Preston Blakely serves at the Mayor of Fletcher, NC and was first elected to the Town Council in 2019 at 25 years old before being elected mayor in 2021 at age 27. Blakely was one of the youngest mayors in NC at the time of his election. Living in Fletcher for most of his life, Blakely earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, double majoring in Political Science and African American and African Diaspora Studies. Subsequently, he earned is Master of Public Affairs from Western Carolina University and was named as the Outstanding Public Affairs Student in Public Management. Blakely also works for his family’s janitorial business, Quality Janitorial Group and serves on numerous boards focused on economic development, healthcare, and community well-being.

Serving as mayor, Blakely has been focused on transparency, managing growth, improving infrastructure, and strengthening services. During his tenure, the Town has implemented a paid FMLA policy for staff, completed a comprehensive pay and classification study to raise wages, secured significant grant funding to expand greenways, and prohibited data centers in all zoning districts. Additionally, he is helping to guide the development of the Heart of Fletcher, improve parks and recreations, and support economic development projects that have created new jobs and investment in Fletcher. Furthermore, he has played a key leadership role in western North Carolina’s recovery following Hurricane Helene. Blakely has received the North Carolina Public Administration Award for Early Career Public Service, the National League of Cities Centennial Under 40 Impact Award, amongst many other awards and recognitions.