Weeks before the filing deadline, Garry Scearce has announced his intentions to run for the county commissioners seat representing the Mount Airy district, now held by Craig Hunter.

Hunter, a Republican, announced a few weeks ago that he would not be running for re-election this year. Scearce, also a Republican, felt this was the time for him to step up. He said he probably wouldn’t have run for office if Hunter had decided to try for re-election, since they are both Republicans.

“Hunter has done a great job on the board,” said Scearce.

Scearce will retire from Surry County Emergency Services later this year after 30 years of service. He is the assistant supervisor for emergency services.

He believes his experience with emergency services would benefit him as a county commissioner. Scearce said, “I’ve had the opportunity to see a lot of the county’s operations from the inside ... and we see who needs help the most.”

Now that Scearce is coming up on retirement, he wants to make sure that he does something to keep active in the community. For the past two to three years he has been gathering information on the county, learning more about county commissioner decisions, the population, unemployment rates, and more. He said he has tried to attend every county commissioner meeting, only missing those scheduled during his work days.

“You’ve got to have a basic knowledge of what’s going on in the county,” he remarked.

Scearce is active in the Republican party in Surry County and is the vice chairman of the Surry County Republican Men’s Club. He has also traveled to Raleigh with local officials to lobby for Fibrowatt and prison systems. He said he researched Fibrowatt heavily before deciding to support it.

He applied for the Mount Airy commissioner seat the city board awarded to Jon Cawley a few years ago. Scearce was one of 12 people to apply for the position and said he primarily sought the seat because he knew the board wanted someone who was not going to run for re-election. Scearce said even then he knew that his main goal was to run for the county board.

The economic state of Surry County is what concerns Scearce the most. He said last time he checked, the unemployment rate in Surry County was above 12 percent. Scearce said many businesses are not seeking to grow, but he believes that the technical skills that many county residents have and the water supply system will be appealing to businesses that do decide to expand.

He said, “We’ve got a tremendous amount of resources in Surry County ... We’ve got a water supply system that places like Greensboro would only dream of having.”

Scearce went on to say, “I think our focus needs to be on promoting our resources and the quality of life we have here.”

He said he commends the current county commissioners for keeping taxes low and working on water systems and education projects. He said, “I give the board a lot of credit for working on infrastructure.”

Scearce is 49 years old and lives with his wife, Vicki, in Mount Airy. They have a son, Corey, 21, who is following his father’s footsteps by working for Surry County Emergency Services.

A native of Surry County, Scearce said, “This whole area is a great place to live.”

In addition to his involvement in politics, Scearce is also a trustee for Victory Baptist Church, a community CPR instructor, an instructor in EMS courses at Surry Community College, and a member of the North Carolina Association of Paramedics. He works for Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital part-time as a relief nursing supervisor in addition to his job with emergency services. Scearce received his associate degree in emergency medical services from Guilford Technical Community College and bachelor of science degree in nursing from Winston-Salem State University.

Scearce is excited to run for county office. He already has business cards and posters made up and a treasurer and volunteers selected.

“I’ve been preparing for this for quite some time,” he said.

Contact Meghann Evans at mevans@mtairynews.com or 719-1952.