Now that the filing period is over, the candidates can start campaigning in Marion and Old Fort.
The filing period for the 2011 municipal elections ended at noon Friday. Election Day for Marion and Old Fort will be held on Nov. 8, said county election officials.
Two seats on the Marion City Council are up for election this year, while three seats on the Old Fort Board of Aldermen are up for grabs.
The two seats on the City are held by incumbents Billy Martin and Cecil Owenby. Both have filed for re-election and both were first elected in 1995. They are now seeking a fifth term on the council.
Martin, 61, previously worked as a guidance counselor at McDowell High School and is a member of Addie’s Chapel United Methodist Church. He lives on Holly Hill Drive.
Owenby, 77, works part time at Bi-Lo supermarket after previously working full time there for 15 years. He is a member of First United Methodist Church of Marion. He lives on Vine Street.
They will face three challengers.
Woody Ayers, 34, of 24 E. Glenview St., is making his first attempt at seeking elected office. He is the director of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program at 75 Crawford St. He attends First Presbyterian Church of Marion.
Matthew Hebb, 30, of 2119 U.S. 70 East ran unsuccessfully for the Asheville City Council in 2005 and 2007. He owned and operated Caffiend Underground, which closed for business on Friday, June 24.
Former Clerk of Court Don Ramsey is another candidate for the city board. A resident of 188 Hillcrest Drive, Ramsey served as the clerk of Superior Court for McDowell County for 12 years. Ramsey, 60, is a member of the Kiwanis Club and First Baptist Church of Marion.
In Old Fort, three seats on the Board of Aldermen will be contested this year.
The seats are now held by incumbents Norman Logan, Carroll Miller and Greg Piercy. All three are seeking a second term as aldermen.
Logan, 71, of Maple Street Extension in Old Fort was first elected in 2007. He is retired after 30 years of working for Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern Corp.
A resident of West Main Street, Piercy, 55, was also first elected in 2007. He worked for the town of Old Fort for more than 20 years before retiring and running for alderman.
A resident of 203 Catawba Ave., Miller, 71, worked for 10 years in consumer finance management in North Carolina, Florida and Georgia. He is also a United Methodist minister.
They too will face three challengers.
Charles Pyles, 55, of East Main Street is again seeking a seat on the board. Pyles operates Old Fort Woodworking, a cabinet shop located at 3 E. Main St. He ran unsuccessfully for the Old Fort board in 2009.
Former Alderman Chris Yarbrough, 68, of 284 N. Church St. is hoping to return to the board. Yarbrough served for more than 13 years as an Old Fort alderman, starting in 1989. He was defeated for re-election in 2003 and ran unsuccessfully in 2007. He’s worked in everything from real estate to the federal government.
And on Friday, the last day of the filing period, a former Old Fort police chief and alderwoman announced she would run again for the board.
Frankie Poteat, 75, of 18 Doc Robinson Drive, was the last person to file as a candidate. Poteat was elected to the board in 2003 but was not re-elected in 2007. She had served for 23 years with the Old Fort Police Department and spent 21 years as police chief. She was the first woman to become a chief of police in North Carolina.
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