At their last meeting, the Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen heard silence when Mayor Ron DeSimone opened the floor to discuss an agenda item calling for an amotion. Only support for the mayor was expressed at the meeting. Subsequent conversations with aldermen indicated the main problem was the way the mayor lobbied State Senator Jim Davis for an increase in the local hotel tax. He either intentionally or unintentionally faked the support of the board as leverage for his preferences, which were defeated by the legislature, anyway. As of this writing, the mayor is still in place.