JULY 9, 2009 ISSUE
Municipal Candidate Filing Begins
Deadline Is July 17
Candidates filing for Boone municipal elections on Monday included Jamie Leigh, Mayor Loretta Clawson, Town Council Member Rennie Brantz and Andy Ball. Photo by Anna Oakes
Candidate filing for the 2009 municipal elections began Monday, July 6, and continues through noon on Friday, July 17, in Watauga and Avery counties. All local elections are scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 3, this year.
Eleven people had filed for candidacy in Watauga County as of 3:00 p.m. on July 8. In Boone, two-term Mayor Loretta Clawson filed for re-election to a third term as mayor. The Boone Town Council recently voted to extend the mayoral term from two years to four years, which will take effect with the election in November.
“It’s not easy to try to balance the various interests in our town, but I have always continued to look to the future, to be fair to all the people, and I have always faced Boone’s important issues head-on with all my heart and soul,” Clawson said in a filing statement.
Candidates who have filed for three available seats on the Boone Town Council thus far include incumbent Rennie Brantz, Jamie Leigh and Andy Ball.
“I believe Boone is at a critical turning point in its history. The economic recession is threatening existing programs, future growth and our identity as a caring community,” Brantz wrote in his filing statement. “We have to act thoughtfully and carefully if we are to preserve and enhance the quality of life that we all treasure.”
Ball currently serves on the Boone Board of Adjustment and is a founder of the Watauga Young Democrats. Ball said he believes in utilizing smart growth principles in sustainably managing the town’s growth.
Leigh, an accountant, said in her statement, “I believe that my business and financial educational and professional backgrounds are particularly relevant at a time when municipalities of all sizes are being forced to make tough choices about how to best use limited financial resources.”
Four candidates have filed for three available seats on the Blowing Rock Town Council: George Sudderth, Jim Steele, Pat Fountain and Doug Matheson. None are incumbents. Sudderth, a retired utilities director, said the following while filing his papers Monday morning: “I’ve got 31 years of municipal experience. I just feel like folks with my background need to step up.”
Paul Piquet is thus far the lone filer in the race for three available seats on the Beech Mountain Town Council. In Seven Devils, Mayor Bob Dodson has filed for re-election to the Town Council in addition to non-incumbent David A. Ehmig.
In Avery County, six people had filed for candidacy in the November election as of July 8. Banner Elk Mayor Deka Tate filed for re-election, while Ed Hardin filed as her challenger. In Elk Park, incumbent Mayor Darlene Hicks filed for re-election and Neil Reece filed for a seat on the Town Council. In Sugar Mountain, Norris Clifton filed for one of two open seats on the Village Council, and in Crossnore, Tudor Vance filed for re-election as mayor.
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