To the Editor:

Mountain Projects is proud to be a trusted Community Action Agency, serving Haywood and Jackson counties since 1965. Families and individuals rely on our programs each day for support, opportunity, and stability — and our doors must remain open to serve them. 

Three candidates — incumbents Tim Hines and Ben King, and newcomer W. Kent Maxey — are vying for two open seats on the Bryson City Board of Aldermen.  

Though aldermen serve four-year terms with odd-year staggered elections, Hines has only held the position since his appointment in April 2023 following Steve Augustine’s resignation. Nonetheless, Hines, who also works as a manager at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, said he’s learned a lot about the nuanced nature of town issues throughout his time in office.  

An Aug. 21 forum featuring most of the candidates in Sylva’s upcoming municipal election painted a broad portrait of a community wrestling with growth, values and limited resources, but it also revealed a few stark differences that could prove critical when voters begin going to the polls in November. 

Two weeks after the Jackson County Commission floated a possible withdrawal from the Fontana Regional Library system, residents showed up to speak at the May 20 commission meeting for more than three and a half hours of public comment, with the majority voicing their opposition to withdrawal. 

HERE of Jackson County, the county’s primary homeless services provider, is requesting half a million dollars from the county to purchase and renovate a facility that would become Jackson’s first and only permanent homeless shelter. 

What started off as a clever idea to address recidivism has grown into something more — a community-driven response to concerning and costly social ills like homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse disorder. 

To preface, this column does not reflect the views or opinions of this publication. For the last 12 years, this weekly column has been (and will remain) a vessel to conjure and express my own personal thoughts amid the wanderings and ponderings of my existence. 

The Town of Sylva passed an ordinance addressing panhandling last week by a narrow margin after extensive and contentious discussion on the topic.