by Mike Parks
….Jason Bateman would like to become the only Libertarian on the county commission. “I have a really good opportunity to sell a third way for people in Mecklenburg County.”
“Lots of people identify themselves as socially progressive and fiscally conservative,” Bateman said, “so a lot of times when people vote … they feel like they have to hold their nose and pick one over the other.”
Bateman wants to study how at how money is spent on CMS, saying the school district “clearly gets the lion’s share” and the county “needs to look at how efficiently we spend on schools.” Bateman is in favor of studying a school voucher system where parents would get a check for the money spent per student in the district and could then decide where to send their kids.
“They could take that money to any school they saw fit and spend that money on a school of their choice,” Bateman said. “And school administrators would be released from the bureaucracy so they could do things differently.”
Bateman is against any talks of city-county consolidation, and in favor of Ballantyne splitting off to become its own town. Bateman is working on a website, www.electjasonbateman.com, but in the meantime people can email the candidate at jasondbateman@hotmail.com.