Deputy Attorney for the City of Asheville Reflects on Career

She’s been working since she was 14 years old.

And now, after 27 years on the job for the City of Asheville, and 3-½ years with state government, Martha McGlohon is stepping away from her role as Deputy City Attorney. Though she is retiring, she has a new goal in mind: taking what she calls her sabbatical. “This is going to fulfill my thirst and desire to connect to my spiritual side,” said Martha.

That will likely come after she spends her first six months adjusting to a slower pace of life … because her life has been anything but leisurely for the past 30 years.

In the span of 2-½ years, Martha McGlohon finished law school, took and passed the NC State Bar Exam, married, and started her career as an attorney. She came to the City of Asheville in 1988, having previously worked for the NC State Bureau of Investigation.

At age 29 Martha was tired of traveling for the SBI and spending less than two days in the comfort of her own bed, so she decided to attend law school. Then she married the love of her life, Howard McGlohon, who would serve as a district attorney for Buncombe County for many years.

The marriage produced two children, a girl and boy, increasing a schedule that was already extremely busy. So began many years of balancing marriage and motherhood with municipal law.

“There was a whole lot going on,” she recalls. “I often took work home. It was not unusual for me to be up working at 3 in the morning to prepare for a case or even court the next day.”

Though a good night’s sleep was at a premium during those years, said Martha, “It was an extremely busy and exciting time in my life.”

Her husband Howard would eventually open his own practice on the eighth floor of the Jackson Building, where their children enjoyed going to watch the local holiday parade. He and his business partner Gene Ellison also purchased the Ritz building on South Market Street (The Block), where they operated the Ritz Restaurant and Club.

Despite their professional and business ventures, the McGlohons were family-oriented; they focused their energy on raising their two children, attending track and field events, cheerleading, basketball tournaments, vacationing, and attending family reunions.

Key cases during Martha McGlohon’s Career

Martha was involved in a number of civil service cases that ended up being instrumental in redefining City personnel laws.

“Almost every grievance heard by the Civil Service Board was appealed to Superior Court,” she told The Urban News. “Many were subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeals and some went to the NC Supreme Court.”

But the case she is most proud of had to do with ensuring that senior citizens did not have to walk up a hill to get to the Social Security office. When the office was relocated to a privately owned office park off I-240, City transit buses were not allowed to access the office park. Martha took this case to heart and pursued it vigorously.

“I pulled out the federal regulations, talked with then U.S. State Senator Elizabeth Dole’s office, federal officials out of Atlanta, met with and held several meetings with federal, state and local officials, and pursued the owner of the office park and wrote numerous letters and correspondences,” said Martha.

“It took more than six months to gain access but, we did it! That was the biggest and most memorable case during my entire 27 years with the City of Asheville,” Martha recalls. “I was concerned about elderly folks walking up that hill. And they needed access.”

She was also involved in a lengthy process to amend the City’s housing code that included a systematic home inspection program for all rental properties to ensure safe and decent rental housing. “We were successful in getting a number of substandard dwellings brought up to code, a number of dwelling units demolished and overall, the program started to make a difference in the lives of those who were least able to speak for themselves,” she said.

A defining moment — and what’s next

In 2010, Howard McGlohon passed away unexpectedly, an event that left her crushed and devastated. They had been married for 22 years.

“He was just an exceptional man,” said Martha.

Their son was a high school senior, their daughter in her first year of college.

“I was on the verge of complete collapse but I had to continue to raise our children,” she said. “I didn’t have a chance to breathe and properly mourn his passing.”

So she soldiered on, attending both her children’s college graduations and further assisting with their post-college plans before she allowed herself to consider retirement.

“And now,” she says, “it’s time for me to do something for Martha.”

So she’s going to take that sabbatical, including taking time to tune into her spiritual life; in that process, her home church, Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church on Walton Street, will be key.

Looking back on her life and career here in the City of Asheville, Martha said she believes that everything happens in a person’s life for a purpose, and that she is where she is today because past events have made her stronger for the task ahead. She was once asked if, looking back on her life, there is anything she would have done differently. Upon reflection, she said she would have done only one thing differently – she would have connected to her spiritual side earlier.

“Sometimes God allows you to make mistakes to prepare you for the next book. If I knew back then what I know today about the power of God through his son Jesus Christ, my life would have had more fulfillment, happiness, and joy,” she said.

Now she’s going to follow that spiritual pull. She plans to go to Greece or Ireland, spend two months where there is no phone, no traffic …“just me and God,” she said.