Rod McCaughey, the immediate past president of the Southern Shores Civic Assn., filed Thursday to run for mayor of Southern Shores. He will face Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Morey in the Nov. 2 municipal election.
(See The Beacon, 7/3/21, for an announcement of Ms. Morey’s candidacy.)
Mr. McCaughey has been active in the SSCA since he and his wife, Betsy, retired to Southern Shores eight years ago, moving into a home that they built on Eleventh Avenue.
Mr. McCaughey volunteered to serve on the SSCA’s Architectural Review Board soon after his arrival. He went on to lead the revitalization of the SSCA’s Sea Oats Park and the restoration of its North Marina, among other improvement efforts, and to serve two years as SSCA president. He currently is involved in bringing pickleball courts to the Hillcrest Beach.
Before his retirement to Southern Shores, Mr. McCaughey told The Beacon that he had two successful careers as a business entrepreneur.
He first started a medical-industrial gas company, which he eventually sold to British Oxygen Co., for whom he worked as marketing manager for the Northeast after the sale.
When his employment contract with BOC expired, Mr. McCaughey, who is a native New Yorker, returned to school and earned his M.B.A. in London. He went on to a second career as a partner in a regional mortgage banking business.
In his bid for mayor, Mr. McCaughey said he hopes to “fairly represent the interests of all homeowners in Southern Shores while guiding and managing growth in the community.”
The term of office for the Southern Shores mayor is four years; the position is compensated with a small annual salary.
2021 TOWN COUNCIL ELECTION
Three Southern Shores homeowners filed their candidacies yesterday at the Dare County Board of Elections for the Town Council seat that current Councilman Jim Conners will be vacating. They are Ann Sjoerdsma, Paula Sherlock, and John Carter.
Yesterday was the last day for candidates in Dare County to file with the BOE for the November municipal election.
The term of office for a Southern Shores Town Council member is also four years, and this position, too, is compensated with a small annual salary.
Southern Shores has five Town Council members, including the Mayor. Elections are held in odd-numbered years and are staggered so that the Mayor and one Council member are elected in one year, and three Council members are elected two years later.
Inasmuch as The Beacon has a decided bias in favor of one candidate in the Town Council member election, we will not be covering it like we expect to cover the mayor’s race. We will issue a statement next week about how we plan to move forward.
We would like to say now, however, that we are pleased that the voters of Southern Shores will have a choice of candidates in both of our local elections.
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A TRAFFIC REMINDER: The left-turn ban this weekend at the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 158 and South Dogwood Trail is in effect from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow. There will be eight local-traffic-only barricades in place on residential streets north of East Dogwood Trail, but there will be no road closures.
Have a good weekend, everyone.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 7/17/21
The Southern Shores Beacon 