Who wants to be mayor of Ashvegas?

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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It’s come down to this – a day and a half for those who would be mayor of Ashvegas to come out of hiding and declare their intentions.

The local election filing season has been extremely quiet, which has a lot of observers of local politics scratching their heads. Only Mayor Charlie Worley and fellow Ashvegas council member Terry Bellamy, who is vice mayor, have filed to run for the mayor’s chair. There are one or two other candidates for mayor, but they don’t have a chance.

Still, rumors continue to fly that former Mayor Leni Sitnick may seek another term. Also, we’ve heard that local attorney Gene Ellison, another former councilman who was vice mayor in the early ’90s, may take a stab at it.

That would be a fun race. But as it stands now, it just feels boring. It almost seems like more attention is being paid to next year’s congressional race (Taylor v. Shuler). Interest is also running high in the Buncombe sheriff’s race, with local Dems lining up to take another shot at dethroning Bobby Medford. But more on that later.

Time runs out to file for Ashvegas council on Friday at noon.