Brevard mayor's race heats up as business owner and former council member announces run
Dee Dee Perkins, owner of D.D. Bullwinkel's Outdoors, will join current council member Maureen Copelof in the race for the seat to be vacated by longtime Mayor Jimmy Harris.
By Dan DeWitt
Brevard NewsBeat
BREVARD — The race to replace outgoing Brevard Mayor Jimmy Harris grew more crowded Tuesday, when downtown business owner and former City Council member Dee Dee Perkins announced her candidacy for the job.
Perkins, 62, is the owner of D.D. Bullwinkel’s Outdoors and two other downtown businesses; she served on council from 2003 until 2011.
During that time, she wrote in her announcement, the city built the first sections of the city’s multi-use Estatoe Trail and created a comprehensive downtown master plan.
Perkins pushed for the completion of Bracken Preserve and was actively involved in rewriting the city’s unified development ordinance (UDO), she wrote.
Her announcement comes less than a week after Harris said he planned to step down when his term expires near the end of the year, creating a vacancy in the seat for the first time in 22 years. Council member Maureen Copelof has also announced she plans to run for mayor and council member Maurice Jones said he is considering a campaign.
Perkins, a native of Shelby and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has lived in Brevard for 36 years, her announcement said; she has been involved with several community organizations, including serving on the board of Blue Ridge Community College.
As mayor, she said, her priorities would include expanding the multi-use trail network, creating a long-range vision for the city, encouraging the construction of workforce housing, and “preserving Brevard for the people that live here while supporting a vibrant economy,” she wrote.