Candidate Questionnaire: Nancy Kerr Thomason for Topsail Beach Council

1) What 3 changes, if any, would you like to see in the community you will be representing over the next four years?

Focus areas include maintaining our beach, inlet and sound; the impact of growth on our water source; flooding; the future need for sewer; and the increasing traffic challenges. All of these can impact the quality of life we enjoy at Topsail Beach.

We have limited financial resources and multiple projects competing for those resources. The commissioners need to collaborate with the staff to find alternatives or options, as well as grants, and other sources of funding. We need to balance fiscal responsibility with responsible growth as the town must support both the 500 permanent residents but also the close to 10,000 summer population.

Increased communication and transparency with the residents and enhanced resident engagement. The residents/taxpayers need to know the decisions that are being made and why and they need to be aware of issues beforehand.

2) What strategy will you implement to respond to public concerns and criticisms?

I intend to do more to foster communication and transparency and encourage residents to attend the commissioner meetings, so they are aware of current issues. I am out in the community, and I welcome communication from the residents and will work to address their concerns. Listening to the residents is essential to being a good commissioner. I feel the commissioners represent the residents and their needs, not one’s own agenda.

3) How do you plan to measure and evaluate your success in office?

The residents in Topsail Beach are not shy about voicing their opinions on how things are going. If the level of resident engagement at commissioner meetings increases and our residents are, if not embracing, supportive of our decisions, that will be success!

4) Can you give an example of how you have supported a community project in the past?

I helped facilitate individual and group meetings between the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust and local individuals to raise the funds needed to preserve the South End. We were very successful in our effort to generate local support as this community truly cares. I also got very involved in minimizing the recent tax increase.

5) What personal or professional experience do you have that makes you qualified to serve your community?

Our family has had a presence at Topsail Beach since 1951…I love this place. I have a strong financial/business management background, skill at researching issues and I am a creative problem solver. During the ten years I have been a permanent resident, I have attended the commissioner meetings and am quite familiar with the challenges our town faces. I have been involved at Emma Anderson Chapel, as a Historical Society volunteer and an AWT volunteer. I was a key contributor to helping the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust preserve the South End.