By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on October 14, 2024
The two commissioner candidates on key Dare County issues
By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice
As part of the Voice’s coverage of the 2024 local elections, we submitted the same group of questions to each of the candidates for the Dare County Board of Commissioners in the three contested races this November.
This story features the District 4 race between Mary Ellon Ballance and Aida Havel for the open seat being vacated by retiring Commissioner Danny Couch. The two candidates’ responses are published in full and have not been edited for length or content.
The stories for the District 2 and District 3 Dare Commissioner races will be published this week.
Q: Please provide some basic biographical information about yourself.
Ballance: My name is Mary Ellon Ballance, and I am 53 years old. I was born in Columbus, Georgia, raised in Fallston, Maryland and am the youngest of four children. I moved to Hatteras in 1998 and married my husband, Todd Ballance, in 1999. We had our son, Wheeler Ballance, in January of 2001. My husband of 26 years is a commercial fisherman, oyster farmer, volunteer firefighter and native to Hatteras Village. My son, also a native to Hatteras, is a mate on a charter boat out of Hatteras Harbor Marina in addition to working part time as an advanced EMT and volunteer firefighter.
I have served my community in many different capacities during my 27 years on Hatteras island, including the Hatteras UMC youth leader and Sunday school teacher, Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation board member, Fessenden Center Advisory Board, CHSS Middle School Basketball Coach (two years), Cape Hatteras Booster Club President (nine years), NCDMF Flounder Advisory Panel, SAMFC Advisory Panel, North Carolina Waterman United, Hatteras VFD Ladies Fire Auxiliary, Hatteras Fish Fry Coordinator, Hurricane Dorian Relief in Ocracoke, OBX Seafood Festival Board, and I was recognized for my efforts in Hatteras Village organizing relief and recovery efforts following Hurricane Matthew. Currently I am finishing my second term as a member of the Dare County Board of Education (eight years) representing Hatteras Island and have served as a board member, vice-chairman, and chairman.
Havel: I grew up in Raleigh and had an excellent education in the public school system. Following graduation from Davidson College and a very brief 10-month stint in New York City, I came back to Chapel Hill to attend law school, and after that, have spent almost my entire professional life practicing family law. After 25 years in the courtroom as a bulldog litigator, I realized how detrimental litigation was to my clients, their children, and to me. I gave it up and became a peacemaker, but not knowing anything about “waging peace,” I went back to school and obtained a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from UNC-G. Until the pandemic, I regularly travelled around the state training other attorneys, both in the family law area, and in other areas (construction law, business law, and estate law), in the principles of collaborative law, which seeks to identify each party’s real interests and meet everyone’s needs. It’s a nearly 35-year-old movement in the field of law that is finally taking hold and bearing fruit.
My husband and I moved to Salvo in 2017 to be closer to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (the “other woman” in our marriage!), and I quickly threw myself into service on various boards, including the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Civic Association, Hatteras Island Meals, the Outer Banks Lighthouse Society, the Friends of the Outer Banks History Center, the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, and the Friends of the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. I’ve picked up trash on the beach and in front of the abandoned water park in Rodanthe, delivered meals regularly to shut-ins, and volunteered with the National Park Service on public events such as the 20th anniversary of the move of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the 150th anniversary of the lighting of Bodie Island Lighthouse, and the Surf Fishing Heritage Celebration held in Buxton several years ago.
Q: If elected to the board of commissioners, what do you see as the top issues facing the county, and feel free to prioritize them?
Havel: The pandemic of 2020-2021 radically changed everything in Dare County: tourism, schools, housing, food management, work environments, and health care. Housing is the top issue that is out of whack, even though it was a problem well before the pandemic. But we need to connect the dots: without adequate, available, and affordable housing, we won’t have quality healthcare, dedicated teachers, or sufficient police and firefighters. We also won’t have the construction workers, house cleaners, and maintenance people who serve the tourists who keep our economy robust.
We need to take better care of our fulltime residents, in terms of housing, health care, and education. Other resort areas have found solutions that can work for them; we can, too. We need more primary health care and more specialty health care, and we should have no trouble attracting it and keeping it. We need to supplement our teachers’ income so that they can afford to stay in Dare County and raise families here, and we need to find ways to support our police, firefighters, and EMS workers.
I also think we need to rebuild trust with our guests. Complaints do get more attention than praise, but I’ve seen so many comments on social media recently about rental houses not being clean, companies not allowing negative reviews, broken appliances not being fixed in a timely manner, the reality inside houses not matching the pictures, and the lackadaisical attitude towards our guests when things go wrong. We can and should do better for the guests who we serve, and who allow us to save $3,891 per person in taxes each year (according to the Tourism Bureau).
I believe I have the experience to dig deep on every issue, almost as if I were preparing for a trial. I will read contracts and statutes and spreadsheets, I will ask questions, I’ll try to visit tracts of land that are up for rezoning or are subject to a request for a variance, and I will try to make sense of what I don’t understand. I will be the voice of the people.
Ballance: There are several top issues facing Dare County. Prioritizing them is not an easy answer as some issues are more important than others depending on what individuals are facing. If you are retired, access to quality healthcare would be a priority and an important issue. If you are just out of high school or in your early twenties, access to higher education or workforce housing would be important. If you are a young family, access to quality recreational programs and affordable childcare would be a priority. Any issue that a family or household in Dare County is facing is important. As commissioner, all issues facing our community are top priorities and I will not invalidate one over another. Protecting our way of life is a priority, from commercial and recreational fishing to housing and health care, each of these issues deserves intentional and deliberate attention to create and cultivate solutions that not only make sense but are also realistic and attainable.
Q: Speaking separately on the issue of affordable housing for the local workforce, how confident are you that significant strides can be made toward achieving that goal in the next few years?
Ballance: I am confident that strides are being made and will continue. The bill that was passed in 2004 by Governor Beverly Perdue to allow the Dare County Board of Education to create housing for teachers in the three major areas of Dare County allows for opportunities to provide essential housing. The Dare County Housing Task Force that Chairman Bob Woodard started continues to work towards long term solutions to include participation with both incorporated and unincorporated areas of Dare County. We have very smart and competent citizens in Dare County that are invested and committed to solutions that make sense. With Donna Creef and Malcolm Fearing heading up the Housing Task Force, I am very confident that we will achieve successes in workforce housing that make sense for all areas of Dare County.
Havel: Great question. I’m an optimist, so I am fairly confident, but I can’t deny that it has been an unsolvable issue for some time. I look forward to the report of the Housing Task Force which is scheduled to be released at the end of this year. The short-term rental market is correcting itself somewhat, the incorporated towns are feeling their way towards solutions that fit their character and history, and everyone knows we have to do something. There will be at least three new members of the Board of Commissioners, perhaps as many as five, and with new faces comes new energy. Of course, whatever we do, we are going to have to get buy-in from our full-time residents. And perhaps some hard decisions, that not everyone will agree with, will have to be made.
Q: How concerned are you that the kind of beach erosion that is causing homes in Rodanthe to collapse will become a larger problem for the rest of Dare County?
Havel: I’m extremely concerned, and it’s not just Rodanthe; there are many homes in Buxton in danger, too, as well as in the rest of Dare County, as is made clear by the Threatened Oceanfront Structures Interagency Work Group Report 2024. This report should be required reading for anyone in a position of responsibility in town or county government here. It provides a number of short term and long-term solutions to help with financial assistance, insurance, and regulation, but I do not know if any local elected officials have taken steps to identify which solutions might work or have begun steps to implement them. I do know there is a bill pending in Congress to allow the National Flood Insurance program to pay out owners up to $250,000 so they can move or demolish their houses before they fall in. That is a great start, and I fully support it.
Ballance: Beach erosion is an ongoing issue that will continue to face Dare County. The relationship we have with the US Park Service is imperative and Superintendent Dave Hallac has been an advocate and friend to Dare County. I am concerned about beach erosion and as a potential representative for Hatteras Island it is certainly a priority. I think it would be advantageous to sit down with insurance companies to find ways to encourage them to step in sooner to remove those homes that are obviously not salvageable. We need to be vigilant and on guard in discovering and cultivating ways to protect the infrastructure along NC Hwy 12. One of our biggest obstacles is that the unincorporated villages of Hatteras Island are located in a United States National Park. Changes we seek require communication with the Federal Government. I will make it a priority to create and maintain relationships with US Senate and House representatives to ensure all citizens have access to the beaches of Dare County.
Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponent in this race?
Ballance: I am not going to go into a comparison between myself and my opponent. I can only speak to who I am about and what I am about. I stand on my experience and commitment to Dare County. There are many challenges that we face; some are within our control, and some are not. Getting things done is not always as easy but diligence and perseverance are imperative. There are fishing, environmental and transportation issues that all require communication with local, state, and federal agencies. We need our county commissioners to not only start conversations, but to continue to facilitate the conversations that bring attention to and potentially solve the issues that face our communities and affect our way of life. My experience with state and federal agencies like NC Div. of Marine Fisheries and the South Atlantic Marine Fisheries have allowed me to make the connections needed to have conversations that could lead to solutions for Dare County. I will continue to work hard to network with the US Park Service, NC Division of Marine Fisheries, NC State Senator and House members, and other community leaders to build relationships that foster opportunities for growth and success across Dare County.
Havel: I believe that both of us care about Dare County, and I believe we have similar views on some issues. However, there are at least two reasons why I’m asking voters to make me their choice.
First, my opponent is running a banner ad on the Island Free Press that says that she is “A Voice for Growth.” I’m not sure that’s what Dare County needs right now; I think we’re in a time and place where we need to pause and take stock of where we are and where we’re going.
Second, I believe that who you associate with matters. My opponent says on her website, “I am dedicated to fostering diversity, inclusivity, transparency and community engagement,” but, as of the time of this writing (8:30 pm on September 29, 2024) she still has two pictures of Mark Robinson and two selfies with Dan Bishop on her website, and she donated $250 to Dan Bishop’s campaign. Mark Robinson’s comments speak for themselves. And for those who may not immediately know or remember, Dan Bishop is running for NC Attorney General and was the author if the infamous 2016 “bathroom bill” that cost NC approximately $450 million in lost revenue before it was repealed. As a Dare County Commissioner, I will be welcoming and inclusive to all people who want to live, work, and visit here.
Q: What is something about you that voters probably don’t know but should know?
Havel: I’m a complete nerd when it comes to election administration. I’ve been an election worker in precincts since 1992, working my way up to Chief Judge in my home precinct in Raleigh in 2006. From there, I was asked to serve on the Wake County Board of Elections, and I served two terms on that board, one as Secretary and one as Chair. When I moved to Dare County, I again became involved in my home precinct of Chicamacomico and then was appointed to the Dare County Board of Elections in 2021, where I served as Secretary. I resigned halfway through my second term to run for county commissioner, but please know this: our election administration in NC is scrupulously fair and transparent. Every election official I’ve ever worked with, whether Democrat, Republican, Unaffiliated, or something else is dedicated to administering completely unbiased elections and to letting the chips fall where they may. It is the one board service that I am most proud of, and I encourage those who criticize election administration to learn how it works and to become a part of it.
Ballance: One aspect of my life that voters may not know, but I believe is essential, is the importance that I place on my reputation. It drives me to be my very best and is the most valuable possession I own. I understand that I am not perfect and, like everyone else, I make mistakes. What defines me is the importance placed on owning those missteps and continuing to learn and grow from them.
I was raised by a strong mother who instilled in me the value of being a voice for those who feel they are unable to use their own. This principle guides my commitment to serve Dare County. I strive to ensure that every member of our community has a voice, and I am here to listen and advocate for them and their families.
