A candidate for Maggie Valley alderman was indicted this month on eight felony charges, including forgery. 

The July 19 indictment alleges that Joe Maniscalco forged documents and knowingly tried to pass them off as valid records in an attempt to get out of paying town property taxes.

By Martin Dyckman

Blackbeard, North Carolina's most famous pirate, was a fitting precursor to the modern brigands at Raleigh. As Scott McLeod's column pointed out last week (www.smokymountainnews.com/opinion/item/11167), there’s no apparent limit to their ruthlessness or to their scorn for the Old North State’s progressive traditions.

Their new tax deal — rhymes with steal — will save the richest of their constituents $10,000 on the average while raising rates on the poor and eventually shorting education and health care by some $700 million a year.

The Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen have been mired in gridlock for nearly nine months.

With only four town board members at the moment — instead of the typical five — stalemates have ruled the day. From major issues to petty ones, the board has been marked by tie votes and split opinions. Infighting has become the typical interaction at meetings these days.

Do you consider yourself an environmentalist or an environmental activist? Do you feel frustrated with the way issues dear to you are being handled by local and state decision makers? Instead of sitting on the sidelines and attempting to influence the political process from the outside, you might want to try becoming part of it.

A new campaign by the Western North Carolina Alliance, a regional environmental organization, is asking local conservationists, tree huggers and eco-activists to consider taking the plunge into the political realm.

We have been hearing a lot lately about President Barack Obama’s charm offensive. He has been traveling a short distance from the White House to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress, including Republicans. He now seems more interested in developing relationships and a rapport with members on both sides of the aisle whose votes he can use in the days ahead.

Western North Carolina found itself in an unflattering national media spotlight a year ago when a reporter from The New Yorker picked the state Senate race between Jim Davis and John Snow to illustrate a masterful takeover of national politics by conservative special interest groups.

John Snow dreads his daily trip to the post office these days. It’s just two blocks from his home outside Murphy, but the whole way there he wonders what will be waiting for him this time.

Once inside, he heads for the trash can and peers inside. And more often than not, he finds his own face staring back, perhaps flanked by a cartoonish cutout of Obama’s head, or alongside a drowning pink piggy bank, or — the worst yet — as an accompaniment to the menacing face of a child rapist behind prison bars.

Mike Clampitt, a candidate running for the state House, is hosting “Mornings with Mike” from 7-8 a.m. every Tuesday at 58D Sunrise Park Dr. in Sylva through Oct. 30.

The event features Clampitt, but other Republican candidates running for office in the area may participate. Clampitt will listen to concerns of the district and offer his ideas as to how to deal with those concerns from Raleigh. Clampitt plans to continue these group meetings quarterly, if elected to the House, in order to remain in contact with his constituents.

•••

The Mountain High Republican Women’s Club will host Billy Kirkland, the national field director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, at its September luncheon meeting held at 11:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at the Highlands Country Club.

Kirland’s conservative credentials include working with the Virginia House Republican Campaign Caucus and as a regional field director for the Georgia GOP that helped re-elect Gov. Sonny Perdue. RSVP by Aug. 31. The cost of the lunch is $25 when reserved in advance or $30 at the door.

Inquiries may be mailed to MHRWC, P.O. Box 126 in Cashiers.

828.526.4146 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

•••

Hayden Rogers, Democratic candidate for the 11th Congressional District, will hold a fundraising event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 25 at the Maggie Valley Pavilion on Soco Road.

Meet and speak with the candidate as well as enjoy good food and fellowship. The local band Gray Wolf will be performing. 828.452.9607 or www.haywooddemocrats.org.

By Martin Dyckman • Guest Columnist

My wife and I moved here from Florida because we wanted to live in a state that valued its people, its environment, and its future as much as North Carolina did. We knew this would mean paying a state income tax, but we considered the value we would be getting in return.

Two weeks after the primary election, an official winner has finally been declared following a recount in an insanely tight race between two prominent Waynesville Democrats for the N.C. House of Representatives.

Joe Sam Queen beat out Danny Davis by a mere 17 votes — less than 0.002 percent of the 9,969 votes cast in the race.

“It definitely shows that one vote can make a difference,” said Lisa Lovedahl-Lehman, the director of the Jackson County Board of Elections.

While Democrats were clearly torn on which man they wanted to send to Raleigh, Queen said he is pleased to win.

“I want to pull together because this is an important year,” said Queen, who will now face the Republican opponent Mike Clampitt from Swain County come November.

Queen and Clampitt are vying for the N.C. House seat currently held by retiring Rep. Phil Haire, D-Sylva. The seat represents Jackson and Swain counties and the greater Waynesville and Lake Junaluska area of Haywood County. The district leans strongly Democratic.

The race between Queen and Davis came down to the wire on election night, with Queen emerging as the top vote-getter by a mere 11 votes. Queen’s margin widened to an 18-vote lead the following week after a few dozen provisional ballots and late absentee ballots were added to the results.

Provisional ballots are cast when poll workers can’t find a voter’s name on the roster of registered voters. They are given a provisional ballot, which is then set aside in a special stack until election workers have a chance to research whether the ballot should be counted.

A few late absentee ballots usually trickle in after the election as well, but as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, they get counted.

Davis then called for a recount — a right entitled to any candidate under state election law when a race is within a 1-percent margin.

In today’s era of computerized voting terminals, however, recounts rarely change the outcome. But, Davis did pick up one extra vote in the recount, discovered by election workers in Jackson County when hand counting a handful of paper ballots from voters who mailed in absentee ballots.

“They just didn’t do the bubble correctly,” Lovedahl-Lehman said. “The scanner wouldn’t read it, but the board members could look at it and see the voter intent was for Davis.”

Queen said he and Davis both ran fair, clean campaigns.

“It is by far the most pleasant election I have been through,” said Queen.