Opinion

Mayor on Duty

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

In the 2024 election, there was a remarkably close race for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat. Only about 700 votes separated the candidates in this major statewide race. During the recount, the candidate with the fewest votes challenged the registration of about 65,000 voters.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Thursday, October 23, 2025

I get a lot of emails and text messages about town issues. Last week, I received feedback about two events. Instead of responding to the messages individually, I am responding publicly here. One set of messages centered around the protests that occurred on Saturday.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Whatever happened to the North Carolina Legislature? They entered the biennium’s long session in January. What are they doing now? What bills did they pass impacting towns and cities? What about the comprehensive state budget? Surprising things happened in the early months of this year.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Last Thursday began as a very pleasant day with sunny skies and everyone in town expecting a great Labor Day weekend. I had just left the annual town employees’ picnic, where we feasted on Blue Hound barbecue and presented longevity awards to select employees.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Thursday, August 21, 2025

This week will have been replete with meetings. The pace of community meetings and gatherings will pick up even more as we head toward fall. On Wednesday, the Mirror Lake Improvement Association had a meeting concerning the Mirror Lake Dredging Project.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Last week, I attended a meeting concerning future transportation projects for Macon County. The Southwestern Regional Planning Organization hosted the meeting. This regional organization handles prioritizing transportation needs for the six counties of Western Carolina.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Thursday, August 7, 2025

The Highlands Plateau is hot. No, not summer hot, we are still cool, but Highlands is hot as a desirable place to live with incredible beauty coupled with a strong community and civic life. Everywhere on the plateau, construction is underway. With that rush to build comes challenges.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

I am on the executive board of the Southwestern Regional Planning Commis-sion. I received an invitation from the Mountain West Partnership, a subsidiary of the commission, concerning a big economic development an-nouncement in Robbinsville. So, last Tuesday, I traveled to Robbinsville for the event.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Thursday, July 24, 2025

At the Highlands Town Board meeting last Thursday, a concern was raised that some folks felt they had not been informed about the recent changes to employee parking in the business area.

Mayor on Duty

Patrick Taylor

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Sallie and I read an article by David Brooks this past week that prompted us to reflect on current events and the world’s situation. The essence of the piece asked the question, why are so many people good?