ZEBULON - Heading toward the Nov. 3 election day, candidates for mayor and the board of commissioners are fine-tuning their thoughts on issues critical to the town.

Several of those issues are crime, the revitalization of the downtown area, and the need, if any, to diversify the tax base in Zebulon.

Voters will choose a Mayor and fill two seats on the town board of commissioners.

Mayoral candidate Bob Matheny, running unopposed, says local crime is a function of location, but said he feels the police department is "very proactive and very successful in arrest rates."

"Basically we just need to keep after it - keep doing what we're doing," Matheny said.

Board candidates Annie Moore and Beverly Clark agreed location is a part of the problem, and both said they feel police do a good job, but offered different solutions.

"We definitely need more police to ride through different areas and leave a car there to let people know that there's police around," Moore said.

Clark noted high crime rates may be gang-related.

"We probably need to work harder with the eastern Wake County gang group. I think our police do a good job, we just happen to be at the wrong place," Clark said.

Board candidate Roy Collins thinks the crime is the result of the weak economy.

"My understanding is that the people that commit the crimes don't, or won't work. They steal to get their money. For the ones that will take and steal, I care nothing for them," he said, noting the hardest legal punishment is what criminals deserve.

All candidates but Collins agreed revitalizing downtown is a project that needs completion.

"As it is now, downtown is OK with me," Collins said. "Any new development that comes, we will certainly welcome that, and we could direct that there. That is, if it's a good business."

Matheny mentioned more parking and overlay districts, and he and Clark both pointed to implementing an appearance committee used in past years. Matheny, Clark and Moore all agreed the property owners are the key to accomplishing this goal.

"I think the people that own stores should get together and come up with an idea on how to make it better," Moore said. "But we need some new stores downtown and need to build downtown up. If there's nothing to do downtown there won't be anyone downtown."

"The town can't do it all," Matheny said. "We have good merchants, but we have some vacant buildings that need to be occupied."

Clark is concerned with getting property owners to clean up the appearance of vacant buildings.

"That's what really bothers me and that's not acceptable. Maybe there's some grants we could apply for for them to improve those properties," Clark said.

With a tax base made up of nearly 70 percent industrial taxpayers, Zebulon needs more homes and more small commercial business to diversify its tax base according to Matheny, although he said remaining industry heavy is at the same time beneficial to the citizens and that he's grateful Zebulon has such big businesses.

"When you have large companies with large tax bills that means that's less money the people have to pay for these services. I'm glad we have that problem if you want to call it one," Matheny said.

Moore sided with Matheny in more housing and small businesses, but proposed the town seek additional big businesses so if one were to close or move there will be others to fall back on

"The town needs to find out how to bring those businesses in that are going to be here for a long time," Moore said.

Collins said it's a hard call to make since it does make it lighter on the individual to not have to pay so much in taxes.

"We love that here, but new communities and small businesses will always have their place in Zebulon," he said. "We can't call Zebulon the 'Town of Friendly People' if we're turning them away."