• Talmadge Jones, 60, DSS supervisor. Jones has been an alderman for 10 years. (Jones took over the post of mayor this year when the former mayor stepped down for health reasons.

• Jeramy Shuler, 33, auto towing business

Alderman – pick two

• Stephanie Treadway, 36, insurance agent with Allman Insurance (Treadway has been an alderman for eight years.)

• Tom Reidmiller, 64, Ford dealership owner. (Reidmiller was appointed to the board six months ago to fill the vacancy created when Jones moved up to fill the mayor’s seat.)

• Trey Burns, 22, developer and Realtor with Trey Burns Realty.

Two challengers running against three incumbents in Bryson City have joined forces and adopted a platform calling for change.

The challengers are Trey Burns for aldermen and Jeramy Shuler for mayor. A third challenger, Curtis Evans, 49, was part of the team, too, but passed away late last week. His name will still appear on the ballot, however, because they were already printed.

“We all sat down and talked about it and decided to run together,” Burns said. “We feel like we are all like minded.”

Burns and Shuler claim the current town board has been simply plodding along.

“The three of us are anxious to get some things done in our city. It has been the same thing for year after year,” said Shuler who is running for mayor. “It’s been the same old thing for too long.”

Burns said the voters in Bryson City deserve a choice, compared to past elections.

“Everyone who is on the board right now has been unopposed for many elections,” said Burns.

But the incumbents say the town’s residents are happy with the direction of the town.

“Frankly I feel like the current leadership is doing a very good job. There is always room for some change, but at this point I think the current leadership is doing a very good job and is very credible and is looking after the town,” said Mayor T.L. Jones. “People like what they have seen over the last 10 years. They have seen a lot of improvements.”

Stephanie Treadway, who has been on the board for eight years, said she has only heard positive things from voters.

“I don’t think anybody is really dissatisfied,” Treadway said. “They seem to be very supportive.”

One initiative of the current board that has been very popular is downtown revitalization, Treadway said. Streetscaping has been completed on Everett Street and is slated for Mitchell Street and Depot Street, possibly Island Street, and eventually Main Street.

Jones said experience is an important factor on the town board.

“It means a lot,” Jones said.

To make up for the incumbents’ advantage when it comes to name recognition, Shuler and Burns have been doing some old-fashioned campaigning.

“I have been going door to door trying to introduce myself to as many people as possible. I have also talked to some of the political figures in town to get their support,” Burns said. “I feel good about my chances. I am excited to see how it turns out.”

Shuler also has been going door to door.

“I’m still doing it about every evening,” Shuler said.

Sooner or later

One innitiative the challengers are talking about is expanding the town limits. Annexing new neighborhoods into the town limits means more town residents and more town taxpayers.

“I think it needs to be done,” Burns said. “The people that are living in Bryson City are having to shoulder all the load with the taxes when the people outside Bryson City and getting those same benefits.”

Shuler agreed.

“If you already have the amenities you need to pay for them,” Shuler said.

While the town hasn’t expanded its town limits to encompass outlying growth in about 20 years, it’s not because the incumbents are against the idea.

“It is going to have to come to pass,” Treadway said of annexation. “We are already providing services outside the city limits.”

Looking ahead

Another issue that will likely face Bryson City in the next four years is land-use planning. Bryson City is one of the only towns in WNC that does not have any land-use planning or zoning.

Alderman Tom Reidmiller said there is little point to attempt land-use planning now.

“I think at this point it is too late to zone. There is just not that much in town left to be developed and I doubt seriously if zoning would have much impact,” Reidmiller said. “There’s not a lot of things that can be done.”

Land-use planning usually takes the form of a long-range vision implemented through a set of zoning ordinances aimed at maintaining the character of a town as it develops. In the case of existing commercial districts, they eventually conform with the vision as businesses re-develop, sometimes over decades.

Reidmiller’s challenger thinks there is a place for land-use planning in Bryson City, however. Burns said the town should be involved in directing future growth. Treadway also said land-use planning will likely be necessary.

Wild card

Early in the race, it appeared the challengers might question the town board’s decision to place the town’s old drinking watershed in a conservation easement. In 2004, the town board agreed to protect the 800-acre tract rather than sell it off for development. In exchange, the town got $2 million in grants from the state and a private conservation donor, the Fred Stanback Foundation.

Two months ago — more than a year after the decision was made — a small crowd showed up at a town board meeting and questioned the decision. Evans, Shuler and Burns were among the crowd.

Shuler said the town made mistake by locking up the tract.

“I don’t think they put it out there for the citizens in the city to actually vote on,” Shuler said, calling the lack of public input par for the course.

But Burns did not mention the conservation easement in their interview, and it has not panned out to be a widely publicized campaign issue.

The next town board will get to decide how to spend the $2 million. Jones said the current town board wants to set the majority of the money aside and only spend the interest it generates.