Congressman brings popular town hall series to Graham County
Robbinsville – For the better part of 90 minutes, the congressional representative for Western North Carolina both discussed and heard topics weighing heavy on Graham County’s mind.
Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-Hendersonville) covered a wide array of topics while chatting about issues with roughly 50 attendees at the Graham County Courthouse on June 20. Dubbed “Chuck Edwards: Unplugged,” the stop in Robbinsville was the third in a planned series of town halls around his district.
“One of my biggest responsibilities is talking to people back home,” Edwards said during his introduction.
Edwards spent the first half of the session delivering his views on national and statewide issues, before opening the floor to anyone who wanted to share their individual concerns.
He addressed a pair of complaints recently filed by the Democratic Party, in regards to examples where Edwards self-described himself as “too mean.”
“Can I file a complaint that you’re not mean enough?,” an unidentified member of the gallery asked in response – which drew heavy laughter.
Edwards was sanctioned by a congressional commission in April, after the Henderson County Democratic Party filed the second complaint in as many months against the congressman over newsletters emailed in 2023. Democrats contended that some of the remarks made in the literature were “disparaging” toward President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
“I’m not deterred,” said Edwards. “I’m going to continue to be ‘Unplugged.’ I don’t care whose feelings I hurt. Some of their feelings need to be hurt.”
He spoke for several minutes about national-border concerns. Edwards deemed the efforts by President Biden – H.R. 2, “Secure the Border Act of 2023” – as “insincere attempts” to curb the issue.
The much-discussed theory that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” was also broached by Edwards.
“Confidence from Americans in the voting system is broken,” Edwards said.
The congressman also expressed surprise that no one brought up the subject of inflation, stating that the cost of goods alone are $14,000 higher per year than they were in 2021.
“People should be talking about inflation every single day,” Edwards proposed.
At a local level, Edwards presented Partners of Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness President Dick Evans with a certificate to coincide along with Evans’ recent Volunteer of the Year award that he received for the Southeast Region of the U.S. Forest Service.
He also mentioned a recent $4,976,904 grant request for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which will go toward improving the water and sewer infrastructure for the Town of Robbinsville. The money is part of 15 total requests Edwards made to the House Appropriations Committee on behalf of Western North Carolina, with the total amount requested between all projects hovering around $38 million.
Cable Cove
When the town hall reached its Q&A session, most who addressed Edwards quickly showed their passion for getting the Cable Cove Campground re-opened.
A faulty septic system was the last straw for the National Forest Service, which also cited low occupancy and other crumbling facilities as their reasoning for shuttering the once-popular campground after the 2021 season.
In May 2022, Graham County Travel & Tourism expressed interest in helping re-open the 26-site destination off North Carolina Highway 28. At the time, annual fee receipts were estimated to be just $9,500 – and more importantly, $350,000 was the figure presented to help fix all deferred maintenance and bring the campground back up to code. Currently, just the boat ramp onto Fontana Lake is open to the public.
Edwards’ office has already heard from several members of the community who want to see Cable Cove operational yet again; June 20, Edwards said the new estimate alone for repairs hovered in the $900,000 range. He also promised those on-hand that a site visit to Cable Cove Campground was coming soon – from Edwards and his staff.
“I’m the kind of guy that needs to see, fill, touch what the problem is,” Edwards said. “We’re going to look at every single project the forest service has requested – including Cable Cove. It’s very much on our radar.”
The town hall can be viewed in its entirety on The Graham Star’s YouTube page.