Murphy – Candidates for Cherokee County commissioner faced off in a candidate forum on Feb. 8.
The forum, held in the main courtroom at the Cherokee County Courthouse downtown, was organized by Hiwassee River Young Republicans and the Cherokee County N.C. GOP.
Participants were incumbent Randy Phillips and challenger Justin Hyde for the District 2 seat, and incumbent Jan DeWitt Griggs and challenger Alan P. Bryant for District 5 seat.
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The forum did not include two school board members who are running unopposed in the primary election Tuesday, March 5.
As is often the case, incumbents had a more comprehensive grasp of issues in Cherokee County, along with costs and jurisdictions. For example, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, which these four candidates are seeking a seat on, does not run Cherokee County Schools – that falls under the Cherokee County Board of Education and higher state agencies.
Griggs is a retired Marine Corps chief warrant officer who was a disbursing officer for a Marine aviation unit by the time she retired, overseeing a multimillion-dollar budget. After retiring, she was a substitute teacher and teacher’s assistant before taking the job as the county’s veteran services officer. She is running for re-election.
Phillips, a retired school resources officer, is chairman of the board of commissioners. He, too, is running for re-election.
Both Griggs and Phillips came to the forum with years of government experience and several years of experience as members of the board.
Hyde is chief of the Valleytown Fire & Rescue Department, Cherokee County’s second-largest fire department, second only to Murphy’s. Like Griggs and Phillips, Hyde has experience with government budgets and following policy and procedures.
Among the four, only Bryant, an independent contractor, has no direct experience with local government,
“It’s a new job,” Bryant said of the board seat. “I have to learn.”
He said he was willing to put in the time and effort “and strive to make things happen.”
The candidate forum was live-streamed and can be viewed on the Scout’s Facebook page. Early voting for the primary starts today.
Mudslinging
Bryant and Phillips have been targets of mudslinging by supporters of both Griggs and Hyde.
A background check of Bryant has been left anonymously on doorsteps at the Cherokee Scout and at least one other location, presumably more. According to the documents, Bryant was arrested for assault on a female and communicating threats in 2004, although the charges were dropped.
The Scout is conducting its own background checks of candidates for county offices. The checks are in progress, but so far have not revealed anything like the dropped assault and threat charges against Bryant.
Meanwhile, on social media, Phillips is accused of losing a large quantity of ammunition when he coached a shooting team in Andrews. The ammunition was reportedly lost in a theft at his home, but the Scout has not yet obtained paperwork of the incident.
The efforts, which have peppered Cherokee County political Facebook pages since last year, have focused on Bryant and Phillips.
Griggs has been at the center of several controversial issues before the board of commissioners, most notably a lingering conflict with county Tax Assessor Teresa Ricks and the collapse of a political alliance between her and Commissioners Ben Adams and Cal Stiles.
Of the four, Hyde seems to have escaped controversy. He runs a well-regarded fire department and has good working relationships with other local agencies that he deals with. During the forum, however, Hyde gave short answers that often lacked details.
Bryant fared better, albeit his lack of depth on government matters showed through. Still, he spoke with confidence about his faith and goals for the county.
As for Griggs and Phillips, their experience on the board was reflected in their answers, which were filled with details and facts, showing their grasp on the capabilities and limitations of county government.