Kevin and Derie Reece, who are running for commissioner and mayor respectively, brought grievances to the board earlier in the month concerning the practices by which the board received signatures on sewer easements. The Reeces complained that all were not treated fairly in the matter and the townspeople were kept were in the dark.
Kevin Reece is up against current Mayor Howard Privette, Rex Ashley and write-in candidate Maria Soots for two commissioner seats.
Derie Reece is up against Victor Varela for the office of mayor.
Varela grew up in Winston-Salem. He is currently a research microbiologist for the Wake Forest University Medical Center, focusing on antibiotic resistant bacteria and how it effects patients. Varela, who previously lived in Miami Beach, Fla. said he was involved in politics there as well. "I didn't think there was good leadership coming in," Varela said on why he decided to run. "There are a couple of experienced people stepping down, and I didn't see much there as an offering for replacements, and I thought I had a lot to offer."
Varela said he has experience in the grant application process and would work for Ronda to receive community improvement grants. "I am very familiar with those type of things," Varela said. "I am very familiar with grants because most of my salary comes from grant sources, and I would aggressively pursue grant money for the town.
"We do have an underserved population here," he said. "I would like to see these people get access to services that they need. Like help with paying utitlities and health care."
Reece, who is a Ronda native, said she wants to see the community represented to the fullest. "I decided to run becasue I have two children, and they are going to grow up in this community," Reece said. "I want to help this community to be the best it can be. A great place they can be proud of."
Reece said reinstating the Ronda police force is very important. "We can be fair to everyone, and we can get Ronda cleaned up, and I am not just talking about the street."
Her husband, Kevin, echoed his wife's sentiments and said he wants to keep the citizens of Ronda first in the minds of the board. "The reason that I decided to run is that I just want to help the community that I live in," Reece said. "I think we have a major drug problem, and one of my goals is to get some postitive policing there in Ronda. I also think everybody needs to be treated fairly. If I am elected I will do the very best that I can for all citizens."
Reece said completing the sewer project is also a high priority.
"I think that's very important. There are a lot of really good people who live outside the town, and I think if we are able to provide that for them then we need to do that."
Current Ronda Mayor Howard Privette, who recently decided to run as a write-in candidate for commissioner, said he wants to help ease the transition and see the town grow. "I just decided to run for commissioner because I think a younger person should be mayor," Privette said. "I just figured I could help them with knowledge of the water system and all that. Our sewer system is very important until we get it completed."
Privette said he too would like to see the police department be started back up and says the town is in the process of working on the issue. "I would just like to see the town progress," Privette said. "We are pretty well settled on our water system we should start growing now. We should be getting some industry and stores coming to town."
Another write-in candidate, Maria Soots, owner of A-1 Lawn Care and Soots Lawn and Garden says having a family and being a business owner brought her to run for public office. "The fact that we live here, have a business here and are raising children here, made me just really want to be invovled in the town," Soots said Tuesday. "I would like to see a difference made here."
Soots said she would like to work towards utilizing Ronda's park space for the children to enjoy and for more town pride.
"For one thing I would like to see us getting something going in our park," Soots said. "We need playground equipment. I would like to see our sewer go forward and would like people to know more about what is going on. As a whole it is a wonderful little town, and I would like to see the people pull together and everyone be involved."
Rex Ashley who could not be reached for comment after numerous calls over the last five days days is also running for town commissioner. The Ronda elections are Tuesday.
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