Donald Dixon is concerned about the county budget: there’s so much fat that, if elected, he’ll set about trimming it immediately.
“I feel like there’s so much waste in the county budget, we could cut enough from the budget to build a new jail,” said Dixon.
While Dixon believes the budget needs major adjustment, he asserts that the trimming he has in mind wouldn’t cut any county services. Instead, the county would “take a break” from funding other local programs, like the Economic Development Commission.
“We really just need to grab ahold of this budget and get it like it’s supposed to be,” Dixon said. “Everything else will fall in place.”
Dixon maintains that the jail issue needs to be resolved and soon, before the federal government takes control of the situation. A new jail, he said, should be built in downtown Washington, adjacent to the Beaufort County Courthouse and Magistrates’ Office.
“When you look at it from a practical standpoint, you put it as close as you can to the Courthouse,” Dixon said.
Dixon’s practical stance endorses building a practical detention center: “I don’t feel like it should be a Taj Mahal-type building. We should be able to build it without having to raise taxes.”
Dixon hopes to add another conservative to the Board of Commissioners in this election and, he said, adding another voice and vote to what is already a Republican majority.
“One of my goals is to do the best I can for Beaufort County,” Dixon said. “Build a jail sensibly, lower taxes and get rid of the waste we’ve got in the budget.”