RM commissioner shares about accomplishments the past four years

Published 9:05 am Wednesday, November 15, 2017

By COMMISSIONER MIKE HILL
New year (2-18) is election year in Carter County.
Candidate petitions will start going out this week, which means that for the next six to nine months we are going to see all sorts of candidates for office clamoring for your attention throughout Carter County. During the 2014 election cycle, we witnessed everything from free giveaways to laser light shows and bouncy houses being used for shameless candidate self-promotion. Every weekend will soon once again become its own special sideshow attraction for someone stumping for a public office. I have received a letter explaining that once the candidate petitions are issued, no more op-eds will be allowed in the Star until after the election. I believe this is a very sound policy, based on what I have been reading lately, which hasn’t expressed opinions as much as bragged about self-importance. Although it will be hard for many not to get caught up in the election frenzy, I would like to use my final Op-Ed as an opportunity to make a few observations about the upcoming election season and then give a summary of this wild ride I have been on these last three years as the freshman commissioner from District 2. Before the 2018 election cycle officially gets off the blocks, I urge voters to evaluate every candidate on the substance of their service and not by the number of free hotdogs and tee shirts they will hand out. In the coming months, you will see candidates getting out there collecting donations for band boosters and campaigning at Back 2 School Bash in a big way, which is noble…but were they there last year? Were they there in 2015?
There are many questions we need to ask ourselves about a candidate before making voting decisions.
Do they write their own material?
Is your district feeling increased prosperity?
Can the candidate verify their claims with attributable facts, or do they use the phrase “I’ve been told”, and “I have heard”?
Has the candidate been available and communicative? If so, did they give you a solid no bullshit answer or did they just tell you what you wanted to hear?
Did they leverage the title you gave them properly on your behalf? Have they used the title to bring anything good to your neighborhood?
Do they refer to themselves in the third person? When you see them, do they spend a lot of time explaining their importance to you, or do they listen to your concern before speaking?
Would you hang out with them socially? Do they make your skin crawl? Do people recommend them out loud, or speak only in whispers about them?
Are there ridiculous claims made about them on the hater pages? (in other words, have stood up for anything?)
Are they self-dealing for personal gain? Do they make a big deal out of something that isn’t?
Have you seen them on “the job” anywhere other than a meeting that pays $50?
How many meetings have they skipped?
When I came into this job, many Roan Mountain citizens shared the general feeling that our place in the great scheme of things was at the back of the line. There were other concerns too, but the overall impression I got from constituents was that “Roan Mountain never gets anything…we are forgotten.” Once, a county commissioner from another district actually stood up in a meeting and stated that Roan Mountain was “only 12% of the county’s population”, implying that we somehow don’t deserve the same consideration as the other 88% of the citizens of Carter County. Although this “12%” comment was intended expressly as a put down, to me “The 12%” implies something different. To me, if you are lucky enough to be part of “The 12%”, you are truly lucky enough! I know many citizens who make up “the 12%” agree 100% with me on this.
For the last three years, I have had the privilege of being advocate, stenographer, gopher, counselor, problem-solver, developer and #1 cheerleader for “the 12%”. As “I am the 12% Roan Mountain Strong” stickers started showing up on bumpers in parking lots all over Carter County, a LOT of good stuff started happening here as a result of this renewed pride of ownership! We watched our district turn from a Saturday morning ghost town to a lively and bustling community center as friends and neighbors gathered around the small farmers’ market we established in our community park-the first one in Carter County in years. Three years later Roan Mountain has become a weekly pickers festival and community bazaar on Saturday mornings. People are coming out and hanging out with us.
We extended the popular Tweetsie rail-trail connecting Johnson City and Elizabethton all the way to Roan Mountain by stringing together a series of state designated bike routes to provide a way for cycling enthusiasts to engage with “The 12%”…and I have been in talks with officials across the state line to extend this bicycle route all the way into Avery and Watauga Counties. I went with Planning Director Schuettler and Mel McKay to spray paint caution stencils and worked with the highway department to get way finding signs for the OVT and the Tweetsie expansion installed along these routes, because “ All Trails Lead to Roan Mountain!”
I went with the Backcountry Horsemen to the US Forest Service, so we could advocate for the significant equestrian trail expansion in the Cherokee National Forest that is under development, and then again with our Tourism Director Kayla Carter, so we could problem-solve Dennis Cove and Hampton trail parking, because “All Trails Lead to Roan Mountain!”
A year ago we were granted the “Appalachian Trail Community” designation by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. I was proud to sponsor our district’s petition to step into this national and international spotlight. I thoroughly enjoyed hosting our designation party, and spending time on the 19E trailhead, welcoming guests into Roan Mountain, interviewing them as to what amenities would make their time with us better and offering a lift into our town to introduce them to “the 12%”. I am pleased to announce that in early 2018, Roan Mountain will have a bona fide welcome center for her visitors located at the first right turn past the NC State line. Here, our guests will be able to get quality Carter County business and attraction recommendations on where to find everything from trophy fishing spots to Thai food, barbecue sandwiches, pizza as art and socks. A large slate of visitor-requested products and services will also be available here. Having a welcome center here will bolster the already significant increases in trail activity and general visitorship we have seen this year. I am excited for 2018’s prospects as this will be the first full year of Roan Mountain’s trail community designation. “Trail Magic” is contagious…creative promos like Shannon Ashley’s “girls with wieners” hiker hot dog suppers are rapidly increasing this community’s welcoming reputation. These and other simple volunteer driven initiatives will result in continued business increases and prosperity (as high as 50% year over year in Roan Mountain, according to reports from the state), all from simply being kind to strangers, and having a lot of fun doing it, because “All Trails Lead to Roan Mountain!”
Over the past three years, we performed many community service initiatives within our county schools, long before the XQ project turned community service into a curriculum element. Exposing our students to the notion that community service is important, Roan Mountain’s own Sam Potter with his CTE welding program saved the county landfill operations budget thousands of dollars which otherwise would have come from property taxes. Mr. Taylor’s CTE auto body class effected needed structural repairs to a bus for the Boys and Girls Club placing it back into service. The Unaka High varsity football team came and completed needed trail maintenance in the Roan Mountain State Park. In response to the huge blow-up at the animal shelter, our CTE program established a Veterinary Tech program to create a pipeline for support. I am currently working to establish other quality CTE programs that have the green-light from the state such as Cybersecurity, IT and Recreation Management, because these areas will be likely to provide local jobs for our graduates given the trajectory the county is on.
We shared breakfasts together at more than 40 mini town halls each year, where I hosted a listening table during my “office hours” at the Smoky Mountain Bakers, and the Roan Mountain Farmers’ Market. By listening to everybody, we came up with the idea of Rhodyjane Meadow’s “Care Fest” that helped provide needed funding for disaster victims as well a community stage to host concerts on the lawn and worship services. That stage now stands in our Community Park, thanks to Roan Mountain’s Hands to Hearts group, Erik Anderson, and the Roan Mountain Recreation Foundation. The listening table is where Roan Mountain came together, planned, stepped up and took a stand that not only kept our EMS substation open in district 2, but also saved EMS substation Service for our neighbors in Poga, Hampton and Elk Mills, who were at risk of losing theirs as well. “Roan Mountain Strong” initiatives not only will save lives, but also clean up our community…it was citizens from our district that came out to office hours and then went in concert to the Planning Commission last year, politely but firmly demanding that we improve the process of enforcing community appearance standards. Just last month, on behalf of this group of Roan Mountain citizens, I was proud to move to adopt the environmental resolution advanced by Commissioner Brad Johnson and the Planning Commission, that will help us more rapidly act to eliminate blight from our community.
I have absolutely loved being the Commissioner from Roan Mountain these past three years. Although conditions for getting anything accomplished were made difficult by the zero support environment of our current upper management, this job requires us to make the best of the hand we are dealt. I believe that we got a crap-ton done, in spite of the one recurring speed bump on the road. I get a little bit verklempt knowing that WE have been able to move the needle for this place we love, and indeed for the entire county.
I am grateful for the tutelage and support of the constituents I have met and friends I have made on this trip. (You all know who you are). It has been my honor and privilege to get to work for you. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for these last three years which are probably among the all-time favorite years of my life. I ran on a simple platform: “I will work hard for you”. That is exactly what I did. No matter what, you can’t say anybody out-worked me in there…nobody out-worked US in there!
We are Roan Mountain.
I am quite optimistic about the next four years; with the upcoming election cycle comes the opportunity to build on this good ground work we have laid together. To unlock our full potential, here is what we need: MORE NERDS. We desperately need more nerdy, intelligent willing workers whose primary concern is more about helping their community than about promoting themselves to step up to the plate and apply for this job. More nerd involvement would give Carter County a real choice for once during this election cycle. The size of the commission is not nearly as important as its substance. Read that again, and very slowly: The size of the commission is not nearly as important as its substance. We need to replace those who merely show up for a couple of meetings each month with folks who will be excited about their role, who will immerse themselves in and devour new subjects weekly, and who will leverage their title effectively every day. If you are someone who understands that there is greater potential in properly leveraging “WE” instead of bragging about “I”, you are the candidate we need. If you have good ideas for improvements and constantly wish things were different here, but you think you probably couldn’t get elected, I am telling you that you are most likely the candidate Carter County NEEDS the most.
(Mike Hill is a first-term commissioner representing Roan Mountain. Follow him on Facebook @workinhardindistrict2)

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