Webster election draws record interest
Five candidates will compete for three seats in the Jackson County town of Webster.
Richard Kenni photo
For most of its history, Webster’s elections have been sleepy affairs. At times, there weren’t even enough people willing to step forward and serve. This fall, that dynamic looks much different.
“I’m really excited to see the number of people in this race,” said Dale Collins, an incumbent Webster commissioner who won his last race as a write-in with just 14 votes.
Five names are on the ballot for three open seats, including Collins and challengers Susan Raaf, Brad Reisinger, Daniel Riggs and Sara Stahlman. The shift reflects a town paying closer attention to the basics of small-scale governance.
The field brings a range of backgrounds and priorities, but their answers to common questions show where they align and where they part. All five were asked about growth and traffic, taxes, the regional library, the post office, transparency in government and how they plan to campaign.
Place comes first in Webster. Sidewalks and quiet streets define the daily rhythm, yet growth across Western North Carolina keeps pushing toward the village. From his time on the planning board to his current seat, Collins described land use as a recurring challenge handled through ordinances meant to keep Webster residential and walkable. He said the board has tried to make walking safer and more practical.
“We’ve worked really hard in the last five years on pedestrian safety,” Collins said, casting that work as continuity, not novelty — the kind of slow, cumulative effort that establishes guidelines without changing the town’s character.
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Community life is the lens Reisinger, an English professor at Western Carolina University, uses. He pointed to the pavilion, food trucks and movie nights that have turned the park into a gathering place and said the town feels strongest when leaders follow residents’ priorities.
“I’m looking to just kind of get in there and be a good listener,” he said.
His focus, he added, would be carrying neighbors’ concerns into the room rather than chasing a personal agenda.
Families shape the way Stahlman talks about growth. A health communication specialist who works remotely, she described a town designed to be lived in at walking speed.
“I want to make sure that it continues to be a place where people can safely walk and bike through the town,” she said. She cited the new all-abilities playground and the sidewalk network as everyday investments that keep people outside and connected.
Traffic, not amenities, tops Riggs’ list. With the Highway 107 project expected to reroute vehicles through Webster during construction, he said drivers already move too fast on Webster Road and South River Road. He’s pored over speed data and argues that enforcement alone is not enough.
“At one point, over 50% of our traffic coming through was going 20 miles or more over the speed limit,” he said. “When you hit someone going 25, you’re going to injure them. Over 45 it’s almost certain you’re going to kill them.”
To change that behavior, Riggs favors stop signs, speed bumps or narrowing lanes with paint so people are not comfortable pushing past 25.
Environmental questions frame Raaf’s outlook on growth. She worries about heavy equipment working along the Tuckasegee after storm damage and about a proposed gas station near the river.
“It makes you question why, the state of North Carolina, why they’re not a little stricter on these things with the environment,” she said, asking for clearer answers before additional development moves ahead.
Collins, who co-owns the Tuckasegee Fly Shop’s three locations, is also adamant about stewardship of the Tuck, which he says lacks proper flood monitoring equipment. The river is also home to a series of historic Cherokee fish weirs — V-shaped dams that make harvesting easier — and he called for greater protective measures.
“There’s only a handful of those remaining in in the entire southeast,” he said.
Money is the next test. Webster residents pay county taxes as well as town taxes, and the recent revaluation and rate decision by Jackson County commissioners pushed tax bills substantially higher for many homeowners.
For Riggs, the increase stings because he believes his district has lacked proper representation on the county commission. In 2024, Jenny Lynn Hooper ran for the Jackson County commission from district three. After winning her race, the Jackson County Board of elections changed her residency to district one; however, Hooper wasn’t challenged and has been allowed to keep her seat.
“We’ve essentially got taxation without representation,” he said.
Raaf remains unbothered by Hooper’s residency issues and said she believes Hooper represents the interests of district three even though she does not live in district three. Raaf also noted that the town’s tax rate rose from five cents in 2018 to 15 cents in 2020 without what she considers a clear explanation.
Decisions about revenue are not so simple for Collins. He says the town will have to choose between holding the rate steady to maintain current services or using any growth to add services residents can see.
“I think Webster has to reevaluate our tax rate,” he said. That discussion, he added, belongs in open budget talks.
Stahlman takes a middle path and calls the jump for homeowners significant but says the mismatch between assessed values and market values had grown too wide.
“The tax increase was significant for homeowners in the county at a time when funds are really tight for a lot of people,” she said. In her view, the first step is making sure appeals are heard, then watching how new money is spent.
Reisinger said he prefers to hear from residents before staking out a firm position and that his role would be to carry their views into the room rather than bring a fixed plan.
The library question sits at the intersection of cost and identity.
Before Jackson County commissioners voted to leave the Fontana Regional Library system, Webster joined Forest Hills and Sylva in urging the county to stay by passing a resolution of support for the FRL. Collins said the resolution made sense because people in town use Fontana services daily and because the system expands access.
“You don’t fix something that’s not broke,” he said.
Reisinger also backs the resolution and the show of unity among small towns that rely on library programs for families. Riggs would have voted the same way and suggested that stronger statements may be needed if town voices continue to be ignored.
“We should take measures to let our opinions be known,” he said.
Stahlman supports the resolution but warns against burning bridges. Webster depends on the county for planning and for law enforcement and will need that cooperation in the future.
Raaf didn’t offer an answer about supporting the FRL and rejects the town’s involvement altogether.
“I don’t really honestly think the Webster town commission really should’ve had any input,” she said, calling it a county issue best handled by individual constituents contacting their commissioners.
A closed door on Main Street adds another local concern. The loss of Webster’s post office in May — which closed after USPS officials failed to reach a lease agreement with the property’s owner — has drawn regular complaints at county meetings and in town. Riggs hears it often, especially from older residents now forced to drive into Sylva.
“I think it really affected their quality of life,” he said.
Raaf, who worked for the postal service, recalls a crowded meeting where few answers were available. Others view the post office through the limits of the job. Collins said the board can acknowledge the hardship but that federal facilities are beyond the town’s control. Reisinger said he would help where he could but thinks the focus should remain on the responsibilities that actually belong to the board. Stahlman pointed back to sidewalks, parks and safe routes as the best way to help residents complete daily tasks, mail included, without feeling exposed on the roads.
Transparency and basic communication are where Raaf sees the most room for improvement. She wants meeting minutes and budgets posted online, quickly and in plain language.
Collins replied in broader terms that small-town governance moves at “a turtle’s pace” and that complex ordinances can take months or years. Reisinger returned to his theme of listening before acting and said he would try to translate long meetings into plain-spoken updates. Stahlman said her years on the planning board reinforced the value of predictable processes and early notice so residents can weigh in while decisions are still being formed.
Even the mechanics of campaigning reflect Webster’s scale. In past cycles, a seat could be won with a dozen or so votes and a handful of neighbors. The crowded ballot has already changed expectations. Where town boards once begged for volunteers, this year’s field gives voters a choice across styles as well as issues.
Reisinger frames the surge as a chance to widen the circle of people who feel heard. Riggs views it as proof that residents are tired of being sidelined. Stahlman hears a call to keep building places where neighbors meet. Raaf reads it as a demand for answers about spending, taxes and lost services. Collins said he will campaign by talking to neighbors. Reisinger plans more time in the park and at community events rather than yard signs and door knocks. Stahlman points to her public work on parks and planning as her best introduction. Raaf intends to pick up the phone and make sure people know there is a choice. Riggs, who has a newborn at home, leans on personal relationships.
“If they think I’m going to do a good job, I hope they vote for me,” he said.
The election results will turn on dozens of personal conversations rather than thousands, a scale of campaigning that exposes the town’s vulnerability, and its strength. With lower turnout, each voice carries more weight. With tight budgets, each dollar must show its value. With little room for error, each change is felt on the sidewalks and at the riverbank. The choice before voters is not between growth and decline, but rather between different ways of protecting a unique small town where people still recognize their neighbors.
