By Nathan Ham
The Blowing Rock Civic Association put together a video with three of the four Blowing Rock Town Council candidates seeking to be elected on November 2. Pete Gherini, Doug Matheson and Melissa Pickett took part in the interview. Candidate Nancy Collins did not participate due to a prior commitment.
“We felt unsure about whether to have our traditional in-person forum because of the uncertainty around COVID,” said Tim Gupton, President of the Blowing Rock Civic Association. “It struck us that this would be a really effective way to do a better, in-depth job of asking specific questions and getting the candidates on the record. We think that helped because the questions were important to us as a homeowner group. I think we got some good responses.”
Gupton said that the questions were sent to the candidates in advance so that they could better prepare their thoughts. He added that the video interview format may be what they move to going forward with future candidate forums.
The questions focused on homeowner issues for Blowing Rock residents, something that has continued to be at the top of the list of important topics for BRCA members.
“The mission is to inform and educate the citizens about issues and opportunities facing the town. I think what you hear the most is balancing the quality of life with tourism and also balancing progress with preservation,” Gupton said.
The BRCA is made up of a board of nearly 30 individuals with a wide variety of backgrounds and careers. Gupton said that the Blowing Rock Civic Association has added an executive committee and will soon be hiring an executive director.
The entire 45-minute interview session with each candidate can be found below.
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