White: Education, infrastructure top list
Published 9:50 pm Monday, October 29, 2012
NAME: Stan White
AGE: 66
HOME: Nags Head
OCCUPATION: Owner, Stan White Realty and Construction Inc.
EDUCATION: Graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in geography
FAMILY: Wife, Susie; son, John, daughter-in-law, Sara; grandson, Carter
RESIDENT: Dare County
LAST BOOK READ: “The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson”
EXPERIENCE AS ELECTED OFFICIAL: Previously served on the Dare County Board of Commissioners as both member and chairman; appointed to N.C. Senate by Gov. Bev Perdue to serve the unexpired term of former N.C. Sen. Marc Basnight. White is a member of the following Senate Committees: Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources, Commerce, Education/Higher Education, Finance, Insurance, Program Evaluation, State and Local Government, Transportation and the Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Response.
OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: White served on the boards of the N.C. Department of Transportation, Dare County Social Services, Outer Banks Hospital as vice chairman, N.C. Licensing Board for General Contractors. White has also served as director of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce and the Outer Banks Community Foundation and president of the Outer Banks Rotary and Outer Banks Home Builders Association.
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State Sen. Stan White has more things on his mind than just the upcoming election. The Washington Daily News caught up with White at Stan White Realty and Construction in Nags Head on Monday even as Hurricane Sandy had yet to let up with the destruction on the Outer Banks.
“It’s a mess out here,” White said.
White was born and raised there, in Mann’s Harbor; as a new graduate from East Carolina University, he taught middle school in Manteo; he started a successful realty and construction business there. He’s an Outer Banks man through and through.
But talk to White and he quickly makes it clear the work he’s done in the N.C. Senate is work for the benefit of all eastern North Carolinians, and it’s one of the reasons why White is looking forward to being re-elected.
“I’m looking forward to educating more of the urban senators about the issues that affect rural North Carolina,” White said.
To that end, White invited lawmakers from more-populated regions Down East to hear firsthand how regulations affect farmers and commercial fishermen. The result: a better understanding of the region on both sides of the aisle.
“I’m just a firm believer you’ve got to get the folks down here and face to face with the people, and they can tell their own story,” White explained.
White draws on his experience as a member of the Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Response as another example: “If anything surprised me, it was the lack of understanding that the Emergency Preparedness Committee had for the rural parts of the state, coast or Piedmont. It was difficult for them to understand what we go through in a storm event and how desperate we are for little things. … The folks on the coast are a resilient bunch of people, and they’ve come back from a lot of devastating situations. They bounce back, but they do need a hand up every now and then.”
White said jobs and education are the two primary issues facing eastern North Carolina today: education to provide greater opportunities to eastern North Carolinians; infrastructure to give businesses the opportunity to grow here.