Spring Lake candidates outline top issues, priorities

With almost a complete overhaul during the town board’s last election cycle, Spring Lake voters will see 11 candidates on Tuesday’s general election ballot — with all six incumbents, including the town’s mayor, and five challengers.

Mayor Kia Anthony faces Fredricka Sutherland, a former alderwoman who served 16 years on the Board of Aldermen. Anthony is finishing her first term in office and vying for a second.

Voters will also choose from among nine at-large candidates for five aldermen seats, including incumbents Robyn Chadwick, Sona Cooper, Marvin Lackman, Raul Palacios and Adrian Thompson, and challengers Katrina Bratcher, Daniel Gerald, Jackie Lee Jackson and James O’Garra.

Aldermen candidates

Cooper, 59, who has family roots in Spring Lake, has three children and three granddaughters. She works as a human resources consultant and moved back to Spring Lake in 2000. She lives in Holly Hills.

“I want to make a difference in this town,” said Cooper, who’s following in the footsteps of her uncle, N.C. Rep. Marvin Lucas (D-Cumberland).

Cooper says she enjoys visiting local schools and talking to students, and values Spring Lake’s friendly atmosphere.

“One of my favorite things about our community is being able to ride down the street and stopping to have a conversation with a neighbor,” Cooper said.

She serves as a member of the North Carolina League of Municipalities’ board of directors, which she said has allowed her to advocate for the interests of Spring Lake on a larger scale, collaborating with other local leaders to shape policies and initiatives that benefit all North Carolina municipalities.

Other incumbents seeking second terms are Marvin Lackman and Raul Palacios.

Lackman, 56, has been married to wife Janine for 30 years and works as a compliance officer for the N.C. Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He has lived in Spring Lake since 2007 and owns a home in the Laketree subdivision.

“I am a lifetime member of the Spring Lake Memorial VFW Post 4542, a member of the Elks Lodge #1081, the Spring Lake Military and Veterans Affairs Committee and the Fayetteville Rose Society,” he said. “I am running for reelection to better Spring Lake. Since I have lived here, Spring Lake has had ongoing financial and leadership issues. I continue to bring honesty and selfless (not selfish) service back to Spring Lake.”

He has also organized Spring Lake Matters monthly cleanups for the last few years and has moderated the group’s social media page, which updates town residents on different local activities — including last Saturday’s Veterans Service Day, which he organized.  

Palacios, 38, was born at Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg. Through his father’s U.S. Army career, he ended up moving to California, then moved back to the area when Palacios was in the 5th grade. He’s been in North Carolina ever since, and serves on the Spring Lake Audit Committee, Spring Lake Appearance Committee and the media team for United Church.

“I'm running for re-election to offer a younger perspective on the future of the town and to ensure we do not repeat the mistakes of our past,” Palacios said.

He said during his first term he helped make elected officials more accessible to constituents, instituting policies to implement internal controls, along with transparency.

“We’ve put the right person in the town manager’s chair and cleaned up Spring Lake inside and out,” Palacios said. “We also have filled all citizen boards in town.”

Former town manager Daniel Gerald is seeking office for the first time. He served as the town’s water resources director from 2006 to 2010.

“I saved the town’s water system and helped to keep the cost of past water bills down,” Gerald said.

The board hired Gerald as town manager in January 2018, but he was fired in August 2019 after a majority of the board said he’d lost their trust. After that fall’s election, Gerald was rehired as town manager, but was terminated again less than a year later. Despite that, he said he had a positive background.

“I created the town’s recycling program,” he said. “I have fostered relationships with Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, and led the fight for economic growth.”

Bratcher, Jackson, O’Garra, Chadwick and Thompson did not respond to requests for comment.

Top issues, priorities 

When asked by CityView what candidates’ top issues were for Spring Lake, Palacios, Lackman, Cooper and Gerald shared their concerns and priorities.

• Palacious said that the three top issues for Spring Lake currently include concerns over former board members getting back into office that squandered public trust, ensuring previous financial mistakes that nearly brought Spring Lake to bankruptcy are not repeated, and planning revitalization for the future. He said his priorities include not repeating the financial mistakes of the town's past, preparing for an anticipated loss in revenue in 2025, ensuring appropriate water rates and providing an outlet for the town’s youth.
• Cooper said that her top three issues were infrastructure upgrades, economic development and preservation of natural resources. She also said the town needs a permanent town manager along with accounting staff, public transportation, access to medical care of all types and low and moderate income housing.
• Lackman said the current board is working hard to hire a qualified town manager and finance director and other personnel. He also thinks it’s imperative to prepare for a county “ad valorem” tax change — which will result in an annual net loss of $1.4 million for Spring Lake related to tax redistribution. He says in order for Spring Lake to grow, infrastructure improvements are needed.
• Gerald sees the future needs in Spring Lake as growth, revitalization and self-dependency.

Residents can vote at the Spring Lake Multipurpose Center at 245 Ruth St. from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.