Mike Hill is announcing his candidacy for re-election to the office of Carter County Commissioner representing the county’s Second District, which includes the Roan Mountain and Tiger Valley Precincts.

Hill initially campaigned, and was elected to serve the Second District in 2014 on the Carter County Commission.

“Initially, I was a one-issue candidate back in 2014. I wanted to expand arts education in the elementary school in my district, and was aghast at the demeanor of and treatment received from the highest elected office holder in the county toward a then private citizen who was volunteering as the fill-in art teacher there at the time,” Hill said. “In order to demonstrate resolve I put my name up for consideration, never expecting I would be elected, because I wasn’t ‘from here.’”

After his election in 2014, Hill said he did not want to remain a “one-issue” elected official, so he and several other new members of the Commission toured all the county offices and departments to learn more about county government operations.

“I have leveraged this knowledge numerous times over the past three years to expedite everything from establishing the first farmers market in the county to unfitting dumpsters for the landfill,” Hill said. “Being a self-employed entrepreneur for almost 30 years, I have learned the magic of leveraging and networking all connections to achieve a stated objective. This experience allowed me to successfully sponsor Roan Mountain’s quest to become the 41st official Appalachian Trail Community.”

“Acquiring this designation was a large catalyst for a reported 30 percent year over year sales increase in District Two according to reports from the Majority Whip of the TN state legislature… and a huge point of community pride for my constituents,” he added.

The biggest issue Carter County is currently facing is in the working relationship between the different branches of county government, according to Hill.

“The county’s current lack of a high functioning relationship between the legislative and executive branches has been its biggest Achilles heel,” Hill said. “This badly broken relationship has adversely affected all county offices and departments — plus city relations — and caused a severe lag in our overall achievement.”

“I have been part and parcel to some good progress in District Two even in spite of a complete lack of support from upper management,” he continued. “We have worked hard in Roan Mountain and there is visually apparent evidence of this good work from the stage in the community park to the equestrian trail expansions into the national forest to the AT Community designation. I am constantly told by my constituents that we have accomplished more here in three years than had been achieved in the past three decades.”

If elected, Hill said he has several goals he would like to achieve during the upcoming term of office including repairing the “damaged relationships between the branches and offices of our city and county governments,” making schools safer for students and staff, expanding vocational and enrichment programs in the schools, work with the Elizabethton/Carter County Chamber of Commerce to establish a satellite branch or stand alone location in Roan Mountain to help market and brand that community, establish a community branch of the Elizabethton/Carter County Public Library in Roan Mountain so residents in that community so the residents can tap into the resources the library provides, expand broadband internet access in Roan Mountain, establish tourism as a sustainable economic development driver in Carter County, and grow business county wide but most especially in Roan Mountain.

“I was blessed with the title “Commissioner” these last four years. I believe I have leveraged this title more effectively than most any of my colleagues and predecessors in order to go get great things for my constituents,” Hill said. “I have gone “all in” without much concern over whether I might fail. My fail fast, get it out of the way and move always forward approach has worked out well for Roan Mountain! I look forward to her future, and can’t wait to see what we achieve next.”