Mayor Woody Washam / Dave Yochum photo

Jan. 7. By Dave Yochum. When Woody Washam thinks of someone in politics he’d like to emulate, Joe Knox, the former mayor of Mooresville for 30 years, is top of mind. Knox was also a commissioner on the Mooresville Town Board and a leader of the Mooresville Chamber of Commerce.

Washam, who is in his fourth term as mayor of Cornelius, served as a commissioner on the Cornelius Town Board, and as chair of both the Lake Norman Chamber and the Mooresvile Chamber.

He plans to run for a fifth term as mayor of Cornelius, an unprecedented achievement in this town if he wins in November.

Quotable

“The multiple relationships that I have built at every level of government—county, federal and state—as well as many agencies, are making a difference to our town through grants, funding and cooperation,” he said.

Washam chaired the Mooresville Chamber in 1995, the same year Patrick Mahomes was born.

Background

He has a lifetime of connections, not just in business and politics. This year will mark 60 years as organist at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Cornelius.

He has played for almost 700 weddings, and about half as many funerals.

Washam is also one of the primary drivers behind the Cain Center for the Arts which opened two years ago.

He’s been a community banker for decades. It means he has built time-tested relationships with business owners here who routinely borrow money to fund new buildings and equipment.

Being so close to the power brokers for so many years means relationships extend from here to the NC Capitol where people like NC Sen. Vickie Sawyer and Phil Berger, president pro tem of the NC Senate are friends.

“It is truly nice and fulfilling to reach out and they answer and respond,” Washam said.

At age 74, with a possible fifth term of 2 years on the horizon, he said a sixth term is not out of the question.

“I feel more energy now than ever.  And, I have a very supportive spouse who is interested in what I am doing, a true confidant who keeps me motivated,” he said.

Sharon Washam

Sharon Washam is ready to serve another term as well.

“I probably love it as much as he does…it can mean long hours and a lot of events, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she said.

Cliffhanger in 2023

The mayor’s fourth term almost didn’t happen: After a recount in 2023, Washam beat challenger Denis Bilodeau by only five votes. Washam acknowledged that half the people who voted didn’t vote for him.

“I felt like things were going to work out but there was an element of uncertainty,” Washam said. “But if I didn’t win, it was OK. At that point I had done this 10 years.”

Washam said he later heard from friends who did not vote because they assumed he was a shoe-in.

“People elect elected officials to do the right thing for their town—100 percent of voters never agree on anything,” he said.

Washam has been an advocate of transportation projects—worth in excess of $500 million.

Public opinion around growth, transportation

Anti-growth sentiment, coming after exuberant approvals of new development by the prior Board of Commissioners, continues. One of the most controversial was an apartment building on West Catawba at Junker, where the foundation is under construction now.

“I would not have voted for many of those projects, Junker is an example, but it was my job to make sure upon presentation to the board they were as good as they could get,” Washam said.

Growth is inevitable around the highly desired Charlotte region, but Washam said Cornelius has only grown an average of 0.6 percent a year over the past four years.

“What we have to understand is that Cornelius is not growing…most people don’t believe that because of the traffic, but we’re feeling Denver, Huntersville, east Lincoln County, Mooresville and Davidson…they travel through our community,” Washam said, explaining that minimal population growth is confirmed by US Census data.

“I am very proud of the fact that certain policies and ordinances—like our new land use plan—that have been put in place over my tenure have done the job in controlling growth,” Washam said.

No one else declared their intentions to run for mayor next year. The filing deadline will be in July and Washam of course will be at the Board of Elections.

He says he has more than $10,000 in his campaign account from past campaigns and has “received commitments from many to help build that support” for the 2025 campaign, a signal to would-be contenders that he is prepared.