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Murphy – Municipal elections will be held in Murphy and Andrews on Tuesday, with several opportunities for voters to change or support the status quo.
Of the two municipal elections, actual contests exist for the Murphy Town Council, which has one more candidate than there are available seats; for Andrews alderman, which has four candidates for two seats; and for Andrews mayor, which has two candidates for the one position. All the positions are four-year terms.
Murphy
Murphy elections involve all town council seats, including mayor.
The Murphy Town Council had one seat vacant following the 2024 resignation of Keisha Dockery. Incumbent council member
Frank Dickey is not running for re-election, which leaves two of the six council seats undefended.
Four incumbents are running: Charlene Smith, a retired dental hygienist; Barry McClure, a retired educator; Gail Walker Stansell, a retired educator; and Cindy Chastain, who retired from N.C. Cooperative Extension and was appointed by the board to fill an earlier vacancy.
New candidates are Jonathan Dickey, a former one-term Cherokee County commissioner who has served on the Murphy Planning Board; Kimberly Harris, an assistant district attorney; and write-in candidate Cameron Killian, evidence custodian with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
For mayor, Tim Radford, a radio station owner finishing his first term, is running for re-election. Jeff Crane, who was running against Radford, passed away after filing to seek office.
State of Murphy
Murphy has been generally uncontroversial during the four-year term of this board, with one notable exception: the downtown roundabout.
With the N.C. Department of Transportation planning to repave and repaint the downtown portions of Valley River Avenue and Peachtree, Tennessee and Hiwassee streets, the town used the upcoming project as an opportunity to replace underground water lines and, somewhat famously, reconfigure the intersection of the four streets into a traffic circle.
Pocket parks at the four corners of the intersection are being expanded to create a “Town Square” that includes an outdoor stage and landscaping, allowing the intersection to also be used as an outdoor event venue.
The downtown streetscape project was funded by a $950,000 state grant, which also covered costs for new sidewalks and lighting. Street improvement costs are paid by the state.
Local reaction to the project drew widespread criticism – even the county board of commissioners weighed in with a resolution opposing it – but to no avail. Since the traffic circle was installed while development of the pocket parks is underway, criticism has dropped off substantially.
Town council members have also worked on:
- Water and sewer infrastructure upgrades, including a $1.288 million project to replace 3,000 feet of 110-year-old water lines and a $3.22 million federally funded project to upgrade old cast-iron and lead water lines.
- Improvements to manage the town’s fleet of vehicles.
- Development of workforce housing including opening the new Valley River Apartments behind Walmart.
- Moved the police department to a new location on Hill Street and left much of the vacated space for use by the Cherokee County Museum.
- Supported development of Valley River Apartments, a $9.5 million, 56-unit workforce housing project with federal and state partners.
Among the biggest issues in economic development, the town temporarily lost its Big Lots discount store – one of the town’s biggest retailers – but the store reopened under new ownership.
Andrews
Andrews staggers its aldermen elections, with two seats coming before voters plus the mayor this year.
Incumbent Mayor James Reid is defending his seat against Alderman Brandi Smith, who is leaving her seat as alderman undefended in this election.
Four candidates are running for two open aldermen seats occupied by Smith and Steve Jordan. Jordan was ruled ineligible to run after losing rulings and exhausting his appeals Friday.
Running for the two aldermen seats are Rex Cable Gary James, Chasity Ledford and Heath Woodard.
- Cable coaches wrestling and football, and teaches math at Andrews High.
- James, a former one-term town alderman, is retired from Cherokee County Schools, where he was a custodian and bus driver.
- Ledford is a cosmetologist who has served on the Andrews Planning & Zoning Board as well as the Andrews ABC Board.
- Woodard is project manager at Woodard Construction Co. Inc. and a former law enforcement officer. He ran unsuccessfully for Cherokee County sheriff in 2022.
For mayor, Smith, who is finishing her first term as alderman, is a licensed insurance customer service representative. Reid has served as alderman and mayor and works for Cherokee County Schools in addition to running his own landscaping business.
State of Andrews
Andrews has faced serious challenges over the last four years during Reid’s leadership and Smith’s term on the board.
The town was among numerous locations that lost a Walgreens and Sage, an upscale restaurant off Main Street, went out of business. The town’s Dollar Tree/Family Dollar is among locations being closed by the parent company.
Phoenix Logistics renovated a 276,406-square-foot plant off Kent Street in 2023 and has operated the facility since then, but has the property listed for sale on its website.
Morning Fog opened in late 2024 and has become a dining destination serving breakfast and lunch six days a week. Hoppy Trout Brewing Co., a pub and restaurant, changed owners and moved into a larger renovated space previously occupied by The Blue Stage, which has gone out of business.
An inspection discovered that many of the town’s fire hydrants were inoperative. The issue was addressed with projects broken up by Reid as an expediency but in the process sidestepping any bidding process. Reid hand-picked the contractor to fix the hydrants, with approval by the board.
Reid and some aldermen questioned funding for the Andrews Public Library, which is managed by Nantahala Regional Library but housed in a building owned by the town.
Reid and other aldermen alleged that some town funds for the library went to supplement libraries in Clay and Graham counties. Smith and Jordan supported status quo funding. The town’s library funding remained unchanged.
The town also faced controversies in its police department, whose chief at the time faced felony fraud charges before he passed away. Before she was fired, a police officer dated an Andrew High School student who later ran away from home.
On the other hand, the board of aldermen hired a new police chief who stabilized the department and restored it to full staffing.
The town’s parks and recreation department experienced a period of disarray when state grant funding was misdirected to another project, and a fishing pier was built that didn’t meet building codes.
While the town has received millions in state grants to upgrade its water and sewer systems, it has failed to convince the state to repave state-controlled streets in town and has also failed to maintain some local streets.
Election Day
- There is no early voting for the elections. Only registered voters in the Andrews or Murphy town limits can vote.
- Both elections are non-partisan, with offices going to the top vote-getters. Ties are settled using a random method, like a coin toss or pulling the high card from a deck.