County Chairman Ray Britt is right.

County Assistant Chairman Rodney Hester is right.

Commissioner Charles Ray Peterson is right.

Commissioner Ophelia Munn-Goins is right.

Commissioner Cameron McGill is right.

Commissioner Michael Cogdell is right.

Commissioner Dr. Danny Ellis Ellis is right.

Commissioner Arthur Bullock is right.

Commissioner Mark Gillespie is right.

So where’s the problem?

The issue of replacing a finance officer who is retiring soon from the county’s Economic Development staff came before the board on Monday. You can read the details on Page 1 today, but we will tell you the topic caused a solid 45 minutes of tense discussion between commissioners and Economic Development Director Chuck Heustess.

The result was that no action was taken, other than directing Heustess to partner up with County Manager Greg Martin and Bladen’s Bloomin’, which pays a majority share of the finance officer’s salary, to come up with numbers before the issue returns to the board.

The redirection for Monday’s discussion came from Peterson, who wondered strongly why there was a request being made to expand the role of a new finance position, rather than focusing on what he says is the county’s biggest need … an employment recruiter and housing development.

The debate centered around dollars and sense (not cents).

Each commissioner basically spent time saying they could not make any kind of decision without knowing what the money would be for salaries, benefits, etc. — and what portion Bladen’s Bloomin’ would be responsible for.

They each also spent time joining Peterson in saying it makes the most sense to turn the county’s focus toward housing and employee recruitment — not only employees to work in Bladen County, but those who will live, work and play in Bladen County.

We couldn’t agree more.

Promoting tourism is something Bladen County must do to continue bring visitors to “Mother Nature’s Playground,” but equally or more important is the fact that Bladen County must also be able to attract new residents who will buy homes or rent here, put their children in schools here, eat at restaurants here, attend church here, purchase gas here, shop in stores here, pay utilities here, vote here, work at businesses here and more.

Of course, Bladen County must also put developers in place to make housing — either single-family homes or apartments — available. Without that, Bladen County doesn’t stand a chance of attracting new residents.

So while hiring for a finance position is important, we hope a strong effort is begun immediately to get an experienced employee recruiter and housing developer in place.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“If you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur.”