'No-man' Jeffreys seeks 2nd term

His opponent says she is more moderate than the Wake board's frequently dissenting member

Phil Jeffreys hopes his many no's will add up to a yes.

The Wake County commissioner, now running for a second term, has become well-known on the seven-member board for his vocal dissents on tax increases and school funding.

His opponent, Lindy Brown, hopes voters will say no to Jeffreys.

In December, she quit her job as a social worker for Wake County to run against him full time. She says that she is a middle-of-the-road alternative to the board's most conservative member.

The Nov. 7 ballot will give the two a big yes-or-no question of their own.

Voters will be asked to approve $970 million in bonds to build 17 schools, renovate 13 older schools, make repairs and buy land for future construction. But the bonds come with a 4.7-cent property tax increase, about $70 a year on a $150,000 home.

Jeffreys is against them.

He says the school board could delay the building program for several years if it put every elementary, middle and high school in the county on a year-round calendar immediately.

"If they go K-12 year round, they will have enough seats for the kids," he said.

Brown supports the bonds.

She says the money is needed to build schools to handle the thousands of students arriving each year and buy land now for future schools. And she opposes converting more schools to a year-round calendar.

"Year-rounds work for some parents, but it's not conducive for those who are single or who have more than one child," she said.

For Jeffreys, the bonds are only the most recent example of his being at odds with his fellow commissioners. In his four years in office, he has been on the losing side of a 6-1 vote 55 times -- about every other board meeting.

Many of those votes have been about school funding.

Jeffreys voted against tax increases in 2003 and this year that gave more money to schools. He opposed buying modular buildings and larger sites for new schools, saying the school district was wasting money.

"I'm a very frugal, conservative person," he said.

Brown said she would like to maintain "adequate funding" for schools. She said she would have voted for the two increases in school funding that Jeffreys voted against.

"We have to meet the school needs," she said.

Still, she said the school board could make better use of existing buildings, citing a ninth-grade center that will be in a former Winn-Dixie. And she would like the county to lease some schools to cut costs.

"The business community will play a vital role if the county commissioners let it," she said.

Both candidates said the county should consider alternatives to the property tax.

Brown said the county should look into a half-cent increase on the local sales tax for school construction, which would raise about $30 million a year. She said it's a fair tax because everyone pays it and it's somewhat voluntary.

"People can choose whether they want to go to restaurants or make large purchases," she said.

Jeffreys prefers a transfer tax on real estate sales, which could raise $90 million a year. He said it would be better because senior citizens and others who stay in their homes for many years wouldn't have to pay.

"Unless you sell your house, you aren't going to pay a penny," he said.

The two also clashed over senior centers.

Currently, the nonprofit Resources for Seniors runs centers in Wake Forest, Wendell, Garner, Cary and Raleigh. The county helped plan the centers and owns the Raleigh building.

Brown said the county should help build a new senior center in every Wake town that does not have one.

"We need to make sure that our seniors have those activities to keep them healthy -- physically and mentally," she said.

Jeffreys said the existing buildings are enough.

"If we've already got one in there, why would we want to open another senior center?" he said.