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2026 Watauga County Meet the Candidates - Holly Fehl - Watauga County Clerk of Court · Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to this special election edition of Mind Your Business.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm David Jackson.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: The Boone Area and Blowing Rock Chambers of Commerce are proud to host our annual Meet the Candidates Forum in conjunction with the 2026 general election.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: While the Watauga County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners and races for the state house and senate were conducted as part of our in-person forum at the Appalachian Theater back on October 1st.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Candidates for U.S.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: House, Watauga County Sheriff, and Watauga County Clerk of Court were interviewed individually.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: This episode features our conversation with Holly Fail, the Democratic candidate for Watauga County Clerk of Court.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, my name is Holly Fail.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: I have lived in Wataga County since uh 1987, so almost 40 years.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: This place has been my home.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've watched it change a lot throughout the years.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I've become very deeply involved and entrenched in this community, and I'm honestly incredibly proud to be a part of this community uh with all of the things that I've seen over the years.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to continue my service.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I like to volunteer for Animal Shelter and Hunger Coalition and doing food pickups for for people and taking food back.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just something that is is near and dear to my heart, especially after uh Elizabeth passed away from her brain tumor, who used to be the executive director over at the Hunger and Health Coalition.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: She asked me personally to volunteer over there.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And in her memory, I I keep doing it because I love it.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: First of the prepared questions for you here.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how do you see the clerk of court office um kind of crossing boundaries and working with small businesses?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Crossing boundaries and working with small businesses.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I would say that that goes along the lines of a lot of the attorneys' offices and people with small claims actions and that kind of stuff.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um usually attorneys know what the process is and all of that.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But when it comes to small businesses, a lot of them are coming to you with no legal help whatsoever, and they need your guidance to show them how to file certain documents, what to expect down the process, and you know, help guide them.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I think that that's very important and it needs to be, you know, equal footing for everybody.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's the most important thing because it's a very neutral office.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's not supposed to, you know, take sides one way or the other.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's supposed to help everybody that walks through that door, no matter what the situation is.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: It may not come up as much on the estate and probate side, though sometimes, but foreclosures, special proceedings.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: You alluded to this a moment ago in your your first answer, but how would you work with staff to maintain the best possible efficiency, not only for business customers, but for everybody that comes in contact with the office?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, there is a process in place, you know, that has been going on for quite some time now.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um and when you're dealing with foreclosures and special proceedings, that also can be, you know, an adoption or someone, you know, losing their home.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so it can be very, a very tumultuous time in their life.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's important to understand how to relate to people and how to be able to calm them in their times of when they are in a high stress situation.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: And with my background um in doing family law for 12 years, I was able to do that.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, we come in, we see people at their absolute worst.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: You help them through the it's a complex situation when it comes to litigation and and doing things in the legal field.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I would watch them come out on the other side a stronger person.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's it's something that I enjoy doing um because I'm a helper at heart.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I've always been a helper at heart.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's something I look forward to doing, you know, while I'm in the clerk's office.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we have seen over the years things like uh notary commissioning, other document services.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh those are are always um areas where people interact with the clerk of court's office, but we've seen more technology developed in that way to speed up the process and and and quite honestly just bring technology into the picture.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh what do you feel like that the use of technology uh can do for the office to maintain efficiency, but also make sure that the things are getting filed correctly?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um you are exactly right, David.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Things have come a long way, especially with the implementation of eCourts last year.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a huge learning process for a lot of people, not only in the office itself, with all of the different aspects that they have to learn in order to accurately record information, but also us on the outside where to go to search for information and how to file information.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's it's definitely, you know, a learning curve.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um and to me, it's important to have people that are very familiar with, you know, how the process works and have the training that they need to do their jobs well.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I want to foster an office culture where people are treated with professionalism and respect.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to build um a good working relationship and identify opportunities by improving and listening to staff and the public.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um so as long as they as long as you know they need the help, we're gonna be there to help them.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um I haven't dealt with much notary when it comes to the electronic portion of it.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um but you know, I can imagine that there's probably some there's areas for me to learn on with all of this, because there is areas that I that I am unfamiliar with, but I am willing to learn, and I'm excited to learn about it.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: You touch on um one of the the last topics here, and and that is staffing.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you mentioned a little bit about the culture that you want to create, but in terms of making sure that your office is staffed, um, making sure that that people are familiar with what a government role uh has to play, what is your strategy to make sure that that the office that you would lead has capable talent to be able to do that and also make sure that that talent can live here and maintain life here?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a very important question.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there are people um in that office who understand the complexities of that court system, um, and I value their experience and expertise.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um some of them have been in there for 20 plus years, and I have known them for 20 plus years.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and uh getting those working relationships, you know, has been very important.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um I want to make sure that, you know, they are familiar with all aspects of the office.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I I believe in cross-training as well.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because sometimes that's important when you've got somebody who's not available one day that somebody else in the office can help you instead of saying, oh, so-and-so is out of the office.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I can't help you today.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: To me, that's not an efficient way to run an office.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I know that that has happened in the past.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so I just I just want to make sure that people are treated, you know, with professionalism and respect.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: And um I am one of those people, I understand being a state employee, how difficult it is to make a living in this county.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are a lot of people that um have lived here for a long time and they're they're struggling.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one thing that I hope to to be able to help is to fight to help get these people the raises that they need in order to be able to continue to live here.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because even with people that have been here for generations who have inherited property are having issues being able to keep that property, and that's not how it should be.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: That legacy should not, you know, be gone.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Holly, that uh concludes the prepared questions.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Any final comments that you'd like to make or anything that you feel like we didn't cover?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I just want to thank the voters.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank uh everybody out there that, you know, I have worked with for the last 25 years.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've been able to connect with a whole lot of people throughout the community, uh, as well as peers in the legal system.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and working in the Department of Adult Corrections like I have for the last 12 years, you know, I understand the importance of accurate record keeping.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, I understand that if a certain things aren't correct, that there are ramifications that relate to certain things as far as like a supervision of an offender, uh, the amount of time someone spends in confinement, stuff like that.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: So to me, it's imperative to have, you know, correct records and people take their time and be able to get it right and be an open door.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have questions, please come ask.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if I can't give you the answer, I will find the answer for you.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm one of those people that I will get down in the trenches with you.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's just how I work.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't sit in an office and just say, okay, you guys take care of it.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: If uh a department needs help, then I'm gonna help them and I'm going to learn how to run every aspect of that office.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we certainly appreciate the time.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Uh best of luck with the campaign and and thank you for running for office.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's no small feat today.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So we appreciate it very much.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you, David.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoy talking with you today.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: That concludes this special edition of Mind Your Business.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Subscribers of our podcast will see these full archives for each of our individual candidate interviews, as well as the full archives of our in-person forum, broken down by race, all available on your podcast platform of choice, a benefit of being a subscriber.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: You can also visit BoonCamber.com for a link to our Mind Your Business archives, and we'll have a post on our main page with full access to these archives as well.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to the staff and volunteers of the Boone Area and Blowing Rock Chambers of Commerce for making this forum possible.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for your interest in our local elections, and we encourage you to cast your ballot and have your voice heard in this 2026 general election.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm David Jackson.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: So long, everybody.