards and Commissions

• Makes prior Governor’s Executive Orders law and extends to all appointees –

o removes appointees who are under felony indictment or who refuse to cooperate with an investigation;

o requires 75% attendance for appointees to Boards and Commissions;

o requires gift ban and general conflict of interest standards for appointees; and

o creates a conflict of interest standard for certain Boards and Commissions not covered by the State Ethics Act.

• Secures a governor’s power to remove any gubernatorial appointment to a board or commission at will, without cause.

• Creates a new process requiring full disclosure of an applicant’s background, including felony and/or misdemeanor criminal charges or convictions.*

3. Strengthening State Employee Ethics

• Extends the governor’s gift ban (previously directed to cabinet agency employees by executive order) to all state employees.

• Forfeits a state employee’s pension if he or she is convicted of a felony related to his or her state position.

• Allows Statements of Economic Interest (SEI) to be completed and amended electronically.

• Requires state officials to complete and file an SEI covering their last year in a position.

• Changes SEI law and forms to require the reporting of any gift over $200 from anyone, and any gift over $100 from anyone doing business with the state (returning forms to pre-2007 questions).

Today’s announced legislative proposals and executive order continue a 15-month push for stronger ethics, transparency and accountability in state government, and once again illustrates Gov. Perdue’s commitment to setting government straight.

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Press release reposted from: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/NewsItems/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?newsItemID=1022

(Rockingham County, NC) – With the filing deadline having passed at noon Friday, the race for the District 65 NC House of Representatives seat will be a two-candidate race between longtime incumbent Democrat Nelson Cole and former County Commissioner Bert Jones. Jones has announced his candidacy as an unaffiliated candidate, and is currently gathering petition signatures to put him on the ballot, a requirement for unaffiliated candidates. Jones said that in just two weeks his campaign was already at least halfway to receiving the almost 1700 signatures required. Rockingham County Republican Party chairman and former state representative Wayne Sexton said that all potential Republican challengers chose not to file, and to endorse Jones.

Jones, 48, served as a commissioner from 2004 to 2008, before opting not to seek another term. He said he later decided to change his registration to unaffiliated because the national Republican leadership failed in its promises to reduce government control and spending, and both parties continued to inflate the enormous government debt. “We need to quit playing partisan political games and get serious about preserving this nation for our children,” Jones said. “Government debt at both the state and national levels is quickly spiraling out of control.” Jones added that no state or nation had ever incurred such debt without economic disaster. “People that think it cannot happen here either do not know their history, or they are kidding themselves,” Jones said.

In 2004, Jones ran a successful campaign on a platform to protect citizens’ rights and to control government spending. He says that he wants to take that approach to state government. “The government is literally spending us into bankruptcy, and more people are realizing this is not sustainable,” Jones said. “We must preserve our children’s future by spending within our means.” Jones noted that together the national and state debt is now about $250,000 per family and continuing to grow at a rapid pace. “We are fast moving toward a social and economic trainwreck, and no one is even slowing down the train, much less changing course.”

Jones said his experience as a commissioner would be invaluable as a state representative. “Where do we even start?” Jones began. “No one understands better than the commissioners how the state saddles economically depressed counties like ours with its unfunded mandates. It leads to higher taxes and less funding for critical services, and cripples our potential for job growth. And, look at what they did to the mental health system, and now government wants to control healthcare!? And, while we struggle to update our 100-year-old courthouse and jail, some of these politicians in Raleigh are raising taxes to fund their campaign promises and to build things like teapot museums. That’s just not right.”

“I hope people are ready to say ‘enough is enough’,” said Jones. “For me, it begins with what I believe to be biblical and moral truth, and that shapes my philosophy about government and politics. We’ve seen too many examples of arrogance and corruption in Raleigh, and government at the state and national levels is out of control. I believe most people are ready for a change from politics as usual.”

Rep. Cole, 73, is seeking his ninth term in Raleigh. The election will be November 2.

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From the desk of…                                                                                            C. H. (Bert) Jones, Jr., DDS

299 Fairfield Rd.

Reidsville, NC  27320

smiledr1@bellsouth.net

February 26, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JONES, COLE WILL COMPETE FOR NC HOUSE SEAT

(Rockingham County, NC) – Former Rockingham County Commissioner Bert Jones announced today that he will file for election to the NC House of Representatives next week when the filing period opens. Jones served as a commissioner from 2004 to 2008, before opting not to seek another term.

In 2004, Jones ran a successful campaign on a platform to protect citizens’ rights and to control government spending. He says that he wants to take that approach to state government. “The government is literally spending us into bankruptcy, and more people are realizing this is not sustainable,” Jones said. “We must preserve our children’s future by spending within our means.” Jones noted that together the national and state debt is now about $250,000 per family and continuing to grow at a rapid pace. “We are fast moving toward a social and economic trainwreck, and no one is even slowing down the train, much less changing course.”

Jones said his experience as a commissioner would be invaluable as a state representative. “Where do we even start?” Jones began. “No one understands better than the commissioners how the state saddles economically depressed counties like ours with its unfunded mandates. It leads to higher taxes and less funding for critical services, and cripples our potential for job growth. And, look at what they did to the mental health system, and now government wants to control healthcare!? And, while we struggle to update our 100-year-old courthouse and jail, some of these politicians in Raleigh are raising taxes to fund their campaign promises and to build things like teapot museums. That’s just not right.”

“I hope people are ready to say ‘enough is enough’,” said Jones, who is running as an independent unaffiliated candidate. “For me, it begins with what I believe to be biblical and moral truth, and that shapes my philosophy about government and politics. We’ve seen too many examples of arrogance and corruption in Raleigh, and government at the state and national levels is out of control. I believe most people are ready for a change from politics as usual.”

The election will be November 2