Peachtree – Justin Hyde received 2,932 votes in the March primary and more than 15,000 votes during the November general election to represent District 2 on the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners. He rejected the office on Dec. 1, never serving a minute.
His replacement got six votes.
The weeks following Hyde’s decision to turn down the office, eight people applied to replace him, seven of whom hadn’t run for the office. They all submitted applications, which weren’t made public.
Eight people privately interviewed the applicants and, during a meeting the next day that was live-streamed via the Cherokee Scout’s Facebook page but open only to Republicans, six chose Hyde’s replacement.
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Assuming that the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners follows the statutory process at its first meeting of the year Monday night, Mark Stiles, 57, of Peachtree, will be the next commissioner representing District 2 – a swath of territory that stretches from Clay to Graham counties and encompasses Marble and Peachtree.
With Cherokee County’s only hospital, community college, school district Central Office and sanitary landfill, District 2 is arguably the most significant district in the county outside of Andrews and Murphy.
Stiles, a businessman who has never held elected office, will serve two years. He will have to run for office in 2026 if he wants to keep the seat.
It’s hard to find anyone who liked that process – not county commissioners forced to rubber stamp a choice they had no part in, not the Cherokee County Republican Party Executive Committee members who had to make the choice, not local voters whose choice won’t take office, not Justin Hyde who couldn’t accept the seat and not incumbent Randy Phillips, who was defeated twice – once in the March primary against Hyde, and again on Dec. 21 when he applied for his old seat but didn’t get a single vote.
Dallas McMillan, chair of the executive committee, said his committee was following statutes, but added, “I didn’t want to be involved in this process.”
The rush
Phillips, a retired school resources officer, served one term on the board of commissioners representing District 2 and continues to serve until his replacement is sworn in. In the GOP primary in March, Phillips faced Hyde, a county-employed emergency medical technician, chief of the Valleytown Fire & Rescue Department and Phillips’ next-door neighbor.
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The campaign was civil and gentlemanly. In that primary, 2,932 people voted for Hyde with 2,619 votes for Phillips – 52.82% to 47.18%. Incumbent Jan Griggs also lost in her district, District 5, to challenger Alan Bryant, as the primary was not kind to local incumbents.
In the November general election, 15,211 people voted for Hyde, who ran unopposed. However, since April, behind the scenes, Hyde had been struggling with a major issue.
In April, Hyde was informed that state law identified a conflict of interest over his position as a county employee serving on the board of commissioners, making him ineligible to serve – something that hadn’t come up when other county employees served on the board in recent years.
Under certain conditions aimed at rural counties, however, the law allows exceptions that would let Hyde serve but only if his annual compensation (pay and benefits) was under $60,000 and if he recused himself from voting on many issues having to do with county spending.
That’s not all. The exception would have to be granted by the board of commissioners, which would be held criminally liable if Hyde’s annual compensation exceeded $60,000 or if he voted on something he wasn’t supposed to.
And Hyde’s earnings would have to be publicly posted with regular updates.
Hyde stewed over all that since April and by the board of commissioner’s first meeting after the November election, he had still not decided. To take office, he would have to forego health insurance benefits, avoid overtime and get an exception approved by the board of commissioners; it was a lot to take in.
On Dec. 1, Hyde, claiming threats of being fired from his job if he took office, declined the seat. That left an open seat on the five-member board of commissioners.
State law forced the vacancy, and state law dictated somewhat vaguely who would fill it: Because Hyde was a Republican, the law put the decision into the hands of the Cherokee County Republican Party Executive Committee, providing members could come up with a recommendation within a 30-day window – by Jan. 1, 2025. If they couldn’t beat that deadline, the decision would fall to the board of commissioners.
The rush was on.
8 applications
After figuring out the process in consultation with state Republican leaders busy with their own issues, the executive committee advertised for applicants. Eight people applied:
Kandace Barnett, a nurse; Lance Bristol, a school principal; Judy Edwards, a former congressional field representative; Max Norton, a radio station manager; Alex Parker, a member of the local GOP executive committee; Chuck Parris, a businessman; Phillips; and Mark Stiles.
The committee planned to hold one or two non-public workshops to interview the applicants and a formal meeting to hear more from the applicants that would be open to party members and the news media, then make a decision in closed session before making a public announcement.
The board of commissioners called two emergency meetings at the same times and places as the GOP executive committee meetings – Tuesday at Penland Senior Center in Murphy and Saturday at the Peachtree Community Center, both facilities that the county owns – citing a statutory requirement that the board consult with the committee over its decision.
At the first meeting, the committee tried to eject the news media from the venue but, failing that, adjourned. The public had a right to be there because county commissioner meetings are open.
After committee members departed, Commissioners Dan Eichenbaum and Cal Stiles said they were trying to fulfill the requirement that the board consult with the committee and also to ensure that the process be transparent. Commissioner Ben Adams argued for transparency as well, but also accused other board members of trying to stack the board with a political ally (he then apologized for the accusation). Newly sworn Commissioner Alan Bryant, who defeated Griggs in the March primary, said he recognized multiple viewpoints.
The board of commissioners cancelled further emergency meetings the next day, saying they served no purpose. Still, subsequent committee meetings were held at venues outside of county government control.
New commissioner
The eight applicants were interviewed by the executive committee on the night of Dec. 20 at an undisclosed location. In an attempt to be transparent, the committee allowed the Dec. 21 meeting to be live-streamed by news media, although the meeting was otherwise only open to Republicans.
Only one commissioner attended the Dec. 21 meeting, Ben Adams. Karen Close, vice chair of the committee, praised Adams for being the only commissioner to call but not urge her to pick a particular person.
The board went into closed session twice during the Dec. 21 meeting – once to meet with Adams about the applicants, and once to vote.
Stiles was picked with six of eight votes of the committee. Bristol received one vote and Parris received one vote. It was not disclosed how each committee member voted.
It is unclear where Mark Stiles fits in the board mix, which appears to be tilted toward Eichenbaum and Cal Stiles (no relation to Mark Stiles) with Bryant so far voting along with them. Adams no longer has Griggs as an ally on the board and a previous alliance with Cal Stiles is long gone, so even if he forms an alliance with Mark Stiles, Adams’ influence on the board is limited.
Stiles said he thought about running for commissioner, but it wasn’t until his recent retirement that he found the time and ability to contribute.
“I am humbled and blessed to contribute my talents as Commissioner for District 2 in Cherokee County,” Stiles said. “I look forward to working in unity for the greater good of our community and striving to make Cherokee County the best it can be.”
Stiles was asked if he would make the application he submitted public.
“Respectfully I decline. That is Republican business,” he said. “… All applicants were asked the same questions, interviewed during the work session and responded to questions in the public forum. We had some great candidates, and I feel truly blessed to have received the position.”