Charles Bobo said he was overwhelmed by the outcome of last week’s special election for district one supervisor.
“It really hasn’t completely sunk in. I’m just very thankful,” Bobo said the morning after.
He collected nearly 70% of the total vote in the race – 402 total votes. Joey Jones of Bruce was second with 168 and Tom Terry of Pittsboro third with 26. Less than 30% of the registered voters in the district participated in the election.
“I feel very fortunate that so many people came out and supported me like they did,” Bobo said. “Now I need to get back to work for them.”
Bobo, who had been serving as supervisor in district one for the past year on an interim basis until the election, said roads are the top priority going forward.
“We have a lot of roads in really bad shape that we have to work on and make better,” he said.
That will take money and time, he cautioned.
“It may take two to three years but I’m going to work with everybody and try to get all done that we can,” Bobo said.
Bridges are another concern with new federal guidelines causing several in the county to fail inspections. Bobo has had two closed on CR 308 in the past six months.
“One of those didn’t carry a lot of water and I was able to get it back open, but the other is a much bigger, more expensive project that’s going to take a lot of funding,” he said.
This isn’t the first elected office the 54-year-old Bobo has held. He served seven years on the Derma board of aldermen.
“I think that helped me adjust to the board (of supervisors) meetings,” Bobo said. “I’m still learning a lot. My mother always told me sometimes it’s better to just listen rather than talk all the time. That’s what I try to do. I’m trying to learn as much as I can.”
Bobo said working with the public and trying to meet their needs is most important.
“I worked with the Calhoun City Police Department for several years and learned a lot about working with the public,” he said. “That’s really important in this job, too. I want to satisfy the people of this district the best I can.”