Graham voters are faced with a crowded ballot this November, choosing among seven candidates for two city council seats and two council veterans who are seeking to replace mayor Jerry Peterman who is retiring.
Peterman is the first popularly-elected mayor in Graham’s recent history, having been elected eight times (to two-year terms) since the post was first put on the ballot in 2005.
Peterman was initially elected to the city council in 2003; that council changed Graham’s procedures for electing its mayor. Previously, the five members of the city council voted who among them should serve as mayor.
Peterman is currently in Arizona, visiting his son, daughter-in-law, and only grandson. He has previously indicated that he and his wife Jan plan to move to the suburban Phoenix area to be near his family sometime after he completes his term in December.
Seeking to become Graham’s second popularly-elected mayor are mayor pro tem Chip Turner, who has served 12 years on the council and was previously on the city’s parks and recreation commission, an advisory board, for 10 years; and council member Jennifer Talley, who has served two years since being elected in 2019 and six years during two previous terms on the city council (2003-2009).
The seven city council candidates seeking two available seats include Melody Wiggins, who is seeking a second, four-year term; Daniel Alvis, a local businessman who also sought a seat in 2019; Jeanette E. Beaudry, who serves on several city advisory boards and has run unsuccessfully for the council several times, most recently in 2019; Bobby Chin, a retired Army colonel who is a member of the city’s planning board; Brooke Flood who works as a guidance secretary at Graham Middle School; and Joey Parsons, who works as a fields claim representative for a national insurance company.
Unlike Burlington, which has a primary to trim the list of candidates to no more than two per seat on the ballot, all seven Graham council candidates will be competing for the two seats.
All but one candidate responded to the newspaper’s issues questionnaires that were submitted to the candidates last week, and those eight out of nine provided biographical information as requested, as well. Beaudry did not; when reached by phone Monday afternoon, after the 12:00 noon deadline had passed, Beaudry said she had been at the beach and had not had time to answer the questions.
Alamance News publisher Tom Boney, Jr. offered Beaudry another 24 hours to complete the questionnaires and provide the biographical background to the newspaper, but as of press time on Wednesday afternoon, more than 48 hours later, she had not provided any information.
The newspaper had told all candidates in the cover letter requesting their participation that, if they declined to participate, their responses to each question would be listed as “Refused to respond.” Beaudry told the publisher she wanted the listing to say “Unavailable,” instead; she was told that her column in the election grid would say, as previously advised, “Refused to respond.”
Biographical sketches on the candidates other than Beaudry are below:
The questionnaire responses begin HERE:
[Editor’s Note: because of the large number of candidates, the newspaper found it necessary to display the responses in the rather unorthodox manner of turning the election grid sideways to present the candidate responses in a more readable fashion. Mayoral responses are to the left of the questions (the same questions were asked of both mayoral and council candidates) with council candidate responses to the right of the questions.]
The last page of the questionnaire is focused exclusively on Graham’s so-called Downtown Master Plan; candidates were asked about specific components of the plan, as recommended by a consultant in 2019.
In addition to Beaudry’s failure to provide any responses, Wiggins opted to provide a summary statement and did not respond with her opinions on any of the specific components of the plan.
That supplemental questionnaire is on 4th (last) page above.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
GRAHAM MAYORAL CANDIDATES
Jennifer Talley
Full name: Jennifer L. Talley
Nickname, if any: —
Born: Date of birth: April 28, 1970
Place of birth: Houston/Harris County/Texas
Education: Attended elementary, middle, and high school in Alamance County, graduated Grace Christian Academy, 1987; B.A. in History, English, Business Admin graduated Magna Cum Laude, Elon College, 1990; M.A. in Business, UNC-Greensboro, 2000
Military service: —
Occupation/place of employment: small business owner/Graham Soda Shop and Grill, et al
Family: Spouse – William “Chuck” Talley, married 25 years
Children – Carson Talley 18; Courtney Talley, 14; and mother to 13 international exchange students.
Religion/church affiliation: Christian/The Lamb’s Chapel
Organizations: Treasurer of the Graham Area Business Association; ALCOVETS member/event organizer; previously served as Treasurer for the Children’s Museum of Alamance County; School Board member at Rivermill Academy;
Political career: Currently serve on Graham City Council; Fellow of the Institute of Political Leadership; served as a Graham City Council member for 8 years (2003-2009) (2019-2021)
Address: 808 Sideview St, Graham
Chip Turner
Full name: Brice Caldwell Turner II
Nickname, if any: Chip
Born: Date of birth: August 15, 1952
Place of birth: Burlington, Alamance County
Education: Graham High School, 1970; Technical College of Alamance (now ACC), 1970-1972, Business Administration; US Army, Communications Radio Relay School, October 1972;
Military service: UA Army and US Army National Guard, 1972-1977;
Occupation/place of employment: NC Department of Transportation, 1974-2004, now retired
Family: Spouse – single
Children – Kelley Turner, daughter; Jasey McKenna Tittochi, 12, granddaughter;
Religion/church affiliation: First Methodist Church of Graham
Organizations: Thomas M. Holt Masonic Lodge, North Carolina AF & AM
Political career: Appointed to Graham Parks and Recreation Commission, 2000-2009; elected to Graham City Council, November 2009, have served 3 full terms; Elected Mayor Pro Tem in December 2019;
Address: 128 Westover Street, Graham
GRAHAM CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES
(Voters may select 2)
Daniel Alvis
Full name: Daniel Lynn Alvis
Nickname, if any: —
Born: Date of birth: December 15, 1970
Place of birth: Haw River, Alamance County
Education: Graham High School
Military service: N/A
Occupation/place of employment: The University of North Carolina
Family: Spouse – Lisa Alvis
Children – —
Religion/church affiliation: The Lamb’s Chapel
Organizations: —
Political career: —
Address: 1092 Noah Road, Graham
Jeanette E. Beaudry
[Editor’s Note: Refused to repond to the newspaper’s questionnaire or request for biographical information.
The Alamance County Board of Elections lists the candidate’s full name as Jeanette Elaine Beaudry (she will be listed on the ballot as “Jeanette E. Beaudry”), and her address as 308 E. Harden Street, Graham.]
Bobby Chin
Full name: Bobby Chin
Nickname, if any: —
Born: Date of birth: April 30, 1948
Place of birth: Drew (Sunflower), Mississippi
Education: B.S. Industrial Engineering, Louisiana State University, 1971; M.S. Operations Research/Systems Analysis, Florida Institute of Technology, 1983;
Military service: U.S. Army, 1972-2002, retired as colonel.
Occupation/place of employment: Retired
Family: Spouse – Karen (1982-Present)
Children – Allison Procious of Virginia; Robert Chin of Maryland
Religion/church affiliation: Methodist
Organizations: ALCOVETS, Secretary;
Political career: Never held political office, but was appointed to Graham Planning Board in 2020;
Address: 386 Carolina Circle, Graham
Brooke Flood
Full name: Brooke Lorraine Flood
Nickname, if any: —
Born: Date of birth: February 25, 1976
Place of birth: Asheboro, Randolph County
Education: Asheboro High School, 1994; some college through ECU, and Alamance Community College
Military service: —
Occupation/place of employment: Guidance Secretary, Graham Middle School
Family: Spouse – Duane Flood, married 17 years
Children – Dexter Flood, 17; Dylan Flood, 13; Step-daughter Macy Flood, 19.
Religion/church affiliation: Christian
Organizations: Graham High School Athletics Boosters
Political career: —
Address: 926 Ross Street, Graham
Edith J. Montoya
Full name: Edith J. Montoya
Nickname, if any: —
Born: Date of birth: February 7, 1998
Place of birth: Alamance County
Education: B.S: Business Administration, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Military service: —
Occupation/place of employment: Mobile Notary signing Agent
Family: Spouse – —
Children – I have a three-year-old.
Religion/church affiliation: —
Organizations: Elect women of Color, NAACP
Political career: —
Address: 1114 Gant Rd 17, Graham
Joey Parsons
Full name: Joseph Allen Parsons
Nickname, if any: Joey
Born: Date of birth: June 19, 1969
Place of birth: Burlington, Alamance County
Education: —
Military service: —
Occupation/place of employment: Field Claims Rep/National General Insurance
Family: Spouse – Angela Parsons, married 26 years
Children – two children
Religion/church affiliation: Christian/The Lamb’s Chapel
Organizations: —
Political career: —
Address: 506 Wildwood Ln, Graham
Melody Wiggins
Full name: Melody Wiggins
Nickname, if any: —
Born: Date of birth: —
Place of birth: Newport News, VA
Education: B.S. in Recreation Administration Management with Minor in Business Administration, Appalachian State University
Military service: —
Occupation/place of employment: Retired Director of Recreation and Parks for 35 Years; Currently am Partner in Shamrock Nutrition;
Family: Spouse – —
Children – —
Religion/church affiliation: Non-Denominational
Organizations: North Carolina Recreation and Parks Association (NCRPA); Awards and Citations, NCRPA; Liaison, Transportation Advisory Commission, Transportation Safety Committee; Liaison, Historic Resources Commission; Liaison, Graham Historic Museum;
Political career: Graham City Council – 4 Years, 2017
Address: 300 Ward Street, Graham
ON THE ISSUES:
Taxing and spending priorities divide candidates: https://alamancenews.com/taxing-spending-priorities-at-heart-of-candidate-differences/
The downtown plan from 2019 is opposed by most candidates (but not all): https://alamancenews.com/2019-downtown-master-plan-still-stirs-controversy-debate/
