Why is Pat Dane running for Mayor of Southport

Before moving to Southport Pat Dane lived in the Wilmington area for 13 years and watched the quaint, old southern town change from a great place to live to a city with more shops than they would ever need, traffic that was out of control and no plan in place to handle it and saw the Wrightsville Beach area turn into Coney Island .
Pat Dane was looking for a place to move and found Southport. The waterfront in the morning and the sunset in the evening are the finest in the world and he wants it to stay that way. Pat Dane plans on living in Southport for the rest of his life and instead of sitting back and complaining about what is happening he is stepping up and running for Mayor.
Pat Dane watched what was happening to the Southport Marina and said it’s time to step up and get involved.

The current Mayor reminds me of John Kerry “ I voted for the $85 billion dollar bill for Iraq BEFORE I voted against it. Well Mayor Holden, in secret tried to sell the marina before he was caught and then tried to play both sides of the issue until his hand was found in the cookie jar. Only at that time did he say we need to bring the Marina back to Southport.
Pat Dane is not a politician but a business guy. He wants to bring a different approach to Southport. He will bring a new attitude, a new vision and a new sense of making growth a key ingredient to the future but only after ALL the ramifications are thought out and studied. We don’t need to go 80 miles per hour into the future. Let’s take our time and make sure we make the right decisions.

Pat Dane believes that we need to:

?Save the Southport Marina and bring it back to the City of Southport. Pat Dane backs every point that the Save the Marina Committee represents.

?Pat Dane as Mayor will put together a group that will review how to take advantage of the Marina ownership and make it a worldclass asset that is looked at with much pride by every resident of Southport. There are lots of things that can be done to make the 42 acres a beautiful and welcomed place for every resident of Southport and the surrounding area

?The traffic situation in Southport needs to be fixed. By working with the DOT, the local police department, the county sherriff and the state police this can be accomplished. It is NOT being done today. This is NOT rocket science.

?Develop a Florida like “Homestead Act” ,that allows people that have lived here for over a 100 years, the ability to stay and not be taxed out of town. It is happening everyday and every year. The downtown section of town, which is where I live, outside of the historic district, is in danger of being eliminated by rising taxes.

?There needs to be a roadmap for growth. Pat Dane believes that growth is essential but it needs to fit into a grand scheme that does not exist today. The planning board needs to be reviewed and changed to accommodate the everchanging needs of our community. There needs to be order put into the chaos of what is happening today with respect to new developments. Perfect example is the impact of the Chades Cove project that will potentially double the traffic on Howe Street.

1974 – 1976 – President, Broome County, NY Young Republicans

1978 – President, Reston, VA Republican Party.