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Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three- part series highlighting candidates for the upcoming Town of Boone mayoral election.
by RACHEL DINKIN
Intern News Reporter
Boone Town Council will hold council positions and mayor elections Nov. 3 and the candidates are gearing up for their campaigns.
John J. Mena, owner of Haircut 101 on Depot Street, is currently one of three candidates running for mayor.
Mena stands for the revitalization of downtown Boone, creating sustainable mixed-use neighborhoods, green spaces and bike lanes, a Boone and Appalachian State University internship program and working on Boone’s water conservation plans.
“I feel the
downtown area has been very neglected,” Mena said. “For the past 20
years I have been waiting to see changes that have been promised over
and over, but when I look around I see a town that looks basically like
it did [20 years ago] when I rolled up in here.”
If elected mayor, Mena said his first priority would be to revitalize downtown Boone and make it more sustainable.
“I want
to do Oktoberfest and more community-oriented festivals,” he said. “I
want more bars, more venues….if we keep kids from going down the
mountain to party by building more attractions here in Boone, they will
save on gas, help the environment and invest money back into Boone.”
Mena
decided to run for mayor after witnessing two dead trees being cut down
on King Street. Rather than replacing the holes with new trees, the men
cutting them down said they were told to cement over the area.
“Everyone’s doing stuff with their buildings, but no one is doing anything with the outside,” he said.
The Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy, directly next door to Haircut 101, is a green office building Mena also owns.
“We’re
not even getting an electric bill [in the AIRE building],” Mena said.
“How cool is that? I’d like to see 50 or even 100 more of those wind
turbines.”
The New
River is Boone’s main source of water intake, and Mena said he hopes to
start a “Cash for Crappers” fund to replace old toilets in Boone, which
are currently consuming a significantly large amount of water that
could be saved.
“If we
spent $2.5 million now to replace old toilets, we may be able to delay
new water intake by 10 years,” Mena said. “If we implemented rainwater
cisterns, we could delay water intake indefinitely.”
Another
goal of Mena’s is to work with Appalachian students, and hopes to
involve students in solar power, rainwater collection cisterns and
rainwater purifying systems around Boone.
“I think students should work with Watauga Hospital, helping train people in ‘eat healthy, eat right’ programs,” he said.
Mena said he wants to create new jobs by improving infrastructure and increasing growth in the area.
“I would
like to get some of these small boutique software firms,” Mena said. “I
don’t want Boone to be industrial, but it would be nice to be producing
technology and software.”
Mena
said he also wants to build a medical complex and campus around Watauga
Medical Center. It would be ideal to put retail stores, restaurants and
doctor’s offices on the first floor and condos and apartments upstairs,
so nurses and doctors could live where they work, he said.
Mena
said he has contributed to and supported the efforts of various
charities, including the Crossnore School for Children and Opposing
Abuse with Service, Information and Shelter (Oasis, Inc.).
“Mr.
Mena’s support of our work with abused, abandoned and neglected
children is deeply appreciated,” Crossnore Executive Director Phyllis
Crain said. “He and his entire team are passionate about helping us
provide hope and healing for ‘the least of these.’”
Oasis Executive Director Jennifer Herman said they have partnered with Mena for the last 16 years.
“He has
coordinated fundraiser events at Haircut 101 to raise money for Oasis
and has always been a participant as a corporate sponsor and silent
auction donor when we’ve had events to raise money,” Herman said.
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