By Ben Hogwood, The News-Times

MOREHEAD CITY — Pat Smathers may be from the complete opposite end of this state, but he considers himself and his community’s residents to be “flood brothers” with the citizens of Eastern North Carolina.

Mr. Smathers, 53, currently the mayor of the small town of Canton in Haywood County, is seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2008 hoping to replace Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, who served this area as a senator for District 2.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Perdue has plans to run for the Democratic nomination for governor.

The Canton mayor stopped by The News-Times office Feb. 3 to discuss his candidacy while in the area to speak to the N.C. Fire Chiefs Association.

Mr. Smathers is an attorney and represents both the school board and the community college board in his county. He has also served in the National Guard for 28 years and is a recent graduate of the U.S. Army War College having earned a master’s degree in strategic studies.

Mr. Smathers said his town was ravaged by hurricanes Ivan and Francis in 2004, which caused about $10 million in damages to town facilities and around $100 million in damages to the area.

Everything from the town’s fire department to the police department to the sewage plant was under water. The downtown area had to be cordoned because propane tanks had washed down the river from trailers and homes.

“We were afraid someone was going to come by and light a cigarette and blow us to kingdom come,” he said.

But it was living through this experience that gave him the inspiration to run for lieutenant governor. It showed him that local communities are the backbone of the state and, when given the means, can overcome problems.

He learned that the state has to provide local governments with the funds to bounce back from such devastation, as well as the expertise. Still, decision-making should be left to local officials, he said.

If elected, Mr. Smathers would increase the power of local governments. This leads to his campaign slogan: “Local leadership, statewide.”

Education of a county’s children, public safety, economic development and the environment all fall on the backs of the local government, he said.

“The state can support and help, but these are local issues,” he said.

 “Two realizations, that local governments can solve problems if you empower them and that they have to work together, is the basis of why I’m running for lieutenant governor,” he said.

The reason Mr. Smathers sees local government as being so important is because it is the government least influenced by special interest, it’s the closest to the people, it’s the most efficient and it’s the least bureaucratic.

Mr. Smathers sees the lieutenant governor as a “bully pulpit” position, an office that can voice big ideas and be heard.

One of the issues he wants to voice is tax reform. The General Assembly’s biggest challenge on a yearly basis is balancing the budget, he said, and the reason is because the current tax code is outdated.

“We’re operating on a tax code for the state that was developed in the 1930s on a 1930s economy. At that point in time, we were primarily an agricultural economy, we had tobacco, and in addition we had textiles.

“Well, those things are gone now and yet we’re still operating on the same system,” he said.

Mr. Smathers said the state must look at its economy now and find a revenue stream so local governments can grow without increasing property taxes.

Another “big issue” that needs to be addressed is illegal immigration. Building a fence across the border is not a viable solution,” he said. “An unguarded barricade is nothing more than a speed bump.”

In addition to subjecting the employers of illegal immigrants to a fine, Mr. Smathers believes the state needs to implement some kind of filtration system where if an illegal immigrant is charged with a criminal offense, they can be transported to a detention facility for transportation out of the country.

He also wants the state to continue to go after big businesses but to not overlook the small businesses that the state has relied on for years.

For example, he said the state shouldn’t give huge benefits to an outside company proposing to bring 300 new jobs to the state when it can instead find 30 established businesses and provide them with the means to add another 10 employees each.

“I’m a bit of a traditionalist in that you dance with the one who brought you,” he said. “You support those who have helped you all along.”

However, he said local governments must be given the power to offer assistance to local businesses by the state.

“What has proven successful, what has worked for Morehead City in the past … will probably continue to work.”

Mr. Smathers currently has three other Democratic opponents in the race for lieutenant governor: Dan Besse, a two-term Winston-Salem city councilman; Hampton Dellinger, the former chief legal counsel to Gov. Mike Easley; and Sen. Walter Dalton, co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

While some may say that coming from the western end of the state is a political disadvantage, Mr. Smathers said he believes he will appeal to the politically important Piedmont area. He also believes he is the only candidate with the leadership skills necessary for the position.

Mr. Smathers graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and graduated from Wake Forest University with his Juris Doctorate. He is married with a son and a daughter.

“There needs to be the realization that North Carolina is only as strong as the communities are, and the communities are only going to be as strong as they make themselves,” he said.