The five Mount Airy residents who accepted nominations to run for the Mount Airy Town Council on Monday say they hope to restore order to a board that has been lacking.

“There’s no civility,” said candidate Bob King. “The verbal attacks need to stop.”

King, chairman of Mount Airy’s Board of Parks and Recreation, is one of two newcomers vying for one of three open seats on the five-member council. Kristin Blais, whose husband is a member of the council, also is running. Chris Everich, who lost a bid to keep his seat on the council in 2010, is making another run, and Council President Peter Helt and Councilman David Pyatt are seeking re-election.

Council members serve four-year terms and are paid $4,000 each year. The election is May 7.

Blais, Helt, Pyatt and King attended a meeting at town hall Monday night to the Board of Supervisors of Elections during which people were nominated to run for the council. Everich could not attend due to a prior commitment and was absent for his nomination, he said Tuesday.

For Blais and King, running for the town council came out of a need to end what they describe as ongoing bickering and a divide among residents and the council. King alluded to the friction generated over annexation last year, while Blais hopes to unite those who disagree over growth in Mount Airy.

“There’s a divide that has existed for the last 10 years,” she said. “I want to bridge that together.”

If elected, she will serve on the council alongside her husband, Councilman David Blais, whose term expires in 2014.

“She has a good grasp on the issues,” David Blais said.

Everich was appointed to the council in August 2009 to take the seat vacated by former councilman John Woodhull. He enjoyed spending time away from the council, but was compelled to run again after residents asked him to, he said. Tony Falletta nominated him Monday evening.

“Pressures on growth will arise again, pressures on limited infrastructure will arise,” Everich said Tuesday. “I'm for growth as long as it’s managed properly. That's a position that I simply won’t change.”

Pyatt, who is serving his sixth term, agreed there is tension on the council.

“We used to be able to do things on our own,” he said. “You have to balance what people want and we’ve had a lot of bickering in the last two years.”

Polls will be open May 7 at the Fireman’s Activities Building on Twin Arch Road from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Write-in candidates will be accepted until 5 p.m. April 13. The last day to register to vote in Mount Airy is March 13.

nnourmohammadi@gazette.net