Town of Boone candidates face questions
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

Ten of the 11 candidates for Boone Town Council went to court last Thursday.

At least, they attended a round robin forum hosted by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce at the Watauga County Courthouse on Thursday.

Mediator Ron Hester first explained the forum was not a debate, and each candidate would be afforded the opportunity to answer the same question in a set amount of time. Questions for candidates were submitted in advance by citizens to the chamber, and the first asked what qualifications each candidate brought to the office they’re pursuing.

Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson, running for re-election, said she brings a love for the town of Boone to the mayor’s office.

“Boone’s always been very important for me,” said Clawson, a native of Beech Mountain. “When I moved to Boone, I became very involved with the activities that were going on … It’s a good place, and I study hard, I work hard, I really spend time with the issues.”

Mayoral candidate Tim Wilson spoke next, saying he can bring to Boone “a lot of experience in business, common sense, logic and making decisions that would benefit the growth of the town of Boone,” while solving some of its problems.

“I think Boone’s a great place to live, work and play. If it wasn’t that way, we wouldn’t have the problems we have.”

Liz Aycock, candidate for Boone Town Council and a member of the Boone Area Planning Commission, said she was qualified for the job based on her educational experience in alternative energies and sustainable development, her business experience as a real estate broker and her personal abilities as a mother and stakeholder in the community. “I’m running because I love Boone and I care about the future,” she said.

Council candidate Jeremy Blocker said he was qualified for the job because he has his “finger on the pulse of the community.” Blocker works as a probation officer, which he said involves him directly with the many different agencies and a wide spectrum of people in town. “I see the problems, I think I’ve got good solutions for them,” he said. “I want to see Boone grow, see it prosper. I think, given the opportunity, I can make that happen...”

Council candidate Ethan Dodson first commented on his age, saying while voters might not take a 24- (going on 25) year-old candidate seriously, his youth brings to the table an open mind with fresh ideas. “I have been in Boone for well over a decade now … I appreciate what Boone offers to the rest of the county and to the region in general,” he said.

Council candidate Kevin Freeman said he was a local of 34 years, “which is how old I am,” and that he’s worked in downtown Boone for the last 15 years. “I really take pride in this area,” Freeman said, adding that he’s an alumnus of ASU and a workingman trying to make a change.

Council member and mayor pro tem Lynne Mason, in her bid for re-election, said she brings to the office “a real passion for our community,” as well as a commitment to the protection of the quality of life for today and generations to come. She said now is a critical time for Boone and that officials “need to balance responsible planned growth with preservation of our natural resources.”

Council candidate and planning commissioner Stephen Phillips said he’s grown up in Boone and has seen it “change, grow, both in good ways and bad ways,” which he said is one of the reasons he studied city planning in college,’ ‘learning tools’ and techniques to make Boone a better place.” Phillips has served on the planning commission for the past seven years, and he also served on the smart growth task force.

Incumbent council candidate Bunk Spann mentioned a couple instances during his past term relevant to his qualifications, the first being his four years of service on the Boone Town Council. The second is his love for Boone. “I’m often accused when I go off the mountain of being a member of the chamber of commerce, I say so many great things about this town,” he said.

Incumbent council candidate Dempsey Wilcox said he brings 12 years of experience to the council, as the longest-serving member. “I bring an extensive knowledge of the town, its people and neighborhoods, maybe unparalleled…” he said, adding that apart from bringing a business background to the table, he brings “open mindedness and ability to listen, which I think is very useful. I do enjoy helping the public, and the last thing … is I’m a fair-minded person and a person with a reputation for honesty.”

Hester next asked candidates what their top priority would be if elected or re-elected. Wilson said his top priority would be improving the camaraderie between the town and Appalachian State University and the Watauga County school board, as well as between Boone Development Services and area builders.

Aycock said the Unified Development Ordinance is overdue for a streamlining, “so it’s easier for builders to know upfront rather than later.” In addition, she said she’d like to do away with “mandatory review and voluntary compliance involving appearance standards.”

Blocker said one of the most important issues is water. “I understand the council has located and is working on purchasing land (for an additional water source),” he said. “I think it is great, but I understand the process to make this new source available is several years away because of permits and construction times. It should’ve been acted on earlier and in a more expedient manner.”

In the meantime, Blocker suggested adding water storage tanks to temporarily improve capacity.
Dodson said his priority would be establishing an open-mindedness on the council. “I have several things I want to do, but I want to work with the council to make sure they happen,” he said, mentioning affordable housing and zero waste as examples “…I want to have an open mind as much as possible. I want the citizens to dictate where I want to go.”

Since Freeman lives and works in downtown Boone, he said his priority would be the preservation of downtown Boone with a historic district and green space, all through smart growth. In terms of ASU and its proximity to the downtown district, he said, “I would like to work with the campus, not against the campus.”

Mason said it was difficult to focus on just one important issue for the town, but she settled on smart growth, which “incorporates many of the important things we need to be working on. Smart growth is about certain principles that make communities more livable,” such as affordable housing, alternative transportation and the preservation of open space and farm land, all of which she said will “lead our community in a very positive direction.”

Phillips said one of his main focuses will be traffic, “because everyday you go around town, that’s the biggest complaint.” A lot of times, he said, citizens offer potential solutions. To gather those and bring them to fruition, Phillips said he’d like to host a series of forums at which residents can discuss traffic woes and offer suggestions, be it extra turn lanes or a better calibration of traffic lights.

“After we get these ideas, just approach the [N.C. Department of Transportation] and see what could get done about it,” he said.

While there were plenty of priorities from which to choose, Spann said he’d like to improve the relationship between the town, university and business community, “working consistently with each of those entities to help them to communicate effectively with one another to help us go forward with a great degree of harmony and cooperation than ever before.”

Wilcox said his top priority, though difficult to choose, would be the re-establishment of relationships with many of the key organizations in the area, such as ASU, the county, the health care system, business community and the state. He said that over the last four years, the town’s relationship with those entities has deteriorated. “If we don’t rebuild these relationships, we’re not going to be able to move forward in town,” he said.

Clawson said one of her main concerns was the water issue, especially considering the drought conditions plaguing the state.