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Andrews – Four people, including two incumbents, filed to run for two seats on the Andrews Board of Aldermen as of Monday.
One-term incumbents Jonathan Ellison and Michael Sheidy are running to keep their seats on the board, with two challengers – James McLean and Randy Hogsed – also filing to run for their positions. The filing deadline is Friday.
Among the five-member board, three seats are not up for election this election cycle – Mayor James Reid, Mayor Pro Tem Brandi Smith and Town Alderman Steve Jordan.
The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 7. These are the only Cherokee County elected officers with seats expiring in 2023.
Prospective candidates must be 21 years old by Election Day and a resident of Andrews for at least 30 days. For details, call the Cherokee County Board of Elections at 828-837-6670 or visit 40 Peachtree St. in Murphy.
McLean, a utility line worker and lifelong Andrews resident, said he is running for “damage control.”
“I don’t feel that some of the present members are active enough,” McLean said. “I am a lifelong resident, not someone who just moved here and wants to change everything. I want to preserve our small-town life, but fight to keep what little we have left, and the current seat holders don’t fight hard enough to preserve Andrews values and ways.
“I have stood by and watched our town fall into disarray over the past 20 years, and it’s heartbreaking to see a place I love so dearly just faded away. I totally support our police department and our high school. I fought against consolidation, and I plan on giving the business owners in our town representation like they have never had. Whether they live inside city limits or not, they are our taxpayers and need better representation. If I’m elected, that’s what I will do.”
Hogsed, who owns a real estate company and has sought office several times before, told the Cherokee Scout he would have comment in a “couple of weeks maybe.” He has been busy with “personal issues.”
Among the incumbents, both Ellison and Sheidy said the town has gained traction and made improvements that they want to continue during second terms.
“I feel like I’ve contributed quite a bit on the board we have now,” said Sheidy, who was director of the Andrews Housing Authority for 13 years before semi-retiring into a part-time assistant director position.
Sheidy said the board shifted fire protection from the town’s own volunteer fire department to Valley River Fire & Rescue after the local squad had difficulty recruiting new volunteers. The town has also been busy replacing old fire hydrants inside town limits as well as paving streets with pothole issues.
In addition, Andrews renovated the old Town Hall building at 1101 Main St. into an expanded police department and moved town administrative offices into a renovated real estate office at 188 Main St. The town has also made “good personnel decisions,” he said, both in Town Hall and the Andrews Police Department, and kept tax rates low.
Ellison, a merchandiser for Coca-Cola who has lived in Andrews for about 12 years after living in Nantahala, said the town has “really come a long way with improving infrastructure” and the “soundness of operations” with staff changes in the police department and in Town Hall.
“We’re stronger for it,” he said. Ellison also identified the town’s expanding recreation department as a point of pride, both for Andrews and Cherokee County, which provides financial assistance.