Five candidates for three seats

This week The Wake Forest Gazette begins its coverage of the Nov. 3 town board election with information provided by the five candidates giving their biographies and the reasons they are running for office. For the next three weeks, they will be answering questions posed by the editor, but if you have a question you would like directed at the candidates, please submit it to cwpelosi@aol.com. In the Oct. 28 issue, the article will review election information.

This week the candidates – Chad C. Casale, Brian Clemson, Greg Harrington, Brian Pate and Anne Reeve – are listed alphabetically but the lists in the other weeks will be different.

Chad C. Casale: I have spent my entire career in public service, putting the needs of my community first. For over 22 years, I was a firefighter/EMT, additionally working as Fire District Emergency Communication Supervisor. I touched the lives of well-over 45,000 community members, providing emergency services as well as community education, disaster preparedness, geographic mapping, planning and disaster readiness. I have received numerous citations for his community service.

After visiting with my wife’s family for the last 17 years, in 2014, my family and I relocated to Wake Forest, in the pursuit of a better quality of life for our family. I have been married to the love of my life, Cheryl, for the past 15 years, and we have been blessed with 2 amazing sons, CJ and Aidan, and have 2 terrific dogs to round out their family.

I am a member of Hope Lutheran Church as well as an active member of the Men of Hope. A Hope Lutheran highlight of 2014 for me was my participation in Tim Tebow Foundation’s Night to Shine, which provided an incredible prom night experience, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs.

I felt compelled to run for Wake Forest Town Board, to continue the current quality of life, measuring all factors of growth, and ensuring the community members of Wake Forest have their voices heard and have full visibility.

I look forward to the opportunity to engage the community, and serve the Town of Wake Forest.

(Readers can reach Casale at 919-562-0840 or chad.casale@yahoo.com.)

Brian R. Clemson: I was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. I moved to Wilmington, NC in 1996. I then relocated to Wake Forest, NC in early 1998.

I received my Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1993. I worked as a chemist for over three years while residing in the St. Louis area. My move to Wilmington, NC accompanied a career change. While there, I worked for a startup performing computer system validation services for customers. Following that, I relocated to Wake Forest. After initially working as a network administrator for two years, I changed my focus to network security. In my current position, I design and develop network architectures and network security services.

My wife and I were married in 1994 and we have four sons. Currently, three of them are attending Wake County public schools.

I have seen significant growth in Wake Forest since relocating here in 1998, and I am now at a point in my life where I can contribute to the Wake Forest community through public service. I am interested in helping to guide the continued growth of our town through controlled means, where residents are heard and included in the process. Additionally, I would like to continue the push for a high speed fiber network to meet the needs of all residents and businesses alike.

(Readers can reach Clemson at 919-562-8084 or brian.clemson@gmail.com.)

Greg Harrington: I have been a resident of Wake Forest since October of 1993 when I was hired as the Police Chief.  I had the privilege of serving as Police Chief for just over 16 years after moving here from Halifax County.  My law enforcement experience spanned 32 years, 23 of which were spent as a Police Chief.  After moving to Wake Forest, I got involved with a number of different organizations, and I’m still involved with three of those: the Wake Forest 4^th of July Committee, the Wake Forest Community Christmas Dinner Committee, and the Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation, which I co-founded.
During the 23 years of serving as a Police Chief I was heavily involved in the police organizations to which I belonged.  I served as President of two statewide Law Enforcement associations—the NC Association of Chiefs of Police and the FBI National Academy Associates.

I am a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church, where I currently serve as vice-chairman of the Deacon Board.  I have been married 41 years (as of October 12th) and have two daughters and seven grandchildren.  I am a veteran of the US Air Force and served a year in Viet Nam.

After retiring at the end of 2009, I was appointed to the Wake Forest Planning Board.  Two years later, I decided to run for a seat on the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners.  I have been honored to work in this capacity these last four years and have enjoyed serving the citizens of our great town.  I am running for re-election for the simple fact that I enjoy serving and being involved in the affairs of our government.

(Readers can reach Harrington at 919-723-7008 or mgregh@nc.rr.com.)

Brian Pate: I was born in Tallahassee, Florida and raised in Myrtle Beach, SC from age 9 through high school and moved to Raleigh in August of 1989.  In 1994, I married my wife Eileen.  We moved to Wake Forest in 1998 and have two children: Cassidy is 11 years old and is a 6th grader at Wake Forest Middle School and Shannon, age 16, who is a junior at Heritage High School.

Most people here in town know me as, “The Voice of Wake Forest.” For 16 years I provided sound systems, music and emcee services for most of the organizations in Wake Forest at one time or another including the Meet In The Street festival and the Wake Forest Christmas Parade.  I volunteer over 100 hours per year in the schools here in Wake Forest.

I have decided to run for Wake Forest Town Commissioner because the next 4 years are a critical time. With the town bursting at the seams along with schools and roads, we must formulate a plan and stick with it.

Overall the Board of Commissioners has done a good job although I would have voted differently on a few individual issues had I been a member.

I look forward to getting to meeting new friends and catching up with old friends during the coming month of the campaign and I hope to have your support on November 3rd.
(Readers can reach Pate at 919-669-4575 or www.paterealty.com.)

Anne Reeve: Originally from Greenville, SC where I graduated High School and attended Furman University. I have been in Wake County since 1979, and in Wake Forest since 1987 at 830 Lochmaben Street. My first husband, Bill Hines, passed away in September, 1989. I chose to stay in Wake Forest because it felt like home. In 1996 I married Mike Reeve (Ret. USArmy) and we continued our lives here. I have served on the Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation (secretary); Human Relations Council (ex-officio); Cemetery Board (ex-officio); St John’s Episcopal Church; also on other advisory committees for the Town.

Professionally I spent 25 years in the non-profit sector serving as executive director for several state, local and national professional and trade associations. For the past 8 years I have served as a member of the Wake Forest Town Board of Commissioners.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve as a Wake Forest Town Commissioner for the past 8 years. During that time we have seen many changes in our Town. From a recession to getting back on our feet. During that time we saw home builders abandon housing projects, commercial/retail grown slow down. But now we are back on the right track. Economic Development is vital to a thriving community – large or small businesses. I believe that my experience on the Town Board gives me an edge over anyone who has not served or even been involved in the community. The Town has a long range plan, Community Plan, Parks and Rec Plan, the Code of Ordinances have been overhauled into the UDO (United Development Ordinance), Bike/Pedestrian Plan, Traffic Plan – all the parts that make our community continue to thrive. We are pro-active in the development of greenways and parks – the most requested items when people/businesses are relocating to this area. The Renaissance Center has been one of the biggest enhancements for public arts, providing plays, puppet shows, music, art classes, movies, and meeting space. While traffic is a complaint of some, that too is being looked at by NCDOT and the Town. These are a few of the things I have been involved in during my two terms as Commissioner. I would like to continue to serve as Wake Forest Commissioner so that I can see some of the other long range plans come together. Please remember it is important to vote on Nov. 3 – please vote for me – Anne (Hines) Reeve.

(Readers can reach Reeve at 919-556-6304 or areeve@wakeforestnc.gov.)