FRANKLIN COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY
101 WEST NASH STREET
P.O. BOX 909
LOUISBURG, NORTH CAROLINA 27549
(919) 496-1469
www.FranklinNCGOP.com

October 10, 2007

October 10, 2007 The Franklin Times
Stires approaches BOE about bill, plans to run against Berger
By KATHY HARRELSON, Managing Editor

Asking the Board of Education to oppose a political opponent’s proposed legislation, Chuck Stires said Monday he will rally statewide attention to stop legislation that would expunge the felony records of 16- and 17-year-olds.

The bill has been proposed by state Sen. Doug Berger, a Democrat who represents District 7 — including Franklin County — in his second term.

Stires has launched a public campaign against the bill, which drew debate between Berger and county schools’ Superintendent Dr. Bert L’Homme last month when Berger asked if the board supported the bill.

L’Homme said then he did not support the bill and placed protecting children first, above giving young felons a second chance in context with them potentially being hired in the school system under the mask of their expundged criminal records.

L’Homme said the teens do deserve a second chance, just not in schools.

L’Homme further stated Monday that he follows the laws handed him in his capacity as a superintendent.

Berger has maintained that these teens are relegated to lives of poverty with their choices made at a young age and deserve second chances under the law. Their records keep them weighed down if they try to do better.

Education lobbyists have opposed the bill, prompting Berger to get local reaction from the board following a legislative briefing he presented to the board in September.

Stires said he is trying to get other governing boards throughout the state to adopt resolutions against the bill.

The school board took no action and did not discuss the request.

Following the meeting Monday, Stires told The Franklin Times he will oppose Berger at the polls in 2008.

“Yes, I am,” he first responded to the direct question. “I have not filed or anything, but I have been asked ... and that is my intention. It should be quite a race.”

Stires, a Republican, fell in a race against Berger in 2006.

Berger was not immediately available for comment.