As Garner residents prepare to head to the polls next week for the primary election, Jeanne Bonds is eager to serve residents of Wake County.

The N.C. House of Representatives candidate for District 39 is running against incumbent Darren Jackson.

Bonds said the most important issue for District 39 is economic development.

“District 39 needs jobs and the businesses need support,” Bonds said.

The jobs and training would come from collaboration with universities and putting Eastern Wake County on the map by encouraging businesses and industries to move into the area.

Throughout the financial crisis seen throughout the state, Bonds said she hasn’t seen anyone stand up as a leader on the issue. She believes she would make a good fit for the N.C. House seat because economic development was one of her top goals as a member of the Town Council and Mayor of Knightdale.

She created jobs when she initiated the Economic Development Committee and encouraged businesses to move into the Knightdale area.

The Wilmington native was appointed unanimously to the Knightdale’s Town Council in 1994 when she went up against six other residents for the position. She went on to serve two full terms as Council member from 1995 to 2002. Bonds also served as Mayor Pro Tem for seven years during her tenure.

Residents of Knightdale voted in Bonds as the first female Mayor in 2002 and she was later named to the Board of Directors of the N.C. League of Municipalities.

Throughout her career, Bonds also has worked with the N.C. Courts as the Deputy Director of the State Administrative Office of the Courts. As a former state employee herself, Bonds said she is passionate about public employees.

She has worked in Washington D.C. as well and said she brings a larger perspective than most candidates do because she sees both the larger and smaller pictures and is able to marry the two.

“I know the process of the General Assembly from the inside and the outside,” she said.

Bonds went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her undergraduate work as well as her Master’s Degree in Public Administration, with a concentration in Public Policy.

Bonds said other issues at the top of her priority list include public education and tax restructuring. By dedicating revenue streams to education, North Carolina’s students and teachers would be less likely to suffer from job and funding cuts.

As income tax has increased, families in North Carolina have been affected negatively, Bonds said. By instating a progressive tax, she believes the tax system would be fair.

Sales and income taxes would be adjusted and the state would open up doors to tax more services of the nearly 150 categories of tax revenue available. Bonds said that would help families at the grocery store checkout line.

Bonds said District 39 needs a vocal, passionate representative to be a good advocate and she believes she fits the bill.

At times, though, there will always be tough issues to handle. The state budget has been an issue of contention on everyone’s mind. Bonds said that while budgets usually aren’t perfect, she would vote for the best budget presented after voicing her concerns.

Still, Bonds said she wouldn’t vote on a bill she had not read and done research on first. A tough questioner, Bonds always did her homework first to best represent constituents in Knightdale. When Knightdale expanded its water and sewer coverage, Bonds came up with alternative options to balance out the needs of all parties involved.

Bonds said that all of the communities in District 39 face similar obstacles. For Garner, the opportunity to bring in new business to the ConAgra Foods plant location opens several doors for job creation and marketing the town.

“It’s a time for Garner to be innovative,” she said.

Bonds is convinced challenges like ConAgra leaving Garner can become opportunities for a brighter tomorrow.

Much like Garner, Bonds said she would like to see all of Eastern Wake County grow in manufacturing, transportation and commercialization for new products and start up businesses. That, she said, is how District 39 would become the gateway to Eastern North Carolina.