A career of service: Former Franklin Mayor Jack Horton reflects on decades in government
Jack Horton has lived a life of public service as both a county and town manager and elected official.
Kyle Perrotti photo
Last Monday marked the likely end of a career of service for outgoing Franklin Mayor Jack Horton. But, that career began decades before he ever held elected office.
Horton, who served six years as mayor of Macon County’s largest town, also had a prior career as a town and county manager, mostly in Western North Carolina. While there are similarities and differences in those two duties, Horton said he’s tried to keep one guiding principle on the horizon the whole time.
“What I believe in is public service and the public interest,” he said. “Make sure you do what you think and feel is in the best interest of the citizens that you’re serving.”
A Navy veteran, upon leaving active duty and joining the reserves, Horton went on to receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from Appalachian State University with the intention of going on to law school. Around that time, the university began its town and county manager program, something that in the 1970s was relatively unheard of.
“I thought, well, that’s a good backup plan in case I don’t get in law school,” Horton said.
In February 1976, as part of that program, Horton landed in Swain County, where he helped out in all departments, including the tax department, which he said was “way behind” at that point. He drafted a letter informing delinquent property owners that the tax department could foreclose on properties and garnish wages to collected what’s owed. The tax collector sent it out.
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“The people started pouring in raising Cain,” Horton said with a hearty chuckle.
Feeling like he was between a rock and a hard place, the tax collector subsequently left the job, and in July 1976 Horton was hired into the role. In 1978, after the election of some new county commissioners, Horton was appointed to serve as the county manager “at the ripe old age of 28.”
But, Horton eventually burned out in the demanding role and left public service. After two years working in the finance division of a local car dealership, a job in which Horton made more money but he considered less intellectually fulfilling, he took a town manager job in Huntersville, North Carolina, where he’d grown up.
He enjoyed the gig with the small town government as it gave him an opportunity to work in just about every area, allowing him to learn the workings of the electric, sewer and water systems.
“I even did payroll and taxes and everything,” he said.
After about two years, Horton heard that Macon County was hiring a county manager. Although he enjoyed his job, he leapt at the opportunity to return to the mountains he’d loved when he was cutting his teeth in Bryson City. In October 1985, he took the job.
In 1990, Horton moved to Waynesville to begin what would be his longest stint at any of his jobs — as Haywood County’s first-ever manager. Prior to Horton coming onboard with Haywood County, the commission chair served as county manager.
He considers that he accomplished a lot in his tenure in Haywood, including the construction of Waynesville’s parking deck, the White Oak Landfill, multiple school buildings and the agricultural research center. Horton thinks that each of these projects — costly items that created vigorous debates — in the long run served to help the county.
Perhaps most controversial may have been Haywood’s justice center, which replaced the smaller, dated historic courthouse in 2005. Although the county had to finance the project and spent 15 years paying it off, the foresight needed to build the facility proved vital as district and superior court dockets have exploded over the last couple of decades.
“The resident Superior Court Judge, John Snow, said ‘You better do something or else I’m going to hold you in contempt,” Horton said.
“The other thing that I think worked really good is that we instituted what we call the Council of Governments, where Canton Waynesville, Maggie Valley and Hazelwood, which was I think still operating back then, would get together two or three times a year and talk about common interests,” he added. “Those are good because we’re all dealing with certain issues that affect everybody, and it’s good to be on the same page.”
Horton regards his time in Haywood County fondly. Both of his sons went to school at Tuscola, which to Horton makes the place still feel a bit like home.
“And I still have a lot of good friends in Haywood County,” he said.
After his departure from Haywood County, Horton spent a couple of years as manager in Caldwell County before taking over the manager’s position in Macon. He retired as Macon County’s manager in 2013.
While he spent several years enjoying the quiet splendor of retired life, he still felt the itch to work and serve. This time, he ventured into a world he’d always just lived on the fringes of — politics. He decided to run for town council in 2019. When former Vice Mayor Barbara McRay, whom Horton called a “visionary,” passed away, he moved into the role.
Then, when former Mayor Bob Scott decided not to run for a fifth term, Horton ran for the office unopposed, as he did again in 2023.
“I would have run again, but Council Member Jack Horton has filed to run for mayor,” Scott said in his 2021 announcement saying he wouldn’t run again. “Jack is qualified and well known across the state. I can leave knowing that if elected, Franklin will be in good hands with Jack.”
Horton said he’s also been happy with the town’s accomplishments since he’s been elected, especially how the board has been able to grow an even healthier fund balance than what had already existed.
“Our fund balance now is equal to over a year’s worth of expenditures,” he said. “If we had no money coming in, we could still operate the town and meet our obligations for a year. Not many municipalities or counties are able to do that.”
New Franklin Mayor Stacy Guffey (left) presented former Mayor Jack Horton with a plaque at the December town meeting. Kyle Perrotti photo
However, Horton has decided that now is the time to focus more on family. His wife is currently the sole caretaker for her 99-year-old mother. In addition to being mayor, the 75-year-old is also on several boards and involved with his church.
“I decided it’s time for me to scale back my obligations and devote more time to doing what I can for my family,” he said.
Now that he’s beginning to look back on a life of service, Horton can consider the similarities and differences between serving in appointed administrative and elected roles. He thinks that both jobs are made easier by having strong county or municipal staff, which he says is the case now in Franklin under Town Manager Amy Owens, who is also the president of the Western North Carolina City and County Managers Association, a position Horton once held.
While elected officials are held accountable by voters, Horton said it’s naïve to think that managers are removed from the politics. When it comes to high-profile decisions regarding things like capital projects, administrators must weigh the public need with money needed to bring something across the finish line, as well as what money can come from grants or other outside sources and how much taxpayers will have to pay.
“If it’s an unbearable burden, you can’t get it done,” he said. “You don’t always have to agree with the board, but the board makes the policy, and then you follow their policy. If it gets to the point where your philosophy and the board’s philosophy is just not a good combination, then you probably need to find something else to do.”
In hindsight, Horton thinks about his time as county manager specifically through the lens of something a colleague once said. “Being the manager is like that middle piece in the hourglass; no matter which way you turn it, you’re always under pressure.”
However, Horton, a man who lives by a few key quotes, considers one most applicable to his time in government. It comes from President Lyndon B. Johnson but is applicable to any high-pressure leadership position: “The presidency is like being a jackass caught in a hail storm. You’ve got to just stand there and take it.”
