Politics

Volk re-elected, Miller tops council field

Jeff Miller celebrates election returns with his wife, Tamara, and son, Beck.

By Bill Moss, Published: November 6, 2013

Mayor Barbara Volk easily turned back a challenge from Councilman Ron Stephens to win a second term as Hendersonville mayor in a city election that saw record spending and a lively debate over city spending and regulations.

Jeff Miller, the HonorAir founder and 2010 Republican candidate for Congress, rode his personal popularity and high name recognition to the top spot in the council race, winning 37 percent of the vote. And city voters rejected a $6 million bond issue to develop Berkeley Mills Park.
Jerry Smith won re-election to a second term with 28 percent of the vote. Voters ousted two-term incumbent Jeff Collis, who had run a low-budget populist campaign warning against the influence of big money and accusing business interests of trying to buy a new direction in the city.
The outcome of the Hendersonville election almost surely signals a change in direction. Although he lost in his effort to unseat Volk, Stephens remains on the council. Councilman Steve Caraker donated money to both Miller and Stephens and has said he agrees with those two on issues of spending and the city's debt and on some questions of regulation.
Stephens was unable to capitalize on his political alignment with Miller and strong support from business interests and Republicans in the city. The first woman to be elected mayor of Hendersonville, Volk surged ahead in early voting and was never challenged, winning with 59 percent of the vote.
"Ron put on a good challenge but it seems like people are satisfied with the way things are going," she said. Despite a possible three-vote majority for change, Volk said, "We won't know until we get in."
The outcome showed that voters "approved of the job I had done and they were pulling for me to continue," she said. Outspent by Stephens and often the target of his charges that she had mismanaged city projects, Volk said she had been at times pessimistic about the election.
"But most people assured me that it wouldn't be a problem and I'd be back in office," she said. She said Stephens had a lot of supporters and a sizable media campaign and paid for robo-calls to the homes of city voters.
Her campaign material listed her quiet leadership as an asset.
"I guess so," she said when asked whether the election validated her understated leadership style. "As mayor you don't have to be the one out front making your opinions known. Part of being mayor is not making sure everybody gets a chance to speak. Every member on the council has a right to speak."
Even with a large lead in the primary, Miller, a Hendersonville native who took over the family drycleaning business from his father, said he never took the outcome for granted.
"It's nice to win something other than a primary," he said.
He attributed his victory not to business interests or the Republican Party but to his reputation and his promise to listen to everyone.
"If you look at it there's not enough numbers and there's not enough of any business group to bring out this kind of vote," he said. "I think it's people putting their trust in me and I've got to make sure that I don't let them down. I've got to do the best job I've ever done on anything."
He said that included his HonorAir organization, which sparked a national movement to fly World War II veterans to see the National World War II Memorial. "I can't do anything less than what I did there," he said. His leadership approach works, he said, "by listening to people that are smarter than me and making good decisions."
Stephens said he thought he had made good points.
"I had a lot of people working for me and I'm really more disappointed for them than I am for myself," he said. "But there is going to be a change on the council with Jeff Miller being elected. I think we'll move into some very positive directions. A lot of the 3-2 votes have been me and Steve Caraker. There will be a shift there for sure."
Despite his own loss, Stephens said the rest of the night was good.
"There were four things I wanted to see happen and it like three of them are going to," he said. "I wanted to be elected, of course. I wanted Jeff Miller to win, I wanted Jerry Smith to win and Collis said he was proud of his record in two terms on the council.
"Everything that Barbara and I and Jerry did, we've kind of all been on the same page, so I don't think it really goes down to records," he said of the outcome. "I'm probably the one that may be more vocal a lot of times. At times that might get me in trouble. I'm telling 'em straight up whether it's popular or not.... The voters have elected me to office twice. I have to put it in their hands that they know what they're doing. You've got to take the good with the bad. I've been the top vote getter the last go-round but I knew it was going to be difficult. I'm still proud I didn't take any campaign contributions. I hope it's not going to turn into that (big campaign spending) every time somebody's running because it really does push out the middle class or the lower middle class."