Bladen commissioner: Gillespie says infrastructure vital to success of county

Mark Gillespie is one of five candidates for three countywide at-large seats on the Bladen County Board of Commissioners.

The term is for four years. Gillespie is a Democrat.

Gillespie, 52, is general manager of the ABC store in Elizabethtown.

He has served four years on the county commission previously, successfully running and winning for District 1 in 2010.

“If you want fair representation for everyone in the county, I’m the person,” Gillespie said. “I’m fair across the board for everybody.

“We can build a foundation for our youth so that they can come back. They go off and never come back. The majority of them that leave, they never come back. We need them to come back.”

Among the issues he’s campaigning on, Gillespie said, “We’ve got to build our infrastructure in the county. We’ve got to figure out a way to market ourselves so we can recruit businesses here. I think it’s well on its way, but we’ve got to build on it.”