godanriver.com
By: Latala Payne | GoDanRiver.com
Published: January 01, 2012

Citizens in Rockingham County have an exciting year to look forward to in 2012, and quite possibly, one of the toughest budget years the county has ever seen.

James Kallam, vice chairman of the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners, passed his gavel to Keith “Zero” Mabe during December’s meeting, but there are still a few things he wants citizens to know about the state of the county.

Several new employees have recently been added to the team at the Governmental Center who offer great things for the county’s residents, Kallam said. County Manager Lance Metzler, Financial Services Director Patricia Galloway and Personnel Analyst Nicole McLaughlin are among the county’s new employees.

“We are very fortunate in this county to have Lance Metzler for a county manager, because he’s extremely smart and has a great working knowledge of county government and its operations,” he said. “He’s one of the smartest people I believe we could’ve picked, and in my opinion, we couldn’t have picked anybody better for the job.”

He said the employees working directly with Metzler have commented on his professionalism and commended commissioners for a job well done.

Going into the future of North Carolina and Rockingham County, Kallam said one of the biggest problems facing the Untied States is the problem of illegal immigration. He said he recently read a report saying illegal immigration cost the state nearly $2 billion last year.

“If you research the benefits that we’re paying them, and the fact that we’re letting their children go to our schools, we’re losing a bunch by doing this,” he said. “Illegal immigrants are costing our county a lot of money and we’re going to have to go after this issue. It’s going to have to be addressed on a county level, state level and national level.”

He said he supports states like Arizona who passed their own immigration laws.

“Immigration is a national issue, but the feds are not doing anything about it,” Kallam said. “That’s why I will support the state writing its own law to make immigration illegal because when you’re an illegal, you’re a criminal. I don’t think they should be allowed to utilize our services in this county and to spend our money that the citizens need.”

On a county level, Kallam said local governments should come together and ask their state representatives to write legislation to control the flow of illegal immigration into North Carolina.

“We need to push them into writing laws where we can control this problem and stop it,” he said. “We need to prevent this waste of our resources to people who don’t earn it. They don’t pay social security or taxes. It’s just not right.”

Looking to the next year, issues surrounding the landfill and the budget will most likely dominate the board’s agendas, he said. Careful budgeting of the county’s departments will also be an important step during this year’s upcoming budget process.

“We’re going to have to look at our animal shelter next year and figure out a way to work and bring its costs down,” he said. “The cost of operating our animal shelter has now gotten prohibitive. It’s gotten to the point where it’s costing this county a lot of money, and we need to look for some resources and ways to curb that cost to increase money flowing into the shelter. We need to make it into a money-making operation, or at least break even.”

Kallam said county officials are looking to capitalize on fines against people who get their animals picked up by animal control and could even be looking at an animal registration fee in the future.

“We’re heading into one of the toughest economic years in Rockingham County that’s ever existed,” he said. “The budget was tough last year, and everyone can expect it to be tough this year. We might even be looking to cut some services this year, but the budget will be balanced.”

http://www2.godanriver.com/news/2012...ts-ar-1579103/