Elections Board to meet this afternoon to determine next step.
No one filed to run for the Whiteville City Council seat held by Tim Blackmon by the noon deadline today.
The county Board of Elections will meet in emergency session later today to consider a plan for how to fill the seat. Both the BoE and city officials are consulting with the state elections board to review all the options.
The longtime incumbent has not attended a meeting since December 2019 due to health issues. Blackmon was first elected to the board in 2005.
State law allows for the replacement of municipal board members who step down, pass away or are forced to leave office due to criminal conviction. There is no provision, however, for members who are absent due to longterm illness. In the event of a vacancy on the ballot, the election board may consider extending the filing deadline or directing the council to appoint someone for the seat until the next election.
City council members serve staggered four year terms in Whiteville, but the pandemic and a resignation caused some shifting over the past two years. Longtime board member Robert Leder passed away in 2021, and former board member Vickie Pait was appointed to fill that seat.
When Justin Smith stepped down last year due to job conflicts, Helen Holden was appointed to fill out that unexpired term. Both women filed for election to their appointed seats for the 2022 election.
Incumbent Tim Collier, the former director of city parks and recreation, is unopposed for his third term on the board. Mayor Terry Mann also faces no challenge for his seat.
Blackmon is well-known for his fiscal stewardship of city tax dollars. He operated the Radio Shack in Whiteville for decades.
