Senator Fred Smith Speaks on Open Government, Infrastructure and Health Issues

Senator Smith campaigning for North Carolina Governor 2008, enthusiastically provided time to answer your questions.

March 6, 2008

COUNTY NC NEWS -- The following interview with Senator Fred Smith campaigning for Governor in 2008 was recorded while he was campaigning in Washington County, North Carolina. The Senator offered to answer questions concerning North Carolina open government, infrastructure and health issues. The questions were compiled from our readers concerns, and were unscreened by Smith campaign staff. We did allow the Senator to read the questions just before we began taping, so that he would have some clue to the questions he was about to be asked. I must add, Senator Smith scanned the paper and nonchalantly tossed it back to me. Therefore, he answered these questions without preparatory thought.

The recording was taken after the Senator's, "94th Fred Smith for Governor Statewide BBQ Tour" February 25, 2008, at approximately 9:15 at night. The lighting was poor, but the audio is good.

Originally, I called the Smith campaign staff for the scheduled locations of a BBQs near my office. I was not asking or attempting to interview the Senator. I just wanted to get a close-up feel of what the Senator is about. During my telephone conversation with a staff member, Bill Fields, he learned my connection with County NC News, and pushed for an interview. Normally, I do not record interviews other than for a record of evidence for news articles.

After the interview, we all agreed that do to the importance of the subject, "a Republican primary candidate answering unscreened questions for North Carolina Governor 2008," that the video footage should be released as well as this article.

The following day, County NC News members discussed options on how to keep our coverage of the NC Republican primary for Governor 2008, fair and balanced. Our conclusion was to send the questions to the other candidates for their response. We contacted each candidate's campaign team explaining that we had an interview with another candidate and would like to give them a chance to answer the questions. We asked they keep their responses brief (less than 8 minutes) and that they could answer in text or video, but we needed their answers by Wednesday, March 5, 2008. I must admit the whole situation was done on the fly. All questions where sent Friday, before 2:00 P.M. To read the combined News article click here.

Interestingly, Senator Smith's response to our question, number 2, "Clearly, I am not familiar with the fact you mentioned there . . . " Shows how we as the people are not reaching our public officials with our grievances on local county governments' misconduct. Furthermore, the study is still ongoing, therefore, Senator Smith, would not have been aware of the open government study. Additionally, this also shows the truthfulness of Senator Smith's answers to these questions.

As per the Senator's request, in answering question number 5, you may go to www.joinfred.com to read his views on NC health care.

We hope that you enjoy the video, and keep in mind that North Carolina is divided into 100 counties, many of these counties do abide by North Carolina open government NC Statue 143-318.9 and NC Statue, 132, while others do not.

Finally, County NC News would like to thank Bill Fields, his campaign staff, and all volunteers for initiating this interview. Additionally, we give special thanks to Senator Fred Smith, for answering your questions on open government, infrastructure, and healthcare issues, and wish him the best of luck in his campaign for North Carolina Governor 2008.