When Roy Dickey of Hiwassee Dam was appointed to the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners to fill an at-large seat vacated by Cal Stiles in 2014, he wasn’t sure if his abbreviated two-year term would be his only venture into politics.
However, Dickey would go on to serve an additional four years after being elected in 2016 to represent District 5, while Stiles went on to be elected in District 1. On Nov. 23, Dickey presided over his final commission meeting as chairman and plans to begin a new chapter of life devoid of politics.
“I have no desire to run for anything else,” Dickey said in a conversation with the Cherokee Scout. “I’ve enjoyed it, and it’s been an honor and a privilege to serve with some fine men. I have the utmost respect for each commissioner. Sometimes we disagreed, but that’s just the way things are.”
Dickey chose not to seek re-election because he wanted to spend more time with his mother, Emilou, who died unexpectedly at age 85 in October. After more than 30 years as a government employee, with about five of those years spent serving double duty as a county commissioner, Dickey looks forward to creating new memories with his family, which includes two grandchildren.
“My wife is about to retire, and hopefully we can do some traveling after the pandemic eases up,” Dickey said. “I’d like to get back involved with the Shriners and more active with the church.”
Meanwhile, Commissioner C.B. McKinnon of Marble, who was defeated in the primary election by Randy Phillips, plans to hit the dirt track. However, he hasn’t ruled out politics in the future.
“I’m going to finish building this race car and have some fun,” McKinnon said. “Who knows what the future holds? I’m going to watch what’s going on in the state, and if I see a need, I may jump in one of those races one day. I never rule anything out.”
McKinnon, who represented District 2 for two full terms, said he’s proud of the fact that Cherokee County remains free of zoning laws, despite pressure to impose new regulations. He hopes the new board continues to oppose zoning.
“Property ownership is fundamental for freedom in this nation,” he said. “If you’re not free to do what you want to do with your property, it’s not your property and you’re not free.”
McKinnon said he’s also pleased with the financial decisions the board made during his eight years in office. He touted the board’s ability to pay for capital expenses without financing the purchases, while also increasing the general fund balance, school funding and reducing debt.
“We didn’t finance anything in my tenure, and we managed to still increase fund balance without raising taxes,” he said, adding that President Donald Trump’s economic policies helped make that possible over the last four years.
“President Trump took office, the economy skyrocketed and our sales tax numbers exploded. With the sales tax increase, that’s how we did it. What will happen now is still left to be seen. If the economy nosedives, they’ll be in trouble. They’re going to have to cut services and lay people off or increase taxes.”
Dickey echoed McKinnon’s statements about funding various expenditures without raising taxes. He also touted the board’s decisions to handle some work in-house rather than outsourcing to contractors, as was the case with the restoration and repair of the lantern atop the Cherokee County Courthouse in downtown Murphy.
“That was a major accomplishment, saving the taxpayers lots of money,” Dickey said. “That will stick in my mind forever.”
When asked if there were any goals that they would have liked to see through to fruition, Dickey said he would’ve enjoyed seeing the new Emergency Medical Services station in Murphy completed during his tenure. He also wishes the board could have approved greater pay increases for county employees.
“We’re losing a lot of employees to other counties,” Dickey said. “The pay plan needs to be adjusted. This pandemic slowed us down on that.”
McKinnon said he would have liked to see Corridor K and school consolidation further along during his tenure. He also plans to continue fighting for improved roads.
“Corridor K is going to happen, but not as we were promised,” he said. “We are going to get an improved two-lane connection with wider, safer roads, but we still deserve a four-lane highway to Interstate 40. I’m going to continue lobbying for that with the connections I’ve made.”