By Jesse Wood
The Town of Boone has received three applications for the soon-to-be vacant seat on the Boone Town Council from former mayor and councilwoman Loretta Clawson, real estate agent David Welsh and Jeannine Collins, according to Town Clerk Christine Pope.
Pena, whose last meeting will be later this month in June, announced her resignation in May. She is moving to Greensboro, where she grew up and where her parents live, to be closer to family.
Whoever is selected by the Boone Town Council to fulfill the vacancy will serve until the municipal elections in November.

Welsh is listed as unaffiliated on the State Board of Elections’ N.C. Public Voter Information database.Collins is listed as a Democrat.
Clawson, of course, is long-time Democrat who served as mayor and on the council for a combined 16 years before she retired in 2013.
“I have missed it. I really have. I really needed the break, been a lot of years. 16 is a lot of years and I was tired and needed a break,” Clawson said on Friday afternoon. “But now I had that break and you know me … I keep up with everything that’s going on. I read everything that I can get my hands on and there are a lot of real important issues coming up before the town as it continues to grow.”
Clawson noted that some of those issues include parking, student housing, water, potential consolidation of emergency dispatch and more.
“If they were to vote for me, I would certainly appreciate that and would love to [serve],” Clawson said.
Clawson praised Pena’s work on the Boone Town Council and said that she understood her resignation because of the Pena family wanting to live closer to family.
“That was what was good for them, but I am not going anywhere. This is it. This is my home,” Clawson said.

Welsh couldn’t be reached as he out of the country, according to a colleague at Coldwell Banker Blair & Associates in Boone.
On his application where it asked why does he wish to be a member of the Boone Town Council, Welsh wrote: “I want to be a part of the government process in Boone. I have raised my family and lived in Boone for over 20 years. I love Boone, and I want to be part of it growing in a smart way.”
Jeannine Underdown Collins, owner of Underdown and Associates Inc., is the latest person to apply.
Collins submitted her application on Thursday. According to her application, Collins, who arrived in Boone as a student in 1975, has been a business owner and real estate appraiser in the town for 30 years.

Asked why she wants to be on the council, Collins answered: “To serve the citizens of the Town of Boone in keeping with the small town atmosphere but also realizing that we need to be progressive and embrace our amenities of tourism, education and health care that set us apart from other communities.”
The deadline to apply for the vacancy is Friday, June 5, at 5 p.m.
The Boone Town Council are expected to select Pena’s successor at its June 18 meeting.
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