Forest Hills election offers voters clear choice
Elections in Forest Hills will be hotly contested this year.
File photo
The Village of Forest Hills, home to about 350 residents, faces an election that will decide who leads the small Jackson County municipality through the next several years of growth and uncertainty.
On the ballot are two council seats and the mayor’s office, giving voters a chance to weigh competing visions on taxes, infrastructure, law enforcement and the preservation of the valley’s character.
Council
Three candidates are seeking two seats on the village council. Incumbent Daniel Shields, planning board member Amy Bollinger and fellow planning board member James Hartley each bring distinct backgrounds and priorities, but their views intersect around questions of fiscal discipline, development and county relations.
Born in Massachusetts but raised in Mooresville, Bollinger attended Western Carolina University to study elementary education. She and her husband, a videographer, settled in Forest Hills permanently in 2019. She now works in marketing at WCU and serves on the village planning board. That role gave her a close look at recent zoning requests, shaping her belief that careful decision-making is essential to preserve the community’s sense of place.
“It’s important to have decisions made in Forest Hills that kind of protect the land and the character of this place, but also understand there’s housing issues here,” she said.
Shields, a current council member, was born and raised in Franklin before moving to Jackson County. He studied computer information systems in the college of business at WCU, and later earned a master’s degree in instructional design from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Shields has lived in Forest Hills for seven years and emphasized fiscal responsibility and responsible development during his time on council.
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“I think the major issue for the Village of Forest Hills right now is continuing to do what the village has done for years, and that is to protect the valley from development that is predatory,” Shields said.
Hartley, the most recent arrival, moved to Forest Hills in 2023 but brings decades of technical experience. Born in Texas and raised in a military family, he lived abroad before returning to Florida, studied at the Air Force Academy and Florida Technological University and embarked on a long career in engineering and real estate development.
Licensed as both an engineer and a contractor, Hartley has worked on large projects in multiple states. His first involvement in local government came when he joined the planning board to review a major text amendment request for a 210-unit development on 72 acres that was ultimately denied.
“Let’s keep the zoning ordinances the way they are,” Hartley said. “Let’s welcome this developer’s right to do what he wants with his property within our laws.”
The three candidates differ in emphasis but converge on concerns about taxes. Each criticized Jackson County’s recent property tax hike, noting the ripple effect on Forest Hills residents. Shields stressed his vote to keep the village’s levy as close to revenue-neutral as possible, while Bollinger and Hartley said transparency from both county commissioners and village council should be paramount when residents are asked to pay more.
They also agreed on supporting the Fontana Regional Library system. Forest Hills council passed a resolution backing Fontana, and Shields pointed to the additional step of canceling an $8,000 planning contract with the county as a necessary show of disapproval. Bollinger also supports those actions, saying the library serves as a vital community resource.
Law enforcement drew attention as well. Shields said he wants to renegotiate how the village works with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, since Forest Hills pays for extra patrols but residents remain unsatisfied. Hartley noted that small municipalities like Forest Hills often struggle to balance autonomy with reliance on the county for basic services. Bollinger, in her planning board role, has not dealt directly with law enforcement contracts but said responsiveness and accountability should guide the village’s approach.
On infrastructure, the candidates took more nuanced positions. Shields supports expanding sewer service through the Tuckasegee Water and Sewer Authority for residents who want it, citing aging septic systems.
“Sewage [treatment] is incredibly expensive, but in the long term benefits the property values,” he said. “I think is worth the investment.”
Hartley warned that financing major projects would be difficult for such a small municipality but suggested the village could improve its grant-seeking capacity by updating its website and public image. Bollinger stressed that infrastructure decisions must balance environmental stewardship with fiscal reality.
Both Shields and Hartley proposed additional ordinances to safeguard the community. Shields listed brush management on vacant lots to reduce wildfire risk and said that residents had expressed concerns over invasive plant species. Hartley focused on conservation tools, suggesting partnerships with outside organizations to protect parts of the valley from future development.
Mayor
The contest for mayor features incumbent Marcia Almond and a familiar face in challenger Ron Mau, both long-time residents with deep experience in public service but sharply different styles.
Almond has lived in Forest Hills for 37 years. A nurse by training, she spent nearly four decades in the operating room before entering politics. After serving four years on council, she was elected mayor and has held the office since. She said the village’s most pressing need is infrastructure, pointing to aging septic systems in homes built 60 or 70 years ago — hence the idea for the sewer project she wants to pursue in two phases at a cost of about $25 million.
“If we don’t do something, septic failure will eventually pollute Cox Creek, and that affects the whole Tuckasegee River,” Almond said.
She acknowledged the cost far exceeds the village’s annual budget of less than $160,000 but said grant funding could make the project feasible.
Almond has also prioritized maintaining Forest Hills’ ties with organizations like the Southwestern Commission and the North Carolina League of Municipalities, arguing that small towns need those connections to access resources.
“Small towns like ours have to have a seat at the table, and those relationships are what make it possible for us to get things done,” she said.
She also supported the resolution to remain in the Fontana Regional Library system and opposed Jackson County’s withdrawal, calling it fiscally irresponsible.
On taxes, she has advocated lowering the village’s rate to offset county increases, but not all the way to revenue-neutral.
Mau moved to Forest Hills in 2005 after living in the Kansas City area. A professor of finance at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s worldwide campus, he has taught virtually for more than a decade. He previously served on the Forest Hills board, on the Tuckasegee Water and Sewer Authority board and as a Jackson County commissioner. He also ran unsuccessfully for Jackson County Commission chair in 2018 and for state representative in 2020 but entered this race at the request of residents who he said valued his experience. Mau cited taxes as a central issue, criticizing the board’s handling of the revenue-neutral rate.
“I think my experience on a lot of different boards has helped, you know, county commissioner being on the village board before, being on the TWASA [Tuckasegee Water and Sewer Authority] the board currently,” Mau said.
That experience gives Mau pause when considering the village’s ability to finance the sewer project, noting that grant opportunities are limited even for larger municipalities. As a TWASA board member, he said he has repeatedly seen applications denied.
Mau supports Forest Hills’ pro-library stance and agreed that canceling the planning contract made sense, since services were not currently needed. He faulted the county for failing to educate residents on the reasons behind its tax hike and said both county and village governments must be more transparent about where taxpayer money goes.
“Let’s also remember that our village increased our taxes significantly too. Percentage-wise, there was a big increase from both the county and the village. With the village, there’s no plans for any big projects or anything like that,” Mau said. “It kind of goes back where I talked about having a plan worked out for what’s going to happen over the next several years so you can tell people, ‘Yeah, your taxes are going up, and here’s what it’s going for.’”
Both Mau and Almond acknowledge that development pressures and infrastructure needs will dominate village discussions for years to come.
The village voice
Questions of representation in Jackson County surfaced repeatedly in the race, due to residency issues with Jackson County Commissioner Jenny Lynn Hooper. In 2024, Hooper ran to represent district three, but after winning her election was declared a resident of district one. Hooper’s been allowed to remain on council; however, not everyone is convinced she should still be there, and not everyone is certain she actually advocates for Forest Hills.
“It does seem odd to have somebody who doesn’t live in the district, but I mean, nobody contested, nobody protested,” Mau said. “I guess I’d rather see somebody who actually is in the district.”
Bollinger admitted unfamiliarity with the issue but did say she wasn’t completely comfortable with Hooper continuing.
“I guess I would feel like we don’t have representation if there’s not somebody for our district,” she said. “I definitely think that it’s important to have representation of somebody who lives in your district.”
Hartley said he’d like to speak with Hooper before taking a stand, but that may not be a valid strategy — Shields pointed out that he’d never heard from Hooper about the issues that matter to voters in his municipality.
“She has not made an effort to reach out to the Village of Forest Hills, to my understanding,” he said. “For someone who allegedly represents our district, there has been no effort to talk to the municipalities in that district.”
Almond was more succinct in her answer about Hooper’s continuing service.
“She should resign,” Almond said. “She in no way represents the voters of Forest Hills.”
