Experience, Accessibility, and a Return to the Table

Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] On this week’s episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast, we continue our candidate series, and this time we have Chad Stewart who’s running for Johnston County Commissioner District 3. Chad held that seat from 2013 to 2021 when he resigned to run the Johnston County ABC Board.

We talked to Chad about why he left the Commissioners in the middle of his last term. What he did with the ABC Board, his time growing up in Johnston County and why he wants to be your County Commissioner for the next four years. So listen in.

Welcome to another episode of Best of Johnston County, brought to you by Breeden Law Office. Our host, Jonathan Breeden, an experienced family lawyer with a deep connection to the community, is ready to take you on a journey through the area that he has called home for over 20 years. Whether it’s a deep dive into the love locals have for the county or unraveling the complexities of family law, Best of Johnston County presents an authentic slice of this unique community.

Jonathan Breeden: Hello and welcome to this [00:01:00] week’s episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden, and today we’re continuing our candidate series with Chad Stewart, who is running for the District 3 County Commissioner race.

Chad Stewart was a county Commissioner from 2013 to 2021 when he resigned to take over the ABC board in Johnston County. So he was on our podcast back in May of 2024 talking about the ABC board, how it’s structured. How the liquor Laws of North Carolina work. If you’re interested in that, go back and listen to that podcast.

It was fascinating. It’s one of the most viewed podcasts we’ve had on The Best of Johnston County Podcast, but today we’re gonna talk to him about why he is running for, I guess, not really reelection, but election again to the county Commissioners after being elected, being appointed in 2013. Elected in 2014, elected in 2018, and then resigning in 2021.

But before we get to that, we’d like to ask you to like, follow, subscribe to this podcast wherever you see it. Whether be on a apple, YouTube, Spotify, LinkedIn, TikTok, [00:02:00] X, or any of the other social media channels, The Best of Johnston County Podcast. Best of Johnston County Podcast comes out every single Monday and has now for over two years. So go back and listen to our previous episodes, including when Chad Stewart was on before County Economic D irector Chris Johnson, and we had two episodes with the county manager, Rick Hester. Welcome Chad.

Chad Stewart: Thank you, Jonathan.

Jonathan Breeden: Thank you.

Chad Stewart: We go back a long way.

Jonathan Breeden: I know, I’ve, I appreciate you coming back. I mean, you had, we had like, like 10,000 views of the last one when you were here. That’s one of our most viewed episodes on YouTube. But anyway state your name and what you do.

Chad Stewart: My name’s Chad Stewart. I’m up for election district 3, county Commissioner. I did step down as chairman to run the Johnston County ABC system, which as you mentioned, we did our podcast and it’s just fascinating.

I love Johnston County ABC. It’s amazing of how it is structured, the revenue it brings to the county and how much. People just don’t [00:03:00] understand exactly the ABC system.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Chad Stewart: So I enjoyed that podcast. I did.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. Well that’s great.

Chad Stewart: I still love it, but I resigned December 31st to take a year. ‘ cause I knew my seat district three would be coming up.

And considering a run for county Commissioner again a lot of people say, why would I vote on you when you quit? Well, I didn’t necessarily quit, Jonathan. I moved to another level of county government.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Chad Stewart: I resigned from county Commissioner, right. Did a lot of good things in three years. We built stores, remodeled stores.

We’ve increased sales, which goes into the general fund, as you very well know. It’s a very complicated system with ABC.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Chad Stewart: I enjoyed it. I resigned December 31st to

Jonathan Breeden: 2024

Chad Stewart: to decide if I was going to run. Would my seat come up? And I filed on December 18th, a race was already created. [00:04:00] We the seat that I held, the guy that got appointed Mr. Brazel resigned. I put my name in the hat to be appointed back to that seat and pull my name out because I wanted to be elected, not appointed. Mike Rose, great guy, is our sitting Commissioner in District three from Princeton. Very good guy doing a good job. He got challenged before I entered this race by Adam Caldwell.

Adam’s a great guy. Adam has served on many committees, done a great thing, but when they redrew the lines. The district lines. Adam got drawn into my district, not by his choosing, so he filed election against our sitting appointed Commissioner, Mike Rose. So I waited till the last day. And decided to enter a race that was already created.

Jonathan Breeden: Alright. Sounds like a plan. Well, we’ll get [00:05:00] to why you’re running here in a second. Tell me a little bit about not everybody watches all the podcast other than like my wife and some family members and a neighbor. Where you born, where you grow up. I know you went to NC State. Tell a little bit of your biographical history.

Chad Stewart: Okay. Obviously you can Google the good and the bad. ‘Cause I do have a record. I was born in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. My daddy got out of the Vietnam War as a captain in the Army, and that was his duty station. And that’s where I was born. We moved from there to Four Oaks North Carolina, where my daddy was raised, my granddaddy.

We’ve got a Four Oaks Johnston County history since 1905. So when I was three years old, I came back to my hometown basically where I live now. I live work. Exactly where I’ve been for 55 years.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Chad Stewart: Well, I’m 55 basically.

Jonathan Breeden: Did you go to South Johnston High School?

Chad Stewart: Graduated South Johnston, 1988. Went to [00:06:00] NC State.

Lasted one year. Grades weren’t real good. Went to United States Navy for four years. When I got outta the United States Navy, I entered Johnston Community College, got an associate degree. Transferred to Campbell University and got my bachelor of business degree.

Jonathan Breeden: Alright. And you were you were a farmer, right?

Chad Stewart: I’ve raised cows, right? Farming family.

Jonathan Breeden: You had a gas station?

Chad Stewart: Gas station, a retail car. Lot auto mechanics now I’m pretty much doing North Carolina vehicle inspections.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. All right.

Chad Stewart: Which, which I’ve done for 30 years.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Chad Stewart: But I live on the same corner. I am a lifelong resident of Four Oaks Johnston County and I’m a product of the community.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. So do you still own the gas station and the building behind it? Where we had the meetings and stuff, Christmas parties.

Chad Stewart: I have recently sold that.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. Alright, cool.

Chad Stewart: To the Carroll family.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Chad Stewart: That [00:07:00] owned the fertilizer company. But we worked out a deal where I could still stay and inspect vehicles.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Chad Stewart: So

Jonathan Breeden: you do any oil changes or any of that, or y’all just doing inspections?

Chad Stewart: I just do inspections. They do, they own all of it. They’re remodeling the building in the back. They’ve got it Very nice. My children did not, I got three boys. I’ve got matter of fact, as of yesterday, my oldest one turned 22.

He is a senior at UNC Wilmington. My middle son is starting at East Carolina, he’s there right now and my youngest is a senior at South Johnston High School where my wife teaches mathematics.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s great. That’s great. Alright, so

Chad Stewart: you’re, they didn’t want anything to do with the mechanics or the grill or the convenience store. And I’m kind of glad they didn’t. So it was a good opportunity for me and the Carroll family to kind of partner up and allow me to stay there and still do vehicle inspection.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s cool. You’re a big Wolf Pack fan. You [00:08:00] and I were

Chad Stewart: very, very good.

Jonathan Breeden: You and you and I were in Dallas when NC State beat Duke to go to the Final four. We had a great time there.

Chad Stewart: It’s a shame that we live right down the road and I see you at the state basketball games and in Dallas.

Jonathan Breeden: I know, right? That was, that was a lot of fun.

Chad Stewart: And my wife is a graduate of MCC.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that’s great. That’s great. We had a ton of fun down there in March of 24 with that run with Kevin Keats and DJ Burns and all that.

That was a ton of fun. I’ll never forget that we had a great time

Chad Stewart: and I went to DC you know, to,

Jonathan Breeden: you went to DC before that? Right

Chad Stewart: before that and, but I didn’t go to Phoenix, my wife and my youngest son, which is an a.

Jonathan Breeden: I did get to go to Phoenix. I was So

Chad Stewart: you went to Phoenix?

Jonathan Breeden: I did. It was a ton of fun. I NC State by not go back to the final four. I needed to go that one time. Lemme tell you So anyway.

Have family law questions? Need guidance to navigate legal challenges? The compassionate team at Breeden Law Office is here to help. Visit us at www. breedenfirm. com for practical advice, [00:09:00] resources, or to book a consultation. Remember, when life gets messy, you don’t have to face it alone.

Jonathan Breeden: Alright, so, you were a County Commissioner from 2013 to 2021. What are you the most proud of that you did in that 8 years?

Chad Stewart: Wow, that’s a big question Jonathan, I’m not gonna say it’s anything I did.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. Well, I mean the board did, I mean, you were your board of seven, right?

Chad Stewart: I’m gonna say what we did.

Jonathan Breeden: Right? Yeah, y’all did.

Chad Stewart: We’ve got great County staff. We know Rick Hester is a legend. I mean, he is absolutely the best. We kept him on board. Still there. When I got on the board appointed when my dad died in 2013, our fund balance was at basically savings account was at about 13%. We adopted an internal policy that we would not allow it to drop below 15%. Right now, I think it’s at [00:10:00] 70%.

Now, the good and the bad comes with that. We’re not in the business of taking the public’s money and using it as a bank, but the year after I stepped down, we hit a triple A bond rating. That’s the highest you can get with Moody’s, S&P. I’m very proud of that. We’ve always been able to maintain a very good financial standing in Johnston County.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah, no, they have. They have. And I vehemently disagree with the current board that we have this crazy high fund balance.

Chad Stewart: I agree. I agree.

Jonathan Breeden: Just raised taxes 20%, but I don’t have a vote. I’ve told them that. I know we’re going into a building program, but I mean, we’ve got $250 million in savings and we’re raising taxes. I mean, what do you think about that?

Chad Stewart: We got a $412 million budget. Now, when I say fund balance is 70%. 30% of that is already committed, so it’s not exactly sitting there in a bank, right?

It’s committed. Now. [00:11:00] We built a new jail, a new public safety center. We onda works of building a new DSS building, but I agree with you on the fund balance. When you do a triple A bond rating, which saves the county and the taxpayer millions of dollars in interest. I think last year off our fund balance, we created $16 million in interest alone on the money in the fund balance.

Now I agree with you. I agree with you. The fund balance could appear to be too high. But you gotta take the committed out of it that we’ve got for projects. But we’re in great financial standing. When you hit triple A and anybody can Google it, there’s not many counties that’s got a triple A bond rating.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, we just went through the reevaluation

Chad Stewart: now. We’ll talk about that for a minute.

Jonathan Breeden: Right?

Chad Stewart: If you don’t mind, people say, we’ve raised taxes. I say we, I’m not there now. [00:12:00] Reevaluation is not raising taxes. Okay.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Chad Stewart: Reevaluation is mandated by state legislation,

Jonathan Breeden: correct?

Chad Stewart: We were at eight years when I was there during my tenure. We cannot go above eight years before we have a reevaluation, and you can have one every year. That’s the lowest you can go. We moved it from eight years to six years to where we’re at now, four years and the public. That is not a tax raise, that is a reevaluation of property. Now, granted, we generate revenue off that reevaluation.

Jonathan Breeden: Right?

Chad Stewart: The only control county Commissioners have is the number of years you do it, which we lowered it to four and who you choose to do it, which we’ve outsourced to independent companies, which I think we’re. Got staff and [00:13:00] the technology where we might start doing it in-house. That is not raising anybody’s taxes, that is mandated by North Carolina legislation.

All we got control over is who does it in the number of years, and everybody says, well, you’ve lowered it four so it can increase. Naturally the money goes into the general fund. But now if you were evaluated at 200% on your property and the economy has a recession next year, you want to pay eight years on that. Or would you rather pay four years on it?

Jonathan Breeden: Right. I don’t disagree that they should do it. That eight’s too long in a fast growing county, and six and so the County ended up with 70% more taxable property. It went up 70%. And this time, the last time Cleveland and Clayton got hit this time, the entire County got hit. Even Four Oaks in Princeton went up 70%. And so that’s a lot, but the Commissioners and you weren’t there and look, when you did the reevaluation there, you was [00:14:00] not revenue neutral then. It wasn’t revenue neutral now it was about 20% more.

Chad Stewart: And it will never be revenue neutral.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. Why not?

Chad Stewart: That’s a good question. What Commissioners do have control over, and I’ve done it many years, is your property tax rate.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Chad Stewart: We need to take re-eval off the table and talk about property tax rate. They’ve got total control. I did it for many years, 15 cent on a hundred, the largest property tax reduction in recorded history, but it still could not meet re-eval where families has got 200 to 500%.

Now, what we also need to understand is from our County manager to our elected officials and our County Commissioners, they all pay property tax.

Jonathan Breeden: Absolutely. Mike Rose said his what up? $1,500 this year.

Chad Stewart: They all pay property tax. Now [00:15:00] reval is totally different than tax rate. They had the largest recorded decreased tax rate, but they still couldn’t meet revenue neutral. It just don’t work. Now, back to the fund balance, I completely agree, but when you look at a large fund balance, when you got a $412 million budget and you’ve got 70% of that, and it’s basically the county saying, wait a minute, I can use your money better than you can.

I can control your money better than you can. Well, we’re not talking about what is committed outta that fund balance. So if it’s 70, 72% of 412 million, what has been committed to future projects and past projects and we cannot hide the facts. What we are saving when we hit a triple A bond rating.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, I understand, but I mean, I think you only have to have 30 or 35% to have AAA bond rating. And we have 7%. You’re right. You’re right. And I know, and I know they got, look, I know they gotta do DSS building. I know they’re [00:16:00] gonna spend 103 million or more dollars on a new Clayton High School, and they’re not selling bonds for it. They’re gonna try to cash flow it, or they’re gonna do, they’re not doing a public voted bond.

They’re gonna do it. General obligation bond through the local government commission, and we don’t have time to get into all of that. That’ll put the,

Chad Stewart: we could talk all day on that.

Jonathan Breeden: That’ll, that’ll put the listeners to sleep.

Chad Stewart: Yeah,

Jonathan Breeden: but I mean. It’s still a lot. And I know they’re gonna in the DSS building and they need a county admin building and they’re gonna build a courthouse annex where the Mass Law firm sits now. So, I mean, I know what they’re doing. It just seems like a lot of savings.

Chad Stewart: It is a lot of savings.

Jonathan Breeden: It’s a lot on top of the fact that they ended up adding 20%. So to me that’s kind of a tax increase.

Chad Stewart: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Over revenue neutral. And I mean, you didn’t, you weren’t there, so you’re not responsible for that. But what would you do with that fund balance and that tax rate if you’re elected?

Chad Stewart: That’s a great question and let’s make sure we’re understanding it. I understand where the Commissioners are at County manager, finance staff, all our staff, they [00:17:00] work hard every day. That is excessive. Once again, until you dig deep into it. We don’t know what is committed.

Now once again, when I got on the board in 2013, the fund balance was 13%. It has grown. We do not know what is committed out of that fund balance. To your point, and I’ve been to the biggest financial meetings in New York with Moody’s and S&P. Fund balance has a very small part of the Triple A rate. They look at jobs, they look at salaries. We’ve got a divided county, okay?

You take the I 95 corridor, you come this way, 40/42 Clayton Flowers, when you got an average of 60, $70,000 a year jobs. Then you go 10 minutes down the road, East of our County, 30,000 a year jobs. That’s got a lot of dynamics. It throws us in a different [00:18:00] tier when it comes to federal funding grants and whatnot because we’re heavy on one end, low on the other end.

Jonathan Breeden: And they don’t, and they don’t divide the county up tiers.

Chad Stewart: They don’t divide the county up tiers.

Jonathan Breeden: I got you.

Chad Stewart: Right, right. So we, we get excluded out of a lot of federal funding. That Berkeley County might get or some of the more eastern counties. I’m all about the I 95 corridor.

I’m all about natural gas. I’m all about growing one end of the county. Like we drove the other end of the county. When I stepped down. We have spent over $500 million in the western part of county with schools infrastructure where I live on the eastern part of the county, looks the same way it did 50 years ago.

Now some people say they don’t want to grow. Some people say, we want it to look this way. I don’t necessarily feel that way, but what would I do with the fund balance?

And we all could [00:19:00] criticize. I’ve got more confidence in the world of our county Commissioners, our county manager, our finance staff, our emergency staff. Every environmental staff, you could not find better department heads than we’ve got right now.

Jonathan Breeden: Alright, so why, you know, we’re, we can’t do this all day because we, you and I could talk for hours. I know we’ve been friends for a long time.

Chad Stewart: I know.

Jonathan Breeden: Why should the voters vote for you in this race? To give you another term on the County Commissioners?

Chad Stewart: I’m proven. We’ve kept our head above water. We’ve kept people safe. We’re growing, growth is a whole another topic. I mean, I could tell people, anybody that says they wanna stop growth, if you can’t make somebody farm tobacco, if they don’t want to farm tobacco, you can’t make someone grow cows, if they want, and I’ve done all of it.

The bottom line is that is just as irresponsible. [00:20:00] A doctor saying, I’m gonna make you live forever. It’s just not gonna happen. We’re not still plowing mules. We’re not still using feathers and ink to write letters. Growth is here. I understand people’s frustration, but I’ve been there. I was the chairman of the board.

I understand the finances, I understand the growth. I understand how County government works, but most importantly, I understand what the people need. And if anybody ever says anything about me, good or bad, they’ll say, I’m Chad Stewart. Every time they see me, I’m accessible. And that’s what your representatives need to be accessible.

You better be able to call them, walk in and talk to ’em. I’m the common everyday man. I work with my hands. I would say that’s the reason why I’m running. I mean, I, even when I stepped down to run ABC, I did county Commissioner work every day. My dad did it. It’s in our blood and people know how to find me, don’t know how to call [00:21:00] me, and that would be my answer to that question. I’m acessible.

Jonathan Breeden: You’re accessible. So how can people learn about your campaign?

Chad Stewart: Oh, Lord have mercy.

Jonathan Breeden: You got a Facebook page. I know.

Chad Stewart: Well, it’s like I told my wife and she gets way more wrapped up in it than I do. I said there’s three prongs to a campaign. Finance, you gotta have on record a finance officer that has to file with a board of elections. You’ve gotta have advertisement that is online, that signs, that’s mailers. Then you’ve got to have the candidate that has got to be where he needs to be doing what I’m doing right now. And raising money, three prongs. And I’ve got three good people. I’ve got a finance officer, I’ve got my wife as advertisement.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Chad Stewart: So to speak.

And obviously I’m the candidate.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. So do you have a website?

Chad Stewart: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. What is your website?

Chad Stewart: Lord have mercy. Chad Stewart Johnston County Commissioner [00:22:00] on Facebook.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. All right.

Chad Stewart: And obviously my wife can give more details on that, but Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. So just just search Chad Stewart for county Commissioner on Facebook.

I gotcha.

Chad Stewart: And you can see everything I’ve done, every committee I’ve been on, the good and the bad, and naturally. You know how politics is.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah.

Chad Stewart: They dig deep.

Jonathan Breeden: No, that, yeah, that’s true. That’s true.

Chad Stewart: Just because it’s out there don’t mean it’s true. Okay.

Jonathan Breeden: I understand. I understand.

Chad Stewart: Just because it’s put out there, there’s a lot of litigation going on. And we talked earlier about a situation that’s in litigation and it’s but

Jonathan Breeden: you’re gonna get it resolved.

Chad Stewart: It’s being resolved.

Jonathan Breeden: It’s being resolved, right? Yes. That’s the main thing. Right? Right.

Chad Stewart: But as a fellow told me, a fellow attorney that you know very well because of the internet, good people are not stepping up to the plate.

Jonathan Breeden: I can understand that. I can understand that.

Chad Stewart: They do not want to go home and have their kids be embarrassed to what’s said about their [00:23:00] dad. They don’t want their grandkids. They have to see this stuff every night. But do we let them win, Jonathan?

Jonathan Breeden: Hey, I think everybody should run.

Chad Stewart: Do we let them win? No. Do we let the select few mudslingers keep good people from doing a good job?

Jonathan Breeden: I don’t. I don’t think so. I think good people should still run and let the voters decide.

Chad Stewart: I agree.

Jonathan Breeden: What they want to do. So the last question we ask everybody, we asked you this last time, what do you love most about Johnston County?

Chad Stewart: What’s there not to love about Johnston County. After, four years in the Navy, I say when I get back to that little corner that I’ve lived on, my whole life is where I’m going to be now. I love to travel. I mean, me and the wife and the kids, we do our shared traveling. Johnston County is very financially sound.

Johnston County, in my opinion, and I’m biased obviously it’s the greatest County you can live in. You still have got great restaurants. You still got a rural countryside. [00:24:00] 75% of this County is still farm woodland and water.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah.

Chad Stewart: 75%. Now, where are you gonna get that?

Jonathan Breeden: I don’t disagree.

Chad Stewart: How long does it take you to get to the beach, Jonathan?

Jonathan Breeden: Two hours.

Chad Stewart: How long does it take you to get to the mountains? Three

Jonathan Breeden: hours.

Chad Stewart: Have you got an interstate system that works for you?

Jonathan Breeden: Yes. That’s it. No, you’re right. It’s great. I love Johnston County. I love that.

Chad Stewart: Did I ask you a question?

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah. You asking me the questions, but No, you’re absolutely right. You’re absolutely right. Well, look we like to thank Chad Stewart for being our guest on this week’s episode of The Best of Johnston County Podcast.

He is on the Republican primary ballot March 3rd, 2026, for the District three Commissioner seat versus Adam Caldwell and Mike Rose, both of which were on this podcast within the last few weeks. So you can go back and listen to all three of the candidates and decide who you wanna vote for. If you’re a Republican or you’re a registered unaffiliated, you can vote in this race.

There is no Democrat. So the winner of the March 3rd primary between Adam Caldwell. [00:25:00] Chad Stewart and Mike Rose will be the district three, Johnston County Commissioner for the term. December of 2026 to December of 2030, everybody in the county can vote. You have to live in the district to run, but it is a countywide election.

So do your homework and decide who you wanna vote. Reach out to Chad on his Facebook page. Do your homework. He was Commissioner for eight years. There’s tons of stuff out there about what he did. He just told you why he wanted to get reelected or elected again to the District three seat. And decide who you wanna vote for.

As we mentioned earlier, please like, follow, subscribe to this podcast wherever you see it, whether it be Apple, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, and also leave us a five star review down below. It’ll help us raise our visibility. And also, if you wouldn’t mind, tag us in your Instagram stories. Best of Johnston County.

Until next time, I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden.

That’s the end of today’s episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for [00:26:00] joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.

If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.