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Republicans win three seats on the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners
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Published: November 4, 2008
YADKINVILLE - Three Republicans won four-year terms on the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners in an election that centered on the location of a $7 million jail.
In complete but unofficial results Kevin Austin, David Moxley and incumbent Brady Wooten won with 11,569, 10,207 and 9,763 votes respectively. Kevin Thomas, the only Democrat running, trailed with 8,087.
Austin has sided with residents challenging the decision to put the jail on Hoots Road and was part of a lawsuit to block the project from moving forward.
"Voters approve me suing over the location," Austin said last night. "They want me in office to try to get the jail in the right location."
Austin, Moxley, and Wooten won the Republican primary in the spring ousting incumbents Kim Clark Phillips and Joel Cornelius. Phillips and Cornelius are part of the majority on the Yadkin County Board of Commissioners who made several sweeping changes, including designating a new jail site four miles from Yadkinville on Hoots Road.
They pushed for the jail and to build new middle schools. And they voted with two other commissioners to raise taxes to pay for those improvements, which angered their opponents and led to a backlash in Yadkin County.
The group of residents challenging the decision to put the jail on Hoots Road say they want it in downtown Yadkinville.
Commissioners approved the Hoots Road site last fall for the 150-bed jail.
A few months later, a group of 13 residents, including Austin and his company, The Austin Co., which is across the street from the site, sued the county, saying that procedures to rezone the site were improper.
Commissioners voted in August to again designate the Hoots Road site for the new jail. On Monday, commissioners approved a timetable that included advertising for bids next week.
Austin said he is no longer involved in the lawsuit to block the jail from the site. He was criticized this summer for being a plaintiff in the suit while at the same time running for commissioner.
Yadkin voters also cast 10,707 ballots yesterday for Van Hemric, who ran unopposed for soil and water conservation district supervisor.
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