Republican voters in one of Mecklenburg's most conservative commissioners' districts have a pair of self-proclaimed budget cutters to pick from in Tuesday's primary.

It's how they'd wield the budget ax that defines each candidate's unique political personality.

Shirley Davis, who will compete against James for the Republican nomination, has made budget-slashing a primary issue in her campaign to represent the swath of territory that stretches from Pineville to Matthews to Mint Hill.

Davis says she's for "slimming down" the county budget, but won't say exactly where she'd find the fat.

"I do know of specific areas of the budget that could be slimmed down, but I'm not going to discuss them at this time," she said. "When you start telling people that you are going to cut their part of the budget, then it makes it hard to have a good open working relationship with them.

"Without pointing fingers, I want to be able to go into office and go into an open, working relationship."

James readily identifies cuts that he says could add up to millions in savings for county taxpayers. At every possible opportunity, he has questioned school officials' use of "lapsed salary" money, or money saved when jobs go unfilled for any period of time. He also says the school system could save money by privatizing or outsourcing janitorial services.

He's critical of Davis for not coming forward with concrete budget-cutting ideas, and questions whether she even has any.

"The one thing about me is that no one has to wonder what my stance on an issue is," James said. "My commitment has been to tell people the truth, even if they don't agree with me."

But Davis has been critical of James' blustery political style, which has ruffled some feathers, even in his own party.

"I will be able to provide positive leadership for District 6," Davis said. "I believe that my opponent has lost his effectiveness."

The winner in Tuesday's primary will face Democrat Rita Arundell and Libertarian Stephen Burr in November.

Regardless of how the Republican candidates would cut the county budget, it's not clear that a no-tax-increase stance is the litmus test voters in District 6 - Mecklenburg's most heavily Republican district - will use to choose their candidate.

Jane Shutt, mother of three and an active school volunteer, said she thinks District 6 voters would support a "reasonable" tax increase for schools.

"I think everybody understands that we have kind of dug ourselves a hole and we're going to have to pay to get out of it, so we can make sure all of our schools are at least adequate," said Shutt, of Pineville.

She said it's possible that goodwill could sour, though, if large numbers of parents are unhappy with the way the school board drafts a new student assignment plan. But she hopes if there are parents unhappy with the plan, they would choose to vote against school board members who passed the plan, not a bond issue to pay for school building efforts.

Debbie Yeatts, who home-schools her two children, said she might accept higher taxes, especially if she saw government doing a better job of controlling growth.

But she has her breaking point. Like many District 6 residents, it wouldn't be a long trip right across the Mecklenburg border to a county with lower taxes.

"I might begin to look for property outside the county so that I could live in a community where we had good roads and adequate infrastructure and a good quality of life," she said.

Copyright (c) 2000 The Charlotte Observer