Christine Kelly, candidate for mayor of Holly Springs, NC

Holly Springs will have a new mayor for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Richard “Dick” Sears is not seeking another term as mayor of Holly Springs.

Two people are seeking to replace him: City Council member Christine Kelly and political newcomer Sean Mayefskie.

Early voting in the Nov. 2 election begins Oct. 14 and runs through Oct. 30.

To find polling places and full details on early voting, visit wakevotesearly.com or contact the Board of Elections at 919-404-4040 or voter@wakegov.com

Name: Christine Kelly

Age: 58

Residence: 201 Grigsby Ave.

Occupation: Sr. Marketing Manager, SAS Institute Inc.

Education: Bachelor of Mathematics, University of Waterloo and Master of Wealth and Trust Management, Campbell University

Political or civic experience: Finishing four-year term on Holly Springs Town Council

Campaign website: www.christineforhsmayor.com

In August, Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears decided against ordering a mask mandate like some other Wake County towns. Do you agree with this decision?

No, in talking to business owners and residents, especially to those with kids under 12, there is great anxiety on how COVID can impact them. It’s been proven by many leading medical organizations that getting the COVID vaccination is effective at minimizing the risks of infection and the severity of symptom for breakthrough infections. Wearing masks has become crucial to manage the risks associated with these emerging, very contagious variants. Having a mask mandate would help our residents and businesses do their part to reduce the spread of COVID. It would help businesses adhere to a town mask mandate, instead of having to try to implement one themselves.

If we were not living through a pandemic no one would have to wear a mask. However, knowing people in our town who have had COVID, knowing others who have died of COVID, we need to take this virus very seriously. If we rally together to get vaccinated and wear masks, we will have less spread of COVID in our town.

What is Holly Springs doing right, and wrong, on managing growth?

Holly Springs has done a lot of things right in the last few years. I’m proud to have been a part of the following:

▪ created and adopted a several key strategic plans, with others being worked on such as a Housing Affordability study.

▪ implemented historical preservation and tree preservation ordinances.

▪ hired new staff resulting in town efficiency gains, better service and more transparency.

▪ attracted small and large businesses to increase our commercial tax base.

▪ increased resident outreach and communications .

Yet we have more work to do. With rapid growth, comes challenges that the town has inherited or perhaps contributed to which needs to be addressed:

▪ Lack of housing options and housing affordability options.

▪ Infrastructure challenges due to some inadequate roads and sidewalks resulting in traffic congestion and pedestrian safety.

▪ Insufficient sustainability initiatives.

▪ Investing properly in our town employees in training, and improved systems.

If elected, what would your two or three priorities be during your first year in office?

We have had three mayors who have served our town since 1983, Mayor Holleman, Mayor Womble and Mayor Sears. We have seen our town grow from about 1,000 residents to over 42,000.

Following their legacies, I would focus on these in my first year: 1) Increase resident outreach with enhanced communications, neighborhood meetings (in person and video) and improve the lines of communications to the town government to help our ALL residents and businesses feel more connected. I look forward to adopting and promoting more diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within our community. 2) Work to enhance mayor and council engagement to improve communications and build collaboration. In the same fashion, work with other municipalities and government groups to promote open dialog and further champion projects for our town. 3) Continue to work to improve the quality of life for our residents, for example continue to work closely with those that can address odor issues from the local landfill.

What unique skills or life perspective would you bring to city governance?

I have lived in Holly Springs in the same house for 29 years and throughout these years, I have been every involved in our community such as being the PTA president for several of our schools, to working tirelessly to help local nonprofits like Holly Springs Rotary, Holly Springs MLK Jr. Committee. I know our community very well.

My work history consists of working in a family-run. small business, in a town much like Holly Springs was 30 years ago. I understand and want to help our small businesses thrive in our community. As a 30-year employee of SAS Institute Inc, I have built experience in sales, marketing and management. These skills make it easy for me to go from a small business conversation, to working with executives of large global company. And more importantly, I have served the Holly Springs on Town Council for this last term of four years. With this knowledge I am ready to transition from a Town Council role to one of mayor.

This story was originally published October 15, 2021 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Christine Kelly, candidate for mayor of Holly Springs, NC."