Ryan Stone stands alone as Black Mountain mayoral candidate
Unopposed for the second straight election, longtime councilmember set to bring new voice to mayor’s seat
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
October 13, 2026
Ryan Stone is vacating his current seat on the Black Mountain Town Council, as the sole candidate for mayor in the Nov. 3 election. Photo by Fred McCormick
This profile is one of a series examining the priorities of candidates running for office in the Town of Black Mountain this fall. In-person early voting for the Buncombe County General Election will be open Oct. 15 - 31, with election day held, Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Ryan Stone did not waste time getting involved in local government in his hometown. The grandson of the longest serving mayor in the history of the Town of Black Mountain, a feeling of civic obligation led him to sit on the planning board for eight years, shortly after graduating from college.
He was introduced to the town council as an appointee in September of 2013 and elected to a new term less than two months later. For more than a decade, Stone has been a steady presence within the local government, but he will likely move into a new role in the mayor’s seat, following the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election, as he runs, unopposed, for the office.
The presumed mayor-elect, whose grandfather, Richard “Dick” Stone, held the office from 1957 to 1975, will move into the position after 12 years on the town council.
“Even though my grandfather served before I was born, that was always something our family was taught to respect,” Stone said. “I’ve always been fascinated by how organizations work, as boring as that sounds. Just how an idea becomes a staff proposal, which might change a little as it goes through various boards, is a process I’ve always been interested in.”
A graduate of Owen High School, Stone earned degrees from University of North Carolina Asheville and Western Carolina University. His professional career has included a nearly 20-year tenure within the office of the Buncombe County Clerk of Superior Court, where he currently serves as the assistant clerk.
Stone served on town council from 2013 through 2022, when he did not seek reelection. He was appointed in 2023 to fill the vacancy created when Bill Christy stepped down, due to health concerns.
“At that time, I felt like it was time to recharge and spend more time with my family,” he said of his initial decision to not run for his previous seat. “When Bill stepped down, a number of the previous town council members reached out to me. Others in the community also asked me, and finally I felt like with so many people asking me to step back in, I felt like I couldn’t say no.”
He felt a similar sense of obligation earlier this year, as Stone became the only candidate to file for the position of mayor.
“I recognize that I have had a seat on the town council for quite a while, and it’s time for new ideas and fresh voices,” he said. “But, I still think I have something to offer. Over the years, I have proven I am capable of working with just about anybody, so I felt like I still have something I can bring to that position.”
Lessons learned
Stone’s amiable demeanor has allowed him to develop professional relationships with many of more than a dozen elected officials, beside whom he has served. Throughout his tenure as a town council member, the likely future mayor has worked with two permanent and three interim town managers.
“I served with four mayors: Carl Bartlett, Michael Sobol, twice, Don Collins and Larry Harris,” Stone said. “I believe I can take a little bit from all of them. I always appreciated Carl Bartlett’s commitment to the community, and how he would highlight somebody every meeting with ‘big dog award.’
“Michael Sobol is a very passionate individual, and his heart is in the right place when he brings up issues. But, he definitely treats the position as a bully pulpit. I’m different, in that I will speak when passionate about something, and when I disagree I’m not afraid to let someone know,” Stone continued. “Larry Harris is an ultimate professional, who kept meetings on topic, and tried to keep folks notified the best he could. I also appreciated Don Collins’ leadership, although he had a more hands-on approach than I do.”
The mayoral candidate plans to incorporate many of the effective qualities he has encountered into his first term in the seat, as he endeavors to shift the tone of public discourse.
“There is still some thought in the community that our government operates as a strong-mayor system, as it once did, but things haven’t been that way in 40-something years. The current council-manager system is the one we have, so our job is to try to make the best of it,” Stone said. “We hire professional people, and it’s up to us to hold them accountable. It’s a two-way street that requires respect on both sides, and that is not something we’ve seen lately. I want to bring that back and give staff and citizens my respect, as mayor.”
Prioritizing civility and professionalism within town hall will benefit the local government, according to the candidate.
“I think a lot of the back-and-forth in our meetings does not help us when it comes to finding a permanent town manager,” Stone said. “It’s a bad look for a community that has so much to be proud of.”
He interprets the role of mayor as that of a facilitator.
“I’m looking forward to working closely with (interim Town Manager Richard Hicks) and our new town manager, when we hire one,” he said. “I’d like to create agendas that highlight our recovery projects, explain them as clearly as possible and foster a dialogue among the council members.”
Ryan Stone, who is running, unopposed, for the mayor’s seat in the Town of Black Mountain, addresses voters, Sept. 24, in a candidate forum presented by the chamber of commerce. Photo by Fred McCormick
A variety of issues
Stone is candid when asked to identify the top three challenges currently facing the town.
“Limiting it to three is so hard,” he said. “It’s really like that old saying about how to eat an elephant. One bite at a time.”
He quickly cites more than 40 ongoing Helene recovery projects, the town’s plan to relaunch its search for a manager, following the election, various vacancies within the government and longstanding concerns, including infrastructure and continued growth. Black Mountain officials were informed last month the town would be added to the Local Government Commission Unit Assistance List, which offers resources and provides oversight for municipalities facing financial challenges.
“We’ve always relied on a kind of natural growth, and we’re not seeing as much of that, in particular in sales tax revenue, which has been flat for a while,” Stone said. “That, and a number of other issues, led to a rough budget cycle, because revenues were projected so far in excess of what we received, we spent more than what we thought we had.”
Reestablishing the level of financial stability the town experienced prior to Helene will be a priority for Stone.
“I think that’s going to be a priority, one way or another, for the entire town council, for some time,” he said. “We can try to go back and second-guess ourselves, but it’s not going to change where we are. We have to move forward and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
In addition to financial challenges, the municipality was confronted with a critical infrastructure concern, last spring, when the the town’s police and fire departments were relocated away from the public safety building. Addressing the need for adequate facilities for both departments is another key issue for Stone.
“I don’t know if we’ve done a great job at explaining how we were grasping at all the straws we were from the start of this project,” he said. “From my perspective, minor repairs to the existing building are not sufficient. Even if it were perfect, structurally, it no longer met our needs, space-wise.”
A location in the center of town would be a “perfect spot in an ideal world,” Stone added.
“I would really like to find out from the structural engineer if, given our financial condition, it is feasible to build on that site,” he said. “Maybe we can expand that, and that’s a question we need answered before we can move forward with the discussion.”
One underlying factor has been prevalent in many issues currently facing the town, according to Stone, who characterizes the relationship between the public and town as “vitally important.”
“I think it’s strange right now. There is no doubt about that and I completely understand it,” he said. “With the missteps from the town, and the whole permitting process we’ve seen continuously, there has been a lack of communication and a siloed approach where people felt town hall was not a place of the people.”
A series of small steps can begin addressing those concerns, he added.
“We have to be open, when possible, making time to talk to folks and calling people back,” Stone said. “It’s the same thing they teach you in grade school: just treat people the way you want to be treated. There are some things the town has to do, because statute says we have to, but where we can exercise flexibility and discretion to help people, we need to do more of that.”
Leave it better than we found it
One of many lessons he learned from his grandfather endures to this day, according to Stone.
“My grandfather always said we have an obligation to leave things better than we found them. I can’t say that right now,” he said. “We’re in a state of transition, with Helene recovery and a new town manager coming in, so there is still a lot of work to do.”
He has identified strategies he can implement, as mayor, to help move the town in a positive direction.
“It starts with constant communication between the mayor, board and town manager,” Stone said. “I’m willing to do whatever I can to make myself available to foster dialogue among the council. One of the things we’ve seen the last few years is a lack of dialogue.”
Encouraging productive public discussion will be a priority for the lone mayoral candidate.
“We have a lot to take on and it’s going to be a long process,” Stone said. “It’s going to involve hard decisions and conversations about we can and can’t do, financially, at the point. I’ve always tried to be prepared and respectful, and haven’t always succeeded in both, but hopefully that has come across. That’s what I’ll try to do with the new board members, and everybody going forward.”
In his future position as mayor, the current town council member will continue to work toward his longtime goal of improving the community.
“I want to do my part to help get us to the next stage, so whoever comes after us can continue to make Black Mountain a place we love and cherish,” Stone said. “Whatever people expect of a mayor, they should know I will expect more for myself.”