Legal action threatened over election results
Lake Santeetlah – The Lake Santeetlah Town Council kicked off the year with its first meeting much where it left off 2021: with a clash among council members over whether some qualify to serve based on residence status.
Council member Diana Simon fired off the first public salvo of the year during the public comments section of the council’s Jan. 13 when she questioned the legitimacy of council member Tina Emerson’s seat on the board. Simon expressed similar concerns at the Dec. 9 meeting.
Emerson said at the December meeting that she had “rescinded” her residence in Mathews, N.C. That would make her Lake Santeetlah house her “domicile,” or primary home, and her Mathews home would be her secondary residence — thus making her eligible to run for office in Graham County.
Simon says she has been watching Emerson’s Lake Santeetlah house and claims Emerson is seldom there. Simons says that N.C. Statute 160a-59 requires that a Town Council member must reside in the district they represent.
Simon and council member Jim Hager contested the results of the November election when three write-in candidates won seats. Election boards at the county and state levels have upheld the election’s results.
Emerson did not respond to Simon’s accusation at the meeting, but made a statement in an email to The Graham Star.
“I hope that all council members can put aside personal differences and work towards the good of the town,” she wrote. “We have a lot of big issues that need to be addressed and the town needs to get back to the basic needs of its citizens.”
“This is basically a continuation of the election protest from November,” echoed Lake Santeetlah Mayor Connie Gross, in a separate email to The Graham Star. “Personally I can not understand why Councilwoman Simon can not accept the explanation of ‘Domicile residence’ issued by the Graham County Election Board and confirmed by the NC state-level board of elections.
“Hopefully in the near future, we will end this ongoing saga and our town council can move forward and work in unison for the community members we represent.”
The Town of Lake Santeetlah – located on a peninsula – has an estimated year-round population of 42, in a community with close to 200 homes. Seasonal residents outnumber permanent residents, but most don’t qualify to serve on the board because of their seasonal status.
In short, the majority of Lake Santeetlah property owners have not had direct representation on the Town Council.
That seems to have changed in the November election. The November election saw a flurry of voter registrations that propelled a slate of write-in candidates onto the council that left Simon and Hager in a 3-2 voting minority.
The three new council members have taken the most influential assignments — mayor and assistant finance officer for Connie Gross, vice mayor for Ralph Mitchell, and finance officer for Tina Emerson.
Following the December meeting, Hager sent out an email to supporters threatening to take legal action against the town.
“For those of you who were on the Town Zoom Meeting today (Dec. 9, 2021) you witnessed the beginning of the end of the Town of Lake Santeetlah,” Hager said in his email. “It was obvious that all decisions made were prearranged in advance of the meeting. Connie Gross is your new Mayor and Assistant Finance officer. Ralph Mitchell is your new Vice Mayor and Tina Emerson is your new Finance Officer.
“Diana Simon and I have employed the services of John Noor, a litigation attorney out of Asheville, to represent us in moving forward with legal challenges. John comes highly recommended as an expert in voting matters,” Hager wrote.
Hager said he has 90 days from Dec. 9, to get this matter before the Graham County Superior Court.
“It will not be cheap. If you love this town as much as Anne, Diana and I do, we need your financial help. All I am asking for at this point is to make a commitment of significant funds.”
Hager wrote that it would cost up to $50,000 – even more – to be successful in court.
Some of the decisions made on Dec. 9 that worried Hager include:
* Delaying the completion for the Front Entrance Project.
* Questioning the legitimacy of the town’s formation in 1989.
* Denying his access to town funds to meet payroll and other matters.
* Scheduling all future council meetings to 5:30 p.m. (“after my wine time,” he wrote).
“This is what Jack Gross has wanted ever since I first met him,” Hager alleged. “Abolish the town and go back to pre-1989. We cannot let this happen. Please email me with any questions or concerns you may have. I look forward to hearing from the Friends of Lake Santeetlah.”
For his part, Jack Gross, husband of Mayor Connie Gross, sent off an email that he described as an “informational letter.”
“After receiving the email below, I felt obligated to the taxpayers within the town of Lake Santeetlah to put this out,” he wrote. “If what is contained within the below email comes to fruit (goes to court), the sitting town council will have absolutely no choice but to defend it… In my opinion, the sad part is that it may well cost taxpayers that much also. The very, very sad part is that it shows that two sitting council members apparently do not give a dammed about what it costs the taxpayers,” he wrote.