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John Faulk cleared to run in Dillsboro
By Justin Goble
Local election officials Tuesday (Oct. 11) cleared Dillboro town board candidate John Faulk to run in November.
Jackson County Board of Election members held the hearing to resolve a challenge to Faulk’s residency filed by Dillsboro resident John Miele, who contended Faulk lives outside of Dillsboro’s town limits, thus making him ineligible to serve on the town board.
Faulk owns the Burger Shak in Sylva and co-owns Dillsboro’s Applegate Inn with his wife. The inn was closed and condemned after September 2004 flooding in the wake of Hurricane Ivan, and Faulk is seeking grant monies to rebuild it.
Though he owns a house in Sylva, Faulk said that he spends most of his time at the inn and is now living in one of its back rooms. He had been living there most of the time before the flood, he said.
“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 week.
He told board members Tuesday that his home in Sylva was mainly used as a means for he and his wife to get away from the rigors of the inn.
“She and I spent time together at our home (in Sylva),” he said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal where I slept at night. At least not until these charges came up.”
Nine of the 12 rooms at the inn were destroyed by the flood.
Faulk argued that Miele filed the complaint not because of where he lived but to get him out of the race. Miele’s business partner, Bud Smith, is an incumbent candidate for the board.
Miele was adamant in stating that he brought the challenge to the Board of Elections on behalf of Dillsboro merchants, many of whom would like to serve on the town board but are unable to because of residency laws.
“The merchants don’t have a voice in Dillsboro, and they’re crying out for that,” Miele said last week. “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.”
During the hearing, Miele questioned how the the board would determine residency if they sided with Faulk.
“Does this set a precedent?” he asked. “What warrants it? Does it have to be every day?”
Ultimately, the Board of Elections sided with Faulk because the state statute says that a person does not lose residency if they leave the precinct but plan on returning, said Jackson County Elections Supervisor Lisa Lehman.
Faulk told board members that he and his wife are trying to find the funds to rebuild the inn, and that there are no circumstances that would make him decide against it.
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