Early voting in municipal elections is underway across North Carolina.
In Western North Carolina, candidates vie for the mayor's position and spots on town and village councils and boards. Some candidates in Woodfin are competing for a lesser known position where not every customer served gets to cast a vote: a spot on the Woodfin Sanitary Water and Sewer District Board.
Five candidates are running for three seats on the Board which is responsible for setting policies and maintaining water quality including everything from faucets to fire hydrants.
The district has 13 full-time employees and serves an estimated 10,000 residents across three municipalities and Buncombe County, but only around half of them will find this race on their ballots.
The reason for the divide, according to the district's executive director Brian Goldstein, dates back to 1931. The district preceded the incorporation of the Town of Woodfin which didn't materialize until 1971.
The district's inception resulted from the merger of the Woodfin Sanitary District and the Woodfin Water District, both founded in the 1920s.
"We were established under a state charter to serve what was then an unincorporated area of Buncombe County," Goldstein said.
Under the 1931 charter (organized underChapter 130Aof the General Statutes of North
Carolina) the district operated as a municipal corporation governed by a three-member Board of Trusteeselected every two years. Both board members and the voters who elect them must reside within the boundaries drawn by the state.
Over the years, the district has changed and grown. In 1991, sanitation responsibilities were transferred to the Metropolitan Sewer District of Buncombe County.
"Today we just do water," Goldstein said. The service area has more than doubled in size, expanding beyond the district boundaries and encompassing portions of Asheville and Weaverville, he said. But neither the district's name nor its map reflect that change.
“Unless you live in the district, you can't vote," he said.
About 4,700 residents live within the lines drawn back in 1931, Goldstein said. Most, but not all, are customers.
Three incumbents and two new candidates are vying for the three spots.
