Boiling Spring Lakes commissioner to run for mayor

Published: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 8:51 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 5, 2013 at 8:51 a.m.

Mayor Richard White of Boiling Spring Lakes won't run for a third term this fall.

"It's time for somebody else to do it," he said, adding that he intends to take his grandson fishing "every day that we can."

White, a fiscal conservative, said he was particularly proud that during his term the city was able to reimburse property owners a portion of the $500 each had paid to fund the new water system, which later was turned over to Brunswick County. More than $2 million was returned, he said.

White would have preferred to pay back the entire $500, but the council voted to only return $345 to each property owner. "I just needed one more vote," he said.

"One other thing that I'm very proud of is that we never borrowed a single penny during my four years in office," White said. White argued that it was cheaper to pay for capital items, such as new vehicles, out of city funds rather than paying interest on a loan.

White led efforts to substantially reduce personnel costs for the city, money he says that instead went to pave several streets over the past two years. It had been 10 years before that that any streets had been paved, he said.

He also led efforts to reduce property tax rates, including a three-cent reduction, from 17 cents per $100 of value to 14 cents, for the fiscal 2013-2014 budget.

White was police chief in Boiling Spring Lakes for 10 years, from 1998 to 2008. In 2009 he was elected mayor and re-elected in 2011.

One of White's biggest concerns is building a new spillway for Big Lake. The city has developed plans for the spillway and now is investigating how to finance it. White has often said that Big Lake and the spillway are crucial elements to the future of Boiling Spring Lakes.

White said that he also intends to take his grandson, a train enthusiast like his grandfather, to the Tweetsie Railroad Wild West Theme Park in Blowing Rock whenever he can. White said he worked at Tweetsie as a cowboy and an Indian when he was a teenager.

Metro desk: 343-2389

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Source: http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20130705/articles/130709809

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