Clary Announces Mayoral Bid

Former Hendersonville Alderman Jamie Clary became the first person to publicly announce a candidacy for Mayor of Hendersonville, an election that will be held in November of 2016.

Clary made the announcement via social media, according to this Hendersonville Star News story.

Clary served as Alderman from 2002-2006. He ran for re-election in 2006, but was soundly defeated by now-former Alderman Lisa West.

Shortly after Clary announced, friends and supporters of potential candidate and former County Commissioner David Kimbrough indicated they'd received messages from him suggesting he will run. Kimbrough has not made a formal announcement.

Other potential candidates include current Aldermen Matt Stamper and Steve Brown and former Alderman Tommy Elsten. Brown and Elsten both ran for Mayor in 2012, when current Mayor Scott Foster won re-election to a third term. Brown then won election to an open seat on the BOMA in 2014.

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Strong Schools Holds Candidate Forum

From the Press Release:

Last night, grassroots advocacy organization Strong Schools held a forum for candidates interested in the District 5 School Board seat recently vacated by the resignation of Shannon Dunn.

 

Both Janet Arnold and Leslie Schell indicated interest in the seat and both were invited to participate. Ms. Arnold declined the invitation citing a scheduling conflict. 

 

Schell attended and was asked 15 questions that had been crafted by members of the Strong Schools community. 

 

The replacement for Dunn will be voted on by the County Commission on August 19th and will fill the remainder of Dunn's terms, which expires in August, 2014. 

 

Five County Commissioners attended the event, including David Kimbrough, Paul Decker, Paul Goode, Paige Brown Strong, and Michael Guthrie. 

 

The event's organizers arranged for live-streaming of the event via the StrongSchools.org website and have also emailed and mailed the survey questions to allow both candidates the opportunity to submit written responses ahead of the Commission vote. 

 

Strong Schools Director Andy Spears said, "We organized this event because we believe in transparency.  We want every member of the community to have a chance to hear from those who wish to serve on the School Board.  We're pleased that a number of County Commissioners came out to hear directly from the candidates. We'll also follow up with a written survey so the Commissioners and community members can see what these two interested individuals have to say about our schools."