Watauga County Board of Commissioners, District #1

The NC State Legislature gerrymandered Watauga’s Commissioner districts. As a result, if you want to know if or which county commissioner candidates are running in your assigned district, you should first determine which County Commissioner district you live in by clicking HERE. (Scroll down to “Jurisdictions,” and look for your County Commission District number.)

NOTE: If District #1 is your assigned district, you may vote for one. Candidates are presented below in the order they appear on your ballot. All of my research sources and links for these candidates are presented after and below the candidate profiles.

Reason for my Endorsement:

Hege is a strong progressive and a strong candidate. His campaign is focused on reducing the cost of living, funding strong public schools, and expanding accessible healthcare. He has heavily prioritized Hurricane Helene recovery support for local families. Hege opposes vouchers that divert public money to private schools and supports environmental protections and LGBTQ rights.

Rick Woods serves as both the Vice Chairman of the Watauga County GOP and the Treasurer for North Carolina’s District 5 GOP. His campaign messaging is focused on traditional conservative values such as hard work, faith, and fiscal accountability. His has strongly defended the state legislature’s commissioner voting districts that densely concentrated, the progressive-leaning student voting population at ASU. Woods has explicitly stated that a primary motivation for his campaign is to protect this map and counter the progressive influence of his opponent.

NOTE: Woods did not return the Pam’s Picks questionnaire. Under Pam’s Picks published policy, candidates who do not return the questionnaire are ineligible for my endorsement. The profile I present below is based on available public records and Woods’s public statements.

RICK WOODS (Republican)

https://www.rick4watauga.com/

WHO IS RICK WOODS?

Rick Woods moved to Boone in 1984 to begin work as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and has lived in Watauga County for more than 40 years. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam era. His wife is an accountant who Woods says taught at ASU for more than 20 years. Their two adult children both work in health care.

Woods is a longtime member of Mount Vernon Baptist Church and has been active in Republican politics for years. He currently serves as vice-chair of the Watauga County Republican Party and treasurer of the Republican Party’s 5th Congressional District organization.

SERVICE WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

In 2011, county commissioners appointed Woods as an extraterritorial-jurisdiction representative to Boone’s Board of Adjustment, a largely quasi-judicial body that applies Boone’s development rules to particular cases. His appointment came during considerable political fighting over Boone’s ETJ, although the surviving records I found do not establish how Woods voted in individual cases. In 2013, Boone Town Council nominated Woods for another Board of Adjustment appointment, and county commissioners appointed him as a regular member on August 6. Woods also spoke at a 2014 county public hearing over eliminating Boone’s ETJ, but the official minutes do not record what he said.

GROWTH, HOUSING, WATER, & DEREGULATION

At the Chamber of Commerce candidate forum, Woods said, “I am a big fan of deregulation.” He said Boone’s regulations increase building costs, create headaches and can add months to a project. His campaign promises to cut “unnecessary regulations that drive up building costs.”

At the same time, Woods also says rapid growth is damaging Watauga’s quality of life. He points to traffic, student housing and tourist lodging and says development is outpacing roads, schools and infrastructure. “Growth itself is not the enemy,” Woods said. “Unplanned and irresponsible growth is.” He also promises environmentally responsible development that protects Watauga’s mountains and streams. The distinction he draws between unnecessary regulations and those needed to prevent irresponsible growth remains unclear.

Water and sewer are part of the same issue. Woods complained at the Chamber forum that Boone “will not share the water” outside town and said that makes development more expensive. But there is more to this story. Boone does have a process for extending water and sewer beyond town limits, but town policy generally requires a property owner seeking those services to seek voluntary annexation. That brings the property inside Boone and under Boone’s land-use rules. Watauga County has far fewer development controls.

The “Cottages of Boone” illustrates the consequences of development outside town limits. The roughly 900-bed student development is outside the Town of Boone and operates its own wastewater treatment system. The development  experienced an equipment failure in September 2021 that resulted in an estimated 4,725 gallons of untreated wastewater entering Laurel Fork. A November 2021 joint statement from Watauga County and AppHealthCare confirmed that state environmental regulators were working with the development on wastewater permit compliance.

So the question is larger than whether Boone should “share” its water. It is what rules should accompany public water and sewer when large developments are built outside town. Woods has advocated greater cooperation between Boone and Watauga County over water service. The public material reviewed does not establish what specific changes he would seek to Boone’s annexation requirements or development standards.

SB 759 & THE REFERENDUM VOTE

Woods has a public record on one of Watauga County’s most contentious political issues. Senate Bill 759, sponsored by Republican Sen. Ralph Hise, divided Watauga into five commissioner districts and allowed voters to vote only for the commissioner representing their district. Hise said during the legislative debate that the change was intended in part to address the electoral influence of Appalachian State and its student population. Woods publicly supported SB 759. County records list him among those speaking in support of the law at a June 2024 commissioners meeting.

County commissioners proposed a different system: three district seats and two commissioners elected countywide. The mapmaker was instructed not to use voter data, to make the districts as equal in population as possible and to try not to split precincts. Commissioners put the proposal before Watauga voters in a ballot referendum. Nine days after commissioners approved the referendum resolution, the General Assembly enacted SB 912, delaying implementation of any voter-approved commissioner structure until after the 2032 election. That delay is being challenged in federal court. (Disclosure: I am a co-founder of the Watauga County Voting Rights Task Force, which is a lead plaintiff in the federal litigation challenging the legislature’s blocking/delaying of the voter-approved referendum.)

Then Watauga County voted. The referendum passed 20,073 YES to 8,078 NO — 71.3 percent — and carried every one of Watauga County’s 20 precincts. Woods nonetheless continued supporting SB 759 after that vote. At a November 2025 commissioners meeting, he said district-only voting gives residents “more accurate representation.”

HEALTHCARE

Woods spent decades as a nurse anesthetist and worked both locally and at Mission Hospital in Asheville. At the Chamber forum, Woods expressed concern about loss of local control over Watauga Medical Center. He described the hospital as having gone from a community or county hospital to one “owned by a large corporation” and said commissioners now have “no really say so” in its direction. He wants commissioners more involved.

The formal relationship is more complicated however. Watauga County still owns property used by the hospital and leases it to Watauga Medical Center. County action has repeatedly been required when hospital financing involved that property. Commissioners also retain a formal role in hospital governance. Nine members of the ten-member Watauga Medical Center Board of Trustees are nominated and presented to county commissioners for election; the tenth is a county commissioner selected by county commissioners. Those trustees make up a majority of the larger Appalachian Regional Healthcare System board.

HURRICANE HELENE

At the Chamber forum, Woods said Watauga should rebuild roads, bridges and other infrastructure to better withstand future storms. He also criticized then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s response to Hurricane Helene, saying Cooper could have played a larger role.

OTHER ISSUES

Schools: Woods says the county needs safe and functional school facilities and has specifically mentioned aging facilities such as Hardin Park. He favors funding improvements “without raising taxes, if at all possible.”

Childcare: Woods recognizes that affordable child care affects both families and the local workforce and at the Chamber forum discussed the cost pressures facing providers and families.ADAM HEGE (Democrat)

Adam Hege Facebook

Read Hege’s answers to the Pam’s Picks Questionnaire HERE.

WHO IS ADAM HEGE?

Hege and his family have lived in Watauga County for about 12 years. He and his wife Jennifer have a daughter, Ellie, who is a senior at Watauga High School. A first-generation college graduate, Hege holds a Ph.D. in Community Health Education from UNC Greensboro and a master’s degree in public administration from ASU.

Hege is a professor of Public Health at ASU and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development in the Beaver College of Health Sciences. His research has focused largely on problems affecting rural communities, including access to healthcare, food insecurity, childhood trauma and the effects of climate change on health. He was elected to the Watauga County Board of Education in 2024.

PUBLIC HEALTH & COMMUNITY WORK

Much of Hege’s public health work has been done through partnerships rather than by working alone. His Watauga projects repeatedly put university researchers together with schools, health agencies, nonprofits and other service providers, often using data to identify community problems and look for ways to address them. From 2018-22, Hege also served on the leadership team of the Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative and co-chaired its Data subcommittee, working on the initiative’s data and research. The group worked on childhood trauma and resilience and helped expand practices in Watauga schools and other local organizations aimed at helping people affected by trauma.

Hege also has a history with local childcare efforts. An official 2020 county record places him in Elevate Watauga’s group working on issues affecting children from before birth through age three. That year Hege and others involved in the project sought a $350,000 grant to study how local programs serving children and families worked together, but the grant was not funded.

More recently, Hege became the lead App State researcher on an $838,276 Dogwood Health Trust project studying problems in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene. The work includes housing, mental health, substance use and food insecurity and is intended to give state and local officials information they can use in making policy. The project is still underway.

WATAUGA COUNTY SCHOOLS

Hege campaigned for the School Board talking about teacher recruitment and retention, housing costs and student mental-health support. In the meeting minutes I examined, the Board dealt with staffing, compensation, mental health and facilities. Hege’s clearest individually recorded actions were largely motions involving school policies and another approving the architect for the replacement Valle Crucis School. In his questionnaire responses, Hege identifies public education and early childhood care as his first priority for the County Commission. He wants stronger partnerships and county investment, but does not identify a specific new funding proposal.

HOUSING & CHILDCARE

Hege first raised housing as a political issue during his 2024 School Board campaign, arguing that high housing costs made it harder for the school system to recruit and keep employees. In his County Commission campaign, he has broadened the issue to workforce housing, including the needs of working families, seniors and public employees. He connects housing with schools, child care, healthcare and economic development.

Hege supports public-private partnerships and working with municipalities, nonprofits, employers, ASU and other local institutions to expand attainable housing. His questionnaire response does not identify a specific county housing program he would propose.

Child care is another of Hege’s priorities. He argues that affordable, dependable child care helps both children and working parents and should be treated as part of the county’s economic needs. His earlier research work with the Children’s Council gives him experience with the issue.

REPRESENTING DISTRICT #1

In his questionnaire, Hege says a District 1 commissioner must listen to Boone area voters while remembering that county decisions affect people beyond district lines. He describes his approach as asking what a policy is supposed to accomplish, what it will cost, what evidence supports it and how officials will know whether it worked.

COUNTY SPENDING

Asked what he would cut from the county budget, Hege says Watauga’s budget is already tight, and he would be reluctant to make large cuts to essential services. He would examine whether spending serves a core county responsibility, produces a measurable public benefit, and could be supported by another funding source. He says he would redirect money from lower-priority discretionary spending where possible, but did not identify an expenditure to reduce.

LOCAL SALES TAX DISTRIBUTION

Hege supports changing Watauga’s local sales-tax distribution back to a system based on population. In 2013, county commissioners changed the distribution of sales taxes from population density to property tax values, reducing Boone’s share. State revenue schedules show Boone would receive roughly 26 percent of the distribution under the population formula, compared with roughly 13 percent under the current property-tax formula even though Boone collects the most sales taxes.

Hege argues that sales taxes should be distributed based on the number of people being served rather than the value of property in a municipality. He says, “For me, the basic principle is that a sales tax should be distributed based on the people being served rather than the value of the property located within a municipality. I therefore support returning Watauga County to a per-capita distribution formula.”

HURRICANE HELENE

Hege names continued recovery from Hurricane Helene as one of his three leading priorities. Watauga County’s proposed FY 2025–26 budget reported more than 1,000 damaged homes, including approximately 148 destroyed and 470 with major damage. He says recovery money should reach affected residents and that rebuilding should make roads, waterways, public facilities and communities better prepared for future disasters.

OTHER ISSUES

LGBTQ rights: Hege has publicly opposed attacks on LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups. During his 2024 School Board campaign, he also opposed book bans.

Environment: Hege supports environmental protection and responsible growth. His academic work includes research on climate change and its effects on health in mountain communities.

Healthcare: Hege supports improving access to healthcare in rural communities. Much of his professional research has focused on rural health and barriers to care.

Guns: Gun Sense Voter lists Hege in its 2026 voter guide.

Private-school vouchers: Hege supports public-school funding, but I did not find a direct statement from him on North Carolina’s voucher program.

Endorsements: Down Home NC has endorsed Hege for County Commission District 1. Blue Voter Guide also lists Sierra Club North Carolina and Gun Sense Voter support; those listings are attributed to the guide rather than independently established from each organization’s original endorsement announcement.

SOURCES/LINKS for Rick Woods

SOURCES/LINKS for Adam Hege