Murphy – A candidate for mayor announced last week that he has dropped out of the race, leaving a prominent businessman virtually unopposed.
Jeff Crane informed election officials that he has dropped out of the race to be mayor of Murphy. However, he will remain on the ballot because he did not bow out before the candidacy withdrawal window closed.
Crane canceled all planned advertising related to his former campaign for office and declined an interview with the Cherokee Scout. “No comment,” he said when contacted by phone last week.
If by some chance Crane receives more votes than the other mayoral candidate on the ballot, he would step down. Mayor Rick Ramsey, who is not seeking re-election, would then remain in the seat until the vacancy is filled, per the Murphy town charter. Crane’s opponent would not automatically become mayor, but town council could appoint that person to fill the vacancy.
While WKRK owner Tim Radford was considered to be the frontrunner in the mayoral race, he is now essentially Murphy’s next mayor, barring an unexpected event.
“Technically, I could go back on the air without creating any kind of disadvantage to anyone, but I have a lot of work to do,” Radford said regarding his business plans now that he has no challenger. “I'm going to probably take off at least a month.”
Radford planned to remain off the radio until after the election because he would have been required to give Crane free airtime for every second he was on his own station.
“The election laws are in place for a reason,” Radford said. “It would not be fair for me to have a radio platform and him not. Even though I wouldn't be talking politics during my show, my on-air presence still would be an unfair advantage.”
Radford said he plans to campaign just as before, with town hall-style meetings at the top of his list. He has been meeting with city workers to judge the level of morale and understand how resources could be used more efficiently.
He said lack of downtown parking and traffic are issues that continually come up in conversation with members of the community. Radford plans to maintain a focus on creating a safe transportation system while preserving the city’s beauty.
“The fewer fender benders the better,” Radford said. “If our police department responds to fewer accidents, they have more time to devote to drug investigations and serious crimes. According to the police department, they spend a lot of time on just traffic accidents.”
Radford also wants to increase access to affordable child care within city limits.
“I talked to someone who said she was on a child-care waiting list forever. When she finally got in the program, it was about $800 a month,” Radford said. “That’s one of the reasons for all the help wanted signs. People can’t afford to pay for day care.”
Radford, who was raised in Hanging Dog and graduated from Murphy High School, also stressed the need to increase activities for younger residents in hopes of diverting their attention away from drugs. He also wants to encourage citizens to be more involved in safeguarding their neighborhoods.
“I want to make sure every single community in our town has a very active neighborhood watch committee,” Radford said. “I would love to see us develop an online portal, where people in the neighborhood can report suspicious vehicles and submit information when it’s not an emergency requiring cops to be there. So if we see the same car at several drug houses in different communities, we can start to build a case.
“Cops can’t be everywhere, and they don't know everything that's going on. Let's help them build court cases.”
He said, ultimately, all the problems in Murphy will require input by members of the community who choose to step up and help solve them. He hopes to facilitate change by forming committees that will use their collective brain power, expertise and resources to accomplish goals that improve the town.
“My year as Rotary (Club of Murphy) president was very successful, and I am proud of it,” Radford said. “We almost doubled the club size, and we brought together very strong Republicans and very strong Democrats.
“Politics didn’t matter. We all rolled up our sleeves and worked together to make our community better. I think I work well with both parties, and it's going to take that to make things happen.”