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Board of Elections to hold hearing on Dillsboro town board candidate
By Derek Hodges and Carey Phillips
The Jackson County Board of Elections will hold a hearing at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, on a challenge to the residency of Dillsboro town board candidate John Faulk.
The challenge, filed by Dillsboro resident John Miele, claims that Faulk does not reside in the town of Dillsboro or the Dillsboro voting precinct.
The Board of Elections held a preliminary hearing on the matter last Wednesday (Sept. 28). Board members hoped to decide at that time whether there was enough evidence to proceed to a full hearing, according to Lisa Lehman, elections director.
Although a message for Faulk was left on a telephone answering machine and an official letter was sent to his Dillsboro post office box, he was not present at last week’s hearing, Lehman said.
“Since John Faulk was not present, board members could not make a finding either way so they went ahead and set up an official hearing,” she said.
Faulk is serving on Dillsboro’s Planning Board and is one of Sylva’s appointees to the Economic Development Commission.
Faulk, who is owner of the Burger Shak in Sylva and co-owns Dillsboro’s Applegate Inn with his wife, maintains that his primary residence is Dillsboro.
“My wife and I bought a house in Sylva a few years ago, but when you own an inn like we did you have to have somebody there all the time when you have guests, and we usually had guests,” Faulk said.
Last year’s flooding forced the closure and condemnation of the Applegate. Faulk has since applied for a grant to restore the inn, and has been living primarily in Sylva.
“Most of the time since the flood I’ve been at the house in Sylva, but I am living in a room out in back of the inn now,” he said. “When the inn was operating I probably wasn’t gone more than two dozen days in eight years.”
Faulk contends the challenge isn’t related to where he lives, but rather is an attempt to take him out of the race. Miele’s business partner, Bud Smith, is an incumbent candidate for the town board.
“I don’t think it’s about where I live at all. I can’t speak for the people who brought the charges, but it is kind of ironic when you look at who filed it,” Faulk said. “I think once all the facts come out, the Board of Elections will make the right decision.”
Miele disagrees with the implication that he is simply trying to eliminate competitors for the five contested seats.
“That has nothing to do with it,” he said. “I acted on behalf of several merchants who were concerned about the fact that this man is not a resident of Dillsboro. The thing is, this is a small town. People know where he is at night.”
Miele acted on behalf of several Dillsboro residents, including Smith, and write-in candidates Emma Wertenberger and Charlie Wise, he said.
“The merchants don’t have a voice in Dillsboro, and they’re crying out for that,” Miele said. “I like John Faulk, that’s been the hardest part of this. We just decided to give it to the Board of Elections and let them decide.”
“The Board will hear all the facts, and John Faulk will have to be sworn in as will any other witnesses,” Lehman said of next week’s hearing. “They will ask him about his residency and look at North Carolina residency laws, which say your place of residency is anyplace you plan on returning if you have been away for a period of time. Being displaced by a natural disaster doesn’t necessarily mean your place of residency has changed.”
Faulk said he will attend the hearing to contest the charges.
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