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Sylva starts social district test period
Social district test period starts in Sylva
HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
The Sylva social district opened for business, just in time for last weekend’s Greening Up the Mountains festival.
On Thursday night, the Sylva Board of Commissioners voted to amend the previously approved social district ordinance, reducing the days of operation to Friday through Sunday. The board will revisit the ordinance after six months, an amount of time it is considering as a test period for the social district.
“We received great feedback about the social district from patrons, festival vendors and downtown merchants,” said Main Street Economic Development Director Bernadette Peters. “The Sylva Police Department and Public Works both indicated that things ran smoothly with the launch. We will have conversations with the permit-holders and retailers who participated in the social district this week to gather feedback and make changes if necessary.”
The newly approved hours allow the social district to be in effect Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 9 p.m. During these hours, people in downtown Sylva will be able to carry and consume alcohol from any bar, restaurant or other entity that has a permit to sell alcohol and has agreed to participate, within an area spanning Main Street and Mill Street between Innovation Brewing and Nantahala Brewery.
At Thursday’s meeting, Commissioner David Nestler asked if implementing different schedules in the ordinance — not in place Monday through Thursday, and differing hours on the three days the social district is in place each week — would create confusion for people.
“That was something that the other towns we talked to expressed, that there was confusion,” said Peters. “But they all felt like offering a test period was the better way to have a consensus among their towns.”
Peters convened a Sylva Social District Task Force over the last several weeks to address feedback given during a public hearing for the ordinance on Feb. 10, and spent eight hours in merchant meetings to hear and process the needs and ideas of downtown merchants. Together, the task force created aspects of a maintenance plan that is required to be submitted to the state before a social district can be put in place.
One important point of discussion for the task force was the possibility of increased trash created by the social district. In order to reduce the use of single-use plastic cups, the maintenance plan developed requires people participating in the social district to purchase a reusable, stainless steel cup at any participating location. The cups will cost $10.
However, the requirement for this specific reusable cup is not delineated in the ordinance approved by the town board that allows for a social district in Sylva.
Commissioner Nestler questioned this discrepancy between the maintenance plan and the ordinance, noting that according to the ordinance, businesses and people consuming alcohol aren’t required to use the metal cup. “According to the ordinance, it can be a plastic cup, it just has to have the social district on it and a participating business,” said Nestler. “What’s to stop a participating business from not selling someone a $10 cup, and just putting it in a plastic cup? According to the ordinance, they can do that.”
“I think the idea was getting people to buy into the district and also discouraging under-age drinking,” said Commissioner Greg McPherson.
Peters mentioned that there is an exception in the plan for festivals. During festivals in downtown Sylva, people consuming alcohol are not required to use the metal cup when moving through the social district.
“For festivals, we’re offering that [use of plastic cups in the social district] as an option, knowing that there’s going to be a lot more people in town,” said Peters. “But when we created the details of the plan, we were trying to address the things that were presented in the public hearing.”
While Nestler said that requiring people to purchase the metal cup renders the social district burdensome, Mcpherson argued that it is a similar concept to using reusable grocery bags, coffee cups or growlers.
Commissioner Mary Gelbaugh noted that ultimately, this is a test period and that the town board will be able to revisit the issue and determine what is working and what is not working after six months.
Gelbaugh, McPherson and Newman voted in favor of amending the social district ordinance to weekend hours for the test period, Nestler voted against the amendment, saying he was not in favor of reducing the hours, and Commissioner Ben Guiney was absent.
The town board will revisit the social district ordinance at its first September meeting. Bookstore LUKE MANGET
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Christopher’s shadow looms large over Haywood sheriff’s race
Haywood County Sheriff Greg Christopher (right), seen here speaking in Cruso in September, 2020, isn’t seeking reelection. Cory Vaillancourt photo
Larry Bryson John Hemingway
Tony Cope
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS EDITOR
As Greg Christopher enters his 43rd and likely final year in law enforcement, he goes out with his reputation intact and a scandal-free 10-year tenure as Haywood County’s sheriff.
The fact that he’s run unopposed and has won two straight elections, as a Democrat no less, is a testament to his integrity and appeal in a county increasingly run by Republicans and Republican voters.
Whether voters are willing to elect another Democrat on a county-wide basis is a pressing question — not only in the sheriff’s race, but also in the county commission race — but whoever it is and whatever their party affiliation may be, Christopher has a good idea of what will make the next sheriff a successful one.
“There is a laundry list of things that the next sheriff is going to need. He’s going to need a strong community relations package. He’s going to have to get out in the community,” he said. “Our motto here when it comes to community relations has been that we want to know our communities before we need to know our communities.”
That was especially important during the Pigeon River flood in August of 2021, but community engagement has also informed Christopher’s advocacy and involvement in big-picture issues from Russ Avenue all the way to Raleigh.
“Our legislators that I deal with here in Western North Carolina, they’re very responsive to the things that law enforcement is talking about and the things that we need,” Christopher said. “I’m very thankful for all of those people that will step up to the plate and run for that kind of office.”
This year, five candidates have stepped up hoping to follow Christopher, two Democrats and three Republicans. Unaffiliated voters may choose either party’s Primary Election ballot. The winners of each primary will face each other in November and usher in a new era in Haywood County’s law enforcement history.
Larry Bryson always wanted to work in law enforcement, even while spending the mid-1970s at Wellco Enterprises. Bryson attended what was then the only law enforcement training program in the region, at Southwestern Community College, and first caught on with Jack Harrington’s HCSO in 1976. “I was a scared kid standing in front of this guy’s desk and his glasses down his nose, he’s this bigger than life guy,” Bryson recalls. “He said, ‘If you embarrass me, you’ll never work in this state again.’ I said, ‘No, sir, I will not do that. I won’t let you down.’”
Bryson went on to serve 10 years with the Waynesville Police Department, but left to work with Champion Paper’s private police force before returning to Tom Alexander’s HCSO as a drug agent.
During his long career, Bryson served as a detention officer, a deputy sheriff, chief of detectives, chief deputy and interim sheriff for a few months upon the resignation of Bobby Suttles in 2013. He later worked as a U.S. Marshal.
JOHN HEMINGWAY (D)
Born in Massachusetts, John Hemingway and his family moved to Florida to care for aging relatives right about the time he turned one year old. A decade or so later, they moved to Haywood County. Hemingway graduated from Tuscola High School and began driving a cab, but he soon went to work for the state in corrections, where he found himself in a 400inmate medium security prison camp. “That’s where I learned how to talk to people. When there’s two officers and 138 inmates, that’s all you have. No gun. No nothing. Not even pepper spray back then,” he said. “All we had was us and them. We learned to talk to people. Give respect, get respect.”
Hemingway subsequently became an instructor in firearms, self-defense, baton and taser use, and later joined the SWAT team, ending up as its commander. In 2010, he opened a firearms shop that he sold earlier this month. Since 2016, he’s been an alderman for the Town of Clyde and a corporal in the Haywood County Sheriff’s office.
TONY COPE (R)
Raised in the Lake Logan area, Tony Cope is a Haywood County native. After high school, he felt the call of public service and rose through the ranks of the Center Pigeon Fire Department to become assistant chief, while also working in manufacturing. Except for a short stint with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Police, Cope has spent his entire 23-year law enforcement career in the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office and has worked in patrol, child abuse and narcotics. He’s currently a captain.
“I’ve been very blessed to be a public servant in this county for 30 years,” Cope said. “I’ve made some community relationships here, even from the time I was 18, that have lasted a lifetime. I think it’s important that we to continue to be a part of the community and continue building those relationships.”
ing a psychology degree, Wilke spent four years as a Newport News police officer before being hired as a training officer with the North Carolina National Guard.
While training two MP battalions in Asheville Wilkie became an Asheville Police Officer, spending 16 years there before leaving in 2016. Along the way, he ran for Haywood County Sheriff in 2010, losing to Democrat Bobby Suttles. It was Suttles’s abrupt resignation that led to the start of the Greg Christopher era in 2012. Wilke left the Asheville department in October of 2016 to became a licensed private investigator.
“It’s one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had, in addition to law enforcement, because you get to help a vast array of people and clients,” he told The Smoky Mountain News in 2021. “I handle murder cases. I’ve pursued people that don’t pay their child support, I’ve done civil process, serving papers.”
Outgoing Sheriff Greg Christopher says the job has changed dramatically in his four-decade career. The next sheriff of Haywood County will have to address some issues that are relatively new, and relatively national in scope, however the core of the job remains unchanged and other issues are specific only to Haywood County. Chief among them is the forthcoming jail expansion.
“There’s nobody in North Carolina that probably advocates for inmates more than I do when it comes to rehabilitation,” Christopher said. “But we do have a certain number of individuals that we’ve got to get their attention by sending them to the penitentiary.”
Christopher thinks the next sheriff has to have a solid understanding of the jail expansion and be actively involved with the build, but one of the biggest obligations of his office remains civil process — one of only three duties of a sheriff that’s mandated in statute.
All four candidates who spoke to SMN for this story have experience and understand the significance of running an efficient, effective operation.
“Civil process is a very important aspect of working with the courts and court officials to ensure that the right things are done in the right time sequence, because it’s very important to how the courts maintain the flow of the docket, everything from lawsuits to criminal cases,” Wilke said. “Fortunately, that’s one of the big areas of responsibility for me as a private investigator.”
Bryson recalls being “inundated” with foreclosures following the 2008 real estate market meltdown, and Cope said staying on top of the process is critical.
Hemingway thinks the HCSO has a good system, as well as a good team that can help the department continue to avoid the consequences of failing to navigate the complex deadlines and procedures associated with service.
“Just imagine on domestic violence, if we don’t get the paperwork served in time. Just imagine,” he said. “You talk about a civil process problem, it could be a problem, if the person doesn’t understand all the factors.”
Understanding all the factors of service, and of the sheriff’s job itself, also means getting out into the community, as Christopher has shown. Inevitably, that leads sheriffs to Raleigh to advocate for the tools law enforcement officers need to do their jobs effectively.
More often than not, it’s about legislation needed to address problems law enforcement can’t arrest their way out of, like opioids and homelessness.
“I have spoken in front of the North Carolina Sheriff’s Training Standards Commission,” said Bryson. “I’ve spoken in front of the attorney general. I’ve been down there [to Raleigh] several times. I don’t have an issue with that.” Hemingway cites his relationships with local legislators — a biproduct of his service as an alderman — as a plus, and Wilke has advocated for policies benefitting the private protective services industry from Raleigh to Washington, D.C.
Cope, meanwhile, has learned from one of the best.
“We want to make some changes in our drug laws. Me personally, I think that’s important, stiffer penalties and more consequences for distribution. I think it’s very important that we advocate for that and try to rid ourselves of some of this problem,” he said.
Conversations centering on police reform have been taking place in communities across the country for some time now but have only gotten louder since the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. Transparency in particular is at the forefront of those conversations, nowhere more so than in North Carolina, which has some of the most rigid privacy laws for law enforcement officers in the country.
Wilke mentioned body cameras as an effective tool in maintaining public confidence in law enforcement agencies, but he thinks they’re no substitute for community engagement. Bryson also brought up body cameras as something on his wish list.
“I’m very much in favor of body cams or anything anybody wants to use if it justifies or if it shows our work holds up to the test,” he said.
Cope sees transparency as necessarily growing from personal accountability and community relations, something Hemingway also values.
“I want to start a program that we have representatives in every part of our county, every little community,” he said. “Let’s meet once every three months, once every four months so we know what’s going on in Cruso, so we know what’s going on in Saunooke, so we know what’s going on in Fines Creek. I also want to start a committee about the use of force.”
Most law enforcement officers agree that some reforms are needed, however, a growing segment is less interested in transparency and accountability than in asserting a sheriff’s supposed right to interpret the Constitution and decide, personally, which laws to enforce and which not to enforce.
In early 2020, a movement spread out of Virginia and into neighboring states, including North Carolina, called the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement.
In essence, it asked Haywood County commissioners to approve a resolution stating that there would be no enforcement of gun laws that the sheriff found, in his own judgement, to be unconstitutional.
There’s just one problem with that, Christopher told commissioners on Jan. 21, 2020.
“I support our citizens’ protected right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and the doctrine of judicial review that grants to the United States Supreme Court and the lower courts the power to determine the constitutionality of any law, and sheriffs do not possess the legal authority to interpret the constitutionality of any law,” he said.
Haywood opted for a “Constitution protecting county” resolution that expressed
support for the entire Constitution, not just one specific amendment, however the push to fight tyranny by placing the ultimate power of judicial review into the hands of just one person — the county sheriff — hasn’t abated. Founded in 2011 by former Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association presents an aggressive view of the sheriff’s powers and suggests they should decide for themselves which laws are constitutional, and which are not. During a March 31 Republican candidate forum hosted by the Haywood County Republican Party, chair Kay Miller asked Cope and Wilke if they would join the CSPOA upon election. Bill Wilke “I told her absolutely,” Cope said on April 22. “Sheriff Mack runs that, and he’s very constitutionally conservative. That’s very important, to be constitutionally-driven.” At the same time, Cope said that existing laws need to be enforced, like it or not. “If you don’t, you’re going to be the one in trouble,” he said. Wilke was a bit more circumspect when asked if he’d join the CSPOA. “I’m very cautious about joining or attaching my reputation or my office to any organization, simply because organizations change and what appears initially to be a good premise can very quickly turn into something that’s not,” he said. “I want to be clear, I’m not saying that about that organization [but] it’s also very important to understand that only a court of law can determine what is constitutional and what is not. And if a sheriff decides what is constitutional, I will tell you that is not constitutional in and of itself.” Democrats Hemingway and Bryson weren’t included in the forum and didn’t get a chance to answer Miller’s question, but both acknowledged the ongoing conflict over the vertical separation of powers that’s been built into American government since its inception. “Here’s the thing. The Constitution — I believe in it,” Bryson said. “It’s one of the oldest things mandated with the sheriff. That’s where he got his original authority and power anyway. But laws have been changed. Things have been repealed in this country. And I think you have to go by the law that’s in place.” Hemmingway said that the sheriff is indeed “the last level of defense” against perceived government overreach, but didn’t elaborate on the positions of the CSPOA, of which he said he was familiar. The question of defense may be the a hypothetical one far removed from the dayto-day life of a Haywood County sheriff, but it may also determine which of the five candidates gets to put on that badge and serve the people of Haywood County, like sheriffs have for more than two centuries. “I teach people that badge is like a magnifying glass,” Hemingway said. “If your heart is good, if you are a good person, it’s going to make you a bigger, better person. If you are one of those people, a ‘bad apple,’ it’s going to make you even worse.” Republican Jason Hughes, also running for sheriff, was not available for an interview.
1809..................................William Alexander 1810..................................Daniel McDowell 1811-1814.............................William Green 1815-1819.....................Ninian Edmonston 1820-1830.............................James McKee 1831-1838........................Nelson G. Howell 1839-1853.................................J.B. Allison 1854-1858..........................“Sheriff” Hayes 1859-1864.............................William Green 1865-1866..............................John H. Boyd 1866-1867........................Francis M. Davis 1868-1874.................................A.J. Murray 1874-1880................................S.J. Shelton 1880-1882................................A.J. Shelton 1882-1886..............................John H. Boyd 1886-1900................................W.J. Haynes 1900-1902..........................Morgan Henson 1902-1906............................Dave R. Nolan 1906-1910..............................W.R. Medford 1910-1914..........................William Palmer 1914-1920.............................John R. Hipps 1920-1926...............................John F. Cabe 1926-1930...................................J.C. Welch 1930-1934....................................J.A. Lowe 1934-1950..................................R.V. Welch 1950-1959...........................Fred Campbell 1959-1962............................Frank Medford 1962-1963.................................Willis Beck 1963-1986........................C. Jack Arrington 1986-2009............................R.T. Alexander 2009-2013........................Bobby R. Suttles 2013-2022........................Greg Christopher 2022-2026.................................................?
Sheriffs in Western North Carolina face challenges, change
Macon County Sheriff Robbie Holland speaks at a “back the blue” rally in
Franklin in 2020. Cory Vaillancourt photo
BY LILLY KNOEPP & CORY VAILLANCOURT
The job of the county sheriff is important even though the county sheriff’s job is widely misunderstood.
Sheriffs don’t just hold the keys to the jail. They’re responsible for fiscal and personnel management, community outreach, legislative advocacy, local government relations, inter-agency coordination and supervising a department of men and women charged with carrying out statutory law enforcement duties in an efficient, professional and safe manner.
They’re also partisan political figures whose influence can have a substantial impact on public policy and electoral campaigns from a local to a national level.
In the 17-county Western North Carolina region, only nine sheriffs are seeking reelection this year.
Voters in the other eight counties will say goodbye to years of experience and institutional knowledge, but they’ll also have the chance to shape the future of law enforcement in an era when sheriffs are increasingly being called upon by some to determine what laws, exactly, they intend to enforce.
They’ll do so beginning with the May 17 Primary Election, as they navigate the political chasm between defunding police and increasing policing power.
Chapter 162 of the North Carolina General Statutes outlines the qualifications, obligations and responsibilities of sheriffs and establishes statewide a term of four years.
To run for sheriff, a candidate must be 21 years of age, a qualified elector in the county where they wish to run, and cannot have been convicted of a felony. They also can’t practice law or be a member of the General Assembly while serving as sheriff.
No other training, education or law enforcement experience is required.
The basic duties are threefold – maintain custody of the jail and its prisoners; execute process service, court orders and judgements; and ensure the security of the county’s courtrooms.
While those duties haven’t changed much over the years, just about everything else has.
“Gosh, looking back through my career, there’s been lots of changes,” said Robbie Holland, Macon County’s sheriff since 2002. “I can remember a time where when your patrol car broke down, you used your personal vehicle to get through the week until you could have your patrol car fixed.”
Holland said he was also one of the first Macon County law enforcement officers to have a computer of his own, borrowing a used laptop from the county’s social services department.
Greg Christopher, sheriff of Haywood County since 2013 and a four-decade veteran of law enforcement, cites technology as a force for change in law enforcement.
“Social media, more so than probably anything else, has changed the way that we do our jobs,” Christopher said. “The demands of never being off duty, having to now answer emails and text because of a cell phone that you have with you, you just cannot get away from the job at all. One thing I’ve learned about being the sheriff is when you are the sheriff of a county, you are everyone’s sheriff and everybody knows that you are the sheriff and there are so many things that people want to specifically talk to you about.”
But technology has also led to the professionalization of the sheriff’s office, especially since the advent of the cheap, plentiful, webenabled video recording technology that brought light to misconduct charges in the cases of George Floyd and Eric Garner, among many others.
“Things change,” Holland said. “What might work yesterday may not work today, and you’ve got to look at different ways to handle those things. I think that the standards that they’re coming up with, they’re good.”
In 2020, the North Carolina Sheriffs Association created a working group made up of 10 of its 100 member sheriffs and issued a report recommending sweeping reforms on recruitment, certification, and use of force procedures as well as the creation of an employment database meant to weed out the small percentage of bad apples rotating from department to department.
“Any time I have an officer that applies with us that comes from another agency I’m always calling on that sheriff to find a little bit of background about that individual,” Holland said. “I think that’s important because sometimes officers bring baggage
with them, and it’s important for us sheriffs to be forthcoming about that because a problem child in another county agency doesn’t need to come here and be a problem child to us too.”
Other unexpected challenges, like ensuring public safety during the large public demonstrations of 2020, can be an unexpected affair for a county sheriff – especially when the demonstrators are demonstrating against law enforcement.
“We were out there to protect everybody. We were out there to protect those who came to watch the protest, but more importantly, we were there to protect those people that were having the protest,” he said. “We support their right to voice their opinions and their concerns. Even though some of it was negative toward us, we support that [right] and we wanted to make sure that they were safe.”
That becomes even more difficult in a small town like Franklin.
“I had friends that were on that line of the protestors,” Holland said. “Several of them came up and hugged me and told me they loved me. I support their opinions. People have died to give us those rights and so I think our community saw how we reacted toward them and I think it gained us even more support, because we respected them.”
The local protests were not without tense moments between counter-protestors, as well as other safety concerns.
Some local sheriffs participated in the rallies. Holland hosted a Back The Blue Rally in Franklin while Cherokee County Sheriff Derrick Palmer spoke at the Black Lives Matter Rally in Murphy.
Christopher, too, was present at demonstrations in Haywood County.
“This is a very important job for us, and [demonstrators] feel it’s important to express their First Amendment rights,” Christopher told The Smoky Mountain News on Aug. 1, 2021, just prior to a Black Lives Matter march in Maggie Valley. “We’re here to protect those that want to do that.”
Neither Christopher nor Holland will seek another term this fall, and neither will sheriffs in Avery, Cherokee, Clay, Jackson, Transylvania or Rutherford Counties. In all of them, citizens end up losing years of experience – 20 for Macon’s Holland, and 10 for Haywood’s Christopher – and will soon see a new sheriff in town, some for the first time in decades.
Maintaining respect for and continuity in the agency even after he’s gone is a priority for Holland. Three out of the five candidates in Macon County’s Primary Election are current deputies at the sheriff’s office.
“I’ve had the privilege of sitting down with all three of my employees that are running for sheriff. I see some of the visions that they have and some of the changes that they want to make and I support it,” Holland said. “I think what all of them have is very good, and just imagine if all three of them come together, when this is all over with, if they put all three of their ideas together, we could have a really great agency and be proud to be associated with it.”
Holland, a Republican, says that if one of them is elected, he will be happy, but all five candidates are Republicans. No Democrats filed for the seat, making the Primary Election all-important. It’s slightly different in Democrat Christopher’s Haywood County, where two Democrats and three Republicans will run their own Primary Election campaigns in hopes of replacing him. Of the five, two are current employees of the HCSO, one is a former employee and former interim sheriff, and the other two have significant law enforcement experience in Buncombe County (see HAYWOOD p. 6). Party affiliation matters. Haywood County has slowly but surely become more Republican over the past few years, beginning in 2018 with a Republican takeover of the county commission for the first time ever. Christopher is a conservative Democrat and at least politically, the remnant of a bygone era in the South. Sheriffs sometimes issue endorsements of political candidates because they often remain influential local players – even after they’re out of office. Current NC-11 Congressman Madison Cawthorn garnered a bevy of endorsements from sheriffs across the region, including retired Henderson County sheriff George Erwin, that helped propel him to victory in 2020. Erwin has since rescinded his support, and the embattled Cawthorn is running in an eight-candidate field. Will it matter? The opinions of sheriffs could be a deciding factor, just as when the “Second Amendment sanctuary” movement hit North Carolina in 2020. Resolutions were put forth across the South in part because of gun control legislation moving through the Virginia General Assembly. Cherokee County was one of the first to become a “sanctuary” in 2019. The designation is largely symbolic and promises to uphold the Second Amendment rights of citizens. In Macon County, the debate lasted three months. Holland called it an important moment in his career. “The problem that I had with that is the Second Amendment is very important, but so is everything else within the Constitution. I’ve already taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, which includes the Second Amendment. One of the major issues that I had with signing this oath for the Second Amendment ... it wasn’t the oath that I take for office. It was only a portion of that oath,” he said. “And so, I had legal advisors outside of Macon County that were giving me advice that you need to understand that if you’re signing an oath, a new oath, then you could be null and voiding your oath that you’ve already taken.” Holland provided the county commissioner a version of the resolution from the N.C. Sheriff’s Association that did not conflict with the Constitution. Macon County ultimately passed a resolution protecting the U.S. Constitution, N.C. Constitution and all other laws. In Haywood County, Christopher took the SEE SHERIFFS, PAGE 10
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SHERIFFS, CONTINUED FROM 9 position that “sheriffs do not possess the legal authority to interpret the constitutionality of any law.”
Haywood also passed a “Constitution protecting county” resolution that focused on the entire document and all its amendments, rather than just the Second Amendment.
The Second Amendment and COVID-19 restriction enforcement have both been key issues for groups who want local law enforcement to have more power.
One group, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, wants local sheriffs to assert powers they say take precedence even over those of the commander in chief.
The CSPOA was founded in 2011 by former Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack to “remind sheriffs and peace officers about their oath of office,” according to the group’s website.
The AntiDefamation League calls it “an anti-government extremist group whose primary purpose is to recruit sheriffs into the anti-government ‘patriot’ movement” similar to the sovereign citizen movement.
Mack hawks nutritional supplements and precious metals on the group’s website, which also puts forth a variety of positions and pledges by which so-called “constitutional sheriffs” should govern themselves.
The CSPOA’s “Statement of Constitutional Sheriff” specifically asks law enforcement officers to sign a pledge stating that they will not enforce legal orders from elected officials, especially in relation to mask mandates, saying that sworn officers must “… resist such edicts and orders and act in such a manner as to shelter and protect the citizenry from all acts of lawlessness, even and especially when they originate from civil authorities.”
The group’s “Statement of positions” lays out several more dubious propositions, including on immigration (“immigrants are not assimilating into our culture as they once did”) and on federally-owned land within the states, regarding which sheriffs should “use their authority to assist in the transfer of control of the land” back to the county and state.
Likewise, the CSPOA opposes most every gun control measure out there, including universal background checks.
All told, these CSPOA’s positions are founded in their contention that “The vertical separation of powers in the Constitution makes it clear that the power of the sheriff even supersedes the powers of the President.”
Holland said that he has sworn to uphold the Constitution in the sheriff’s oath and that he always wants to make sure that federal and partner agencies are following the law in Macon County.
“You have to make a decision in your life. If you’re the sheriff and you have taken this oath, there may come a time where you have to make a decision. Luckily, I’ve not been put in that position,” said Holland. “Do I hesitate to question another authority that comes to my county, whether it be a state or federal agency? Absolutely not. I don’t hesitate. We work with our partners, and I don’t hesitate to question what they’re wanting to do and I make sure that before we act on something that it meets the criteria of the law.”
Because of widespread recognition – if not support – from within the law enforcement community, the CSPOA may become an issue in local contests and has already been mentioned in the Haywood County Republican Primary Election.
Comparatively, other law enforcement reform organizations across the country continue to call for very different goals than the CSPOA. Those organizations want police funding to be decreased while involving mediators, mental health experts and social workers more in 911 situations.
Most recently, President Joe Biden brought police funding to the forefront of his State of the Union address in March.
“We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police. The answer is to fund the police. Fund them with resources and training they need to protect our communities,” said Biden.
Biden’s proposed federal budget for 2023 includes more than $24 billion for law enforcement centered programs and even more for research on gun violence, mental health services and other services.
These conversations about law enforcement reform are currently being hashed out local governments like the city of Asheville.
In 2020, Blue Ridge Public Radio hosted a community conversation on policing with Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller, Historian Dr. Dwight Mullen, Zaria Abdulkarim of Democracy NC, Rob Thomas of Racial Justice Coalition AVL and President local chapter Fraternal Order of Police Rondell Lance.
The first question was: Where do you stand on defunding the police?
“Defunding the police, to me, is a multifaceted word that needs to be broken down. I prefer to use divest from the police and reinvest in the community,” said Thomas.
Miller is one of the few local sheriffs who is running for reelection. Before discussing police funding at the event, he explained the difference between the sheriff’s office and the police department. The sheriff is responsible for the detention center and is also responsible for the courts and civil process. Defunding those systems would have a negative effect on public safety, according to Miller.
This year, Buncombe County Detention Center had the worst death rate in North Carolina, according to an investigation.
Comparatively, defunding local police departments is a controversial option that could have altogether different impacts on public safety. For example, Thomas wants to reinvest police budgets into community programs and services.
In 2020, Miller said he was open to conversations about defunding and compared
Sheriff Robbie Holland, of Macon County, will retire from the position this
year. Cory Vaillancourt photo George Floyd’s killing to the beating of Rodney King in 1991, which sparked protests and riots in Los Angeles.
“You know, we felt the changes were made, and we would never be here again,” Miller said. “Some 30 years later, we are there again. I’m just saying for me, his beating, if you will, was in vain, if we are not willing and ready to make a step.”
In the last two years, the conversations around law enforcement funding, systemic racism and local government have continued in Asheville including a lawsuit brought by a Western Carolina University student who was allegedly blinded during the 2020 protests.
In the 2022 primary, Democrat Miller will face one challenger. In the General Election, a Libertarian and the winner of the Republican primary will be on the ballot to decide the next chapter of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.
Ultimately, that ballot box is guaranteed to bring change, all across Western North Carolina.
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS EDITOR
Primary Elections in Western North Carolina will be held on Tuesday, May 17, but in-person early voting will get underway on Thursday, April 28.
Through Saturday, May 14, sites across Western North Carolina will be open to those who want to cast their ballots in advance of Election Day. No reason is needed for those who wish to use what is called “In-Person Absentee Voting” or “One-Stop Absentee Voting,” and voters can alternatively make their selections by mail as well.
To vote early, voters must appear at the designated early voting site in their home county between those dates. Most voters don’t need to show identification, but those who are voting for the first time or the first time in a new residence might, so it’s probably best just to bring it along just in case.
Vote-by-mail ballots are still available. Request yours by calling your county board of elections office, or by visiting ncsbe.gov/voting/vote-mail.
The last day to register to vote or to change party affiliation was Friday, April 22. To check your registration, to find your polling place — some have changed, especially in flood-ravaged Haywood County — or to view all the races you’re eligible to vote in, visit vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup.
EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS
Haywood County
Haywood County Senior Resource Center, 81 Elmwood Way; Canton Public Library, 11 Pennsylvania Ave.; Clyde Town Hall, 8437 Carolina Blvd. All locations open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 1. To request an absentee ballot, call the Haywood County Board of Elections at 828.452.6633.
Jackson County
Jackson County Board of Elections, 876 Skyland Drive; Cashiers Recreation Center, 355 Frank Allen Road; Cullowhee Recreation Center, 88 Cullowhee Mountain Road; Qualla Community Building, 181 Shoal Creek Church Loop; University Center, 245 Memorial Drive. Open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 14. To request an absentee ballot, call the Jackson County Board of Elections at 828.586.7538.
Macon County
Macon County Community Building, 1288 Georgia Road; Highlands Civic Center, 600 N. 4th St. Open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday hours vary by location. To request an absentee ballot, call the Macon County Board of Elections at 828.349.2034.
Swain County
Swain County Board of Elections, 1422 Hwy. 19 South; Birdtown Community Center, 1212 Birdtown Road. Open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday hours vary by location. To request an absentee ballot, call the Swain County Board of Elections at 828.488.6463.
Five compete in Jackson Sheriff primaries
HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER
Residents of Jackson County are tasked with selecting a new sheriff during the midterm elections this year. But first, voters must select both a Republican and Democratic nominee from a pool of primary candidates.
Current Jackson County Sheriff Chip Hall is retiring from his post after eight years on the job. Hall was first elected sheriff in 2014. Prior to that, he had served in the department as second-in-command to Sheriff Jimmy Ashe (three-term sheriff, 2002-2014). Now, Ashe is running again. He will faceoff against Robin Gunnels and Rick Buchanan in the Democratic primary; Doug Farmer and Andy Anderson will compete in the Republican primary.
DEMOCRATS
Ashe has decided to run for sheriff once more because his time away from the department has given him a fresh perspective and many citizens have asked him to run again, he said.
“I retired in 2014 after 35 years in law enforcement, 12 of those years were as the sheriff, and I had an opportunity to look at the county through different eyes, through the eyes of a citizen,” said Ashe. “A lot of citizens contacted me because they wanted me to run again. Many citizens said somebody’s got to clean this mess up.”
Ashe described the “mess” as a continuing drug problem with increasing incidents of overdose, long response times to 911 calls, personnel issues and deaths in the detention center. Jackson County detention center has reported three inmate suicides since November 2014.
When it comes to the safety of inmates and staff in the Jackson County Jail, Ashe says greater oversight and more diligent searches are paramount.
“It’s about procedures and then leadership and then supervision over the people that are tasked with supervising inmates,” said Ashe. “It’s not an easy job, but it’s much easier to get it before it comes in than to have to deal with it after people have either died in jail or have been subjected to overdoses.” Ashe sees drugs as the root of a lot of crime in Jackson County. He wants to address the issue in a three-pronged approach — rehabilitation, education and enforcement. Rehabilitation, he says, will require advocating to and by legislators. Education, like what was done for methamphetamine years ago, is needed to teach people about opioids and opiates like fentanyl and heroin. Enforcement, according to Ashe, requires the cooperation of judges, district attorneys and federal courts.
“Working with the sheriff’s office since July 22, 1981, I know the problems, and I have the solutions,” said Ashe. “So many concerned citizens contacted me, wanting me to run again.” R obin Gunnels was born and raised in the mountains of Western North Carolina and moved to Sylva in 1983. He worked for Western Carolina University Police for almost 14 years before moving on to work at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Shortly after Ashe was elected sheriff in 2002, Gunnels left “because of the politics involved.” For the past 22 years, he has owned and operated his own business, Custom Truck Covers & Accessories. Gunnels currently works for the Swain County Sheriff’s Office. This is his third attempt for the position.
Gunnels said his experience in law enforcement, as well as owning a small business, make him uniquely equipped to take on the job.
“Being able to deal effectively with the public is the primary focus,” said Gunnels. “I have made a career in this business that I own, and I’ve served the public. In a small community, if you don’t treat people right, word of mouth will kill you. I believe that my strength is actually being able to work with the general public and provide their needs and take care of business.”
One objective for Gunnels is boosting the morale of law enforcement. Gunnels would aim to lead the department by example, working alongside his staff to build support. He also plans to invest in training and education to enhance job performance.
“It would be to do as I do, not as I say, because I want to be a working sheriff,” said Gunnels. “I don’t want to sit behind a desk and point fingers and dictate. I want to actually get out and do, build rapport, build relationships.”
In order to address the issue of drugs in Jackson County, a promise central to Gunnels’s campaign, he wants to create a drug task force.
“I currently work in a situation where I work with federal marshals, DEA agents and ATFs, and I have built some bridges and made some connections so that those resources can be made available,” said Gunnels. “It’s so huge right now, and other administrations have let it get out of hand. It’s not been addressed in a proper manner. Everything that happens in our county crime-wise can be related back to the drugs.”
Rick Buchanan has been serving his community as a member of the Savannah Volunteer Fire Department for over 35 years and has been working at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department since 1991.
Buchanan worked his way through the department beginning his career there as a dispatcher, detention officer and patrol deputy. He has worked as an investigator and certified school resource officer. He worked his way up to sergeant and is now a lieutenant. “I had a humble response to an overwhelming request from so many in our community,” said Buchanan. “People know that I’m courteous, compassionate and respectful, and I’ll treat people the way that I wanna be treated. If they come to me with a need, I’ll do my best to try to help them.”
Buchanan is the only candidate in the Democrat or Republican primary that is currency employed at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
“I have a distinct advantage, and working knowledge of, all the issues that are facing
Jimmy Ashe Robin Gunnels Rick Buchanan
SEE JACKSON, PAGE 13
JACKSON, CONTINUED FROM 11 our community,” said Buchanan. “I’m on the front lines, addressing and adapting to the changes every day. I think I’ve got a solid working relationship with the staff at the sheriff’s office. My intention is to place experienced leaders and frontline staff in the best positions to ensure that they have the training and resources they need to be successful in their careers.”
As a current member of the department, Buchanan sees its biggest challenge as recruiting and retaining personnel. If elected, Buchanan wants to invest in staff by initiating a training program so that employees can have careers and advance within the department.
In order to address the prevalence of drugs in Jackson County, Buchanan has reached out to neighboring counties and agencies in an effort to create the kind of partnership he sees as paramount to improving this issue. He is also in contact with counseling services in an effort to provide grant-funded substance use counseling for inmates in Jackson County.
REPUBLICANS
Doug Farmer began his law enforcement career with 11 years at the Macon County Sheriff’s Office. Following a short stint with the Highlands Police Department, Farmer spent a year in Iraq training that country’s police officers. In 2010, he went to work for the Sylva police Department, where he remained until he retired in 2019.
“I have great respect for the job,” said Farmer. “I know the job and I see the issues within the county, and it hurts me to see the county in the condition it’s in right now, as far as the drugs and other things that’s going on. I believe that I bring the experience to take care of some of these situations. My public communication is good and dealing with the public, that’s a passion of mine. I’ve dealt with the public most of my life.” Farmer said that, if elected, he will take a more aggressive, targeted approach to going after drug dealers in Jackson County. Part of that will include community patrols, something Farmer says there isn’t much of in Jackson right now. He would like to see deputies patrolling not just the main roads, but also more remote secondary roads.
“Just the presence of a patrol car in a neighborhood is a to deterrent crime, statistically,” said Farmer. “You might say that it’s old school, but it works, it’s effective and it only deters crime. It also provides an extra layer of safety for your neighborhood, and it makes your citizens feel safer.”
Farmer also wants to add a second deputy to patrol the Cashiers area. He says this will enhance officer safety and provide better response times to the remote area.
Farmer wants to continue the placement of a school resource officer in every Jackson public school. He also wants to expand education opportunities related to law enforcement for JCPS students. Programs like safety courses for first-time drivers and education about what to do when pulled over by an officer or are involved in a car accident.
“I want to make Jackson County a better place for everybody’s family. Whether you’re visiting or whether you live here permanently, I want to make it a safe place,” said Farmer. “I want people to know that their sheriff’s department is out there working and doing their best for them.”
Andy Anderson is the only candidate with no experience in law enforcement, something that is not a requirement to be a sheriff in North Carolina. Anderson joined the Army at 18 and served for six years. In 2011, he was discharged and has since worked as an aviation technician and heavy machinery mechanic.
Anderson decided to run for sheriff after several run-ins with Jackson County law enforcement over the past few years. He has been arrested for failure to appear in court, as well as mask violations in the county courthouse among other things.
“The tyranny needs to stop,” said Anderson. “There’s a real problem in the Jackson County government and in our jail in particular. I’ve spent several hours in that jail, and my rights were, I can’t say severely deprived, but I sure did witness other people’s rights being severely deprived.” Anderson said the problems facing Jackson County need creative solutions. He thinks an outsider’s perspective, especially that of a competent mechanic who is used to coming up with creative solutions, could be the best fit for sheriff in Jackson County. Further, he believes that a sheriff candidate with a law enforcement background could be a conflict of interest.
“We have to fix this machine on a fundamental basis. We need to go back to the blueprint,” said Anderson. “The law enforcement, they don’t have respect for the authority of the constitution. We the people, the sovereignty in this country, we are the royalty, not them. When the king’s guard forgets their place, it is the people’s duty and obligation to rein in those authorities.”
Doug Farmer Andy Anderson
Serving Jackson, Haywood, Macon & Swain Counties
828.382.8260
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BY KYLE PERROTTI NEWS EDITOR
Among the sheriffs retiring in Western North Carolina who will leave big shoes to fill is Macon County’s Robert Holland, who has served in that position for almost two decades.
The candidates to replace Holland bring a variety of experience. Of those five men, three currently serve under Holland at MCSO, although in different divisions, while the others are newcomers with their own unique backgrounds in law enforcement.
DERECK JONES
Dereck Jones has served in MCSO for 17 years and holds the rank of captain. While he has served in a few different capacities, he’s currently in charge of the county detention center.
Jones began as a junior detention officer but also served as a member of the special response team (SRT), the county’s version of a SWAT team, and also worked patrol and investigations for several years. In 2018, he was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant and became the detention center administrator. He was promoted to captain just when the office was restructured and the entire command staff received that rank.
While Jones boasts diverse experience at MCSO, he highlighted his current role as a good example of why he’s prepared to become sheriff.
“It’s the highest liability position, and during the last three and a half years, I’ve had the opportunities administratively to work on the budget with the chief deputy,” Jones said.
In addition to his current role overseeing jail operations, Jones also highlighted his other collateral duties, such as his involvement with Special Olympics, Project Lifesaver (a community safety program that makes it easier to find missing individuals with conditions like autism or dementia), mental health task force and the safe schools task force.
Jones said that along with combating the ongoing drug issues and associated property and domestic violence crimes — including a push to enhance drug treatment and community interdiction services — a big priority of his would be enhancing courthouse security. As of now, there is a metal detector at the entrance that is often unmanned.
“I went around with a captain when we were looking at securing the courthouse with metal detectors … and a lot of research went into what we needed and how we could organize and implement the program,” he said.
Jones said that while he understands sheriff is a political position, he is a deputy before he’s a politician, and that’s the way he’d intend to run the office.
“I’m a law enforcement professional seeking to do what needs to be done through community involvement,” he said.
Dereck Jones
CLAY BRYSON
Like Jones, Clay Bryson is a captain at MCSO, although he oversees the patrol division.
Bryson said his interest in law enforcement flourished after participating in a youth program under former Sheriff Homer Holbrooks. It was there that he was mentored by Holland before Holland was ever elected to his current position.
“It was unique that he was my mentor when I was just 11 to 12 years old, and now he’s my boss,” Bryson said.
Bryson has served most of his career on patrol but also did two years of narcotics investigations. What sets Bryson apart from the field more than anything may be his 21 years running police canines. Since 2012, he’s also trained canines not only for MCSO but also other regional agencies.
In addition, Bryson has served on the SRT for years and has been its commander since 2012.
“I wear a lot of hats,” he said.
Bryson said drugs would obviously be a top concern for his administration, but he won’t promise to take all drugs off the streets, something he sees as impossible given the nature of the trafficking network.
“The majority of drugs come from Atlanta, and the majority of those drugs are coming from Mexico,” he said. “We’ve got to do what we can and deal with them appropriately when they get here.”
Bryson said he has three specific areas he believes he can enhance. First, he wants to educate youth on drugs that come into the area, especially considering how many encounter them at home or in their social circles. Next, he wants to ensure drug laws are enforced within MCSO jurisdiction. Finally, he wants to focus on rehabilitation.
“There are those that you arrest, and when they get in the jail setting, we need to make sure we have the adequate resources for them,” he said.
Bryson said the decision to run for sheriff wasn’t made lightly and only came after a good deal of prayer and discussion with his family.
“The sheriff is not a title for me,” he said. “To me it’s the passion I have inside and the fact I feel led to be where I’m at, and I want to continue giving.”
Clay Bryson
BRENT HOLBROOKS
Brent Holbrooks is a lieutenant at the MCSO who has been with the office about 23 years.
Holbrooks, the son of former Sheriff Holbrooks, said that in his 23 years while he’s also worked courthouse security, he believes his greatest strengths are his abilities as an SRT operator and his experience in civil process. Civil process is one of the sheriff’s three statutorily mandated duties and requires deputies to serve individuals with noncriminal papers, including domestic violence protective orders.
Although Holbrooks said he respects Holland, he isn’t happy with the status quo.
“I don’t think his command staff that he currently has would necessarily be my command staff,” he said, adding that he would make other staffing changes. “It’d be a reconstruction of the whole department.”
Holbrooks touted his experience coming face-to-face with the drug trade.
“I worked the road, and when working the road, you have to know the ins and outs of the drug trade,” he said.
Holbrooks noted that he has experience far beyond just encounters during patrol.
“In the past, I have worked as an undercover narcotics officer and bought drugs undercover in neighboring counties,” he said.
Like Jones, Holbrooks said getting courthouse security up to speed would be one of his early priorities.
“Just like every other department and business around the nation, everybody suffers staff shortages,” he said. “With that being said, we need to get the courthouse secured, and we need to get the X-ray machines up and going.”
Holbrooks’ final appeal was for people to trust his experience, not only with MCSO but within the greater community.
“I’m a father, I’m a husband, and most importantly, I’m a Christian,” he said. “I’ve taken great pride to get to know the citizens of Macon County for almost 23 years. This election is not about me, it’s about you, meaning the public, and of course, our youth.”
Brent Holbrooks Bob Cook
BOB COOK
Unlike the three other candidates mentioned in this story, Bob Cook came to Macon County a bit later in life. Born and raised in Newton, Iowa, Cook joined the Navy in 1972 and served until 1992 as a personnel specialist.
Cook’s final duty station was in the Jacksonville area, where he chose to stay and pursue a career in law enforcement.
“I worked at Jacksonville Beach Police Department for two and a half years then transferred over to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and stayed 22 years there,” Cook said.
“During my time in law enforcement, I had the pleasure of doing just about anything an officer can do, from patrol to traffic to evidence processing to community policing to investigating burglary and economic crimes,” he added. “I was the first detective in North Florida to investigate food stamp fraud.”
Cook said his longest gig was working as an undercover narcotics detective, something he did for 14 years. He said in that capacity, his investigations, which included the use of wire taps, led to the seizure of kilograms of methamphetamine and crack cocaine at a time.
Eventually, Cook found his way to Macon County. While he’d owned property in Franklin since 1999, he and his late wife moved up permanently in 2015. Since moving to the area, he’s worked at the police academy in Franklin as a training coordinator, a position he resigned to run for sheriff.
While Cook is “comfortably retired” and doesn’t need the income from a job, he said he feels called to the position because he’s worried about a “good ol’ boys’ system.”
“I had people tell me they wouldn’t vote for anyone from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office,” he said.
“Three of my opponents are working there and they don’t have their law enforcement retirements, they have their eye on the future as far as reelection,” he said. “I don’t. I’d be happy if they had a term limit.”
Cook believes that it will take someone from outside MCSO to “fix it” and noted that he’s the best candidate to address the issues facing the community. While he said he wants to reorganize the department and shrink it down to something more fiscally manageable, he also wants to increase patrols to certain outlying areas, such as Otto and Cowee.
“Unless they have to call them, they don’t see a deputy out there,” he said.
Republican Chris Browning, also running for sheriff, did not return multiple phone calls and Facebook messages requesting an interview for this story.
