Politics

Incumbent commissioners draw Republican primary opponents (2)

Commissioner Daniel Andreotta announced his re-election campaign on Nov. 7 at Republican Party headquarters while Fletcher Town Council member Sheila Franklin kicked off her bid for the seat at Grandad’s Apples later the same day.

By Bill Moss, Published: November 15, 2023

Unlike many past cycles, voters will have a choice next year in the elections for two seats on the Henderson County Board of Commissioners.

Both Daniel Andreotta, who was appointed and then elected in 2020, and David Hill, who is also finishing his first term, announced their re-election campaigns last week. Three weeks before filing opens, both have already drawn challengers from their own party.

Four-term Fletcher Town Council member Sheila Franklin is challenging Andreotta in the District 2 seat in the Republican primary. The candidate who wins the GOP primary will face Democrat Eric Weber, also of Fletcher, who has announced his plan to run for the seat.

Jay Egolf, a School Board member since 2018, announced in August that he’s running for the District 5 County Commission seat held by Hill.

Candidates are starting to stake out positions on the new comprehensive land-use plan, a proposed $215 million courthouse-jail expansion, taxes and other issues.

Franklin v. Andreotta

“That’s a hard no for me,” Andreotta said of the courthouse-jail expansion that includes a five-story judicial tower. “So now what do we do? The jail has its own set of needs and is its own animal. It is way, way less expensive for us to build admin workspace than it is build big courtrooms.” Andreotta has pitched an alternative instead to devote the entire existing Grove Street Courthouse to the judiciary, then find a home for non-judicial functions that currently occupy courthouse space. “I think if we do that they have enough space.”

Franklin also said the projected price is too high.

“I’ve not done the research behind it yet but the only thing I would be in favor of is doing small phases,” she said. “Two-hundred and 15 million dollars is just a huge amount, and I feel like we could probably cut that way down if we really tried. I don’t think we’re being conservative enough.”

Franklin told supporters during her campaign kickoff last week at Grandad’s Apples that growth management and affordable housing should be priorities.

“We have overcrowded streets, we have an affordable home shortage,” she said. “We have apartments, we have condos, we have homes, and all of them are overpriced and nobody can afford it that actually works here. And so there’s just a huge imbalance — an imbalance of the growth that we’re experiencing.

“I would love to see housing that actually works for our first responders, people in the medical field, people that work in law enforcement, firefighters, because we don’t want them to have to move to South Carolina to get a place to live.”

Retired from teaching career-tech education at Apple Valley Middle School, Franklin wants to see local jurisdictions do better at working together.

“You know how kids play on the playground together, and learn to play well together?” she said. “I wish municipalities and unincorporated areas did that a little bit more. I would love a seat at the table. I think I’m a good negotiator. I feel like we don’t have a good seat at the table for municipalities in that in that regard.”

Andreotta touted the new Fletcher-based EMS station and keeping the tax rate low as achievements.

Fletcher is “the fastest growing residential-wise community we have in the county and response times equal public safety,” he said. “I don’t care who you are, nobody has anything without public safety. Your senior adults living out their golden years don’t have anything, our school children don’t have anything, our working families.”

On taxes, he boasted that in June commissioners “implemented the largest tax rate reduction in the history of Henderson County — 13 points on the 100 bucks. We want the money that you earn to stay in your pocket because government doesn’t have a penny of its own.”

Egolf v. Hill

When Egolf announced that he would challenge Hill, he signaled a commitment to balanced growth.

“Judicious zoning and common-sense planning are essential to keep our county having balanced growth while keeping the natural beauty intact,” he said.

A land surveyor who makes no secret of his opposition to aggressive zoning and government-funded land conservation, Hill said he would expect the 2024 campaign to focus on the comp plan.

Headshot of Hill

“I’m sure that will be one of the issues,” he said. “If you start talking about the LDC (land development code) and land use, that’s what I’ve done for 30 years. I have a good working knowledge of it. I see how it affects the everyday person. If a grandma wants to split her property with her 12 grandchildren, well, guess what, Grandma’s now a major developer. Grandma has to put in infrastructure, get bonded and build a state highway.”

Hill said in a news release that he is seeking a second term because “the work is not done.”

He vowed to “continue the work to ensure Henderson County has a thriving, conservative future — a future that properly addresses and directs the growth facing Henderson County, a future that continues to see reductions in regulations and taxes, a future that continues to promote individual freedoms and liberties for citizens, and a future that continues to support our EMS, fire departments, law enforcement, farmers, agriculture businesses, and business industries.”

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