"If you remember," Bentley, District 1's representative on the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, said this week, "I pretty much put my seat on the line. I said don't vote for me if I can't make this happen."

At next Tuesday's meeting, less than two weeks after Bentley announced plans to seek a fourth term as north Mecklenburg's commissioner, the county board is expected to provide the approval needed to make Stumptown Elementary a reality by August 2013.

"This is absolutely ahead of schedule," Bentley said this week, adding that capital improvement projects are usually on the board's agenda in April and May. "But the funds became available sooner than we thought and this allows us to move ahead and, perhaps, speed up the entire process."

Bentley said board approval of the Stumptown project, which she believes is the only building expenditure item on next week's agenda, should kick-start the bidding and could bump up the construction schedule. The new school, which has been discussed for years as a much-needed solution to overcrowding at Torrence Creek Elementary, would be scheduled to welcome students at the start of the 2013-14 school year.

"This is me making good on a promise to our constituents," Bentley said, "but what it really does is provide residents with some confidence that we are responding to their needs and following through on commitments."

In addition to the new school, which has been anticipated for years but was routinely pushed down the county's priority list, Bentley said she expected budget issues and a fresh look at the county's valuation process to be among the highlighted items on the county board's agenda in the future.

"My district was hit really hard by the revaluation, especially in Cornelius and around the lake," she said. "That is something we have to address as a board and an issue we need to discuss with the state legislature to see if we can come up with a process more in tune with the 21st Century."

In a press release announcing plans to seek re-election last week, Bentley said the progress of plans for Stumptown Elementary and the securing of a victim's advocate for the north Mecklenburg towns were major achievements during the year, along with presenting a revenue-neutral budget for the current fiscal year.

"The county's current operating budget is $1.38 billion. A large number of our citizens probably aren't aware that county government has grown to that proportion," wrote Bentley, who has more than two decades of professional sales experience. "That's why I think it is imperative we have business-minded people managing the spending of those funds and looking for greater efficiencies across the board.

"We have shown that not only can we effectively provide schools and services in our area but we can do so without raising taxes" Bentley wrote. "There are adversaries on the board that don't necessarily think that is possible. I will continue working to ensure we embrace the view that county tax dollars are indeed taxpayer dollars versus thinking we are entitled to them."

Also in her announcement, Bentley said it has been an honor to represent the people in her district.

"Our area has seen many challenges in the past year related to county government," she wrote in her announcement, "and I have been pleased to be the voice of the district to county government."

She added that district realignment may have altered the boundaries of District 1, but it has not changed her focus to serve.

"We will be running in new districts for the first time in a decade," she said. "Population increases in the northern end of the county have decreased the size of my district, but I think the qualities of its people are still our county's best."

The county board includes six district and three at-large representatives. Because of population growth and shifts in the county, district realignment included a pull-back in District 1's southern borders, but the district still includes Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, the Mountain Island Lake area and western-most portions of the University City area.