Banks City Councilor Marsh Kirk announces bid for mayor

Banks could see a leadership shakeup with the November general election on the horizon, as a city councilor is vying for the top position.

Banks City Councilor Marsha Kirk announced her candidacy for mayor Tuesday, Aug. 13. Kirk will challenge incumbent Mayor Stephanie Jones, who was first elected in 2020 and has filed to retain her position.

Kirk, who has served on city council for six years and lived in the city for two decades, noted her concern over accountability from current leadership and aims to pursue “slower growth that ensures the preservation of the community’s culture and history.”

Central to Kirk’s campaign are concerns over the city’s large-scale development projects. The Westside development, planned in three phases, will bring approximately 140 new homes to Banks, while the Eastside development, slated for eight phases, will add around 950 homes. Proceeding as planned, the developments could nearly triple the town’s population by 2040.

Kirk has expressed concern over the impending level of growth, fearing it will overwhelm Banks’ infrastructure and undermine the town’s character.

“It is not the role of our city government to simply rubber stamp everything developers put in front of us,” Kirk stated. “We need to govern in a way that nurtures and builds upon our way of life rather than undertaking growth for no reason other than growth itself.”

Kirk also critiques the current administration for what she labels as a lack of transparency and a failure to consider the long-term impact of development decisions. According to Kirk, past administrations laid out careful plans for growth that are now being disregarded, leading to potential issues for the town’s future.

“In the last 10 years of the city’s administration, the city manager, mayor, and current city council president have failed to consider what the residents of Banks actually want,” Kirk said. “They have failed to consider our community’s history to properly understand the true path forward.”

That sentiment was made clear in early July when Kirk, who also serves as the volunteer president for the Banks Historical Society, called out city council in the wake of the Historic Wilkes House crumbling to the ground.

The 150-year-old home, built by the first settlers in the area, was razed by its property owners to make way for a water treatment plant as the city looks toward transforming 30 acres on its westside for residential and commercial development.

To maintain a strong sense of community in the small town, Kirk said she will support traditions like the Banks BBQ and race track, and she also emphasized a push to re-establish lost traditions like the city’s Fourth of July Parade.

Four leadership positions in Banks are on the line for the general election come November, including the mayoral seat and three city council positions. Kirk is currently in the middle of her term as a city councilor, so a new representative would fill out her remaining two years if she is elected mayor.

Election Day is Nov. 5.