“The economic picture seems to be improving, somewhat. Some promising economic development investments have been made locally to help improve our economic future. But, I believe there are still some things that are imperative to continue that progress, for the long-term.”

Pierce, who lost his bid for re-election in the May Democratic primary, told the audience, “Let's, for a moment, take a good, honest look at ourselves in the mirror.”

He said the county's population is decreasing and unemployment remains in double-digit figures. “The number of children in our public school system continues to shrink — we've got a crime rate in all our towns and across the county that is skyrocketing. The question is, what are we going to do about it? What can we do about it? Are we going to continue the status quo and keep on getting the same old results? If we stay on the same path where will our county be in 10 years, or even five years for that matter?”

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The public education system must be improved, Pierce said. “We have got to include all the children when we discuss improving education. We cannot continue to exclude and refer to county citizens as them and us, based on where they live and other differences.”

Said Pierce: “We are all Halifax County citizens and every child deserves and should get the best educational opportunities we can afford.”

The chairman said, “If we don't start providing that we will never get better. Let's stop using our Tier One status as an excuse. Let's use it as motivation to change where we are and to get better. I'm going to challenge everyone in this room to take the popular slogan that we hear so much — working together works — and really put it to practice.”