As a candidate for Mayor of Stallings, I had not intended to endorse any candidates, but I feel compelled to speak out about a serious issue.

The Town Manager, Brian Matthews, has had town staff remove campaign signs. As I understand it, Harry Stokes, a write-in candidate in the same district as incumbent Al Graham, has suffered the loss of around 125 signs in just a few weeks. When I questioned him, the Town Manager indicated that the candidates were not notified when their signs were removed and placed by the town dumpster for garbage pickup.

The timing and the magnitude of the loss of Harry’s signs are both outrageous and troubling. Something is definitely wrong with this picture and the public needs to be asking what exactly is going on and why some are so intent on keeping Harry from connecting with the voters.

I am sorry to say that over the past four years, I have come to be very concerned about Al’s Graham’s votes, his conflicts of interest, his support of developers and his disregard for the towns’ ordinances. I am troubled about his promotion of a sewer plan the cost of which I do not believe the town could ever recover. However, I expect that plan, paid for at the taxpayers’ expense, could result in a huge financial benefit for anyone who ended up receiving the sewer allocation potentially including his family members.

Al Graham voted for the bypass option, which would result in the condemnation of his highway business and then expanded to about twice its original size in violation of our ordinances. As I understand it, that expansion would have netted him more money. Al indicated that the Town Manager worked with him on those plans. When the bypass design changed leaving Al’s business intact, he changed his vote.

When developers and others have failed to fulfill the requirements of their permits, Al has taken their side letting them promise one thing and deliver another while leaving the taxpayer to pay the bill, or the public to suffer the loss.

Al seemed to display unusual dedication in attending the Land Use Plan meetings. But some time later he disclosed that his family owned most of the property in the new location of the downtown district. He has worked since then to remove the downtown district regulations and has, together with the Manager, supported a major increase in density. I believe that both of these moves would increase profitability for whoever owns the land, but would be harmful to the town.

Al has been resistant to making disclosures about his conflicts of interest and his relatives’ property holdings. Even when he admitted that he had a conflict with a developer, Al wanted to participate in discussions during the permit process. Over the past four years, Al Graham seems to have consistently been in the corner of developers and those whose word proved not to be true with regard to their commitments to the town.

Harry Stokes has indicated to me that he has no conflicts of interest in Stallings and no property interests other than his home. I understand that he has been investing his time in reviewing the audio for past Council meetings in preparation for the job. From what I can tell, he is a humble man with a gentle spirit. He has not been outspoken about the theft of his signs, but I feel it is my duty - especially under the circumstances, to speak to the issues I have with Al Graham’s record and help level the playing field. The removal of Harry’s signs, whether by town staff, or others, is simply shameful and ought to raise a HUGE red flag with the voters.

Because Harry Stokes is a write-in candidate whose signs have been stolen, he is at a serious disadvantage in this election. Please give some serious thought to supporting Harry Stokes by putting his name in your wallet so you will have it with you when you step into the booth to vote. Do it now, before you forget.

I do not believe that Stallings can afford to re-elect Al Graham. If he is elected, we may well end up paying $16,000,000 for that sewer plan which will improve someone’s property values. After working with him for four years, I can honestly say that I have not found Al Graham to be in your corner.

You can check Harry’s website for yourself at the-write-1.com. Visit my website to learn more. Find me at Get-Straight-Talk.com.

BARBARA ANN PRICE

Stallings