Reuel Sample:
On this episode of the NHC GOP podcast.

Reuel Sample:
You are our Republican write in candidate, but you are not showing up on the ballot. That’s going to be a tough lift.

Wallace West:
It is a tough lift. Every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Plus my paraphrased version of it and the same thing goes with the regulation. Either they reduce, they either reduce their employees. And so families suffer because dads not don’t have a job.

Reuel Sample:
There is there is no doubt that the American family has taken a hit in the last 50 or 60 years.

Wallace West:
A strong family is a foundation for a strong community. I am an advocate for school choice.

Reuel Sample:
Welcome to the NHC GOP podcast. I’m Reuel Sample. I’m welcoming to the show a man who is standing up, and it takes a lot of guts to stand up to run for a position after realizing that nobody else has stood up to run for that position. I’m talking about Wallace West, who is running for district 18 State Representative. Wallace, welcome to the podcast.

Wallace West:
Thank you very much, Reuel. It’s my pleasure to be here.

Reuel Sample:
And as I as I introduced you, I did say that you’re standing up because you didn’t go through the primaries, because you you didn’t realize some things that were going on. The redistricting was going on here in North Carolina, and that left no Republicans running for district 18. And so the primaries happened. And then you stepped into the race because you saw that district 18 was just going to be represented by a very liberal politician, yet once again.

Wallace West:
So, Reuel, I know you give me a little bit too much credit there in that. I admit that when it came to my attention as you as you probably know, the maps for the redistricting maps weren’t released until the end of June. And so. And I was in district 19, I was in Charlie Miller’s district before that. And so a few days, maybe a week after the maps, new maps at the last, last week of June were released. I had a call from a couple of different people and said, hey, you know, you know, the new under the new maps, you’re in district 18. And what do you think about running against Deb Butler? And, uh, so I said, well, I really was actually flabbergasted, to tell you the truth. And, and when I had, when I had two people ask me, I said, I said, maybe, maybe I really need to think about this. And, and so it’s really it’s kind of an interesting story. And I don’t want to belabor the point, but, uh, I, uh, I from time to time, I have the privilege of being able to to bring the message at our church. And so last year, I was I was able to preach three times and, and I essentially preached on biblical citizenship.

Wallace West:
And so, uh, as I’m considering this uh, uh, question that, uh, was asking me, would you consider running, uh, against Deb Butler? And I said, well, let me let me think about that and, and pray about it, talk to my family. And, uh, the the reality is we couldn’t. Uh, everybody came to the same conclusion is. Why not? Uh, so that was where we all ended up, you know? And so I called and, uh, began to check and see what I need to do and went through the process. It is not an easy process to get from one end to the other. It took me about 30 days, uh, to work through, to navigate through the local and the state Board of Elections requirements to be to count my votes and in order to you have to meet certain file certain forms and do certain things in a certain way. And so that was an education in and of itself. So, so anyway, it was the end of July before I was ready that we were ready to go. And so we had a lot of work to do in a short period of time.

You MUST Write In Wallace West

Reuel Sample:
The tough thing about a write in candidate is that your name is not on the ballot. Now, I want to emphasize to people that you have been endorsed by the New Hanover County Republican Party. We are saying that you are our candidate. You are our Republican write in candidate, but you are not showing up on the ballot. That’s going to be a tough lift.

Wallace West:
It is a tough lift. And and statistically it’s not easy. And it there. People do have success with it. Uh, and although it’s a very small percentage of. And so, uh, but I was aware of that going into it. I feel called to do it. Uh, you know, and, uh, as I mentioned to you. I figured that, uh, I couldn’t find a reason not to do it, especially when I put it in perspective that I’m calling. I’m challenging other people to do this, uh, to step up. You know, and I have an opportunity. I couldn’t say no. And so I’m trusting that, uh, um, you know, we are able to raise up the volunteers that we need and, uh, you know, uh, the the, uh, I am a man of faith, and and, uh, there’s a story in the Bible about Gideon. And, uh, so many of your viewers may know about Gideon has found in Judges chapter six and and seven. And God called Gideon as a prophet to to gather an army to defend the Israelites against the Midianites, and he could muster up about 300,000 people. Well, he ended up with 300. And that’s so he goes to war against the Midianites, who were like locusts as they. So they were so large in number. That’s right. And that three and so they walked with the 300 men walked away with victory. And so I am. So we’re praying for Gideon’s army to come and help us educate the people. And in district 18, uh, that they have to write my name on the ballot. And it is a heavy lift.

Reuel Sample:
And like you, I am also I am also in your district and I am I used to be represented by Ted Davis, and now I am, Unfortunately represented by Deb Butler. And I don’t want Deb Butler in there. I want a good conservative Republican in there. And that’s what you are. And that’s that’s what I’m looking forward to. There are there are cases across the country. The most the most the most famous one would be Murkowski from Alaska, where she she was a write in candidate, and she overcame amazing odds and got reelected.

Wallace West:
Well, she did have several million dollars behind her. So, uh, so, uh, I don’t know that I’m going to be able to raise several million dollars, but, uh, the, uh, Deb Butler can be beat. She is beatable. I’m convinced of that. Uh, this is a winnable race, and and it may may I may have to do it. I may have to go back a second time and get my name on the ballot, but I’m committed to do that.

Reuel Sample:
Well, the night is still young on that million dollars. We’ll see what we can do by the end of end of our podcast. So, uh uh uh, Wallace, uh, you are a Wilmington native. You are a a business owner. Uh, you and your family have invested yourself here in Wilmington. Tell me a little bit more about yourself.

Wilmington Native

Wallace West:
Okay. Yeah, I was am a Wilmington native, went through the public schools, New Hanover County public schools, and, uh, went to Wilmington College for two years. And then I transferred to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. And I met my wife there. Uh, she was she wasn’t a student. She was a actually, she was a child bride, but, uh, she was she was still in high school when we started dating. And, uh, we, uh, we were blessed to have been, uh, be married, have 59 years, uh, right now, be 60 years in January. And we have two wonderful kids, and, uh, two are married to some real fine men and two granddaughters who, uh, who we love dearly. And my kids live here in Wilmington, and we, uh, we did raise them, uh, our children in the Research Triangle area. That’s where Gail was from, Durham. And so we raised our kids there, and and we moved here in 2000. And, uh, I had property here before then and maintained it for a time. And then we moved. Like I said, we moved here in 2000 and we started a business after I came here and, uh, which was, uh, which was blessed and, uh, many times over and the, uh, we started without just, uh, me and one other person started the business, and, uh, we, uh, when I transitioned to my kids, uh, we, uh, we had, uh, we operated, had three offices in two states and uh, 26 be the workforce.

Wallace West:
And so it was, uh, it was, uh, one of those, uh, uh, it was an incredible story. Uh, and there was a God thing and and, you know, it’s, uh, so it was we were just blessed. And we’re grateful to have been a part of this community to do that. And, um, uh, we, uh, we, uh, uh, I love Wilmington. Uh, my my kids knew, uh, from the time they were born, almost that we would end up back here. And so when we moved here, they moved here.

Reuel Sample:
The reason I, the reason I ask about your background is that your background actually forms the, the three platforms that you are really, really standing up for. Uh, you mentioned your family and one of your major issues, major platforms is all about family values and the strength of the family. There is there is no doubt that the American family has taken a hit in the last 50 or 60 years. Why is it so important that families be put first in our politics and in our communities?

Focus On Family Values

Wallace West:
First, because family is the foundation for a strong community, a strong family is a foundation for a strong community. And in our in my business, I employed, uh, uh, single parents. Yeah. I had a young, young, young lady who had a child and she’s supporting them. And, uh, there was a, um, you know, I had multiple occasions when that would happen. And, and reverse of that, where you had the, the father who was, uh, looking after the kids and and they work hard and and they struggle and they go home and they have to, you know, have to be everything to their kids. Up to you. And my heart goes out to them. And, but but I think that you would agree with me that that over time and, uh, and particularly the social programs that came in, in, in the Johnson administration and after that have really undermined the family, uh, in many ways and have compromised, uh, the strength of the family and that, uh, so by by virtue of that, we see communities that are not, uh, now we see them, they’re not pulling together. It’s it’s it’s all about me, and it’s all about, you know, my rights, not your rights. And, uh, it just creates a it weakens us, uh, as a as a community.

Reuel Sample:
Time and time again, we see when when young kids, especially young males, don’t have a family is that they find that family in gangs. They find it in other areas that are absolutely destructive to the community. And what you are saying is that we have promoted a culture where family is not seen as important anymore. I mean, if you look on, you look on, on, on, on television shows and everything else. Family is almost made fun of on a constant basis. Right.

Wallace West:
Exactly. It’s very true.

Strengthen Family Through Growing The Economy

Reuel Sample:
So one of the ways to to regain family values goes into your second area. And that’s economics, because one of the things that kills families are the economic policies of the state and of the federal level and even even communities. What is your plan to encourage economic growth here in North Carolina?

Wallace West:
Well, I think a good starting place to encourage economic growth is to support reforms that focus on building up and strengthening small businesses so that they can grow and expand and hire more people, pay more money, offer benefits. I know in my own business as an example. I mean, it was, uh, we’d been in business for, uh, when I, when, when my wife and I, uh, transitioned out of the business. Uh, we had been in business right at 20 years in that particular, uh, enterprise. And, um, it wasn’t until we’d been in business ten, 12 years before we could actually offer benefits to our. And because of the regulations, in large part kept us from being able to, to, uh, reinvest in the, in the business in a way such a way in the into people in the business enterprise. And so, tax reform is a particularly for small businesses. I think most people are not aware of that. 99% of the of the of the the businesses in North Carolina, 99% of them qualify as small businesses, over 99%. And they employ over a million people in that workforce, which is about 40 to 44% of the workforce. That’s non-government in North Carolina. And that’s a small business.

Reuel Sample:
The amazing thing, and the amazing thing about that is that these are small businesses that run from one person. I’m a small business owner. It’s I’m one person to your size of small business. And you sounds like you had a several people that you hired up to 300 people or so. And the problem with small businesses is that they cannot absorb the cost of regulations, whether it be, uh, high regulations on whatever it might be, even the cost of health care that gets that, that because because of whatever, there’s no competition within a particular state for health care. Small businesses have taken a beating because of the high cost of doing business that corporations can can absorb.

Wallace West:
Right. And that’s very true. And and you mentioned health care. Uh, and how small businesses have difficulty accessing health care. And I remember, uh, you know, in the 80s, uh, this, uh, we as a trade group that I was creating, the association was a part of we were able to come together and form our own health insurance program and and provide health insurance because we there were people like you and me, 1 or 2 people, and they didn’t have health care and and that’s and so the association itself was able to, uh, provide health care program that was comparable to, to larger business or that uh, for it’s, it’s, it’s 1 or 2 employees or 3 or 4 or however many it had. And, and then when managed care came along, uh, that said, you know, the law changed and those, those, uh, associations lost the privilege of being able to do that business over time. It was over a time period in the 90s is when that transitioned to what we have today. And, uh, it’s just been recently that now associations are now able to offer, uh, health care to their members.

Reuel Sample:
One of the strengths of small business has always been its ability to be flexible, whether it’s meeting a niche within its own business or taking care of its employees. Small businesses have always tried to take care of their employees, but as costs rise or minimum wage rises or whatever, small businesses can’t keep up.

Wallace West:
Yeah, you’re exactly right. It’s very, very difficult. And, um, the most small businesses are operating on tight margins. They’re not like a big business that that has the leverage that you to to get better pricing on all the, you know, at all times. And so you’re exactly right. And, and small businesses get, uh, get taxed uh, inordinately in many ways because most of us in small businesses, we are subchapter S or we’re an LLC. And and in those instances that that income endures to you as an individual. So you may have a corporation, but but you pay you pay the taxes.

Tax Reforms

Reuel Sample:
Well, let’s talk about some of those tax reforms that you’re, that you’re looking at is that you’re, um, uh, eliminating the capital gains tax and franchise tax. Now, this is actually a not only just a North Carolina issue, but this is a this is a national issue. As as the the Democratic candidate is saying that she wants to tax, uh, unrealized net gains or capital gains, and that affects small business. Talk about that a little bit more.

Wallace West:
Yeah. It it’s a good point. It does affect small business. And it really in a large way. And most people don’t understand what that means. Uh and in, in theory, businesses, as they mature and grow, they gain in value. They gain value on their as far as the the the worth of the net worth of the business if it were to be sold. An unrealized capital gains is that growth in value and taxing that growth in value every year based upon some unknown quantity, that of growth, that’s going to happen over a ten year period of time. You may hit a recession and that business may go down in the tubes. And I’ve been there, done that. So I you know, I’ve seen that happen and experienced it myself. Started over three times. So um, the last one was a charm. Third time’s a charm, man. Uh, but, uh, the my priorities were different the third time, too, so that made a difference, too. But, uh, by the growth in taxing the growth in capital gains is just, uh, it’s arbitrary. It’s an arbitrary tax that’s assessed against business owners that they may have to pay twice when they when they actually sell their business for less.

Reuel Sample:
These these valuations are not determined by any market. They are determined by a tax agency someplace or determined by a bureaucracy. That’s right. And what can what can you do about that at the at the state level.

Wallace West:
Well, you can uh, well, currently, uh, the way that investments in, say, in a small business work, uh, is that, um, you you when you if, when you liquidate or sell the business to someone else, you have to pay taxes on the gain that you made on your investment. Just like if you were investing in stock in over a period of time, you realized a gain of 20% or 30% or what have you on your original investment. And so there, the North Carolina, just like most states, has a tax on the capital gain. The gain you earned on your investment in the business. And so by we could either eliminate that and or certainly reduce it to, uh, to help small businesses retain owners like you and me with small businesses when we decide to move on, uh, you know, and if you, uh, you, I will tell you that the combined state and federal, uh, capital gains tax is over 40%. Okay. So if you have a if you earned if you earned, just use $100,000. If you gained $100,000, you’re going to pay almost $40,000 of that when all is said and done. And now, keep in mind you’ve already paid. Every year you paid taxes on the money you earned. So you’re double tax, you’re double taxed.

Reuel Sample:
And see and why this is important even if you’re not a small business owner. The reason why this is important is twofold. Number one, those taxes have to be passed on somehow. They have to be made up for somehow. And so small businesses are forced to either increase costs or reduce employees, because employees are one of the biggest costs of any small businesses. Or small businesses just go out of go out of business, correct?

Wallace West:
Correct. On all those fronts.

Capital Gains Tax Hurts Everyone

Reuel Sample:
Because simply because nothing that they’ve done, it’s simply because it’s just become too expensive for them to be in business.

Wallace West:
That’s exactly right. And so essentially eliminating the capital gains or reducing it or the state portion of it, because, you know, and certainly at the federal level, we would like to reduce that as well. And uh, the, uh, just kind of a excuse me, a heads up from people here, that 40%, they, you know, they get frightened. Well, it’s reality, but if you plan ahead, you can can mitigate that so that it’s not as big a hit. But most small businesses don’t think about it until they get ready to get out. And then it’s too late.

Reuel Sample:
And well, let’s let’s bring this home a little bit, is that if you are in district 18, you might be saying, well, I don’t I don’t own a small business. This doesn’t apply to me. However, you’re you are you you have a 99% chance that you’re actually working for small business.

Reuel Sample:
Correct.

Reuel Sample:
The person who the the person who fixes your plumbing is a small business. The electrician who comes to your house to fix your electricity is a small business. And so all this is a big, huge issue.

Wallace West:
It is a big, huge issue. And, uh, what happens to the business enterprise? Uh, that’s a that’s a cost that they have to, as you pointed out, so well pass on to the consumers. It happens. And either they reduce they either reduce their employees. And so families suffer because dads not don’t have a job or mom’s second job. Mom’s job, you know, uh, goes away, but for the same reason. And, and so, uh, it does affect individuals and it does affect families, and it also does families.

Wallace West:
And it can retard the growth in income, because small businesses struggle to pay comparable wages as it is and and to get benefits. And so if you put a squeeze on the profitability or the margins that a business has, it doesn’t have that money to reinvest in the people that it hires.

Reuel Sample:
One of the myths about Republicans running for office, when we talk about rules and regulations and taxes, is that we are often seen as wanting a wild, wild west of capitalism. And that’s not what Republicans are advocating. That’s not what you are advocating. There is a place for regulations. There are. There is a place for taxes. But but what’s the balance?

Wallace West:
Good question. And um, the, uh, and I don’t know if I have a quick answer for that role. So what the balance is. But I think that that, uh, if we reduce regulations, then and then we’re able to to reduce government.

Wallace West:
And and so some people, those people who may work in a government. So remember, 55% of of the people in North Carolina get their government paycheck of some sort. And so, uh, the they may be wondering, well, gosh, if you reduce government, then I don’t have a job. That’s not necessarily so, because then businesses thrive and they’re able to hire those people and put them to work. And and so we can have both we can have a strong government by making it lean and mean and having accountability and and let people in government run their, uh, departments and run government like you run your your your own enterprise or your own household.

Reuel Sample:
Imagine if that would imagine if that would happen. Government efficiency would just if they would start running it like businesses would run it. Which is why people like you, who are businessmen are running for positions in government, is that you know how to balance a checkbook. You put people to work. You know, you know, the impact of of out of control regulations and out of control taxes.

Wallace West:
And, you know, there are a lot of regulations that were, are were well-meaning. But another challenge that that people in government have because they haven’t, uh, you know, haven’t had the experience of maybe experiences that I have had, uh, and that other you and other small business people have had is you have to be able to look beyond next year and the next year. You’ve got to have a vision and understand the consequences of your actions. And I don’t know if you’re familiar with Newton’s laws of motion, but the law is the third law. His third law of motion says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. That’s my paraphrased version of it. And the same thing goes with the regulation. Okay. For every regulation, every regulation that we put in has an equal and opposite force against it. And we have to be careful not to, uh, about doing regulations and even the ones that we cut when we get ready to cut those regulations, they have to be done well so that you don’t have a reaction that negative and you can mitigate that.

Education, School Choice and Charter Schools

Reuel Sample:
One of your other major platforms is education. And the, the, the big thing that Republicans got through in their budget last year and continue to fight for. It’s this whole idea of school choice. Now, here in New Hanover County, we’ve got three great candidates running for the Board of Education. But school choice is a big issue for parents who want to be able to send their kids to other kinds of schools. Where are you on school choice?

Wallace West:
Well, I am a I’m a advocate for school choice. Uh, and I think the opportunity scholarships that, uh, have are part of our, uh, school choice program and programing, as it were, is a great things. And, uh, you know, there, uh, I have a friend who has a child, has learning disabilities, and our public schools don’t have the the teachers are there to teach the curriculum and they don’t have the skill set. They may have the heart and the desire, but they don’t have the skill set to minister to those people, whether it’s, uh, ADHD or whether it’s some autism or some other, you know, learning disability that a child may have. And, and, uh, so charter schools or, uh, a private school, often many of those are set up specifically to minister to or to help teach and help those children grow and learn in their environment. And so there’s a there’s a place certainly for public education in the, in the government arena, as it were. Uh, and for those teachers who, you know, dedicate their lives. My granddaughter is a is a Spanish teacher in Mecklenburg, uh, school system and teaches high school Spanish. So, I mean, I love teachers. Believe me. And so I’m not against public education as such. And we can send our kids to, to both private school and public school. We put them in the public school system when they got to be high school age. Uh, and uh, the and that worked well for us and for our kids. But I believe that there are a lot of opportunities for, uh, for that a lot of educational opportunities. We need to provide as many educational opportunities, uh, that help children grow and learn and be contributing citizens as we can. And school choice is a large part of that.

Reuel Sample:
One of those parts of school choice is charter schools. Yes. And you have pointed out a disparity that charter schools face in school districts across North Carolina, and that’s in reception of state funding. Uh, or uh, so. What is that disparity with charter schools and why are charter schools important?

Wallace West:
Well, the disparity is has to do with the way that the local school systems administer the funds that they have that are provided by the state and their respective counties for the for funding the educational programs. And there’s a the formula that they use to to redistribute the money, which should be equal to what their per student funds. It’s it’s my based upon my research, it’s my understanding that that there is a disparity in that funding mechanism or oftentimes I’m not saying New Hanover County is guilty of it. I’m just saying that as a rule, because the public education as a whole, but that particularly the teachers association, that they’re they’re not in favor of charter schools. And so this is a, uh, and, uh, so anyway, funding is one way to make it more difficult for charter schools.

Reuel Sample:
Well, let’s be fair. The teachers association is not is not for school choice either. Uh, and in reality, school choice is is actually strengthens both private and public schools because the, the money in the end follows the follows the child.

Wallace West:
Yes, absolutely it does. And if we can if we make are able to educate our children, uh, in such a way that they become more responsible and and productive in our society, we’re, we’re strengthening families in the end.

Strengthening the Trades

Reuel Sample:
We talked earlier about small businesses, specifically plumbers, contractors, electricians. One of the big things that you talk about is workforce education, uh, strengthening the trades. Uh, we as a country are finally realizing that that college might not be for everybody. But how can you strengthen a trade oriented education here in North Carolina?

Wallace West:
Well, uh, the. You can, uh, one, one good place to start is in the public school system and also in the community college system to to, uh, introduce and expand the work based programs, educational programs for kids. When, when, uh, I was going to high school and junior high to actually started in junior high when I was going to high school, when my kids went to high school, you could, uh, there were they had trade programs that you could they had shop. Okay. And in shop you had you had the carpentry type trades, and then you had the mechanical type trades and you were able to to take those courses that that you might have an interest in. And for, for the young ladies or for men who might have an interest in home EC. You had a home EC and you know those courses don’t exist. But for the most part in public schools arena today. But we can reinstitute that.

Reuel Sample:
Blows my mind, Wallace. That blows my mind because I in middle school, I had to go through I had to go through home ec. I had to sew a bag. I don’t know where what happened to it. I had to learn how to cook. I also went to shop and had made something. I can’t remember what it was, but. And you’re saying we no longer have that in our classrooms?

Wallace West:
It’s my understanding that it’s not part of the curriculum as a norm, and certainly that could vary by county. I can’t speak for all the counties, but but that’s my understanding based upon my research and and I’m being interested in. I mean, it’s this is a really a something I’m interested in because, you know, uh, you know, our business was a construction related business. And so we had to depend upon tradespeople and finding qualified tradespeople or people who were interested or had had some, you know, experience is very, very difficult. And it continues to be and it continues to be very challenging for small businesses today. Uh, and whether you’re in construction or whether you’re in another business enterprise. But, uh, and so I think, uh, integrating those programs back in and having, uh, I know that Cape Fear Community College has a great, great workforce related programs. They’re trying to strengthen their programs as well. And but we as in, we as a society and as a culture and as a community. We need to recognize that, as you pointed out earlier, that college is not for everyone, and particularly when you’re going to walk away with a $150,000 $200,000 bill that somehow, no, you you got to get paid back or or the taxpayers get to pay it back, depending upon who’s in office. But, uh, fortunately, I when I borrowed money, uh, my last semester, my last year in school, and I had to pay every, every bit of it back. And I have a daughter who, uh, borrowed money to, to to go to the veterinary school, and and she’s still paying it back. And so, I hear these, these stories of how much people owe and just it just breaks my heart for them because I know, you know, they can’t they aren’t going to be able to buy that house because they they owe as much on their education as they could for, you know, almost as their house that, that they’re trying to buy. Again, it’s it’s about strengthening families.

Public Safety

Reuel Sample:
We’re talking to Wallace West, who is the write in candidate for district 18. He has been endorsed by the New Hanover County Republican Party. But you’re not going to see him on the ballot. We we’re talking about family. We’re talking about economic growth. Talking about school choice and how all of that affects family values. And there’s one area that I want to talk with you also, is your whole platform on the criminal code reform and and community policing. That’s all. That’s that that seems sort of we don’t we’re not encouraging vigilantes. Right. But we are we are talking about communities gathering together to make sure that they are safe.

Wallace West:
Yeah. Public public safety is again a concern for me because again, it’s part of supporting families and protecting families and, you know, gangs and and, uh, you know, the human trafficking especially grieves me. We live here in Wilmington, and we’re like, number three in the country in the incidence of human trafficking and, and, and drug issues related to the drug trade. And those are things that that eat away at family and and weaken the family environment. I personally know, uh, a half a dozen kids who who are new, uh, either the parent or the grandparent or knew the child who overdosed, uh, right here in Wilmington, North Carolina. And it’s just heartbreaking. And so we need to strengthen our our public safety system. We need to get the resources for, uh, the law enforcement, give them the funding they need to do the job that they need to do. They’re perfectly capable. But I learned one of my son in laws was ex-law enforcement. And, you know, I was having a conversation with him about this topic. And he gave me a lot of insight. And that about the various departments of government, whether it’s federal, state or local government. And particularly in the cases of drug enforcement and human trafficking, you would think that they would, would, would come together as a team and work together, uh, for the, the benefit of all. Uh, but but there seems to be some territorial issues that emerge over time as those groups try to work together. Uh, and they don’t necessarily share information Uh, or their resources, uh, technical, particularly technical resources. And there’s a lot of great technology out there. And, uh, for instance, okay, uh, you know, we have a port here, as I mentioned, and there’s no way that Customs Enforcement can inspect every one of those containers that comes in on that ship.

Reuel Sample:
But we get hundreds that come in every day, right?

Wallace West:
But if we have, uh, if we can scan a if we have software that can scan what you put in your shopping cart at the grocery store, and, you know, you just walk out and hand them your, you know, run your debit card and you’re done. Nothing comes out of the cart. It all stays right there. We can scan. We can scan one of those containers as it’s coming off the ship, but it costs money.

Reuel Sample:
The technology is there.

Wallace West:
We just need the funds. Somebody has to have the the vision to be able to apply it in for those types of purposes, whether and in the same way with drugs you scan it for drugs, right. Even if you weighed it. Okay. Because a human body weighs a lot different than, you know, something that’s stacked full of furniture, right. Mhm. And so it’s I mean there’s so if you, you can question the contents just by weight disparity and equipping a these cranes with a mechanism that does that. And I mean these are, I mean these are just kind of brainstorming things that, that it seems to me that could apply. And and and so those types of things there are available at different levels in different departments and levels of government that don’t always get down to the local people who actually are the boots on the ground try to do that. Law enforcement.

Criminal Code Reform

Wallace West:
So you mentioned the criminalization. Um, we, uh, it’s my base again, based upon my research, uh, the we haven’t, uh, we keep adding to the criminal code, but we don’t take anything away. We don’t revise it based upon current, uh, data and norms and things like that. And so sometimes, uh, an offender will get, uh, charged inappropriately. And I’ll give you an example, uh, the, uh, the, the to for a crime to become a felony. Now, if a for stealing, it has to exceed $1,000, okay. It’s a misdemeanor before then. So. Okay. So if, if, uh, if you have somebody that that steals is, uh, a first time offender, okay, who steals Thousand dollars worth of merchandise. He gets caught. He has a mandatory sentence of two years. Then you got this. This, uh, kid who or this or that had to be a kid. This other thief, as it were, who steals, who’s been arrested for stealing six times, and he’s stealing three, four, 500 bucks at a time. It’s a misdemeanor. It gets slapped on the wrist, and and he he gets probation. Now, who’s the worst offender? The habitual criminal or the kid that did it once.

Reuel Sample:
And I’m thinking $1,000. That’s a cell phone.

Wallace West:
Exactly. Exactly.

Reuel Sample:
You’re not saying. Let him get away with it. No, you’re not saying that he shouldn’t have consequences. Right. But to put a first time offender in jail for something like that, all he does is he learns how to be a better criminal.

Wallace West:
I’ve heard that. So. Yeah. And because who’s in there? The criminals. Right.

Reuel Sample:
Other criminals? And and more is that. You’ve destroyed it. You’ve destroyed a kid. You’ve destroyed a family. You’ve destroyed everything just because nobody’s looked at them. That’s amazing. And if you’re living in district 18, you’ve got to understand that this stuff comes home to you. The the the the human trafficking comes home. From what I understand, the Walmart right down the street from me is one of the biggest areas for human trafficking, and we’re not equipped to do that. I want to remind folks, is that that last year, the Republican controlled supermajority was able to pass a budget that increased public safety spending. But more needs to be done.

Reuel Sample:
And you’re you’re up against defund the police. They want to they want to put forward things like not allowing Ice and sheriffs to talk to each other. And that’s not what you’re that’s not what you’re for.

Wallace West:
No, no old fashioned police work sometimes is, is is, uh, is better. And, uh, I’m not that I’m, you know, for old fashioned stuff. That’s not my point, but but we we we are doing everything we can, uh, you know, uh, to through the progressive wing of the of politics is doing everything it can to destroy the family.

Reuel Sample:
Which which destroys small business. Which destroys in the end our state and our and our country.

Wallace West:
And, you know, we’re we’re blessed for, you know, our kids to, uh, to to live here. And we interact with them all the time. We see them, you know, frequently and, and speak to them every day, and I know every family can enjoy that. But but my desire would be every family would have an opportunity to do that.

Supporting Wallace West

Reuel Sample:
Now you are running a candidacy that’s all about writing in, but even you need a budget and you need supporters. So how can people find out more about you and how can they support you in this candidacy

Wallace West:
You can go to my website, writeinWallaceWest.com. WriteinWallaceWest.com. And you can you can volunteer your time to help us canvass neighborhoods. Or and you can also donate right there online to our campaign and help us fund, do the things that we need to do to win this campaign. We’re looking now at I’m pricing now, uh, and trying to do a, you know, add in some direct mail and some other pieces that are actually, you know, get pretty costly and into our budget. And so I’m looking to raise money for that to, to, to so that we can hit every household in the district. You know, with, uh, 3 or 4 different, you know, mailings to let them know, hey, write in Wallace. Write in Wallace West and repetition, repetition, repetition. And we’re trying to reinforce that message.

Wallace West:
It through social media. Uh, you can find us on Facebook. You can find us at Write In Wallace West or Vote Wallace West. Uh, on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and follow us on follow us there. And, uh, stay plugged in to what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.

Reuel Sample:
Uh, you have more information about Wallace at our website, and we’ll make sure that your website is in the show notes as we publish this throughout all of our podcast mediums. Uh, Wallace, I’m going to give you the last word.

Wallace West:
Well, thank you very much, Reuel. It’s been a real pleasure to be here and interact with you. And I’m not a politician. I’ve never sought political office before. But as I mentioned earlier, I feel called really called to do this. And the me part wanted to find a reason not to do it, but I just couldn’t find one so and and so. But I’m having a great time. My wife is committed to it just like I am. We’re having a great time and and our kids are behind us 100%. And, uh, my faith community is behind us. And so we we go out there every day, uh, knowing that. And it gives us renewed energy every day for the fight.

Reuel Sample:
Wallace West, the write in candidate for district 18 here in New Hanover County. Thank you for being on the podcast. All the best to you. We’re going to get you on before the elections. But thank you very much for joining us tonight.

Wallace West:
You bet. Thank you my pleasure.

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