BY STACIE LETT CAIN
One familiar face and two newcomers were sworn in as town commissioners during the Mooresville Town Board meeting on Monday. Iredell County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Joe Crosswhite administered the oaths.
Dana Tucker and Frank Owens defeated incumbent commissioners in November’s election. Incumbent Gary West was re-elected.
The newcomers declared they were ready to get to work.
“There were some concerned citizens that approached me and believed that my skill set would be useful to the town, my town,” Tucker said. “And having retired from the military you have the phrase never stop serving. I saw this as a way to keep serving a community I loved.”
Although he was happily enjoying retirement and his retirement job at a local pickle ball facility, Tucker said he saw an opportunity to help address some concerns held by many town residents.
“I knocked on over 700 doors during this campaign and not one person said they would like to see more development,” he quipped. “Although I don’t believe the development is outrunning our first responders, it is definitely challenging them — as well as our transportation infrastructure. We are being told it is slowing down, but I would like to see the data.”
When asked what he wanted people in Ward 4 to know about him, Tucker had a simple answer: He plans to serve his constituents.
“It’s not about me. It’s about the people of Ward 4,” he explained. “I will do the people’s work. And even though only 500 people voted for me so I don’t pretend to know what the other 95 percent think, I will serve them as well. I expect if I do something they don’t like, I will hear about it.”
Tucker defeated Lisa Qualls in the November election.
Owens, who defeated Tommy DeWeese in the election, previously serve on the town board from 1997 to 2005 as an at-large commissioner.
“Things were a lot different then,” he said.
His primary objective is to be accessible to residents.
“If someone ask me a question, if I don’t have the answer I will find it” he said. “I want to help everyone.”
While concerned about transportation and development, Owens said he’s also noticed a problem with information being shared.
“A lot of people don’t know what’s going on and when they ask other people they aren’t checking out to make sure it’s true. It’s just hearsay,” he said. “One person with wrong information can ruin everything.”
As for development, Owen’s believes the answer lies in better management.
“We will never stop it,” he explained. “And we wouldn’t really want to. But we can take a firmer stand on controlling it.”
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