Facing the voters: Deb Hardin - Cleveland County Commissioner candidate

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent

Deb Hardin

Deb Hardin, a candidate for and a current County Commissioner, is on the last lap of her second term. If reelected, she will begin her third term in December. That means Hardin has served on the board through massive changes across Cleveland County, from the Justice Center to the new Board of Elections building, the 911 Center and Two Kings Casino.

Through all these projects, she said she has been concerned about the wallets of Cleveland County citizens, having voted against the budget tax rate set last year by the county commissioners. She thought they could go even lower, but she was outvoted.

 “If we could have gone a little lower, it would have given some relief; and not everyone’s bill went up, but most people’s property taxes did,” she noted, in an interview with The Shelby Independent.

But she also wanted it to be made clear that the property revaluation had to be done, regardless; therefore, the only way to give relief was to give a tax relief.

“I wanted to go lower,” Hardin explained. “I looked through the budget and saw four departments losing money every year. These, in my mind, weren’t essential and we needed to fix them… I didn’t say get rid of them, I said fix them. One of those departments mentioned in the forum was discussed in the workshop session. All types of options and ways to make them more solvent were discussed.”

The gun range was one of the four mentioned, where they have had some competitions since it opened. The events help bring at least a minimum number of people to the area, and she noted every dollar helps the economic vitality of Cleveland County.

“They have to stay somewhere,” Hardin shrugged. “They stay in hotels and eat in restaurants, buy gas and shop locally while they’re here. It helps.”

But is it enough people to make a difference?

She said they will be able to look at the budget this year and see if they’re gaining ground or not with the gun range.

Another department is travel tourism. “There’s been some changes in those departments, and hopefully when we see what changes were made that we will see someone improvement to close the gap or get over the gap,” she said.

Hardin said she believes even the smallest changes make a big difference.

When Hardin campaigned for her first term, she said there was no way to watch the meeting online. “They had nothing, so I started going to the meetings, and speaking. I wanted to be more involved,” she noted, having been a part of implementing the videos being livestreamed online for residents to view at home. “It was very important that when I was elected, that we had the meetings livestreamed.” Hardin said it took about a year before it came to fruition.

Another issue was the treatment of resident speakers at meetings. In the past, one particular resident was unfairly spoken to, at least, she felt so in her opinion. “Where is the compassion for the residents?” she asked herself. That’s when she started going to more meetings. Finally, she made the decision to run, and now she is up for reelection, again.

Hardin said public safety is paramount to the county and is important to her, as she noted the county commissioners have strived to always improve safety.

“We don’t always agree, I have voted no on the final budget more than once, but I respect the other commissioners; if I’m outvoted, I may not like it but the vote is respected. I may want things done a certain way, but if three or four vote a certain way, we have to support each other and move on. Something important for people to realize is that we can amicably disagree and yet support our decisions in the end.”

She is concerned about the poverty level, with Cleveland being a Tier 1 county, stating, “A lot of people are struggling and I’m thankful the county has helped nonprofits to provide food for the impoverished across Cleveland."

She also noted that, in her opinion, “To bring people out of poverty in Cleveland, we have to figure out ways to get people trained and into these jobs – and we have that training at the college but if they have to walk to work then they have to live only near where they work which limits their options.”

It only stands to ask; how do we give residents the opportunity to better themselves by being able to travel to better paying jobs? – Public Transportation?

Hardin grew up in Dover Mill housing, where people walked to work, and then when PPG came along, they had a company van that picked up employees to take them to and from work.

Still, in 2026 people are walking to work – an issue that concerns Hardin, yet the answer is elusive.

“I think there’s something there that needs to be looked into, but I don’t know what that is,” she said.  

Would a bus system be a benefit? 

(Deb Hardin continued below..)

“I don’t know if that’s the answer,” she replied, “but there doesn’t seem to be a way for people in poverty to get out of it, because they’re limited by where their location is to close-by jobs.”

She continued, “And how do they get to the community college? We’re talking about people who want to do better but don’t have the means to do better due to lack of transportation. I really want people to have the opportunity to make their lives better and be a more vital part of our county.”

“To get out of a Tier 1 county label, we have to increase wages and there’s a lot to do, such as income, population growth and a big part of it is helping people get on their feet and taking that first step towards prosperity,” she added.

“I believe in our county and our citizens, I am always passionate about that, just as much as I am dogs. I feel like our county needs help. I think some people feel the calling to do things, which could be anything, but in my case, it involves the animal world and serving as a county commissioner." Hardin also serves as the Founder and President of Clifford’s Army Rescue, a full nonprofit all volunteer animal rescue.

In closing, she said, “At the end of the day, I will always vote based on what I believe is best for our citizens, because I am one of you. I face the same challenges, the same concerns, and the same hopes for the future. I would be honored to earn your trust and your vote.”

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Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent. 

The Shelby Independent.