June 25. Thurman Ross, a public service veteran who was defeated in Town Board elections two years ago, plans to run for the five-member, non-partisan local governing body this fall.

Thurman Ross has been on the Town Board much of the past two dozen years. He lost in 2021, when four out of five incumbents were defeated by a wave of controlled growth sentiment. He was the only African-American on the town’s governing body and the only member from the east side of town.

The long-time Smithville resident and Cornelius native said he supports managed growth as a way to keep a lid on taxes—if there is a parallel effort to improve roads and infrastructure.

Thurman Ross

“New development brings in the ratables that can bring everyone’s property taxes down, but we have to manage the growth and listen to residents and neighbors at the same time,” Ross said.

Two years ago there were nine candidates for the Cornelius Town Board, but there’s no telling how many there will be this year.

Scott Higgins, an Antiquity resident, has already announced his plans to run.

The November town board elections are non-partisan, in that candidates run without party affiliations. Filing is open from July 7 to July 21, so there may still be more candidates.