A newcomer with three decades of experience in public safety has announced his intention to enter the race for one of two open seats on Graham’s city council when the filing period opens at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, July 7.
Graham native Randy Phillips is running for one of two seats that will be up for grabs in the November municipal election. He lives at 130 Burton Street in Graham with his wife of 39 years; the couple has two grown daughters.
Incumbent Graham city councilman Bobby Chin, who was elected in 2021, has said he plans to seek a second, four-year term in the municipal elections this fall. Councilman Joey Parsons, also elected in 2021, has said he won’t seek a second term due to an impending move to Burlington.
Graham mayor Jennifer Talley, originally elected to the city council in 2019 and subsequently elected mayor in 2021 and 2023, has also signaled her intention to seek a third, two-year term as mayor.
Phillips describes himself as a “Square Miler” who has lived in Graham since age seven and as a member of the fourth generation of his family to have lived in and served the city.
“I have seen Graham in some of the good times and the bad times, and I want to be a part of making it even better,” Phillips said this week in announcing his candidacy for city council.
Phillips is semi-retired from a 30-year career with the Alamance County Emergency Services, Burlington fire department, and Green & McClure Furniture in downtown Graham. He is currently employed as the general manager at Sutton’s at the Wrike in downtown Graham.
As a candidate, Phillips’ position on whether or not to keep the Sesquicentenial Park at the northwest corner of Court Square, built in 1999 to honor county’s 150th anniversary, distinguishes him from incumbent councilman Chin.
Chin had voted in May to remove the pergola and memorial bricks, make the property safe, and consider putting it up for sale. Also voting to begin the removal process was Talley; Parsons; and council member Bonnie Whitaker; mayor pro tem Ricky Hall cast the sole vote against.
“I’m for keeping Sesquicentenial Park,” Phillips said Tuesday afternoon in an interview with The Alamance News. “It’s been there; people have paid money, donated money, for it. I don’t know who is responsible for the foundation of it [caving in], but seeing as the city owns the property, the city ought to be responsible for it.”
Phillips also said that, if elected, his background in emergency services would likely influence his decisions about spending priorities when deliberating on the city’s annual budget. “I’ve got ideas on public safety, being a former paramedic and firefighter, but I always back emergency services, coming from that background.”
Though he’s less active now due to his current schedule that requires him to work Sundays, Phillips says he’s a member of Graham Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon at one point.
The newcomer to elective office is also a model train enthusiast. “I had a model train on display at Green & McClure Furniture last Christmas,” Phillips recalled in the interview.
Phillips vows to be responsive to the concerns of his constituents if elected. “I plan to listen to the concerns of voters and work hard to do what I can to help make things better in a place that I love,” he said in announcing his candidacy for one of the two open seats on Graham’s city council.
The filing period for the fall municipal election closes at 12:00 noon on Friday, July 18. Election Day is Tuesday, November 4.
