Mayor on Duty

I was at an inaugural Earth Day convocation 53 years ago this month, and it will be celebrated again this year on Saturday, April 22. I had a little longer hair back in April 1970 […]

Last Thursday, the town board and staff conducted an all-day budget workshop, aka the Highlands Town Retreat. This event signaled the start of the budget process for the coming year. It will be followed up […]

Last Wednesday, our Town Manager Josh Ward, and I took the five-hour drive to Raleigh to attend the North Carolina League of Municipalities Town and State Dinner for 2023. This event always takes place at […]

I was optimistic, and the staff was too, that the town would receive a state grant to replace the aging pre-clarifier tank at the water tank. The town had resubmitted the grant we applied for […]

Pictured above are HFR firefighters and an HPD officer pouring water on a house fire in Sagee Woods a day after the initial emergency call was made. The fire took multiple days to fully extinguish. […]

As mayor, I like getting positive feedback, all elected officials do, it makes for a good week and last week was a very good week. After writing this column last week, where I proposed […]

We went to St. Simons Island this past weekend. When I visit other communities, I’m always looking for new ideas and how other towns address common municipal problems. As I have mused in the […]

The Town’s Planning & Development Director is implementing the provisions of the newly adopted Short-Term Rental Ordinance. The Town Board approved the ordinance on September 15, 2022. Since then, several questions have arisen about the […]

Part 1 – The Local Government Process: I am not the Kim Jong-il of Highlands. Nor am I “Boss Hogg” directing town employees and the police to follow my commands. I sometimes suspect a few […]

After difficult events, it’s wise to review and reflect. Case in point, “the big freeze,” just before Christmas. Highlands hasn’t had extreme below-0 temperatures in over a decade. Visitors are now in Highlands year-round. The […]

It’s back, snow that is, and we all need to be prepared. The official winter season is just around the corner with next Wednesday being the first official day. Last year we dodged a bullet […]

It’s a shame that Highlands… I’m ashamed that Highlands… I get emails with these kinds of salutations on a routine basis. Just this past week I received an email with the “shame” opening remark. Although I could […]

As I recently drove down Cullasaja Drive and by Mirror Lake I realized the Monkey Face tree was still there. Regretfully, the monkey face image that was a natural part of that tree is long […]

I rediscovered the community core and future of Highlands this past Monday. I encountered it at the annual Halloween Main Street Celebration. This annual event had a tremendous turnout where folks were able to just have […]

The town was spared the remnants of Tropical Storm Ian this past weekend. Earlier in the week town staff and I had worried that we might have very heavy rains and high winds in the […]