With two-year terms for every officeholder, Kings Mountain voters have the chance for a fruit basket turnover at City Hall every time they go to the polls. In 1997, there were 17 council candidates, with none unopposed. The at-large race is the most hotly contested. The field of seven White, incumbent Bob Hayes, former council member Bill Grissom and newcomers Frank Brackett, Kenny Bridges, Curtis Pressley and Wayne Worcester gave a wide range of answers to questions on growth management, major projects, electric deregulation, zoning and closed meetings. Electric deregulation, most candidates agree, poses questions that cannot be fully answered until it happens.
Opinions appear to be about evenly pro and con on countywide zoning.
While choices among the candidates may prove daunting, voting at the polls in King Mountain s four precincts should be relatively easy, according to Director of Elections Debra Blanton. Five of the seven council members are elected by ward, and the other two are at-large. Every registered voter is eligible to vote for mayor and the two at-large posts. Only registered voters who live in the ward can vote in that ward, Blanton said, and the ballots reflect that. They just need to know their residence address and our precinct officials will take it from there.