The candidates’ April 20 political forum aired on the county’s public access TV channels. View the Forum.

Past Elections in Currituck County

• Primary Election – May 4, 2010

• Second Primary Election (if necessary) – June 22, 2010

• General Election – November 2, 2010

Local Offices

• Clerk of Superior Court

• Sheriff

• Board of Commissioners – District 3 (old Poplar Branch district)

• Board of Commissioners – District 5 (old Moyock district)

• Board of Commissioners – At Large One

• Board of Education – Poplar Branch Township

• Board of Education – Crawford Township

• Board of Education – At Large

• Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor – Grandy and Robertsseats (filing for this office is June 14 – July 2, 2010)

A sample ballot can be seen on line.

Sherriff Johnson

The Currituck County Sheriff’s Office is employing a new mode of technology to enable residents to gather critical information in real time. Nixle is a community information service provider built exclusively to provide secure and reliable communications connecting county agencies and community organizations to residents in real time.

When it comes to public safety information, you have to trust the source. Residents of Currituck County can rest easy that the local messages they receive via Nixle are authentic. Nixle differs from current services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, which provide unauthenticated platforms for connections.

Nixle solves that problem by providing a single standardized service for consumers to receive immediate and credible neighborhood-level public safety and community information delivering information to geographically targeted consumers over their cell phones (via text messages), through e-mails and through Web access.

Sheriff Susan Johnson says that getting information out quickly can ensure citizen safety. Nixle will allow the Sheriff’s Office to effectively communicate with citizens on everything from public service messages to real time public safety announcements. This service allows messages to reach up to 100,000 users in three minutes.

Information such as alerts, advisories, community events and traffic related situations are examples of the way Nixle can be utilized for keeping the citizens of Currituck County informed. Nixle is a partner with Nlets, the International Public Safety and Justice Network. Nixle’s servers are housed within the Nlets secure facility. Consumer grade sites such as Facebook and Twitter are designed more to support social networking and not designed for time sensitive public safety information and emergency communications.

Residents of Currituck County can now take advantage of Nixle by signing up at www.nixle.com . Nixle is a free service and all are encouraged to share this new service with friends and neighbors to spread the word!

For now, Currituck County residents will be able to receive police-related information. Additional county public safety departments, educational facilities and community organizations providing other kinds of information may be introduced in the future.
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Pushing Forward on Jobs

Participate in Currituck County Parks and Recreation

I have seen the consequences of a health care system in need of reform – too few insured, too costly for others and too little quality for all. Unsustainable growth in the cost of health care and the continued denial of coverage to millions of Americans is evidence that our health care system has failed.

These failings are amplified in rural America, where folks pay more for health care than their urban counterparts, but are still more likely to experience chronic illness and poor health.  I applaud the National Farmers Union for their  recent endorsement of the U.S. Senate’s health care reform bill and their prior support of the House’s bill.  Their support of the legislation and thier courage in this critical debate says a great deal about the need for reform and the consequences for rural America if we do not get it.

Consider the following statistics:

• Rural Americans pay 39% of their total health care costs, out of pocket – the highest percentage for all Americans.
• Almost one in four Americans living in towns with less than 2,500 people have no health insurance coverage.
• Rural Americans are more likely than their urban counterparts to postpone or forego medical care because of the cost – 9% say they delayed care and 7% skipped treatment.
• Approximately 80% of Rural Americans are self-employed or work for a small business – two groups greatly impacted by the rising cost of health care premiums.
• Rural residents are more likely to report fair to poor health status than urban residents, have a higher mortality rate and are more likely to have a chronic condition.

For more information, check out this recent report detailing how health insurance reform will impact rural America.

These numbers aren’t just statistics – they tell the real story about the health and well-being of rural Americans.  When high costs or lack of insurance deters someone from seeking needed health care, illnesses go undiagnosed and long term costs increase.

Soaring health care costs are also hurting rural economies and businesses. Small businesses create most new jobs in rural America, but they are at a disadvantage in our current health care system, paying up to 18% more per worker than large firms for the same health insurance policy.  And over the last 16 years the number of small businesses offering health care has dropped to less than 40%.  We can overcome this by creating a new insurance exchange where individuals and small businesses will have greater leverage to bargain for better prices and quality coverage.

The debate we are having is a good one and it will result in legislation more beneficial to the American people.  But we cannot forget – we have been debating health care reform since Harry Truman was President and the status quo is unsustainable.  We must seize the unprecedented opportunity for reform that will improve the health care security and stability that Americans value, strengthen our economy and maintain the character of our rural communities for decades to come.  The time is now. Rural America can’t wait any longer.

Tom Vilsack is Secretary of the Department of Agriculture

The President restates his commitment to small business as key to economic recovery — from the Recovery Act to Financial Stability to Health Reform — and pledges more to come. October 24, 2009. (Public Domain)