Profile: Ethan Dodson brings student’s perspective
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

The following is part two in a series of candidate profiles for the 2007 Boone municipal election, to be held Oct. 9.

Running for municipal election can certainly be considered an educational experience.

As such, Appalachian State University graduate student Ethan Dodson is hoping to score an “A” and one of three opening seats on the Boone Town Council.

Since Dodson is actively involved in the university as a graduate student in higher education administration, he brings a sort of insider’s perspective to the ballot, and his views on town and gown relations reflect his involvement.

“I feel the relationship between the town of Boone and Appalachian is not as estranged as it once was,” he said. “It’s actually been improving, in my opinion, by a significant amount.”

Instead, he suggested the tension exists between the current town council and the university, rather than the town as a whole. The way to rectify the situation is through effective communication between both parties, and Dodson said he could bring such communication forth.

The proposed college of education building, which exceeds town land-use regulations, is a contentious issue, and Dodson said he’d be willing to work closely with the university when it comes to new building projects. Open dialogue sessions should be happening at present between the council and university.

“I think the university should comply with town regulations and ordinances, but in a situation such as this, greater flexibility should be exercised by the town council,” Dodson said, “especially when it comes to a project of such importance that would benefit the community.”

Dodson said he’d like to see strategic plans for each entity written together to take into account town and university growth issues.

As for growth, the most evident signs can be found sitting at red lights and inching down King Street at rush hour.

“Traffic needs to be a higher priority than it is right now,” Dodson said. “I feel the nature of traffic is you sit in it a while, but eventually you get home and forget about it. Council members should not have that luxury of neglecting an important issue that affects the quality of life for all citizens of Boone.”

The town is reaching a point where a bypass could be a viable option, he said, adding that research on the feasibility of such a project and its environmental implications and results should be a high priority.

Since the N.C. Department of Transportation holds the most cards in this hand, Dodson said he’d be willing to regularly travel to Raleigh to meet with legislators and plead Boone’s case with the state on issues like traffic and water.

Alternative transportation also factors in, and Dodson said pedestrian opportunities should be better utilized for a town of Boone’s size. “Pedestrian opportunities for downtown and for the campus is one of the easier ways to alleviate traffic problems, rather than creating new roads or turn lanes,” he said.

A recreational runner, Dodson said he’d certainly favor more sidewalks, as well as a complete greenway system.

Addressing the town’s water situation, in which the town must build a new treatment plant to accommodate future demand, Dodson said the matter is negatively affecting affordable housing. Dodson cited Ordinance 05-01, which the council adopted to allocate yearly allotments of water for distribution, and called it ineffective, saying it stifles growth and affordable housing.

“Affordable housing is a crucial problem for this area, and we need water to have affordable housing,” he said. “Growth is coming, inevitably, because we live in a state that’s one of the fastest growing in the country, and Boone is not immune to that growth.”

Dodson said he hopes it’s not too late for the town to be proactive about seeking a new water source and increasing allocations.

The most contentious issue of all, however, is one that dates back to almost a year ago: steep slope development and view-shed regulation. “The interesting thing about this is the ordinances and regulations exist right now – they’re in writing and they’re policy – but that doesn’t mean they should not be reexamined and reevaluated by a new council,” Dodson said, “because in an issue where a direction was taken, the issue is still the same.”

Dodson said he appreciates what the council and steep slope task force were trying to achieve, but that the regulations “prevent a significant amount of necessary growth,” such as building single-family homes on slopes.

“I don’t want it to be as difficult for someone to build a house up here, myself included, and I think you can protect the environment in a greater capacity by exploring more initiatives, such as zero waste,” he said.

In addition, Dodson said the view-shed map should be reviewed and updated, in that it “creates a lot of limits that I hope could be worked into alleviating.”

As far as smart growth, Dodson said he supports the concept but would rather see it happen downtown.

“There are areas where it’s extremely important to have smart growth and multi-use buildings, and I feel those areas are in the downtown area, where you have existing structures right there of local businesses on bottom floors and residential apartments above,” he said, mentioning that a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere is an ideal example of smart growth.

“Smart growth is a great thing, but the key word in there is ‘growth.’ At the same time, a different term that I’d use would be ‘proactive planning,’ which I think could be used a lot more for the town of Boone than smart growth.”

Dodson has lived in the area since 1996, having attended Watauga High School and Appalachian State University. While the notion of running for office was in the back of his head, Dodson said he was approached by several people to do so.

Over the course of the election, Dodson became friends with incumbent candidate Dempsey Wilcox, whom he said indicated the political action committee, Citizens for Change, might consider endorsing him. Prior to filing, Dodson received a call from members of the PAC, asking for an interview because they’d considered endorsing him.

Citizens for Change interviewed numerous candidates, including Dodson, who the group subsequently endorsed. Dodson was flattered by the endorsement, but said he hadn’t received any financial contributions.

“I think maybe the cause and the nature of what they stand for is questionable to some people, but certainly not to me,” he said, referring to the group’s adamant stance against the steep slope and view-shed regulations. “They’re the only group that invited me to speak, so I was very grateful.”

In closing, Dodson said he was unsatisfied with the current state of the community and that the town could be much better.

“It is already a great place to live, a great place to raise a family and a great place to retire,” he said. “I don’t want this community or myself to be complacent with that. I’d much rather Boone be known as the best place to raise a family, the best place to work or the best place to retire.”

For more information, or to contact Ethan Dodson, call (828) 773-3346 or e-mail ethan.dodson@gmail.com.