During a Council Meeting just before the 2007-2008 Budget was passed, one of the Councilman asked the Town Manager if there was enough money in the budget to still build the skate park. The Town Manager indicated that although the revenue funds were down and we had a shortfall in the budget, the money for the skate park was still in that account and that the Town could proceed with that project. It is our opinion that spending money for a recreational project at a time when we are experiencing a huge budget deficit is a bad idea. In fact, we think it's an irresponsible thing to do.

Since this Council was elected in 2005, at least one very experienced member of P&Z was not asked to serve again at the end of his term, while other less experienced members were. Additionally, when seats became open, it seemed that the Council appointed people based on "relationships & favoritism" rather than "qualifications". The result has been a P&Z Board that on many occasions had a difficult time understanding the complex issues they are being asked to consider. The PAC does not hold the individual members of P&Z responsible for this situation. On the contrary, we believe they are doing the best they can, and that they should be thanked for their service to our Town. The fault lies with the Town Council for appointing inexperienced people to this important Board.

During the six year period beginning December, 1997 through the end of 2003, the Mayor and Town Council were able to identify and obtain numerous grants for Carolina Beach, saving residents thousands of dollars. Without those grants, important projects such as road & infrastructure improvements would have been abandoned, never started, or they would have been completed but at the taxpayer's expense. The lack of new grants during the past 2 years is an indication that the current Council has simply not done a good enough job at representing Carolina Beach outside the town limits. Our town needs active representation at the county, state and federal levels.

These problems and burdens are examples of what happens when three inexperienced people are placed on the Council at the same time, especially when on of them is Mayor. We feel that these problems and burdens will continue to multiply unless voters realize that we need an experienced problem solver like fomer Mayor Ray Rothrock to lead our Town.

Poor decision making by the Town Council combined with a shortfall in anticipated revenue led to a million dollar budget deficit earlier this year. Luckily for the Council, the tax revaluation had just taken place. To offset higher property values, the tax rate would have to be lowered. But instead of lowering the tax rate so that the effect would be "revenue neutral", they increased taxes to cover up the huge budget deficit. In other words, instead of setting the tax rate to 14-1/2 cents per $100 of value to make property taxes "revenue neutral", they set the rate at 17 cents per $100 of value, which constitutes an increase of 2-1/2 cents per $100 value! What would the Town Council have done if the revaluation had not just taken place?

On October 28, 2004, the Town Council unanimously agreed that all "non-conforming" bars and taverns must come into compliance with all zoning ordinances and obtain a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) by November, 2006 in order to stay open for business. At the December, 2006 Town Council meeting, it was reported that only one business had complied. Notices were sent out to the affected businesses, but still no further compliance. Therefore, rather than enforce the town ordinance requiring these businesses to comply, the current Town Council decided it was easier to simply repeal it! So at their April 10, 2007 meeting, the Town Council voted to repeal this ordinance (unanimous vote), letting the non-conforming businesses off the hook. Could someone please tell us how this move helped to revitalze the Boardwalk into a family-friendly place to visit?

An excessive number of law suits against the Town could possibility indicate that the Council is making "rash" decisions without having adequately studied the issues surrounding each situation. In other words, it's possible that lawsuits are being brought against the Town because members of Council failed to do their homework, or didn't spend enough time studying each issue. We believe that the Town's reputation is being damaged by an excessive number of lawsuits, not to mention the high cost of legal fees that are passed on to the residents in the form of higher taxes and fees.

The problems and burdens that we see are all attributable to the lack of good judgment and the absence of experience by those currently in office. These problems have very little to do with the economy or a slow real estate market as they would like you to believe. It's our opinion that the problems being faced by our Town are the result of poor town government and management. Here are some of the larger issues: