Battle for control in Maggie shifts after mayor candidate drops out

Sep. 8—MAGGIE VALLEY — The dynamics of the Maggie Valley race for town board dominance have taken a dramatic turn with the withdrawal of Jeff Lee, one of three mayoral candidates.

Lee said his decision to withdraw was an agonizing one, but it came down to family over public service.

"I had to do it," Lee said of his decision. "With the medical neurological situations going on with two of my family members, I was not in a position to be able to put all that's needed into this."

Lee's wife has relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis. His son also struggles with medical issues dating to a car accident at the age of 18, that left him on ventilator for 23 days, with his life hanging in the balance. He's now 33, he still struggles with medical issues, which have resurfaced.

"Things have made such a prominent turn just this weekend," Lee said on Friday. "Things just changed and it happened that way. It is disappointing, but it is what I want to do. I want to make sure they get what they need. My family is more important to me."

While Lee said he felt confident he could handle the town mayor duties, juggling those with family issues would not be possible at this point.

"If I'm going to do something, I will give it all my attention," he said of his last run for the Maggie Valley town board.

Lee notified the Haywood County Board of Elections Tuesday of his intent to withdraw. Election Director Robbie Inman clarified the withdrawal process with the state election board, and Lee's name was ultimately removed from the candidate list.

Lee held a full-time job as certified occupational therapist during the last campaign while also running his small business, Fantasy Golf and Game Room in Maggie Valley, and serving on the town planning board.

"I failed at it last time and got just what I deserved," he said. "I planned to spend a lot more time campaigning this time around. I want what's best for Maggie, but ahead of that, I have to look out for my family."

The fallout

The political ecosystem of Maggie Valley has been in flux for a while now. Philosophical dividing lines have emerged over development — pitting land-use planning against property rights.

The election was poised to be a face-off between the two camps. But the withdrawal leaves the pro-property rights group without a mayoral candidate. Lee was the one Republican on the ballot for the position.

"His situation has changed," said Alderman Phillip Wight, who was in the same camp as Lee. "Campaigning is hard. I'm not in his house and don't know what has changed. I haven't spoken with him, but I respect his decision."

Two candidates remain on the mayor ticket: current Mayor Mike Eveland, an unaffiliated candidate who has voted with the pro-planning group in the past, and Janet Banks as a Democrat who sits on the planning board.

Meanwhile, two aldermen seats are also up for election this year, with four candidates running who are equally divided between the two camps.

Going into the election, the pro-property rights trio of Lee for mayor and Wight and Allen Alsbrooks for aldermen needed a clean sweep to claim the controlling vote on the five-person Maggie Valley town board.

Now, with Lee out of the race, the best the group can hope for is having two out of five votes on the town board.

"To me it's not a blow," Wight said about the change in the mayoral race.

Eveland said it hasn't changed anything for him either.

"We still have an election to run," Eveland said. "I think the candidates will come out on whatever side they come out on. I think with people like Phillip Wight, everyone knows where he stands and I respect that. I guess we'll find out about the others."

The fight between those in the pro-planning and pro-property rights camps have been simmering for some time, but came to a boil this year when Rep. Mark Pless, R-Bethel, stepped in to strip the town of some of its zoning abilities.

House Bill 184, which passed at the state level in July, removed the ability for the town board to regulate development in the town's extraterritorial jurisdiction, to impose tougher development regulations on properties within town or to impose any sort of moratorium on development.

Election heating up

If Lee, Wight and Alsbrooks had all won their elections, the group in favor of the rights of property owners would have the controlling vote on the town's board. Wight said the dynamic for the mayor's race has certainly changed.

"It just puts two Democrats together and you just gotta vote for the better Democrat," Wight said.

However, Eveland is not registered as a Democrat. He is an unaffiliated voter and has been dating back as far as 2016, when he voted in the Republican primary.

"Anybody that wants to make a comment like that, it's one of two things," Eveland said in response to Wight's comment. "Either they don't know me very well or they're grasping at straws. If I wanted to be a Democrat, I'd be a Democrat. I stand on my own two feet. I don't owe any allegiance to Mark Pless or anyone else. That's probably why Pless came after us so hard."

Wight said that while Lee is stepping away from the race for mayor, he doesn't expect him to fully disappear from the political sphere in Maggie Valley.

"He's still an advocate," Wight said. "I stand with him and respect his decision. I don't think he's getting fully out of politics just because he's not running for mayor."

Meanwhile, Eveland said that the change in who he is facing does not affect his campaign.

"My stand on this election hasn't changed since he dropped out. I stand on my record and what I've accomplished in my last 10 years on the board and the last four years as mayor," Eveland said. "We've been able to accomplish the things we've been working on going back 20 years. We've done a great job and we continue to get ready to move forward."

Municipal elections are the only ones where candidates are allowed to withdraw from a race after the statutory deadline, said Inman.

"It is possible to withdraw from a municipal election before there is any expenditure made in printing ballots, or even if there's enough time to have them reprinted," Inman said.