Seven file for four seats on Black Mountain Town Council

Four incumbents and three challengers launch candidacy in 2024 general election

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
July 21, 2024

Seven candidates for Black Mountain Town Council will be on the ballot, Nov. 5, in the 2024 General Election. Photo by Fred McCormick

Seven candidates will seek four seats on the Black Mountain Town Council this fall, following the July 19 filing deadline for the 2024 General Election. 

Four incumbents and three challengers will be listed on the ballot, Tuesday, Nov. 5. 

Ryan Stone, appointed to fill the unexpired term left vacant by the resignation of Bill Christy in 2023, will run, unopposed, for his current seat. Stone previously served on the town council for 10 years before not seeking reelection in 2022.

Three more current town council members — Vice Mayor Archie Pertiller, Jr., Pam King and Doug Hay — will attempt to retain seats they first won in 2020.

Rick Earley, who finished 46 votes behind Christy in 2022 and currently sits on the planning board, will again campaign for a seat on the governing body, while former planning board chair Lisa Milton also filed to enter the race.

Dan Cordell, who retired as the Town of Black Mountain building inspector in 2020 after 20 years in the position, is contending for a seat on the town council. Cordell, who held the same position in Sunset Beach for nearly 10 years before moving to Black Mountain in 2001, has held a part-time position as building inspector in the Town of Montreat since 2017.

The 2024 General Election ballot will include federal, state and local races, as Town of Montreat Mayor Tim Helms runs unopposed for his third term in the office, while incumbents Katheryn (Kitty) Fouche and Jane Alexander and newcomer Bryant McEntire seek three full-term seats. Grant Dasher, who was appointed to fill a seat vacated when Kent Otto moved out of the town in 2023, will run, unopposed, for a two-year seat.

Three Buncombe County Board of Commissioner terms, including the chair and Districts 1 and 2, will be decided at the polls. Van Duncan and Amanda Edwards are contending for the chair, while Jennifer Horton and Paul Benjamin seek to represent the first district. Incumbent Terri Wells and challenger Bruce O’Connell are vying for District 2. Current Buncombe County Vice Chair Parker Sloan is unopposed in the District 3 race.

Three candidates — Glenda Weinert, Sara Disher Ratliff and Jim Fulton — have filed for three seats on the Buncombe County Schools Board of Education, as of July 21. The deadline for candidates to enter that race is 12 p.m., Friday, Aug. 2.