Lively, loving tribute paid to the Beatles
Happy singles? Asheville No. 10
— See REVIEW, Pg. B1
‘In the Mood’ fires up big-band era
— See STORY, Pg. A4
See REVIEW, Pg. B1
LLE I V HE AS ASHEVILLEʼS GREATEST NEWSPAPER
March 2017
Vol. 13, No. 04
An Independent Newspaper Serving Greater Asheville
District elections? System rigged, proponents claim By JOHN NORTH
john@AshevilleDailyPlanet.com
Accusations of a “rigged” system were voiced during “a panel investigation” into proposed district elections for Asheville City Council that drew about 50 people to an early-morning Feb. 10 issues meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners at UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center. The panel discussion was intended by CIBO to address questions, such as “Do districts work?” “Are they fair?” “What are the pros and cons?” “How would districts be set-up?” Panelists included Joe Dunn, spokesman for the Individual District Election Citizen Group; Cecil Bothwell, an Asheville councilman; Joe Belcher, District 3 representative on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners; Dusty Pless, former district representative on the Buncombe County School Board; and John Miall, former candidate for City Council. Dunn’s citizens’ group, which he says is nonpartisan, has put together a petition asking the state General Assembly to mandate district elections for the six council seats in Asheville, while leaving the mayor’s post elected at-large. He has said council is totally dominated by a “tsunami of liberal progressives” who have dominated city affairs for more than a decade — and that council needs at least one moderate voice. Dunn has contended that council members wants to hold onto power, so they never would vote to implement district elections on their own. Thus, he has said, the citizenry
Stare trek proves vexing
FREE
Dancing with the Asheville Stars
must look to the state, where he said at a Jan. 10 CIBO meeting, “The Republican legislature will get it done.” In opening comments, Dunn said, “In 1776, the colonies had a problem with representative government… I just keep seeing the argument that Asheville is too small” for district elections, leaving many citizens without representation on council. “Really, too small for representative government?... In 2001, I was the last elected official from South Asheville (the city’s fastest-growing area) — and I was the top vote-getter... As I said, our city is not too small. Our present council will never support it. Just look at their history. I’m tired about hearing about diversity. It’s not there.” Bothwell then said, “We, as a City Council, have decided to ask the citizens of the city of Asheville to make the decision on whether to split the city into political districts. Personally, I think it would be a mistake to split the council into districts... I don’t see that we’re treating parts of the city differently.... “I have a great deal of concern about the effects of districts over time — and that’s because districts tend to lead to gerrymandering… I think the at-large system is working pretty well for the city — and there’s a South Asheville candidate already for the next election.” Miall said, “The truth is the system is rigged. I’d be glad to talk about my experiences with the local Democratic Party. It has all to do with a cabal that has a total lock on local government — and a complete lock on City Council. See DISTRICT ELECTIONS, Page A14
Q: The 40-year-old guy I’m dating swivels his head to check out ladies everywhere. He even comments on those he finds attractive. I’ve mentioned that it bugs me. He contends that it’s my insecurities that are really the issue here. I can see how lower self-esteem might lend itself to an offended reaction, as opposed to just a shrug or an eye roll, but is this really on me? — Blamed A: Yes, of course your insecurities are the
www.ashevilledailyplanet.com
The Advice Goddess Amy Alkon
real issue here. Because what woman wouldn’t feel great when her boyfriend’s all “Whoa, boobs are out tonight!”? That said, it is normal that he’s driven to look. Men evolved to have their eyeballs all up in every hot woman’s business because the features considered beautiful in a woman correlate with health and fertility. See ADVICE GODDESS, Page A2
Photos by Celia Tabitha Photography
A show, “Dancing With the Asheville Stars,” drew a large turnout on Jan. 28 at downtown Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theatre. Dancing (above) are John Hall and Tatiana Zazakova. The show was organized and led by Zeki Maviyildiz (left), dancing with Ksenia Ivanchankova. Maviyildiz teaches at the Asheville Ballroom. Below in a routine (with arms outstretched) is another Asheville Ballroom dance instructor, Judyanne Campbell.
Developer to fight city in court over hotel denial; city adds future hurdles From Staff Reports Asheville City Council likely will be challenged in court. a Raleigh developer said, after its recent 7-0 decision to turn down his company’s request for a permit to construct an eight-story, $24 million hotel downtown. Shaunak Patel, president of Park Hospitality Group, was quoted in the Asheville CitizenTimes in late January as saying that he has “every intent to push this project forward.” In the aftermath, council members voted 7-0 on Feb. 14 to raise the level of scrutiny for practi-
cally any new hotel in the city via a requirement that any proposed hotel with more than 20 rooms must come before them for approval. The Feb. 14 action followed critical pushback from a number of citizens who have complained that the hotels — despite generating millions in dollars — are changing the city for the worse and are putting unfair burdens on local taxpayers. Patel said he is disappointed with council’s decision on Jan. 24 to deny the permit to build the 185-room Embass y Suites at 192 Haywood Road in northwestern downtown. See HOTEL DENIAL, Page A7