News

School Board would name Egolf replacement

By Amy B. McCraw, Published: March 7, 2024

Jay Egolf's win in the  Republican primary for the District 5 Board of Commissioners seat left in question how his seat on the School Board will be filled.

Egolf has no opponent in the Nov. 5 general election and, barring a highly unlikely write-in campaign, will be sworn in to the office on Dec. 2. His School Board term expires in December 2026.

Egolf, currently the School Board chair, expects the board to appoint someone to either fill his unexpired term on the board or serve for a year. The decision rests with the School Board because he was elected to the School Board before those races became partisan contests this year, Egolf said.
“The School Board will choose my replacement,” he said.
A spokesperson for the N.C. Board of Elections on Thursday confirmed that. The School Board itself, not the Republican Party executive committee, will appoint a replacement. A state elections board spokesperson cited a section of state law that spells out the seat will be filled.

“Any vacancy on the Henderson County Board of Public Education for a member elected in 2020 or 2022 shall be filled by the remaining members of the Henderson County Board of Public Education,” it says. “The members of the Henderson County Board of Public Education elected in 2020 or 2022, or any member appointed by the remaining members of the Henderson County Board of Public Education to fill a vacancy of a member elected in 2020 or 2022, shall serve until a successor has been elected and qualified.”

The Fletcher Town Council also may have a vacancy to fill. Sheila Franklin, who defeated incumbent commissioner Daniel Andreotta in Tuesday’s District 2 GOP primary, faces Democrat Erik Weber in the general election. Her seat on the council is set to expire in 2026.
Fletcher Mayor Preston Blakely said Thursday the council will appoint Franklin’s replacement if she wins the county commission seat.
When longtime council member Bob Davy resigned from the council last year, the council took applications before appointing a replacement in December of that year, Blakely said, adding that he did not yet know whether the council would follow the same process if Franklin joins the Board of Commissioners.