MOORESVILLE – Halfway throughhis first term as mayor, Chris Montgomeryacknowledges he isn’t Mooresville’s typicalpolitician – and he’s proud of it. But beingdifferent sometimes has a price.“The mayor’s office can be very lonely,”Montgomery says. “You’re in there withstaff who have been doing this for years,and the drift I get is that they look at youlike, ‘You’ll only be here until the next guy.’You don’t know who <strong>to</strong> trust. It’s very frustrating.”Still, he says the “people part” of beingmayor outweighs, by far, the political baggagethat comes with the position.Montgomery says one of the biggestchallenges he has faced since the November2009 election is how <strong>to</strong> successfullywork with – and find consensus among– six different personalities on the <strong>to</strong>wnboard.“There are six of them on the same playingfield,” he says. But as mayor, “I don’thave another peer.”If Montgomery wasn’t familiar with <strong>to</strong>wnboard dynamics when he was elected, hefigured them out quickly when he had <strong>to</strong>break a tie vote the same night he wassworn in<strong>to</strong> office.“I had never presided over anything,”he says, adding that he started attendingboard meetings only after he decided hewould run for public office. “People cansay what they want, but until you’re behindthat table, you have no idea what it’s like.”Montgomery – who likens his first fewmonths in office, and his first real encounterswith MI-Connection, <strong>to</strong> “drinkingfrom a fire hose” – ousted Mayor BillThunberg, who was known <strong>to</strong> be a sticklerfor procedural rules. Coming in behindthat sort of control, says Montgomery, “Ithink makes me look like a pushover.”Not personally knowing the <strong>to</strong>wn’s commissionerswhen he first <strong>to</strong>ok office hasalso presented somewhat of an obstacle,Montgomery says. “To a large extent, Idon’t think that’s made me less effective.I like for people <strong>to</strong> like me, and I want <strong>to</strong>get along with everyone, but I also have <strong>to</strong>remind myself that I don’t want a good ol’boys club.”He says the <strong>to</strong>wn board should act like“wonder twins, borrowing on each others’strengths. Some may have the experiencebut not the people-skills,” and vice-versa,he says. “I have <strong>to</strong> glean some things fromthem <strong>to</strong> help me in my role.”He says his more laid-back people personalityhas gotten him in<strong>to</strong> a few smallpredicaments. At a recent public hearing,Montgomery let a man speak evenafter the period for public comments hadclosed.“It opened up a can of worms,” he says.“I should have just said that the time forcomments was over. But I’m not an ‘official’type of person – I just want <strong>to</strong> be able<strong>to</strong> talk <strong>to</strong> people.”Montgomery says a lot of people <strong>to</strong>ldhim, once he was elected, that he needed<strong>to</strong> change his mindset. “They would say,‘You’re not just Chris anymore. You’re themayor. You’re the <strong>to</strong>wn’s head cheerleader,the conduit between the people and thegovernment.’”Randy Marion, who owns a Mooresvillecar dealership, “let me drive a Corvette inNewsMontgomery talks about his first year as mayorby Jaime Gat<strong>to</strong>nnews@mooresvilleweekly.comCourtesy of Marta KoeslingMayor Chris Montgomery and Santa Claus were special guests Friday, Dec. 17, at the IredellCounty Partnership For Young Children’s Holiday Reading is Fundamental Party. Children andtheir families listened <strong>to</strong> Montgomery’s reading of the “Snowy Day” and then got <strong>to</strong> select theirvery own book <strong>to</strong> take home.the Christmas parade last year,” Montgomery<strong>recall</strong>s. But this year, Montgomerysays he opted <strong>to</strong> drive his own retro brownVW bus in the parade.“I want <strong>to</strong> remain humble, and I alsowant <strong>to</strong> respect the office,” he says.Montgomery says he has immenserespect for Mooresville’s past mayors,including Thunberg, Al Jones and JoeKnox. He says from the mayor’s office window,he often sees Jones picking up trashfrom the Town Hall lawn. “This is a past(See Montgomery on page 5)Brad RocheKristine PittsA Call <strong>to</strong>day for an estimate on a purchase or refinance.Commitment 181 N. Main Street, Down<strong>to</strong>wn Mooresville • 704.230.2381NMLS#135191www.mooresvilleweekly.com Mooresville <strong>Weekly</strong> • Dec. 24-30, 2010 • Page 3