OUR 27TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 27 NO. 11 OCT. 14-20, 2020
MOUNTAINX.COM
OCT. 14-20, 2020
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C O NT E NT S
FEATURES
NEWS
NEWS
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VOTER GUIDE Your guide to candidates running in local races to represent Buncombe County
6 IN THE ZONE City Council candidates talk zoning, land use
PAGE 21 OPENING SOON It’s the moment many movie fans have been waiting for — Phase 3, when North Carolina theaters were allowed to reopen (with COVID-19 precautions in place). How is it playing out in Asheville-area theaters? It’s a cinematic dilemma. On the cover: Grail Moviehouse owners Davida Horwitz and Steve White COVER PHOTO Cindy Kunst
TRS Inventory on Shakedown Street
FEATURE Restored Dining Table with Yellow Upholstered Chairs
12 ‘AN EPOCH’ Blue Ridge Hospital provides medical treatment to the city’s Black residents, 1922
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16 OUTDOORS INCLUSION Black Folks Camp Too partners with national outdoors brands, plus more environmental news
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19 ‘RECIPE FOR CHANGE’ Three-part cooking series combines family recipes, voting memories and 2020 election advice
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22 FRESH FACES New-look Virginia and the Slims release latest album
26 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 27 CLASSIFIEDS 27 NY TIMES CROSSWORD
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OPINION
Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com. points about name-calling. Yet we are talking about a cartoon, and cartoons tend to oversimplify the issues to make a point. In general, we hope that by focusing on local topics and people, we can encourage discussion and bring nuance and multiple points of view into the ongoing community conversation.
Wells supports broadband access for all
CARTO ON BY R A ND Y MOL T O N
Name-calling stops the conversation After seeing the Mountain Xpress cartoon poking fun at the Asheville police chief [“The Victim Here,” Randy Molton, Sept. 23], I thought of the three policemen I have known. All served honorably and worked as hard to counter poor policing as they did, for example, domestic violence. Community conversations around professional policing and domestic violence must continue in order for anything to improve. Name-calling stops the conversation. Calling someone a snowflake, as the cartoon did, or a wop, or a bitch, or a whore, or a bastard, or anything,
Last call for election letters For your best shot at having your locally focused letter to the editor publish in Xpress before Election Day, please send your missive by the end of the day Tuesday, Oct. 20, to letters@mountainx.com. Please include your name, address and phone number for verification purposes. Additional information on submitting letters can by found at mountainx.com/ submit-letters/. X
might feel fun and powerful for a moment. It can work temporarily to let off some steam, I’ve been there, but it eventually and inevitably makes us blind to the power of love, and we ourselves lose. I don’t think name-calling should be part of a community newspaper. Change will come, and we can all contribute to positive change by pausing to make sure we mix a little compassion in with our anger or arrogance. It’s the only path to happiness, really. And, more than ever these days, I am grateful for good journalism and specifically for the longtime contribution of the Xpress toward making Asheville a more perfect community. — Anne Bevilacqua Clyde Editor’s response: Thank you for your feedback. You make good
I am writing to support Terri Wells for Buncombe County commissioner because Terri is a citizen with deep roots in the community. She understands and is running on the policy that supports that our community requires broadband access for all citizens. With our current situation with students and employees having to learn and work remotely, broadband is essential for our K-12 and college and university students who are learning via the internet. Many employees are now working remotely and will continue to work remotely. And to attract new businesses and industries, having broadband access for the entire county is a minimum. Too many citizens of Buncombe live in internet deserts. More forward-thinking communities treat broadband access like they do other utilities, and we need to do the same. To strengthen our community, support our citizens and increase employment opportunities, vote for Terri Wells. — Kenet Adamson Woodfin
Wondering about Cawthorn Now that we know that Madison Cawthorn was rejected by the
Naval Academy in spite of his nomination to that institution by former Congressman Mark Meadows and before his tragic accident occurred, one must wonder what he thinks now about his erstwhile commander in chief calling [the war dead losers and suckers] …. Republicans are so weird. Why would young Mr. Cawthorn proudly display photos of himself at Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest? … My father, an American, lied about his age to join the Navy in World War II. He was antifa. Like, you know, he thought that Hitler, fascism, concentration camps and mass genocide were objectionable. That fighting them was worth telling a lie in order to so. What is wrong with Madison Cawthorn that he would display himself in the way that he has? … — Michele Mathison Asheville Editor’s note: Xpress contacted Cawthorn’s campaign for a response to the letter writer’s points but received none. In response to a previous Xpress letter, Cawthorn spokesman John Hart wrote: “The notion that he would celebrate a regime that would have had him — a man in a wheelchair — exterminated is absurd.” X
Correction Our Oct. 7 Asheville Archives column, “Families Will Suffer,” contained an incorrect adjustment for inflation. A $5 cord of wood in 1930 would cost around $77.82 today, according to the online US Inflation Calculator. X
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OPINION
Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.
Time to VoteAVL
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2 0 is 02 2 20 VoteAVL an Ashevillefocused cam-
New coalition strives to make voting information more relevant and accessible
BY AISHA ADAMS AND KATE PETT
As Leila Barazandeh, community organizer for the Campaign for Southern Equality, notes, “Voting in an election year is often the first step in lifelong civic engagement.” Yet, historically disenfranchised groups like young people and Black and brown voters are still underrepresented in the voting process and face ongoing challenges to their participation. The city of Asheville is more diverse than our region as a whole, and we have an opportunity to ensure that more voices are heard and a greater diversity of perspectives is reflected in our local, state and national politics. A new coalition of nonprofits, businesses and community leaders is working together with one goal in mind: to increase the number of people in Asheville who vote.
paign that seeks to inspire and inform groups that have faced barriers to voting. We recognize that turning out new voters is a heavy lift that many locals have worked tirelessly to address. As a coalition of partners focused on addressing the inequities in access to power and participation, we are developing new tools and approaches to reaching potential voters. The VoteAVL campaign, “Your Power, Your Ballot,” includes: • A video series with motivational messages and critical how-tos about registering, restoring voting rights after incarceration and participating in early voting that centers the voices of Black and brown community leaders, formerly incarcerated individuals and youths. Videos can be viewed at VoteAVL.org, VoteAVL’s Facebook page and through
Why I support Xpress: “Honest local journalism is fundamental to democracy.” – Jim Samsel Join Jim and become a member at SupportMountainX.com
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the social media channels of numerous partners. • The Voting Power Pledge for local businesses and nonprofits makes voting information accessible in the workplace and ensures that employees have time off to vote. So far, more than 35 local businesses have taken the pledge. (See the complete list at VoteAVL.org.) • The VoteAVL.org website shares clear, concise information that is easily viewable on phones for portable information you can take with you to the polls.
Partners in the VoteAVL campaign include Aisha Adams Media, the Asheville View, Asheville City Schools Foundation, Campaign for Southern Equality, Children First/Communities in Schools Buncombe, Democracy NC, Grind AVL, My Daddy Taught Me That, New Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, Racial Justice Coalition, Patton Avenue Pet Co., Thrive Asheville, the YWCA and community leaders Jasmine Washington and Libby Kyles. The VoteAVL campaign is coordinated by Thrive Asheville (thriveavl. org), a group that works across sectors to increase our city’s ability to solve problems through collaboration. Thrive Asheville is an initiative of UNC Asheville and is led by a diverse group of leaders. Its mission is to bring together people from across lines of difference to learn about our city’s toughest challenges and build collaborative, equitable and sustainable solutions. VoteAVL will host an Early Voting Kickoff at Rabbit Rabbit (75 Coxe Ave.) on Thursday, Oct. 15, 6-8 p.m. The public is invited, and free snacks and informational tools will be available. The campaign’s videos will be shown on a 20-foot LED screen (think Jumbotron) featuring local influencers. J Hackett, Grind AVL co-owner and Thrive Asheville Steering Group member, says this in a video on restoring voting rights: “Don’t let your history stop you from making a future.” Let’s rewrite the future of our community with a historic voter turnout. Aisha Adams is an influencer with a heart for community economic development who champions social change advocates, thought leaders and courageous disruptors. After many years in Asheville’s nonprofit sector, Kate Pett is currently building cross-sector collaborations as director of Thrive Asheville to innovate, fill gaps and support a more sustainable and equitable Asheville. X
C AR T O O N B Y B R E N T B R O W N
MOUNTAINX.COM
OCT. 14-20, 2020
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NEWS
In the zone
City Council candidates talk zoning, land use
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BY MOLLY HORAK mhorak@mountainx.com Most Asheville residents don’t care about zoning changes. That is, until it’s happening in their own backyards. Just ask Rick Freeman, president of the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods, who encouraged his neighbors to speak out when Asheville City Council was considering a 2018 proposal to redevelop the former Sears property at the Asheville Mall into apartments, commercial buildings and a movie theater. Or ask Moira Goree, a lifelong Asheville resident who participated in the 2018 Council meetings that led to new rules for short-term vacation rentals after she repeatedly found herself displaced by new Airbnbs. Or ask the environmental activists who, after years of lobbying Council for stricter requirements for preserving the city’s tree canopy, in September saw rule changes to require tree protection in residential and commercial areas. Zoning may not deliver the same zing as the hot-button issues that dominate 2020’s competitive election cycle, but it’s among the most crucial discussions Asheville leaders and residents face as the city grows. Soon, three of the five candidates running for Asheville City Council will cast votes on development and land use — including downtown hotels, environmental protections and growth along major roadways — and each candidate brings different priorities. “Asheville is going to grow,” says candidate Sage Turner. “We owe it to ourselves and future generations to plan now for what could be a doubling in size in future decades.”
MAPPING IT OUT
Asheville’s main tool for regulating land use is its Unified Development Ordinance. The document essentially describes what people can and can’t do with a piece of property, explains Todd Okolichany, Asheville’s planning and urban design director. City limits include 45 zoning districts, regulating everything from fencing to design standards for the tallest buildings in the city, he continues. “[Zoning] is one of our best tools to 6
OCT. 14-20, 2020
SPRAWLED OUT: Asheville’s land use is controlled by its Unified Development Ordinance, a document that dictates what can and can’t be built. But the UDO hasn’t been updated since 1997, and piecemeal changes make zoning codes hard to understand. Photo courtesy of the city of Asheville manage growth and development in the city.” Recent modifications include the RAD Form Based Code in 2017, a new city comprehensive plan and changes to accommodate small-scale infill housing. But the UDO hasn’t been comprehensively updated since its initial implementation in 1997, Okolichany says, and its core guidelines remain largely the same as they were two decades ago. Over time, the combination of incremental changes paired with static guidelines has yielded zoning codes that can be difficult for developers and community members to interpret and understand. Updating the UDO would cost $300,000 to $500,000, Okolichany says. His department included a redesign in its proposed 2020-21 budget, but the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the discussion. “It’s been over 20 years since we’ve taken a real holistic look at all of our zoning districts in the city,” Okolichany says. “Now that we have a new comprehensive plan, it might be the right time to take a look at our UDO comprehensively as well.”
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FIRST THINGS FIRST
Candidates Rich Lee, Kim Roney and Turner all agree the UDO is in need of a complete overhaul. But if a piecemeal approach is what it takes to make immediate changes, they have different ideas about what should get done first. Roney’s main priority is examining UDO changes through the “rigorous application of an equity lens” to address Asheville’s climate emergency. Council members unanimously passed a resolution in February committing to “an equitable and just citywide mobilization effort to reverse global warming” and setting 2030 as a target for eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions within city limits. She stresses that the process must be collaborative at the “participatory, grassroots level and work upwards through the city, county and region.” Both Lee and Turner encourage the construction of urban centers — multistory, mixed-use developments located along transit routes (think Biltmore Park Town Square or Woodfin’s Reynolds Village). The city
has already identified four potential sites for this type of development: Innsbruck Mall on Tunnel Road, the former Kmart site on Patton Avenue, the intersection of Merrimon Avenue and Beaverdam Road in North Asheville and Riverbend Marketplace on Swannanoa River Road. Asheville could also “upzone to multifamily” areas surrounding transit corridors to encourage growth nearby. Concentrating development in certain areas would protect more residential neighborhoods and open and green space, adds Turner, though she cautions against the potential for gentrification in those areas. If there’s going to be a major overhaul of the UDO, the first step should be vigorous community input, says Council member Keith Young, the only incumbent in the race. “The first place we can start is with these organized communities, to have them revamp their ‘plans on a page’ and how they want their community to grow,” he said, adding that neighborhoods “want a seat at the table.” The plan on a page initiative began as a way for neighborhoods to organize and share ideas as Council developed the Living Asheville comprehensive plan. Currently, 35 neighborhood groups have documents on file with the city. Sandra Kilgore, who placed sixth in the March primary, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Coming up on Council’s docket is the February expiration of Asheville’s moratorium on the development of new hotels. Newly elected leaders will join sitting Council members in adopting new regulations for future lodging proposals. Young will participate in a Tuesday, Oct. 13, Council work session to help develop those regulations. Members will address potential changes to where hotels can be zoned and new criteria hotel developers could meet to avoid the need for conditional zoning approval from Council. If reelected, Young says he will work to tweak these criteria based on input from community members and departing Council members Julie Mayfield and Brian Haynes. Lee hopes to see “clearly spelled out” zoning rules delineating where hotels are allowed. And Turner notes that she has been pushing back against a proposed hotel overlay map, which had first identified hotel development zones in neighborhoods; the map has
WAY OF THE FUTURE? Candidates Rich Lee, Kim Roney, Keith Young and Sage Turner all support urban centers — mixed-use, multistory developments along transit routes, like the rendering above — as a way to encourage nearby growth. Photos courtesy of the candidates since been adjusted to reduce the size of the proposed zones. But Roney says hotel zoning changes alone won’t advance community goals. Absent an overhaul of the proportion of the county occupancy tax that goes to local projects and changes to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, she says, the status quo will remain relatively unchanged, no matter what concessions Council can wring from developers. Continuing to promote the county as a tourism destination to the exclusion of other economic development risks natural resource extraction, more low-wage jobs and less land available for housing development and diverse industry, she adds.
MIXING IT UP
Lee, Roney, Young and Turner all say mixed-use development offers a way to grow while minimizing sprawl and new infrastructure costs. All four support the aforementioned Urban Center rezoning initiative, as well as increasing new housing and commercial development along major transit routes. Turner suggests incentivizing mixed-use development in the UDO. Requiring developers to include commercial space at the street level in new facilities such as hotels would reclaim some of the land occupied by these projects for community use, she says. As currently written, the UDO establishes several mixed-use zoning districts, including the central business, River Arts and Haywood Road
form-based districts, but mixing uses in individual buildings is less common, Okolichany says. Roney hopes to leverage mixed-use approaches to rebuild neighborhoods. “Many of the historic Black neighborhoods that were devastated by redlining and urban renewal were centered around what we now call mixed-use development,” she said. “If Asheville hadn’t stolen them, they would still be vibrant cornerstones of our city. The scale and ownership of the development is key, because that often determines who benefits.” Like others, Lee worries that downtown development could spread into neighborhoods with many long-term residents, such as the South Slope and historically Black Southside neighborhood. Despite city policies that seek to incentivize affordable housing, he says, Asheville’s hot real estate market has produced too few affordable units to meet residents’ needs. Unless the city introduces inclusionary zoning, requiring developers to dedicate some units for lower-income residents — a practice currently not allowed by state law — Lee says that’s not likely to change.
preserving open space is important to them as well. “We’re not like a lot of major cities, where there’s just a concrete jungle everywhere,” Young explains. “I think open space requirements give you a little breathing room. It puts a little bit of normalcy and being able to connect with what we really have going for ourselves in this area, which is the mountains and the trees and everything that we are with nature.” Roney would like to see some of the creativity and resourcefulness on display during the COVID-19 pandemic applied to protecting the community’s common spaces. Some street areas covered in asphalt could be better used for parking, sidewalks and bike lanes, she says. She praises “tactical urbanism,” a planning approach that uses short-term, low-cost, citizen-led initiatives, as a way to create spaces that meet community needs. Turner, who chairs the Asheville Downtown Commission and serves on its public space committee, says current rules don’t provide much guidance for prioritizing elements such as wide sidewalks, benches, street trees and loading zones. She favors updating city ordinances to provide clear
direction to developers and property owners. “COVID inspired us to reinvent how we use public space and to test outdoor dining, parklets and alternative streetscape and planters,” Turner says. “I like the changes we’ve made and would like to see them factored into our public space planning.” The zoning code doesn’t have the same “sex appeal” as other topics, says Lee, noting that it’s not been widely discussed in any of his three runs for Council. Nevertheless, he stresses, it’s a critical resource for city leaders as they seek to maximize Asheville’s remaining space. “A lot of the comments I get from voters is that the feeling of living in Asheville is changing, and for many people, it’s changing for the worse,” Lee says. “People need to understand that is driven by the way the city is zoned, the rulebook for what can be built and done. And people need to understand that rulebook, with the expectation of some piecemeal changes over the years, is really a product of a time that’s passed. We need a rulebook designed for the current city we live in.” X
WIDE OPEN SPACES
But Asheville can’t just be development after development, Turner emphasizes. With 54 public parks and six miles of city-maintained greenways, Asheville has a higher park-per-capita ratio than many urban areas. Turner would like to keep it that way; Young, Lee and Roney say that MOUNTAINX.COM
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NEWS
Community crusader or provocateur? Chad Nesbitt’s controversial career in local politics
BY THOMAS CALDER
launched in 1973. A Jan. 30, 1994, article in the Asheville Citizen-Times described Nesbitt as Rhew’s “right-hand man.” By 2016, while pursuing an unsuccessful campaign for chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, Nesbitt listed himself as the company’s vice president and manager. According to his Facebook page, Nesbitt is currently self-employed.
tcalder@mountainx.com Folks whose politics lean right might see local Republican activist and community journalist Chad Nesbitt as a staunch defender of conservative values; those steering more toward the left may have a less favorable view of the man. But if you’re among the thousands of people who’ve arrived in Asheville within the last five years, or you simply haven’t paid much attention to local politics, Nesbitt might be a name you’ve heard only in passing. The latest Nesbitt headlines concern a head injury he sustained on Sept. 23 while livestreaming a demonstration in downtown Asheville. The protesters were demanding justice in the case of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman shot dead by police officers inside her Louisville, Ky., apartment. During the march, a handful of participants attempted to block Nesbitt’s camera with umbrellas and signs. After a brief verbal exchange, Nesbitt was knocked over, hitting his head against a parking meter. Footage taken by someone else at the event shows Nesbitt’s bodyguard appearing to be shoved by an unseen person, precipitating the conservative activist’s fall and injury. Asked for additional information, Asheville Police Department spokeswoman Christina Hallingse said only that the incident remains under investigation. On Oct. 5, Nesbitt posted on Facebook that he’d received 30 stitches and had been released after spending a week at Mission Hospital. Xpress reached out to Nesbitt for comment but did not hear back from him. His supporters have left hundreds of comments on Skyline News — Nesbitt’s Facebook-based media outlet — sending thoughts and prayers. Friends have also created a GoFundMe campaign to cover his medical expenses. Meanwhile, Nesbitt’s critics convene on Reddit threads and other news and social media outlets voicing their disdain for the man and his activities. To bring readers up to speed on Nesbitt’s often controversial role in local politics, Xpress combed through past reporting, press releases and community responses concerning his initiatives and antics over the last 20 years. Below are some of his professional and political highs and lows.
AIN’T THAT AMERICA: Since the early 2000s, Chad Nesbitt has made a name for himself as an outspoken advocate of conservative Christian values. Often at the center of controversy, the free-swinging local activist and community journalist was recently injured while reporting on a protest in downtown Asheville. Photo by Jonathan Welch
FAMILY AND POLITICS
Known today as an outspoken conservative Christian, Nesbitt began his political career as a Democrat, serving on the 199192 board of directors for the Buncombe County chapter of Young Democrats. “My entire family were Democrats,” Nesbitt told Xpress in 2007 (see “Fighting Mad,” Dec. 5, 2007, Xpress). That included his stepfather, longtime state legislator Martin Nesbitt, who died in 2014. Chad, however, said his early exposure to the party’s inner circle, along with the 1994 birth of his daughter, Savannah, ultimately shaped his conservative beliefs. “When she was born, I realized that abortion was wrong and that entire philosophy that the Democrat Party’s been feeding me for all these years was a lie,” he explained in the same article. Raised in West Asheville in the 1970s and ’80s, Nesbitt graduated from Erwin High School in 1988 before attending the Savannah College of Art and Design. Over
the ensuing years, he wore several hats including efforts in radio, television and, most recently, community journalism through Skyline News. Alongside those endeavors, Nesbitt worked at WNC Parking Lot Services, a business his grandfather Jim Rhew
CONSERVATIVE CRUSADER
Although he’s been active in the community throughout much of his adult life, Nesbitt began appearing more frequently in local news coverage around 2003. On March 1 of that year, he helped organize the Support Our Soldiers rally, which attracted around 1,500 participants according to a Citizen-Times report. In a March 17, 2003, guest commentary, however, Nesbitt disputed the official police estimate, claiming that 4,900 people had attended the event. Numbers aside, the budding activist applauded the rally and assured readers that his organization stood ready to assist those in need. “If you think your loved one is missing or hurt in battle, we will help you find out his or her status,” he wrote. “If you need any handyman work done around the house while your loved one is serving overseas, just ask. If you need someone to sit with an elderly family member, just ask. If you are a soldier and need help for anything — medical, communication, etc. — just ask. If you need prayer or spiritual guidance, just ask.”
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N EWS Nesbitt subsequently chaired Citizens for Decency in Broadcasting, a grassroots group that opposed Buncombe County government’s interest in and support for public-access television. “Using our tax dollars and cable fees to promote someone else’s agenda on TV is wrong,” he wrote in a March 2, 2004, guest commentary in the Citizen-Times. “Don’t let our leaders subject our children to racism and pornography.” Despite the group’s efforts, URTV hit the airwaves in 2006. Five years later, funding shortages ended Channel 20’s run. A year after URTV’s debut, Nesbitt launched an unsuccessful bid to chair the Buncombe County Republican Party. A few months after his defeat, he formed the Carolina Stompers, a for-profit organization that aggressively promoted conservative causes. Early on, the group opposed a proposed amendment to the state personnel act that would add sexual orientation to the rights protected by law; the amendment was co-sponsored by Nesbitt’s stepfather. The bill never made it out of committee. In his Dec. 5, 2007, interview with Xpress, Nesbitt stated that the Stompers’ opposition to the bill was part of a larger effort to combat the “homosexual agenda.”
ONE-MAN PARADE: In 2010, Nesbitt drove around downtown Asheville in his company’s street-sweeping truck with signs encouraging voters to “Sweep out the Democrats.” Photo by Michael Muller FLAMBOYANCE AND CONTROVERSY In 2010, Nesbitt was elected chairman of the Buncombe County Republican Party. His tenure was controversial and brief, however. That year, he worked actively
City of Asheville wants to hear from you! Opportunity to Comment on a Proposed De Minimis (minimal impact) Section 4(f) Finding for the Roger Farmer Memorial Park The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), in conjunction with the City of Asheville’s Capital Projects Department, proposes to construct a sidewalk along Johnston Blvd. between Patton Ave. and Iona Circle, through State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Project No. EB-5944. Approximately 0.03 acres of permanent easement would be required from the 9.24-acre Roger Farmer Memorial Park to construct the sidewalk. As a facility owned by the City of Asheville, Roger Farmer Memorial Park is afforded special protections under Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act (recodified in 49 U.S.C. 303 and 23 U.S.C 138). City of Asheville representatives have signed a letter of concurrence agreeing that acquisition of permanent easement from Roger Farmer Memorial Park for construction of a sidewalk along Johnston Boulevard would not adversely affect the activities, features, and attributes that qualify Roger Framer Memorial Park for protection under Section 4(f).
To learn more and to provide comments please visit: https://publicinput.com/ JohnstonBlvdImprovements
Comments are due Sat., Nov. 14, 2020. 10
OCT. 14-20, 2020
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against his stepfather’s reelection campaign for state senator. “Frankly, if he loses the election it will be a good thing, because the North Carolina Democratic Party is so corrupt, we’ll probably keep him out of jail,” Nesbitt told Xpress in an April interview. “So we might do him a favor when he loses the election.” (For more, see “Askville,” April 7, 2010, Xpress) In the same interview, Nesbitt predicted that local Republican candidates would win every race. Any losses, he declared, “I will consider my fault.” That September, the Republican chairman drew harsh criticism from the local chapters of both parties for a political fundraiser he organized on the ninth anniversary of 9/11. Supporters were asked to contribute $100 for every person who rappelled down a 90-foot tower at the Bee Tree Fire Station in Swannanoa. But while Nesbitt claimed that the money raised would go to victims of the 2001 terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, a promotional video for the event indicated that most of the money would be spent on political advertising for Republican candidates in the upcoming election (see “Rappelling 9/11 Fundraiser Creates Fallout for GOP,” Sept. 13, 2010, Xpress). The following month, Nesbitt appeared in a campaign ad driving a street sweeper through downtown Asheville; a sign on the front of the vehicle urged viewers to “Sweep out the Democrats.” And though Republicans celebrated that November after gaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the local results favored Democrats. Rep. Susan Fisher defeated challenger John Carroll in N.C. House District 114; Rep. Patsy Keever beat Mark Crawford for state House District 115; and Rep. Heath
Shuler breezed past Jeff Miller in the 11th Congressional District race. Meanwhile, Nesbitt’s stepfather defeated RL Clark in the 49th District state Senate race. In a Nov. 7, 2010, Citizen-Times interview, Nesbitt stated: “Sure, we missed some opportunities, but let me tell you — and this is on the record — there are some dumb people in Buncombe, some of the dumbest people on the planet.” Soon thereafter, Nesbitt announced that he would not seek reelection in the spring. And in a Jan. 2, 2011, opinion piece in the Citizen-Times, Chris Dixon, a Democratic candidate for the state Senate in 2010, wrote: “GOP Chair Chad Nesbitt will give up his post in a few weeks. However, this crafty self-promoter will cause more grief for the GOP establishment from the outside than he ever could as an insider. (Remember: Carolina Stompers were tea partying before it was cool.)”
CONFLICTING VIEWS
Since leaving his position with the local Republican Party, Nesbitt has remained an active and controversial figure in Buncombe County’s political and social affairs. If you’re a conservative, you may have applauded his August 2011 protest against Asheville’s Go Topless rally; if you’re a liberal, you might have covered your ears that November when he blasted an air horn from his street sweeper while driving in circles around the downtown Occupy Asheville movement. But if you’re new to the area, you might know Nesbitt only as the guy who, this June, summoned counterprotesters to edit the “Defund the Police” mural on Spruce Street to read “Fund the Police.” Or maybe you’ve merely been following the comment threads on his hospitalization. Like everything else about Nesbitt’s public life, the events leading up to his injury continue to elicit a range of responses. To many of his online critics, he is an unsympathetic firebrand. To his Skyline News followers, he’s a beloved community member and family man. And, in a phenomenon that seems increasingly rare these days, some in Buncombe County recognize him as both. “I am not a fan of his media style or his politics. However, CN is an injured human being with a family who loves him, and I’m praying for him, his wife, his daughter and family,” wrote Amanda S. Turbyfill, one of the many commenters responding to the Skyline News Facebook post announcing the GoFundMe campaign to defray Nesbitt’s medical expenses. “I’ve watched several livestream videos of the accident in which he was injured, and head injuries can go from being no big deal to being serious very quickly. Praying for his full and speedy recovery.” X
BUNCOMBE BEAT
Enka barn raises questions about Buncombe special interest funding The only hammer in the room was Chair Brownie Newman’s gavel, but the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners nevertheless helped with a barn raising on Oct. 6. The board voted unanimously to award $15,000 toward the construction of a roughly $75,000 agricultural education facility at Enka High School that will house cows, chickens and other livestock. Prior to that vote, however, some board members expressed concern with how the funding request had been presented. The item had been added to the meeting’s agenda by Republican Commissioners Joe Belcher, Anthony Penland and Robert Pressley. As Newman, a Democrat, pointed out, recommendations to support such projects are usually made by Buncombe’s School Capital Fund Commission or Board of Education and funded as part of the county’s regular budget cycle. And Democratic Commissioner Amanda Edwards suggested that supporting one special project would open the board up to a flood of similar asks that would overwhelm county resources. Edwards added that she’s repeatedly advised her husband, a high school principal, to take his own funding requests through established budget channels. “I’m just really afraid if we don’t dig in and start looking at this that we’re really setting ourselves up for multiple requests that are really difficult to say no to,” she explained. Belcher agreed that the board needed a better process but argued that unexpected opportunities such as the barn, which would receive $25,000 in additional grant funding if construction started by the end of 2020, would always require some flexibility. “This is the proper way, and it is extremely transparent. We’re in front of everybody,” he said. Meanwhile, Pressley referenced a $20,000 allocation for a horse barn at Owen High School in 2014 that was allegedly made without board approval by former Democratic Commissioner Ellen Frost and former County Manager Wanda Greene. Frost pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal program fraud in a different equestrian matter on Aug. 10, while Greene is currently serving a
RAISE THE ROOF: An agricultural education facility partially funded by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 6 would replace an older storage structure currently used as a barn by students at Enka High School. Photo courtesy of Buncombe County Schools seven-year federal prison sentence for unrelated corruption charges. “If Owen would’ve went through the channels, this could’ve been a lot easier,” Pressley said, staring at Newman. “Maybe we could’ve done something four years ago or put something in place for this.” Pressley is running to replace Newman as the commission’s chair in the November election. Both Pressley and Belcher, who is defending his seat against Democratic challenger Parker Sloan, represent the county’s District 3, which includes Enka and much of Buncombe’s rural southwest. County Manager Avril Pinder said she and her staff would begin researching potential policies to create a more structured process for funding special budget requests immediately following the vote. She suggested that language might be available for the board’s review at its next meeting of Tuesday, Oct. 20.
— Daniel Walton X MOUNTAINX.COM
OCT. 14-20, 2020
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ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com
‘An epoch’ Blue Ridge Hospital provides medical treatment to the city’s Black residents, 1922 “The formal opening ... of the Blue Ridge Hospital for colored people is an event in which both races in Asheville may well take pride,” The Asheville Citizen declared on Sept. 25, 1922, three days before the grand event. “[F]ounded through the joint efforts of whites and blacks, [the hospital] will be a lasting testimonial of the friendly relations of the races in Asheville and of the desire of their leaders to work together in those activities which mean the advancement of Negro welfare.” Before its launch, the city had no dedicated medical facility to treat its African American residents. A previous clinic — Torrence Hospital, which opened in 1910 — had closed by 1915, following the untimely death of its founder, Dr. William Green Torrence. (For more, see “Asheville Archives: The short life of Dr. William Green Torrence,” Feb. 20, 2018, Xpress) Along with local pride, Blue Ridge Hospital garnered national attention. On Oct. 7, 1922, The New York Age, a Black-run paper, featured an in-depth report by writer Alonzo A. Rives, who stated that Asheville’s 8,000 Black residents “are as progressive as any group of people found south of the Mason and Dixon line.” The hospital, Rives continued, stood as “one of the monuments of their progress.” According to Rive’s report, the facility could house up to 30 patients and included a sun parlor, a maternity ward and “ample ambulance service for the injured.” In addition to being the “only hospital exclusively for colored patients in western North Carolina,” Rives spotlighted the organization’s on-site training school for Black nurses. The article went on to list the facility’s all-Black staff: Dr. R.H. Bryant, president of the board of trustees; Dr. J.W. Walker, chief surgeon; Dr. L.O. Miller, dean of nurses staff; Dr. J.W. Holt, house physician; Dr. I. N. Giagego, anesthetist; and Miss A.M. Wood, superintendent. Three years later, on May 21, 1925, Lula R. Long, Flossie May Metz and Mary Kathleen became the first three students to graduate from the hospital’s nursing program. “More than an incident,” The Asheville Citizen declared that day, “it is an epoch.” The article continued its praise of the program, although some of its compliments were paternalistic and included generalizations and stereotypes about African Americans. “The initial coterie of young colored women, expert in caring for suffering humanity, will doubtless be followed each June by other graduations which 12
OCT. 14-20, 2020
SEPT. 2-10, 2020 For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, ext. 137. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, ext. 320.
In-Person Events = Shaded All other events are virtual
ART REVOLVE: Prints & Their Makers Phil Sanders in conversation with Kate Averett and Kevin Hogan. WE (10/14), 8pm, $5-$20, avl.mx/8ir
NO PREMIUMS: There are no known photos of the Blue Ridge Hospital. This sketch appeared in the Oct. 7, 1922, edition of The New York Age. The facility operated “on a semi-charitable basis,” The Asheville Citizen reported on Sept. 29, 1922. “That is, where a patient is unable to pay but in need of treatment, such treatment is given.” will ultimately make of this city a center of skilled practitioners ready to give to the negroes of North Carolina every benefit that knowledge can supply, advantageously presented with a sympathetic understanding that is an inborn characteristic.” The paper also used the event to commend the community’s white citizens, insisting the hospital’s success could not have happened without their input and aid. At the same time, The Asheville Citizen cautioned against complacency among citywide support, noting the hospital’s ongoing needs. At odds with Rives’ earlier report, the local paper stated that Blue Ridge Hospital lacked a maternity ward. Further, the facility did not provide housing to its nurses (common at the time) and its “quota of laboratory equipment is pitifully inadequate.” Despite some of its shortcomings, the article concluded with high praise. “Its operating room supplies are admirable; its facilities for sterilization are splendid,” the paper wrote. “Hard work characterizes the efforts of its personnel and enthusiasm marks the spirits.” Subsequent reports state the Blue Ridge Hospital closed either in 1929 or 1930 due to the Great Depression. In 1943, the Asheville Colored Hospital became the next major Black medical facility to open in the city during segregation. (For more, see “Asheville Archives: Asheville Colored Hospital opens, 1943,” Xpress, Sept. 18, 2018). Editor’s note: Peculiarities of spelling and punctuation are preserved from the original document. X
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Artful Trivia Hosted by Asheville Art Museum. TH (10/15), 7pm, $10, avl.mx/8ek Slow Art Friday: Beyond Audubon Discussion led by touring docents Hank Bovee and Sheila Langdon at Asheville Art Museum. FR (10/16), 12pm, Registration required, $10, avl.mx/8el Interdisciplinary Symposium: Diversity in Small/ Midsize Museums Featuring keynote speaker Darin Waters. SA (10/17), 10am, $10, avl.mx/8h8 Slow Art Friday: Before Social Distancing Discussion led by master docent Doris Potash at Asheville Art Museum. FR (10/23), 12pm, Registration required, $10, avl.mx/8h9
THEATER & FILM Bardo Arts Center at WCU: Picture a Scientist Documentary screening and Q&A with filmmakers. SU (10/18), 4pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8d8 Magnetic Theatre in the (Smoky) Park Outdoor variety show. TU (10/20), 7pm, $15, Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Dr Arsenic & Old Lace Radio drama performance. WE (10/21), 8pm, The Paper Mill Lounge, 553 W Main St, Sylva
LITERARY CRAFT Authors in Conversation Wiley and Mallory Cash in conversation with Denise Kiernan. WE (10/14), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h0 Rural Voices: Authors Challenge Assumptions about Small-town America Featuring Nora Shalaway Carpenter, David Bowles,
Yamile Saied Méndez and Tirzah Price. TH (10/15), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h2 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance: Reader Meet Writer Featuring Andrew Reiner, author of Better Boys, Better Men. TH (10/15), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h1 Malaprop's Book Launch Vicki Lane presents And the Crows Took Their Eyes. FR (10/16), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h3 Drive-Up Book Signing Featuring Charles Dodd, author of How Fire Runs: A Novel. SA (10/17), 3pm, Free, City Lights Bookstore, 3 E Jackson St, Sylva Ales & Tales Book Club The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. SU (10/18), 2pm, avl.mx/7nl Great Smokies Writing Program: Writers at Home Jen Fawkes presents Mannequin and Wife: Stories. SU (10/18), 3pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h4 Firestorm: Beyond Survival Book Club Five-week series discussing the collection Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement. MO (10/19), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8g2 Malaprop's Book Launch Matthew Duffus presents Dunbar's Folly & Other Stories. TU (10/20), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h5 UNCA Visiting Writer Series Featuring Xhenet Aliu, author of the novel Brass. TU (10/20), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/89c West Asheville Library: Exploring & Settling the American West Discussion on A.B. Guthrie's The Big Sky. TU (10/20), 7pm, Free, avl.mx/83p Stay Home & Write(rs) Group Community writing session with Firestorm. WE (10/21), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/83c Firestorm Visionary Readers Group
Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson. TH (10/22), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h7 Malaprop's Book Launch Ronen Givony presents Not for You: Pearl Jam and the Present Tense in conversation with Mark Capon of Harvest Records. FR (10/23), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8h6
MUSIC Perspectives: Steph Richards & Andrew Munsey Experimental trumpet and drum performance. WE (10/14), 1pm, Free, avl.mx/8f6 Mountain Hymns: Songs of Grace and Mercy Classical concert featuring soprano Simone Vigilante, cellist Franklin Keel and pianist David Troy Francis. SU (10/18), 4pm, Free, avl.mx/8ip Advance NC: Go Vote Concert Featuring Vivica C. Coxx, Javier Montano, Alexa Rose and more. SU (10/18), 6:30pm, avl.mx/8id Asheville Chamber Music Series: Frisson Classical ensemble. FR (10/23), 7:30pm, By donation, avl.mx/875
ANIMALS Wolf Howl Educational program on wolves and coyotes, plus a viewing of the wolf habitat. FR (10/16), 6pm, $30, WNC Nature Center, 75 Gashes Creek Rd
BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY Intro to QuickBooks Accounting webinar by Mountain BizWorks. WE (10/14), 10am, $15, avl.mx/8gl Tips to Market Your Food & Beverage Business A-B Tech Small Business Center start-up assistance webinar. WE (10/14), 10am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8iy Prepare Your Business for the Holidays w/ Google Marketing Tools Haywood Chamber webinar. WE (10/14), 12pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8g9 Deep Dive Lab: Legal Building Blocks for New & Small Businesses Led by Martha S. Bradley. TH (10/15), 10am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8gk UNCA Economics Webinar Series IV Featuring Dr. William Darity, co-author of From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the
Twenty-First Century. TH (10/15), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/86c Creative Hub Studios: Disruptors Coffee Break Presentation and networking. TU (10/20), 9am, Free, Creative Hub Studios, 124 College St African American Business Association Monthly meeting, business management focus. TU (10/20), 11am, Free, avl.mx/8j1 COVID-19 Small Business Support Series: Changing Your Business Strategy Western Women's Business Center webinar. TU (10/20), 12:30pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8if Young Professionals of Henderson County Networking social. TU (10/20), 5:30pm, Free, Dry Falls Brewing, 425 Kanuga Rd, Hendersonville How to Deal with Difficult Customers in Food & Beverage tenBiz webinar. WE (10/21), 10am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8ig Incredible Towns Business Network General meeting. WE (10/21), 11am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/7g8 The Business of Craft Beverage A-B Tech Craft Beverage Institute start-up assistance webinar. TH (10/22), 3pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8iz
CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS The Islamic-Byzantine Frontier: Interaction and Exchange Among Muslim and Christian Communities UNCA archaeology lecture by Asa Eger. WE (10/14), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8g0 Gerrymandering, Mathematics and Fairness UNCA Parsons Lecture by mathematician Moon Duchin. TH (10/15), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8iq 2020 African Americans in WNC & Southern Appalachia Conference Existence as Resistance: Expressions of Resilience, directed by Darin J. Waters. FR (10/16), 10am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/6ky Pink Ride for Strides Breast cancer awareness parade. Register: avl.mx/8je. SA (10/17), 10am, Lake Julian Park, 70 Fisherman's Trail, Arden UNC Asheville Climate Teach-In
Faculty and community experts explore interdisciplinary issues of climate science, impacts and solutions. TU (10/20), 12pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8j4 Black Mountain College Museum: Perspectives A conversation on Alma Stone Williams, Black Mountain College’s first Black student, led by her son Dr. Russell Williams Jr. TH (10/22), 1pm, Free, avl.mx/8ja Spanish Conversation Group For adult language learners. TH (10/22), 5pm, Free, avl.mx/7c6 Women & Politics: A Critical Commemoration of the 19th Amendment UNCA panel discussion on African American women and the Suffrage Movement. TH (10/22), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8it Equality NC: LGBTQ Intergenerational Conversation Monthly group. FR (10/23), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8ie
CIVICS & ACTIVISM Vance Monument Task Force Weekly meeting. TH (10/15), 5pm, avl.mx/85h Silent Vigil for Immigration Reform Led by Progressive Alliance of Henderson County. FR (10/16), 4pm, Henderson County Courthouse, 200 N Grove St, Hendersonville Explore Asheville: The Road Ahead Marketing, sales and community engagement update. TU (10/20), 10am, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8j0
FOOD & BEER MANNA FoodBank Express Free food items for neighbors in need. TU (10/20), 1pm, Sharing House, 164 Duckworth Ave, Brevard Open Air Fermenting Class Led by Meg Chamberlain of Fermenti. TU (10/20), 6pm, $30, Catawba Brewing South Slope, 32 Banks Ave
FESTIVALS Junk in the Trunk Market Outdoor vintage and handmade sale. SA (10/17), 9am-3pm, 244 W Main St, Brevard
Sun & Moon Makers Market Monthly outdoor market featuring local artists. Proceeds benefit Helpmate Domestic Violence Advocacy. SA (10/17), 3pm, Pleb Urban Winery, 289 Lyman St Scarecrow Festival Scarecrow building contest.Register to compete: avl.mx/8jf. On display through 11/1. FR (10/23), Free, Lake Julian Park, 70 Fisherman's Trail, Arden
WEEKLY MARKETS Tuesdays • West Asheville Tailgate Market. 3:306:30pm, 718 Haywood Rd • The Whee Market. 4-7pm, 563 N Country Club Dr, Cullowhee Wednesdays • Asheville City Market South. 12-3pm, Biltmore Park Town Square • Weaverville Farmers Market. 2:30-6pm,17 Merrimon Ave, Weaverville • RAD Farmers Market. 3-6pm, Pleb Urban Winery, 289 Lyman St • Locally Grown on the Green. 3-6pm, 35 Hwy 64, Cashiers • Jackson County Farmers Market. 3:306:30pm, Innovation Station, 40 Depot St, Dillsboro Thursdays • ASAP Farmers Market at A-B Tech. 9am-12pm, 340 Victoria Rd • Flat Rock Farmers Market. 3-6pm, 1790 Greenville Hwy, Hendersonville • Enka-Candler Tailgate Market. 3:30-6:30pm, 70 Pisgah Hwy, Candler Fridays • Marion Tailgate Market. 10am-3pm, 67 W Henderson St, Marion • East Asheville Tailgate Market. 3-6pm, Groce UMC, 954 Tunnel Rd Saturdays • North Asheville Tailgate Market. 8am-12pm, UNC Asheville, Lot C • Mills River Farmers Market. 8am-12pm, 5046 Boylston Hwy, Mills River • Hendersonville Farmers Market. 8am-1pm, 650 Maple St, Hendersonville
• Yancey County Farmers Market. 8:30am-12:30pm,10 S Main St, Burnsville • ASAP Farmers Market at A-B Tech. 9am-12pm, 340 Victoria Rd • Black Mountain Tailgate Market. 9am-12pm, 130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain • Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market. 9am-12pm, 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville
KIDS SVM History Explorers Educational program on the uses of ancient American Indian tools, plus a blowgun and atlatl demonstration. SA (10/17), 10am, $5, Black Mountain UMC, 101 Church St, Black Mountain Jackson County Public Library: Imagination Walk Intro video plus printable outdoor adventure guide. TU (10/20), 10am, Free, avl.mx/88n Miss Malaprop's Storytime Ages 3-9. WE (10/21), 10am, Free, avl.mx/73b
OUTDOORS MountainTrue: Pilot Cove Hike Four-mile, educational hike led by ecologist and public lands director Bob Gale. Register: avl.mx/8i3. SA (10/17), 9am, $15, Pilot Cove Loop Trailhead, 319 Gateway Junction Dr, Pisgah Forest Buncombe County Recreation Services: Rattlesnake Lodge Hike Three-mile guided hike. Register: avl.mx/8j8. SA (10/17), 10am, Free, Mountains-to-Sea Trailhead, Weaverville
TU (10/20), 5pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8fy Adult Eating Disorder Support Group Hosted by Carolina Resource Center for Eating Disorders. WE (10/21), 6pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/82e Recovery Support Meeting Hosted by First Contact Ministries. TH (10/22), 6:30pm, Free, avl.mx/7ko Turning of the Maples Virtual 5K Competition for prizes, benefiting the UNCA Fund. FR-SU (10/23-25), Registration required, $10, unca.edu/Virtual5K
SPIRITUALITY Spiritual Care during COVID-19 Small group session with Pastor Ken. WE (10/14), 3pm, Registration required, Free, Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 6th Ave W, Hendersonville Transforming Uncertainty & Worry: Finding Security during Difficult Times Featuring guest speaker Kadam Morten Clausen, hosted by Je Tsongkhapa Kadampa Buddhist Center. WE (10/14), 7pm, $15, avl.mx/8j2 Bahá'í Holy Day Observance & Devotions Prayer, music and readings celebrating the birth of the prophet Bahá’u’lláh. SU (10/18), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8j3 Extremes of Wealth & Poverty: A Bahá'í Perspective Devotional on wealth equality with prayer and music. WE (10/21), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/8j5
VOLUNTEERING WELLNESS Pop-up 5K in the Park Fully-marked, flat course with rolling starts. Chip timers provided. WE (10/14), 5pm, $10, Fletcher Park, 300 Old Cane Creek Rd, Fletcher Jackson Library: Spooky Yoga All ages and abilities. Costumes encouraged. SA (10/17), 10am, Free, avl.mx/8gz Steady Collective Syringe Access Outreach Free educational material, naloxone, syringes and supplies. TU (10/20), 2pm, Firestorm Bookstore Co-op, 610 Haywood Rd COVID-19 & Caregiving Alzheimer’s Association webinar.
Conserving Carolina: Rock Crushers Weekly trail building and maintenance. Register: avl.mx/8i4. WE (10/14), 9:30am, Hickory Nut Gorge, Gerton Conserving Carolina: Kudzu Warriors Invasive plant management. Tools and gloves provided.Register: avl.mx/8de. MO (10/19), 9am, Norman Wilder Forest, Tryon American Red Cross Blood Drive Free COVID-19 antibody tests for donors. Register: redcrossblood. org/give. FR (10/23), 10am-2:30pm, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd
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OCT. 14-20, 2020
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WELLNESS
Sewer thing
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Jackson County study tests wastewater for COVID-19 outbreaks BY MOLLY HORAK mhorak@mountainx.com The average person flushes the toilet five times a day, sending waste spiraling from homes, office buildings and businesses into sewers, pipes and test tubes to check for COVID-19. At least, that’s the hope, says Aparna Keshaviah, a statistician with the data-tracking group Mathematica. In partnership with the Jackson County Health Department and the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority, Mathematica launched a pilot program in July to see if rural wastewater could show communal spread of the coronavirus. Wastewater epidemiology has been used to track the spread of polio outbreaks and opioid use, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, researchers have discovered that fecal matter sheds traces of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, long before a patient shows symptoms. The early warning signs can give health officials a head start as they work to track new outbreaks, explains Keshaviah. “I saw the power of this data stream — literally — to overcome biases, lags of information and poor coverage that exist in a lot of traditional data sources,” she says. “We saw this as a really powerful way to overcome the gaps that exist in existing testing methods.”
EARLY WARNINGS
Wastewater surveillance can detect COVID-19 outbreaks up to nine days before cases are reported to local and state health departments, Keshaviah explains. The process is simple: Scientists take a sewage sample (the dirtier the better) and test for the virus’s genetic signature. Costs run $300-$600, depending on the sample size. A Yale University study published Sept. 18 identified traces of COVID-19 in sludge earlier than any other testing method. Researchers found concentrations of the virus up to two days before a COVID-19 test was taken, four days before local hospital admissions and eight days ahead of positive test results by reporting date. For communities facing a delay between specimen collection and reported test results, the study says, “immediate wastewa-
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DIRTY WORK: Edwin DeHart of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority demonstrates how wastewater is collected. During the Jackson County pilot study, workers collected and tested biweekly sewage samples for COVID-19. Photo courtesy of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority ter results can provide considerable advance notice of infection dynamics.” But while scientists can track trace amounts of the virus — a study from the Netherlands could detect one case per 100,000 people — there’s little reliable data to translate the recorded viral load into accurate case counts, Keshaviah says. The CDC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are working to develop a national wastewater surveillance system; pilot studies from across the country will guide the eventual plan, Keshaviah says. There wasn’t much research on wastewater testing in rural areas before the Jackson County study, she adds, primarily because viral detection is more challenging with a smaller population.
“The study really adds to the picture of what’s happening in rural communities,” she says. “For an underrepresented region like the mountains, I wanted to make sure there was data in the discussion as this method is validated.”
SMELLS LIKE SUCCESS
When the Jackson County team took its first sewage sample on July 28, the wastewater revealed a relatively high viral load for the county’s 44,000 residents. Two days later, students began moving into dorms at Western Carolina University. The next sample, taken Aug. 3, showed another high reading. Three days later, county health officials reported a new spike in cases. The wastewater data aligned with the COVID-19 cases recorded at the county
level and matched proxy measures like doctor visits and a Facebook symptom study, Keshaviah says. “When you look at all of these data sources, you’re essentially seeing the same trend, but the wastewater data gives that information at least a week ahead of time.” The pilot study allowed the Jackson County Health Department to analyze data and determine how this type of testing could be used to identify future outbreaks, says Melissa McKnight, Jackson County’s deputy health director. Targeted testing in specific neighborhoods would allow officials to pinpoint where the coronavirus is coming from, she continues. If wastewater testing from a single neighborhood showed traces of COVID19, McKnight adds, health officials could ask all residents to get tested, hopefully catching asymptomatic carriers before the virus spreads further. The infrastructure for widespread testing is already in place, Keshaviah adds. Staff at more than 15,000 wastewater treatment plants nationally already take daily samples to test for a range of toxins, bacteria and viruses; it takes “minimal effort” to collect an additional sample to send to a lab testing for COVID-19, says Daniel Manring, executive director of the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority. “Any tool deemed useful in this pandemic is worth exploring further,” he says, noting TWSA will continue to participate in studies if the data gathered are found to be beneficial.
FULL STREAM AHEAD
The Jackson County pilot study was funded by a $3,000 grant from Dogwood Health Trust. Now, Keshaviah says, the team is applying for additional funding to expand testing into surrounding counties. Officials in Buncombe and Macon counties are reviewing testing protocols, and Haywood County has confirmed interest in participating, should funding be secured. In Buncombe County, health officials have recorded approximately 80,000 individual COVID-19 tests since March. But a single test at Buncombe’s central wastewater treatment plant could cover 176,000 people, Keshaviah says. Health officials are currently unable to track COVID-19 cases linked to outof-town visitors, but wastewater tests may help gauge how prevalent the virus is in the area — tourists included, Keshaviah hypothesizes. As visitors flock to the region to see fall foliage and to attend events like the Maui Invitational basketball tournament, which will be held in November at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, wastewater testing could help measure the impact of tourism on potential coronavirus outbreaks. “The power of this tool is that it can give an early warning for a second or third wave of infections,” Keshaviah says. “Our hope is to launch this kind of surveillance before these big upcoming tourist events.” X
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OCT. 14-20, 2020
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GREEN ROUNDUP by Daniel Walton | dwalton@mountainx.com
Black Folks Camp Too partners with national outdoors brands Brevard-based Black Folks Camp Too has announced new partnerships with Adventure Ready Brands, Backcountry Gear and Apparel, GSI Outdoors and Nemo Equipment to help further its mission of equity and inclusion in outdoor recreation. Founder Earl B. Hunter Jr. said marketing collaborations with those brands would help him develop more interest in camping among the Black community. “Our mission is to remove generational fears, provide knowledge about the outdoor lifestyle and continue to invite more Black folks to camp,” Hunter stated in a press release announcing the move. Partner brands will be featured on the Black Folks Camp Too website, described as a digital platform for outdoors education and inspiration. Hunter also delivered the keynote address at the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s annual meeting on Oct. 7. He noted that America’s Black population spends roughly $63 billion on travel each year and represents a market segment that’s been largely untapped by Western North Carolina’s outdoor tourism leaders.
Brevard official charged with illegal waste disposal David Lutz, director of public works for the city of Brevard, was indicted Sept. 17 on three counts of improperly handling and storing hazardous waste by a federal grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina. According to the indictment, Lutz allegedly dug up 20 truckloads of lead-contaminated soil from Brevard’s firing range and moved it to the city’s public works operations center, which is not certified to contain such waste. The indictment alleges that Lutz had previously been warned by city consultant CDM Smith about the high levels of lead in the firing range soil. “The consultant company specifically advised Lutz that the material was ‘hazardous’ and that it ‘will have to be disposed of at a Subtitle C Landfill, with the closest one I’m aware of in Alabama,’” the document reads. Lutz is currently scheduled to appear at the federal courthouse in Asheville on Monday, Nov. 2, at 9 a.m. Although 16
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SUNNY OUTLOOK: Earl B. Hunter Jr., right, recently landed several national partners for his Black Folks Camp Too digital platform. Photo courtesy of Black Folks Camp Too he has yet to enter a plea, reporting by Carolina Public Press notes that Brevard leaders support Lutz and are suing CDM Smith for failing to create a plan for the contaminated soil.
Hendersonville kicks off bee mural project
Insert your own “buzzworthy” pun here — Matthew Willey is about to start painting a bee mural in downtown Hendersonville. From late October through November, the Ashevillebased artist will adorn the exterior walls of the Hands On! Children’s Museum with giant renditions of the vital pollinators. Willey is the founder of The Good of the Hive, which aims to paint 50,000 honey bees in public locations across the world. As Xpress reported in 2019, he views his art as “creating scenarios that really bring people into connection with how fascinating the natural world is.” Before the work begins, Bold Rock Mills River Cidery will host a kickoff party noon-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17. Free offerings include a honey tasting, live music from the Apple Country String Band and a 3 p.m. presentation
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on pollinators by local entomologist Gretchen Pettis. More information at avl.mx/8gw.
Buncombe proclaims October as Oak Awareness Month
As if the seasonal explosion of color weren’t enough to make trees top of mind, Buncombe County has officially declared October to be Oak Awareness Month. A proclamation by Brownie Newman, chair of the county Board of Commissioners, extols the ecological benefits of oak trees and notes that 30 native oak species — a third of all found in the U.S. — grow in North Carolina. Community organizations and businesses including AshevilleGreenWorks, Asheville Nuttery, Blue Ridge Audubon Society, Coven Oldenwilde and Eagles Nest Outfitters are holding special events throughout the month to help residents engage with the trees. More information is available on Facebook and Instagram by searching “OAKtober Celebrations.”
Community kudos
• Judy Mattox, chair of the WNC Sierra Club, received the Madelyn Pyeatt Award from the nonprofit’s national leadership. The award recognizes her role in organizing young people to support renewable energy commitments from Asheville and Buncombe County governments. • The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman was named an International Dark Sky Park by the International Dark Sky Association, becoming one of only two such facilities in the state. The certification recognizes “the exceptional quality of the night sky over PARI” and the site’s clear view of the Milky Way and other celestial objects. • Three area water treatment plants received a gold star honor from the N.C. Division of Water Resources. The Maggie Valley Sanitary District, Waynesville-Allens Creek and Weaverville-Ivy River facilities were acknowledged for demonstrating 10 consecutive years of outstanding water quality. • Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, was named Legislator of the Year by the N.C. League of Conservation Voters at the group’s Green Tie Awards on Oct. 7. Former Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, also received the Jane Sharp Lifetime Achievement Award. • UNC Asheville’s Dining Services earned an annual recycling award from the Carolina Recycling Association. In a press release announcing the honor, the CRA noted the university’s 2019 Sustainable Dining Summit and Project Clean Plate to cut food waste. • Despite the cancellation of the N.C. Mountain State Fair, the WNC Youth Livestock Expo took place in September at the WNC Ag Center in Fletcher. Local winners included Beulah Crain of Buncombe County for champion standard chicken, Haley Hargus of Henderson County for champion wool breed sheep and Cole Williams of Haywood County for grand champion Angus beef heifer.
Follow the money
• Conservation projects in the Xpress coverage area netted nearly $1.44 million from the N.C. Land and Water Fund, formerly known as the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. Highlights include over $625,000 for land acquisition in Transylvania County’s East Fork Headwaters, $310,000 for land at
RAISE A GLASS: Attendees toast at a previous CiderFest NC; this year, the benefit for Green Built Alliance will take place through small-group tours due to COVID-19. Photo courtesy of Green Built Alliance
TWINKLE TWINKLE: The Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman was recognized as an International Dark Sky Park for the exceptional quality of its nighttime views. Photo courtesy of PARI Pinnacle Park in Jackson County and $131,000 for work at Asheville’s Mills River water treatment plant in Henderson County. • The Clear Creek Greenway in Hendersonville was awarded $376,000 from the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. Once complete, the path would connect the Carolina Village retirement community to the existing Oklawaha Greenway. • The Organic Growers School received a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation of WNC to support local farmers. Early-career growers will receive “advanced education and mentoring services” to help them build sustainable businesses. • WNC farmers looking to diversify or expand their operations are encouraged to apply for grants of up to $6,000 from WNC Agricultural Options. The application deadline is Friday, Oct. 23; more information is available at WNCAgOptions.org.
Save the date
• Guests can soon howl alongside the wolves at the WNC Nature Center. Adult-focused educational presentations on the predators take place Friday, Oct. 16, and Monday, Nov. 9, with a kid-friendly version Friday, Oct. 30, all from 6-8 p.m. Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for children. More information and registration at avl.mx/8gv.
• UNC Asheville holds a virtual teachin on climate science, impacts and solutions on Tuesday, Oct. 20, noon-1 p.m. Students, faculty and community members will cover topics such as carbon pricing and resilience planning. More information and registration at avl.mx/prv6. • Ike’s Hauling hosts a free drop-off electronics recycling event at the Weaverville Town Hall Saturday, Nov. 7, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., as well as Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 9-10, 3-5 p.m. Items accepted include computers, scrap wiring, car batteries and similar hazardous electronic waste.
Do your part
• Early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 15, and continues through Saturday, Oct. 31, with more information for Buncombe County voters available at avl.mx/44w. The nonpartisan WNC Sierra Club has issued its endorsements of candidates based on their support for environmental justice and climate action at avl.mx/8gt. • The French Broad River Partnership seeks participants in a study to assess the environmental and economic value of the French Broad River watershed. Visitors and residents can complete the survey at avl.mx/8gr, while those who own or manage businesses that depend on the river should complete it at avl.mx/8gs. All responses are due by Saturday, Oct. 31.
• Every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday in October, CiderFest NC offers private tasting experiences at three local cideries to support Asheville-based nonprofit Green Built Alliance. Groups of up to 14 can book a four-hour tour, with transportation arranged by Leap Frog Tours, for $85 per person at CiderFestNC.com.
• The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission asks WNC residents to report any sightings of hellbender salamanders and northern pine snakes. Photos of those species with accompanying date, time and location information should be sent to lori.williams@ncwildlife.com or pinesnake@ ncwildlife.org, respectively. X
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FOOD
Bird is the word
Two successful restaurateurs bring chicken to Asheville’s table of dining choices
BY KAY WEST kwest@mountainx.com Pandemic projects, they’re all the rage. Some people built man caves and she sheds. Some planted gardens and canned the living daylights out of their harvests. Some took up weaving, pottery or stone carving. And some, like local restaurateurs Jesson Gil and Meherwan Irani, decided to create new eateries. One is a resurrection, one a new invention, but both are evidence that even under the most challenging circumstances, restaurant owners gotta restaurant.
KING DADDY’S CHICKEN
To say that people were disappointed when Gil and his wife, Cristina, closed the beloved King Daddy’s Chicken and Waffle would be an understatement. The couple, who had purchased the Early Girl Eatery in March 2018 from Early Girl and King Daddy’s founders Julie and John Stehling, bought King Daddy’s in September 2018, then promptly shuttered it. “Right after we bought King Daddy’s and it came out we were turning it into our second Early Girl, I had a lady show up and scream at me for 15 minutes,” recalls Jesson Gil. “I have been in the restaurant business for 32 years, through many openings and closings, but I had never had anyone crying in the dining room.” It wasn’t that the Gils were giving Asheville the bird or disrespecting the concept the Stehlings had birthed. When they purchased Early Girl from the Stehlings, Jesson Gil, who had operated extremely successful franchises of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers in Texas before relocating to Western North Carolina, was locked into a noncompete agreement with Raising Cane’s that prohibited him from buying King Daddy’s. That agreement expired in 2019. Soon after their Early Girl acquisition, the Gils decided to open a second location, but no likely properties materialized until Jesson and his son walked into King Daddy’s in West Asheville for lunch one day. “It was the perfect place for another Early Girl,” says Jesson. “I contacted the broker, found out it was still for sale, made an offer and bought it.” The King Daddy’s story could have ended there, but Jesson says he and Cristina always intended to revive the concept, even as they opened a third Early Girl in North Asheville in 2019. “I was in the chicken business for a decade,” he 18
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COME AND GET IT: Chicken and waffles and fries, oh my! Cristina and Jesson Gil have been testing menu items for the return of King Daddy’s Chicken, taking off for takeout and delivery Oct. 15. Photo by Cristina Gil says. “I knew we’d bring King Daddy’s back to life one day.” With the dine-in changes wrought by COVID, the Gils decided to convert the former bar side of Early Girl North to a takeaway shop for King Daddy’s. They have been testing recipes for a planned relaunch of King Daddy’s all along — including some for the fried chicken and waffles that use an heirloom cornmeal milled by Farm & Sparrow that Jesson says he’s very excited about. But preparations for the reboot were still developing when the news broke prematurely. “I was sitting in my PJs one Monday morning working on the website and decided to go on the existing Facebook page and make some updates,” Jesson says sheepishly. “I didn’t know those updates would go out to all the Facebook followers. We immediately got reactions from people. Cristina was so mad at me!” The upside of Jesson’s “oops” is that it imposed a deadline for the debut — Thursday, Oct. 15, for takeout and delivery with dine-in following as soon as it’s feasible. Having already experienced the passion of King Daddy’s devotees, Gil expects equally vocal feedback when din-
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ers discover that, other than wings, the chicken will be boneless. “I love bone-in chicken as much as anybody, but I don’t want to invest in the kitchen equipment frying bone-in chicken requires until we see how the new King Daddy’s does,” Jesson explains. “We need to win over the crying lady first.” Check out King Daddy’s menu, hours and delivery range at avl.mx/8ed.
NANI’S CHICKEN
BC-19, Chai Pani Restaurant Group owner Meherwan Irani made a deal with Dewey Property Advisors founder Eddie Dewey to lease the space in the Page Avenue corner of the Grove Arcade that was vacated in July 2019 by True Confections. “Eddie wanted to make that end of the arcade more vibrant and, simultaneously, we needed to do something about the long waits for a table at Chai Pani,” Irani explains. “We thought we’d put a little Chai Pani in there — Chotta Chai Pani. Then came COVID, and wait times were no longer a problem. It was really hard at that point to look ahead.”
That didn’t stop him from thinking about how post-COVID restaurants might look: smaller with lower overhead, lower costs, a smaller staff and concepts that could function as takeout or to enjoy outdoors or in an open space like a food hall. Irani was also thinking that when it came to food, people would want something familiar, approachable, affordable, simple and comforting. “I’m sitting in my house thinking what this could be and how I could contribute, and Molly [his wife] walks in the door with a rotisserie chicken from the grocery. I said, ‘This is it!’” he says. One of the first home-cooked meals Irani experienced when he first moved to the United States from India at the age of 20, he adds, was classic roasted chicken. “It represents everything I love about American comfort food. I knew that was what I had to do.” And thus was hatched Nani’s Rotisserie Chicken (“Nani” is Hindi for maternal grandmother). Acknowledging that conventional grocery store rotisserie chicken could use some improvement, Irani says Nani’s will put its own spin on it. That includes sourcing from Joyce Farms in Winston-Salem, a leader in the regenerative agriculture movement; installing a deluxe Alto-Shaam rotisserie oven; and bringing chef Nick Barr over from Buxton Hall BBQ to run the kitchen. Irani also plans to simplify the process for preparing the chickens. “Things that should never be put on a chicken are used by grocery stores so the chickens can sit under a heat lamp for eight hours,” he says. Nani’s chickens will be brined then seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, lemon zest and rosemary. The piece de resistance will be the drippings, “the best part of the chicken,” Irani states. “We’ll use all that good stuff to create au jus for the side — honey bourbon, Korean chili, mustard molasses. And we’ll cook the potatoes under the chickens to absorb the drippings.” Sides will also be classic American comfort foods — scalloped potatoes, corn pudding, broccoli casserole — to be ordered with a quarter or half chicken or in larger portions with a whole chicken for family dinner. “We want to make crave-worthy rotisserie chicken so good you’ll lose your mind over it. And deliver some comfort for these times when we all crave that as well,” Irani says. Nani’s Rotisserie Chicken is slated to open this month. For updates, follow on Instagram and check the website at avl.mx/prv4. X
Recipe for change
0 20 02 2 20
Three-part cooking series combines family recipes, voting memories and 2020 election advice
KITCHEN CABINET: Juanita Grier, Je’Wana Grier-McEachin and Viola Williams share family recipes and advice on voting safely via “Historic Recipe for Social Change.” Photo by Andre Daugherty People who tune in to AARP North Carolina’s three-part cooking series, “Historic Recipe for Social Change,” can expect a lot of laughs, family recipes and helpful information for both seniors and first-time voters on how to safely participate in the 2020 election. Rebecca Chaplin, associate state director of AARP NC, says this will be the organization’s first YouTube venture. And the three generations of cooks who star in the videos are also making their small-screen debuts. “We are total novices when it comes to this,” says Je’Wana GrierMcEachin, executive director of Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement. “But we all like to cook and bake, and we had a lot of fun doing it. We laughed a lot and hope people will laugh with us.” “We” includes Grier-McEachin’s mother, Juanita Grier, and aunt Viola Williams — both AARP volunteers — along with daughters JyAire McEachin, 18, and JaiEssence McEachin, 21, who are college students in Alabama. The local project is in concert with the AARP’s national Protect 50+ Voters initiative, which is intended to inform people ages 50 and older about how they can make choices that work for them to vote safely. AARP and ABIPA have partnered on projects in the past, most recently on the “Creating Advocates of Change: Racial Justice and Equity”
series of webinars. “We have a history of opening doors for one another,” says Chaplin. “As we had conversations around programming and intentional partnerships for the remainder of this year, we talked about doing voter engagement in a different way,” Grier-McEachin explains. “We know that many conversations take place over food, so we decided to pull together a cooking show.” They enlisted a production crew, gathered favorite recipes and drove to Huntsville, Ala., where GrierMcEachin’s daughters live, to tape the shows. “It wasn’t an HGTV kitchen,” says Grier-McEachin with a laugh. “We couldn’t all fit in there at once!” Both daughters were responsible for an individual dessert, her aunt made ribs, her mother made a sweet potato casserole, and she put a twist on traditional greens by cooking them in an Instant Pot. Grier-McEachin also made her “decadent” version of her grandmother’s macaroni and cheese. “It was one of her specialties everyone looked forward to at Thanksgiving and Christmas,” she says. Throughout the series, the older women also sit down together and talk about their family history of voting going back to Grier-McEachin’s grandfather, born in 1921, who was still alive to vote for President Barack Obama. The daughters share their excitement about
COMFORT FOOD
voting in their first presidential election and demonstrate how to request online a North Carolina absentee ballot (deadline to request is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27). The message from all three generations — and AARP — is to have a plan that works and cast your vote. “For some of us, that might be absentee ballots,” says Chaplin. “But many of my volunteers who are Black are determined to go to the polls to vote because that is so entrenched in their personal experience.” The first hour of “Historic Recipe for Social Change” aired October 8; the next two will be released Thursday, Oct 15, and Thursday, Oct. 22. The series is free to view, but preregistration is required at avl.mx/8gu.
— Kay West X
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Life on märzen Celebrate Oktoberfest at home
Call off the oompah bands. Leave the lederhosen in the back of the closet. Rollicking public Oktoberfest parties have mostly been scratched this year — the latest casualties of the COVID19 pandemic. One of the biggest hits came when the Asheville Downtown Association slammed the brakes on its annual Oktoberfest, which Executive Director Meghan Rogers says would have happened the first weekend of October. “There really wasn’t a way to go virtual with something like that,” she says. The celebration had traditionally featured live music, food, games and a big assortment of beers from local breweries. “It’s a huge blow, as was the cancelation of almost all of our events,” Rogers says. “It’s been a difficult year.” Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has held big yearly Oktoberfest parties at its Mills
River production site, but the taproom remains closed for at least the rest of 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic. Instead, the brewery held a virtual celebration on Sept. 19, featuring humorous pre-taped interludes by employees and a livestream performance by Asheville-based ensemble Empire Strikes Brass. Would-be attendees were encouraged to vicariously participate by purchasing party packs — including a shirt, mug, suspenders, a hat and bandanas. Elsewhere, Catawba Brewing Co. held a Masked Oktoberfest celebration at its Charlotte location on Sept. 27, and offered a Take-home Oktoberfest in Asheville on Sept. 19, selling an “Oktoberfest-in-abox,” consisting of its beer, glassware and traditional German food from The Chop Shop Butchery and Fermenti. And Hi-Wire Brewing carried on with its in-person Oktoberfest celebration on Oct. 10 — albeit in a socially distanced format. Groups of up to six people per table competed against each other and other tables in such games as Keg Overhead, Bavarian Bingo, Donut on a String, Ice Tray Chug, Bang the Hammer and a yodeling contest. The event also included music from the Mountain Top Polka Band, plus brats, pretzels and other traditional food from Foothills Local Meats.
PROFESSIONAL ADVICE
Despite the dearth of traditional celebrations, area breweries have pushed ahead with their malt-forward märzens and festbiers — and the usual assortment of imported German Oktoberfest brews are also available at area bottle shops. Among the local versions is Hi-Wire Brewing’s Zirkusfest Oktoberfest Lager, a 2016 Gold Medal winner at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival in Denver, and Sierra Nevada’s annual Oktoberfest beer, the first edition since 2014 not made in collaboration with a long-established German brewery. Asheville Brewing Co.’s head brewer Pete Langheinrich is fond of both those beers, and his brewery currently has its own draft-only märzen, Drink the Bismark, on tap. Luke Holgate, Hi-Wire head brewer, says he turns to Germany’s Hofbräuhaus Festbier, noting that it has “all of the beautiful malt character but in such a crushable way. [It] is what Oktoberfests are all about.” He also digs 20
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PROST: Luke Holgate, head brewer at Hi-Wire Brewing, raises a stein of his company’s Zirkusfest Oktoberfest. The beer won a gold medal at the 2016 Great American Beer Festival. Photo by Javier Bolea Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen, which he describes as “a bit more flavorful and hardy [and] a perfect balance all around.” Brad Casanova’s Archetype Brewing has turned out a draft festbier available at the brewery’s West Asheville taproom. Like Holgate, he also enjoys German import Ayinger. Highland Brewing Co. brewing manager Trace Redmond says he’s a fan of Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest. “After apple pie, märzens are one of my favorite parts of fall,” he says. “I tend to enjoy more hops-forward interpretations. Above all, these beers must be clean, crisp and drinkable.” Carl Melissas, head brewer at Wedge Brewing Co., is another Sierra Nevada fan. His märzen, which won a gold medal at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival, is unfortunately MIA this year due to the pandemic. John Stuart, brewer at Nantahala Brewing Co. in Bryson City, likewise didn’t make a märzen this year, so he’s turning to Germany-based Spaten’s Oktoberfestbier Ur-Märzen. “It’s a classic,” he says. “I do like Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest quite a bit, too.” At Brevard Brewing Co., owner and brewer Kyle Williams has released this year’s batch of märzen, available exclusively on draft but distributed around the region by Budweiser of Asheville. Outside of his creation, he’s big on versions by Ayinger and Paulaner. “The Germans, they make great beer,” he says. Burning Blush Brewing in Mills River has released both a festbier and a märzen, available only at the brewery taproom.
The festbier is “a lighter-colored beer that you might drink in Germany,” according to owner and brewer Whit Lanning. “The märzen is more of the American-style of Oktoberfest that you see.” As for other märzens and festbiers, he’s pro-Ayinger. “It’s one of my faves,” he says. Former Asheville brewer Ben Pierson has been turning out a märzen for “years and years,” including during a stint at the now closed Lexington Avenue Brewery. He now keeps it on all year at Swamp Rabbit Brewery in nearby Travelers Rest, S.C. “Day in and day out, it’s taken the lead [in sales],” he says. In addition to its modified celebrations, Catawba turned out a draft-only märzen and a festbier. As for co-owner Billy Pyatt’s favorite seasonal export, he’ll vote for Spaten. “I absolutely love it,” he says. “For years, that been my go-to beer.” Brad Hillman of Hillman Beer didn’t get an Oktoberfest brew out this year as the company focused on opening its new production operation in Old Fort. Instead, he’ll enjoy some Oktoberfest Märzens from German import Hacker-Pschorr. And Asheville’s Wicked Weed Brewing has a strong lineup of Germanstyle beers for the season, including Fest Bier, Dunkelweizen, Bump Camp Munich Helles and Uncle Rick’s Pilsner. Brewmaster Joe Pawelek says his fall seasonal favorites are Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, Highland Clawhammer and Steinfest, a stone-boiled smoked autumnal lagerbier collaboration between Zillicoah Beer Co. and Fonta Flora Brewery. X
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Cinematic dilemma Movie theaters reopen: Is it too soon?
BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com With a few exceptions, Asheville-area movie screens have been dark since mid-March under orders from Gov. Roy Cooper to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. But with the advent of Phase 3 on Oct. 2, North Carolina theaters were allowed to reopen at 30% capacity or 100 people — whichever is less — and with significant precautionary measures in place. The Regal Biltmore Grande & RPX was the first such local establishment to resume business, doing so 30 minutes after Phase 3 went into effect with a 5:30 p.m. screening of Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited thriller Tenet. Customers entered an environment in which all employees were required to wear masks; tickets and concessions were sold via the Regal mobile app; fresh air intake and circulation were increased; and at least one empty recliner seat separated each group. Moviegoers were also required to wear a mask at all times — except when eating and drinking while seated in an auditorium — and employees monitored attendees throughout screenings to ensure that those regulations were being followed. These policy changes and others adhere to guidelines set by the CinemaSafe program — commissioned by the National Association of Theatre Owners and incorporating nearly 400 companies in over 3,000 locations — that implement “expert-backed, industry-specific health and safety protocols.” The standards also comply with the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services’ “Interim Guidance for Movie Theaters and Indoor Gaming,” which includes the aforementioned capacity restrictions specific to the state. But days later, the new James Bond film, No Time to Die, was delayed from Nov. 25 to April 2, prompting the theater’s parent company, Cineworld, to temporarily close all Regal locations in the U.S. after the last screenings on Oct. 8. In a statement, the U.K.-based company sought to justify its decision by citing the continued closure of major U.S. markets, mainly New York City, and the lingering hesitancy of large studios to release new films to a reduced number of screens. Opening these blockbusters would almost certainly result in lower profits, which has prompted such high-
POP CULTURE: Grail Moviehouse owners Steve White, left, and Davida Horwitz are aiming to open their new single-screen theater in the River Arts District by the end of October. Photo by Cindy Kunst ly anticipated features as Dune, Black Widow and Top Gun: Maverick to be pushed to 2021. But Asheville’s other chain theaters, the AMC River Hills 10 and the Carolina Cinemark Asheville, reopened Oct. 9, joining their corporate peers across the country that have been operating since late August. And at least one of these companies is confident that it won’t suffer the same fate as Regal. “Cinemark’s reopening plan was designed with multiple contingencies in place to ensure we are able to be nimble and react as needed to this ever-changing environment,” the company says in a statement. “We do not currently have plans to close our U.S. theaters and are continuing to align with demand, including reducing operating hours and days while we await new studio content to encourage theatrical moviegoing.”
HOLDING PATTERNS
On the local independent theater front, Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. President Mike Rangel is delaying the
reopening of his business’s Merrimon Avenue screening room and instead is focusing on outdoor movies at Rabbit Rabbit, his co-venture with The Orange Peel. And Leah Chang, manager/programmer of the Fine Arts Theatre, sent out a patron survey on Oct. 2 to gauge moviegoers’ thoughts on returning to the two-screen indoor cinema. The responses will play a major role in shaping when and how the theater reopens, along with consulting epidemiologists to determine whether resuming operations is indeed advisable. “There seems to be so much that we are still learning about how the virus spreads,” Chang says. “I think that’s a question that everyone has to answer for themselves and their circumstances. Personally, I’d feel safe watching a nottoo-lengthy film in a large auditorium with safety measures in place: masks required, HVAC upgrades, cleaning protocols, limited capacity and social distancing. I’d feel safest knowing the other folks at the screening and knowing that they would abide by all the rules too.”
Rachel Graham, an assistant professor of epidemiology at UNC Chapel Hill, who typically went to the movies once or twice a month prior to the pandemic, is in no hurry to return. “Even with regulations in place, you’re putting I don’t know how many people in a movie theater and you’re telling them to keep their masks on, but you’re giving them popcorn and Coke and you’re turning the lights off — so, the masks are coming off,” she says. “And it’s upwards of two hours in one place with people you don’t live with.” While thorough studies on movie theaters’ risk factors during the pandemic have yet to be conducted, Graham references a model that National Geographic published in August, in which a classroom lecture provides the closest approximation. Being in that space for 2.5 hours — the runtime for Tenet — carries close to a 20% chance of contracting COVID-19, odds that may increase in certain screening rooms. “If you consider the architecture of the movie theater, you’ve got stadium seating [with] people above each other,” Graham says. “The rows above are going to laugh and react, and their respiratory aerosols are going to fall on the row below them.” In deciding whether or not to return to theaters, Graham encourages people to weigh the risks of getting a possibly lethal infection with seeing a movie on a big screen that will be viewable at home within a few months, if not sooner. She’s also in favor of drive-in movies as an intermediate solution to help satisfy moviegoing desires and is sympathetic to the financial losses that theaters are experiencing during the pandemic. “But the risk right now without a vaccine, without an evenly disseminated treatment, is still extremely high,” she says. “The real key of it is if people were 100% compliant about mask-wearing and washing their hands, and about staying 6 feet apart, things like this would be a lot more viable. Compliance is going to be what hurts this in the long run.”
DOWNSIZE AND SURVIVE
Grail Moviehouse owners Davida Horwitz and Steve White are well aware of the risks involved in reopening their theater and are employing social distancing and increased sanitation practices at their new temporary location at 17 Foundy St. in the River Arts District. The single-screen venue has a vaulted ceiling that’s around 35 feet tall at its peak, will seat up to 40 people at a time
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A&E and is expected to open once its certificate of occupancy is granted, likely by the end of October. While readying the space, the Grail team has held pop-up screenings for up to 35 people at neighboring plēb urban winery — essentially test runs for the theater and its patrons, whose positive feedback has been encouraging. “I think people are wary, but they also feel comfortable when they go in and see that we encourage mask use, spread people out and, at plēb especially, we’ve been opening up the garage doors and letting outside air in,” White says. The new Grail spot has its own giant warehouse door, which will be opened throughout an hour break between screenings to circulate fresh air as long as weather allows. During that hour, spot cleaning and sanitation of restrooms and other surfaces will occur. Other measures that will be taken to reduce human interactions include having all ticketing online and not allowing waiting in the lobby. Regarding the effectiveness of these steps, White says the National Association of Theatre Owners hired epidemiologists to advise them on the CinemaSafe program, and the organization has made persuasive arguments that movie theaters — large spaces where everyone faces the same direction and people aren’t passing by on a regular basis — are a more controlled environment than restaurants. Reports from peers in states where theaters have been open since August — including Chicago’s historic Music Box Theatre, where whole rows and seats are being blocked off to allow for proper distancing — are likewise heartening. “They haven’t found cinemas to be a source of spreading [COVID-19],” Horwitz says. “[Independent theaters] took their time and didn’t rush to open.” In addition to the above efforts, the Grail will host two drive-in screenings in front of its new location: Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Saturday, Oct. 17,
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and Army of Darkness on Saturday, Oct. 24. Along with the theater’s continuing Sofa Cinema digital offerings for home viewing, Horwitz and White hope that these developments will allow them to remain in business and eventually return to a multiscreen setup.
THE RESTAURANT EXCEPTION
As a fully licensed restaurant, the Flat Rock Cinema was eligible to reopen with the implementation of Phase 2 on May 22. But rather than hurry back into business, co-owner Howard Molton waited a week to gauge the public’s reactions to restaurants reopening. He was also, in his words, “aggressive on social media,” posting photos of the business’s inspection grade and tables being removed to allow for 6 feet of separation, and to show that he was taking the threat of COVID19 seriously. Molton says that patron feedback was overwhelmingly positive, so the business opened at 40%-45% capacity instead of the allowed 50% for restaurants, largely due to the way the venue’s seating is arranged. He’s limited operations to Fridays-Sundays out of doubts that the theater could get enough business to sustain being open its usual six days, during which he’s screened independent films such as The Nest, starring Jude Law and Carrie Coon, and Never Too Late with James Cromwell. While blockbusters are being delayed, Molton feels that the pipeline of low-budget fare appears to be intact for the foreseeable future — perfect for a business where films are arguably a secondary attraction. “It’s just coincidental that we have a movie screen. We’re more of a café. We don’t have servers that come in. [Customers] get food and their drinks and they go sit down at a table. It’s not stadium seating where you’ve got people packed in together. It’s a different concept,” Molton says. “In a two-hour period, the maximum we’ll have in there is 30-35 people. I challenge any restaurant in 2 1/2 hours to have less than that — and if they are, they probably aren’t going to be open very long.” Flat Rock Cinema’s restaurant designation also means that face coverings are recommended but not required while visitors are seated, especially since many attendees are eating and/ or drinking. “Some people will sit without a mask, and some people will put on the mask,” Molton says. “We encourage them to wear it, but we can’t enforce it. It would be very disruptive in a movie to go around and tell everybody to put their mask on.” X
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Fresh faces
New-look Virginia and the Slims release latest album Sporting a name inspired by ’70s-era cigarettes marketed to women, Ashevillebased ensemble Virginia and the Slims has endured a convoluted history. Musicians have come and gone — to the point where only one founding member remains with the jump blues/swing band — and with those changes came shifting musical perspectives. But the current lineup has persevered and celebrates the release of the LP Busman’s Holiday with a Friday, Oct. 23, show on the Asheville Guitar Bar patio. Virginia and the Slims got their start in 2013 when vocalist Virginia DeMoss put together a group to play catchy, danceable blues. Sometimes considered the missing link between big band and rock ’n’ roll, jump blues enjoyed its main period of popularity during and after World War II. Small combos played scaled-down arrangements of swing jazz numbers, emphasizing a driving beat. Though the group developed a loyal following, constant personnel moves meant that the musical character of Virginia and the Slims would change as well. For a time, the band even shifted its focus toward Chicago-style blues. Today, the group is fronted by Joanna Best and features founding member, saxophonist and primary songwriter James Kamp. The lineup is rounded out by bassist John Davis, drummer John Barrett and guitarist Howie Neal, who joined in September, just in time to lay down parts for Busman’s Holiday. Best believes that despite the revolving-door quality of the band, there’s a strong thread running through its history. “There’s an enthusiasm and curiosity about vintage jump blues,” she says. “Everybody who comes through wants to take that on and learn about it.” She dismisses any notions that a consistently changing lineup is a problem. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Each person brings their own little bit of expertise and experience, and that colors [the music] in a new way.” Kamp composed seven of the 10 songs on Busman’s Holiday. And while the songs are new, the vibe is intentionally vintage. “The song layouts came first: words, choruses — all that,” Best says. “Then [the arrangements] are tweaked with the stylistic aspects.” The results balance modern musical sensibilities with the retro quality of classic jump blues and swing. A highlight of Busman’s Holiday is the Kamp composition “Let it Go.” With
SPICE OF LIFE: On their latest album, Busman’s Holiday, Virginia and the Slims embrace the inherent variety of an ever-changing lineup. The band’s latest addition, guitarist Howie Neal, joined the group in September. Photo by Annie Heath a saucy melody and a familiar blues structure, the song showcases the straightforward simplicity of Virginia and the Slims’ current configuration. The tune has been in the band’s repertoire since at least 2016, but the new recording takes the song at a faster tempo and showcases newest member Neal’s lead guitar skills. Live onstage pre-pandemic, Virginia and the Slims’ repertoire favored classic covers over band-written tunes. But the album release party’s set list will feature Busman’s Holiday in its entirety — an approach that Best says may point toward the group’s post-pandemic future: “I wouldn’t mind if it got to where [we played] two originals to one vintage song. But we’ll see what happens.” virginiaandtheslims.net
— Bill Kopp X
WHO Virginia and the Slims WHERE Asheville Guitar Bar, facebook.com/ashevilleguitarbar WHEN Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. Free to attend
MOUNTAINX.COM
OCT. 14-20, 2020
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CLUBLAND
TAVERN Downtown on the Park Eclectic Menu • Over 30 Taps • Patio 15 TV’s • Sports Room • 110” Projector Event Space • Late Night SAME GREA SAME GR T FO O D! EAT PLACE
Our Dining Room is
OPEN 11:30 am - 3:30 pm 4:30 pm - 10 pm Open Until 11 pm Fri. & Sat. Curbside Takeout & Delivery Still Available! #SmartRestart #AshevilleCares
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm THE GREY EAGLE Travis Book Happy Hour w/ Mike Guggino & Barrett Smith of Steep Canyon Rangers, 6pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Mr Jimmy (blues), 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL q Steve James (blues, folk) at Isis, 7pm, avl.mx/8gd 185 KING STREET Team Trivia & Games, 7pm TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic w/ Thomas Yon, 7pm TRISKELION BREWERY InterActive TriskaTrivia, 7pm RABBIT RABBIT Slice of Life presents Rooftop Comedy, 7:30pm
20 S. Spruce St. • 225.6944 packStavern.com
THE GREY EAGLE Travis Book Happy Hour w/ Matthew Rieger & Andy Dunnigan (rock, folk), 6pm
Online Event= q
SOVEREIGN KAVA q Poetry Open Mic, 8:30pm, avl.mx/76w THE PAPER MILL LOUNGE Karaoke X, 9pm
185 KING STREET Team Trivia & Games, 7pm
THE SOCIAL Karaoke w/ Lyric, 10pm
CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Hocus Pocus Trivia Night, 7pm
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15 LAZY HIKER BREWING Open Jam, 5pm
TRISKELION BREWERY InterActive TriskaTrivia, 7pm
ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Taylor Pierson Trio (jazz, funk), 6pm
TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic w/ Thomas Yon, 7pm SOVEREIGN KAVA q Poetry Open Mic, 8:30pm, avl.mx/76w
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Hope Griffin Duo (folk, rock), 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Matt Fassas Trip (Americana, folk), 6:30pm ISIS MUSIC HALL q An Evening w/ Joe Newberry (Americana), 7pm, avl.mx/8hf TRISKELION BREWERY Jason’s Technicolor Cabaret: Music & Comedy, 7pm ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Gunslinging Parrots (Phish tribute), 8pm BEN’S TUNE UP Comedy Open Mic w/ Baby George, 9pm
THE PAPER MILL LOUNGE Karaoke X, 9pm
IN MEMORY: Salvage Station will host a celebration of life for Sarah McKinney, beekeeper and founder of Honey and the Hive. With live jazz from Queen Bee and the Honeylovers, cocktails by Shanti Elixirs and soul food by Root Down, the event will be held Saturday, Oct. 18, noon-3 p.m. Proceeds from the $5 entry fee will go to McKinney’s family. Photo by Orbital Socket FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16 SALVAGE STATION Phuncle Sam (rock, jam), 5pm ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Free Dead Friday (Grateful Dead tribute), 5:30pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Songs from the Road Band (bluegrass), 6pm MAD CO. BREW HOUSE The Lads (rock, blues), 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Zoe & Cloyd (bluegrass), 6:30pm LAZY HIKER BREWING SYLVA Shane Meade & the Sound (rock, folk), 7pm DRY FALLS BREWING The Mug Band (blues, rock), 7pm SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Pleasure Chest (blues, rock), 7pm TRISKELION BREWERY The New Rustics (country, bluegrass), 7pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Carolinabound (country, folk), 8pm BEN’S TUNE UP DJ Kilby Spinning Vinyl, 10pm
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17 BURNTSHIRT VINEYARDS Brian Ashley Jones (blues, country), 2pm
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SMOKY MOUNTAIN EVENT CENTER Asheville Music Hall: Drive-in Show w/ Goose (indie), 6pm BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah's Daydream (jazz), 6pm CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Stephen Evans & Kyle Corbett (acoustic duo), 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Dori Freeman (Americana), 6:30pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Captain Midnight Band (rock, jam), 6:30pm WILD WING CAFE Karaoke Night, 9:30pm THE SOCIAL Karaoke Show w/ Billy Masters, 10pm
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 SALVAGE STATION • Queen Bee & the Honeylovers (jazz, swing), 12-3pm • Red Clay Revival (soul grass), 4pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWERY EC3 (acoustic trio), 1pm BURNTSHIRT VINEYARDS David Matters (solo acoustic), 2pm
185 KING STREET Open Electric Jam, 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Pretty Little Goat (Appalachian roots), 6:30pm ICONIC KITCHEN & DRINKS UniHorn (funk), 7pm ISIS MUSIC HALL q An Evening w/ Robin Bullock (Celtic guitarist), 7pm, avl.mx/8hh
MONDAY, OCTOBER 19 ARCHETYPE BREWING Old Time Jam w/ Banjo Mitch McConnell, 6pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Jazz Monday Outdoors w/ Connor Law, 6pm RABBIT RABBIT Outdoor Movie: Hocus Pocus, 6:30pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Totally Rad Trivia w/ Mitch Fortune, 6:30pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. It Takes All Kinds Open Mic Night, 7pm
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20
BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER Mr Jimmy (blues), 3pm
OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Team Trivia Tuesday, 6pm
RABBIT RABBIT Outdoor Movie: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone, 5pm
RABBIT RABBIT Outdoor Movie: Hocus Pocus, 6:30pm
RIVERSIDE RHAPSODY BEER CO. Drinkin’ & Thinkin’ Trivia, 5pm
HOMEPLACE BEER CO. Christy Lynn Duo (country, soul), 7pm
SAINT PAUL MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS AcousticENVY, 3pm
THE GREY EAGLE Patio Show w/ The Pearl Snap Prophets (outlaw country, folk), 6pm
SALVAGE STATION Poster Nutbag (Phish tribute), 5pm
TRISKELION BREWERY JC & the Boomerang Band (Irish trad, folk), 6pm
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21 OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm
THE SOCIAL Karaoke w/ Lyric, 10pm
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22 LAZY HIKER BREWING SYLVA Open Jam, 5pm SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Howie Johnson & Bill Mattocks (acoustic duo), 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ Alien Music Club Jazz Quartet, 6:30pm TRISKELION BREWERY Jason's Technicolor Cabaret: Music & Comedy, 7pm ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Gunslinging Parrots (Phish tribute), 8pm RABBIT RABBIT Silent Cinema: Rocky Horror Picture Show, 8pm BEN’S TUNE UP Comedy Open Mic w/ Baby George, 9pm
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23 ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Virginia & the Slims CD Release w/ Sugah & thuh Cubes (blues, swing, R&B), 5pm FBO @ HOMINY CREEK ROND & Friends present ‘Unresolved,’ 5pm ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Free Dead Friday (Grateful Dead tribute), 5:30pm CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE The Knotty G’s Trio (Americana), 6pm MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Bob Keel (solo acoustic), 6pm SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Mr Jimmy & Billy Loftus (blues duo), 6pm ISIS MUSIC HALL Lawn Concert w/ The Darren Nicholson Band (bluegrass), 6:30pm BEN’S TUNE UP DJ Kilby Spinning Vinyl, 10pm
MOVIE REVIEWS THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS
Hosted by the Asheville Movie Guys EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com HHHHH
BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com
Melissa Myers
= MAX RATING
The Trial of the Chicago 7 HHHHH DIRECTOR: Aaron Sorkin PLAYERS: Eddie Redmayne, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sacha Baron Cohen FACT-BASED DRAMA RATED R Eerily relevant and sobering more than 50 years after the events on which it’s based, The Trial of the Chicago 7 masterfully chronicles a trying moment in U.S. history and sparks hope that justice can still prevail in the face of tyrannical government interference. Ace screenwriter-turned-filmmaker Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to Molly’s Game further proves his aplomb for courtroom dramas and snappy dialogue, and gets significant help from an astoundingly good ensemble. Defendants Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen), Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong, HBO’s “Succession”), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne), Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp, How to Talk to Girls at Parties), John Froines (Danny Flaherty, The Meyerowitz Stories), and Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins, Indignation) each feel like lived-in characters as they seek an innocent verdict for charges of conspiring to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The same level of dedication extends to the depictions of their lawyers William Kunstler (Mark Rylance) and Leonard Weinglass (Ben Shenkman, Angels in America), district attorney Richard Shultz (Joseph GordonLevitt) and Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, HBO’s “Watchmen”), whose demands for separate counsel and a delayed trial frustratingly fall on the deaf ears of Judge Hoffman (Frank Langella, in top rat-bastard form). Though Sorkin employs some degree of dramatic license during the trial and especially in its recesses, the amount of dialogue
that’s lifted word for word from the court transcript heightens the situation’s intensity and makes the inflammatory, real-life statements by Judge Hoffman and the prosecution team all the more damning. Working in tandem with these strengths is an intelligent structure rife with flashbacks to the DNC protests (rather than a wholly chronological approach), a decent amount of humor (largely from Cohen and Strong, as well as some unexpected sources) and an applause-worthy cameo by a universally beloved actor as the defense’s star witness. It’s all so effective that, as with fact-based peers Apollo 13 and First Man, viewers can’t help but experience doubt despite watching a story with a historically established outcome — a rare magical sensation that cements its status as the year’s best film thus far. Available to stream starting Oct. 16 via Netflix REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM
David Byrne’s American Utopia HHHHH DIRECTOR: Spike Lee PLAYERS: David Byrne, Angie Swan CONCERT FILM NOT RATED Martin Scorsese made 2019’s two best films: Rolling Thunder Revue and The Irishman. A year later, Spike Lee may very well claim similar honors with his one-two narrative/documentary punch of Da 5 Bloods and David Byrne’s American Utopia. No stranger to creatively lensing acclaimed stage shows, Lee delivers 105 minutes of pure joy that extend through the end credits and truly makes viewers feel as if they’re inside
Broadway’s Hudson Theatre, reveling in the Talking Heads’ frontman’s titular stage show. Thoroughly charismatic from the opening note, Byrne passionately shares an enchanting mix of songs from his revered band’s catalog and his solo American Utopia album, performed live by a talented ensemble of instrumentalists and vocalists, all of whom also prove gifted at choreography. Their imaginative visual and sonic efforts are captured via a stunning array of camera angles, bringing viewers closer to the action than any audience member, and frequently inspiring wonder regarding just how Lee and cinematographer Ellen Kuras pulled off certain shots. As awe-inducing as these sights are, Lee’s filmmaking isn’t confined to the stage. During Byrne’s cover of Janelle Monáe’s “Hell You Talmbout,” in which performers chant the names of Black victims of police brutality with tear-jerking intensity, the director cuts to portraits of the deceased, some of which are held by a surviving relative. This powerful, unexpected tribute solidifies the greatness of an already masterful collaboration, which, like the Byrne-centric Stop Making Sense, is likely destined to go down in history as one of the all-time best concert films. Available to stream starting Oct. 16 via HBO Max REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM
Kajillionaire HHHHH DIRECTOR: Miranda July PLAYERS: Evan Rachel Wood, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger, Gina Rodriguez COMEDY/DRAMA RATED R Multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Miranda July first made her mark through self-produced plays, performance art and riot grrrl ‘zines. Her body of work has consistently featured explorations of human relationships, and her newest feature film, Kajillionaire, is no exception. Arriving at a time when many people are starved for human connection, closeness and physical touch, her quirky examination of neglected children and self-centered parents conveys a yearning that most of us can relate to. Set in modern-day Los Angeles — complete with its constant earthquake tremors but minus the steady haze from wildfires — Kajillionaire tells the story of the Dyne family, a dysfunctional trio of grifters. Old Dolio (Evan Rachel Wood) plays along with the
schemes and swindles devised by her parents (Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins), stealing mail, impersonating others and planning small-scale cons in order to dig up rent money for their dilapidated “apartment.” The ambiance of this lodging is peak July: a dimly lit office space full of cubicles that shares a wall with a soap factory, from which pink suds ooze down each afternoon and must be promptly cleaned by the Dynes as part of their lease agreement. Despite her crucial role in every grift, Old Dolio — whose namesake story is a doozy — only reaps meager rewards (always “split three ways”). And her parents — who live the way they do in contrast to a society that they see as wasting time in pursuit of wealth in the titular amounts — hold back on any sign of affection toward her. But July’s deep dive into humanity gets going fully once the trio,
AVAILABLE VIA FINEARTSTHEATRE.COM (FA) GRAILMOVIEHOUSE.COM (GM) Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (NR) HHHS (FA) Chuck Berry: The Original King of Rock ‘n’ Roll (NR) HHHHS (GM) Critical Thinking (NR) HHHH (GM) Desert One (NR) HHHH (FA, GM) The Disrupted (NR) HHHHH (FA) Dosed (NR) HHHH (FA, GM) Driven to Abstraction (PG) HHS(FA) F11 and Be There (NR) HHHH (FA) Fantastic Fungi (NR) HHHH (FA) Flannery (NR) HHHH (FA) God of the Piano (NR) HHHH (GM) Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful (NR) HHH (FA) Herb Alpert Is... (NR) HHS (FA) I Used to Go Here (NR) HHHHS (GM) Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President (NR) HHHHH (FA, GM) John Lewis: Good Trouble (PG) HHHH (FA) The Keeper (NR) HHS (FA) Major Arcana (NR) HHHS (FA) Martin Eden (NR) HHH (FA) Meeting the Beatles in India (NR) HHS (FA) The Mole Agent (NR) HHHH (GM) Mr. Soul! (NR) HHHHS (GM) My Dog Stupid (NR) HHHH (FA) Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (NR) HHHH (GM) Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (NR) HHHH (GM) Out Stealing Horses (NR) HHHHS (FA) Proud (NR) HHH (FA) RBG (NR) HHHH (FA, GM) River City Drumbeat (NR) HHHHS (GM) The Tobacconist (NR) HHHS (FA) Totally Under Control (NR) HHHH (GM) Vinyl Nation (NR) HHHS (GM) We Are Many (NR) HH (FA) White Riot (NR) HHHHS (GM) You Never Had It: An Evening with Bukowski (NR) HHHS (FA)
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OCT. 14-20, 2020
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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY
M OVIE RE V IEW S in the midst of a con involving lost airline luggage, is joined by an outgoing 20-something named Melanie (Gina Rodriguez). As Old Dolio’s parents begin to dote on the new addition, their daughter begins to awaken to her lifelong familial coldness. As Melanie bears witness to this revelation, she shifts her focus to Old Dolio, making increasingly grand gestures to show her the warmth that she’s been missing. The relationship between the two young women remains the focus of the third act and is the movie’s true highlight. The brilliant, idiosyncratic performances by Rodriguez and Wood steer the film but are in no way Kajillionaire’s only assets. The original score by Emile Mosseri (The Last Black Man in San Francisco) proves especially important, providing vibrant emotional cues in moments bereft of dialogue and, in one critical moment, devoid of light. The framing of each shot is pure eye candy, and though the actions that fill them are decidedly offbeat, they’re far more accessible and toned down than any of July’s past works. Available to rent starting Oct. 16 via Amazon Video, iTunes and other streaming services REVIEWED BY MELISSA MYERS MELISSA.L.MYERS@GMAIL.COM
Totally Under Control HHHH
DIRECTORS: Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger PLAYERS: Kathleen Sebelius, Rick Bright, Taison Bell DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED Made through innovative means, featuring interviewees on multiple continents and completed one day before Donald Trump reported testing positive for COVID-19, Totally Under Control is thus far the definitive cinematic chronicle of the coronavirus pandemic’s first year. Prolific documentarian and corruption-exposer Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room), working with Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, has crafted a slick, nimble and authoritative film on the Trump administration’s repeated failures to heed the advice of experts, and lays out the case in such clear, convincing fashion that, after viewing it, a second term for the sitting U.S. president seems inconceivable. The trio of collaborators utilize a wide breadth of archival and original footage and — thanks to an invention called the “COVID cam,” which allows for remote filmed discussions — compelling testimony from public health officials whose efforts to contain the virus’s spread early on were squelched for various maddening reasons. Few, if any, revelations will be news to viewers who’ve been paying even minimal attention in 2020, but there’s nevertheless significant power in the film’s chronological, seemingly comprehensive presentation of global events of the past 10 months. 26
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However, after nearly two hours of carefully conceived buildup, it’s a bit of a shock when Totally Under Control comes to its end with a sense of having much more ground to cover. Whether that incomplete feeling is a result of the filmmakers rushing to get their documentary on screens before the Nov. 3 election and/ or an inherent downside of covering a topic that’s far from resolved — the mere desire to experience another half hour or more of humanity’s recent plight under their guidance is a testament to the film’s effectiveness. REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM
White Riot HHHHS DIRECTOR: Rubika Shah PLAYERS: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones DOCUMENTARY NOT RATED The Clash song “White Riot” was the late ’70s British equivalent of “Born in the U.S.A.”: a song adopted as an anthem by right-wingers who didn’t understand its message. The Clash was calling for poor white Britons to unite with U.K. people of color against economic and political oppression — in response to the country’s National Front movement which wanted people of color ejected from the country and said so in blatantly racist language while campaigning for elected office. The NF had emboldened vicious skinhead gangs, who attacked and murdered people of color in horrifying numbers. The documentary White Riot paints a frightening picture of this period of English history while tracing the inspiring rise of Rock Against Racism, a grassroots movement that organized multiracial concerts to rally young people to oppose the NF and its minions. Leading punk bands — The Clash, Sham 69, Tom Robinson Band — were on the side of equality; Eric Clapton and Rod Stewart went on the record supporting the NF. It’s a fascinating and little-known story told by the ordinary people who were its unsung heroes. What’s more, director Rubika Shah’s first feature is a remarkably accomplished film, featuring a kinetic aesthetic derived directly from Rock Against Racism’s graphically madcap magazine — the design sensibility of which is used as a unifying visual language. The fragmented graphics also reflect the documentary’s impressionistic portrait of Rock Against Racism and its battles. While the time and place are never in doubt, cause and effect can be muddled, as things no doubt seemed to the people who lived through the events. (The thick accents can also be a challenge for U.S. viewers.) But for all the horrors detailed in the film, it’s ultimately a feel-good story as all the activists’ work culminates in an amazing musical event that has to be seen to be appreciated. REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM
MOUNTAINX.COM
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Would you be willing to meditate on how you might become more skilled in the arts of intimacy? Would you consider reading books and websites that offer guidance about strategies for being the best partner and ally you can be? Are you receptive to becoming more devoted to practicing empathy and deep listening? I’m not saying you’re deficient in these matters, nor am I implying that you need to improve your mastery of them any more than the rest of us. I simply want you to know that now is an especially favorable time for you to make progress. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Entre chien et loup is a French idiom that literally means “between dog and wolf.” It’s used to describe twilight or dusk, when the light is faint and it’s tough to distinguish between a dog and a wolf. But it may also suggest a situation that is a blend of the familiar and the unknown, or even a moment when what’s ordinary and routine is becoming unruly or wild. Entre chien et loup suggests an intermediary state that’s unpredictable or beyond our ability to define. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose you regard it as one of your main themes for now. Don’t fight it; enjoy it! Thrive on it! GEMINI (May 21-June 20): For 34 years, the beloved American TV personality Mr. Rogers did a show for children. He’s now widely acknowledged as having been a powerful teacher of goodness and morality. Here’s a fun fact: His actual middle name was “McFeely.” I propose that you use that as a nickname for yourself. If McFeely doesn’t quite appeal to you, maybe try “Feel Maestro” or “Emotion Adept” or “Sensitivity Genius.” Doing so might help inspire you to fulfill your astrological assignment in the coming weeks, which is to allow yourself to experience more deep feelings than usual — and thereby enhance your heart intelligence. That’s crucial! In the coming weeks, your head intelligence needs your heart intelligence to be working at peak capacity. CANCER (June 21-July 22): A blogger named Dr.LoveLlama writes, “You may think I am walking around the house with a blanket around my shoulders because I am cold, but in fact the ’blanket’ is my cloak, and I am on a fantasy adventure.” I approve of such behavior during our ongoing struggles with COVID-19 and I especially recommend it to you in the coming days. You’ll be wise to supercharge your imagination, giving it permission to dream up heroic adventures and epic exploits that you may or may not actually undertake someday. It’s time to become braver and more playful in the inner realms. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to author Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell, “The body has its own way of knowing, a knowing that has little to do with logic, and much to do with truth.” I recommend that you meditate on that perspective. Make it your keynote. Your physical organism always has wisdom to impart, and you can always benefit from tuning in to it — and that’s especially important for you right now. So let me ask you: How much skill do you have in listening to what your body tells you? How receptive are you to its unique and sometimes subtle forms of expression? I hope you’ll enhance your ability to commune with it during the next four weeks. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In his fictional memoir Running in the Family, Virgo author Michael Ondaatje returns to Sri Lanka, the land where he spent his childhood, after many years away. At one point he enthuses that he would sometimes wake up in the morning and “just smell things for the whole day.” I’d love for you to try a similar experiment, Virgo: Treat yourself to a festival of aromas. Give yourself freely to consorting with the sensual joy of the world’s many scents. Does that sound frivolous? I don’t think it is. I believe it would have a deeply calming and grounding effect on you. It would anchor you more thoroughly in the here and now of your actual life and inspire you to shed any fantasies that you should be different from who you are.
BY ROB BREZSNY
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The hardest thing you will ever do is trust yourself,” says Libran journalist Barbara Walters. Really? I don’t think so. In my experience, the hardest thing to do is to consistently treat ourselves with the loving care we need to be mentally and physically healthy. But I do acknowledge that trusting ourselves is also an iffy task for many of us. And yet that’s often because we don’t habitually give ourselves the loving care we need to be healthy. How can we trust ourselves if we don’t put in the work necessary to ensure our vitality? But here’s the good news, Libra: In the coming weeks, you’re likely to be extra motivated and intuitively astute whenever you improve the way you nurture yourself. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “You can’t learn anything when you’re trying to look like the smartest person in the room,” writes author Barbara Kingsolver. That’s a useful message for you right now. Why? Because you will soon be exposed to teachings that could change your life for the better. And if you hope to be fully available for those teachings, you must be extra receptive and curious and open-minded — which means you shouldn’t try to seem like you already know everything you need to know. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I’ve decided not to use quotes by famous writers who’ve endorsed bigoted ideas. In the future, my horoscopes won’t mention the work of T. S. Eliot, Roald Dahl, V. S. Naipaul, Edith Wharton, Kingsley Amis, H. P. Lovecraft, Flannery O’Connor, Rudyard Kipling and Louis-Ferdinand Celine. I’m sorry to see them go, because I’ve learned a lot from some of them. And I understand that many were reflecting attitudes that were widespread in their era and milieu. But as I’ve deepened my commitment to fighting prejudice, I’ve come to the conclusion that I personally don’t want to engage with past perpetrators. Now, in accordance with current astrological omens, I invite you to take an inventory of your own relationship with bigoted influences — and consider making some shifts in your behavior. (More info: tinyurl.com/ BigotedAuthors1 and tinyurl.com/BigotedAuthors2) CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn chemist Tu YouYou doesn’t have a medical degree or PhD. Yet she discovered a treatment for malaria that has saved millions of lives. The drug was derived from an ancient herbal medicine that she spent years tracking down. In part because of her lack of credentials, she remained virtually unsung from the time she helped come up with the cure in 1977 until she won a Nobel Prize in 2015. What’s most unsung about your accomplishments, Capricorn? There’s a much better chance than usual that it will finally be appreciated in the coming months. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Luck is what happens to you when fate gets tired of waiting,” says author Gregory David Roberts. If that’s true, I expect that a surge of luck will flow your way soon. According to my astrological analysis, fate has grown impatient waiting for you to take the actions that would launch your life story’s next chapter. Hopefully, a series of propitious flukes will precipitate the postponed but necessary transformations. My advice? Don’t question the unexpected perks. Don’t get in their way. Allow them to work their magic. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Have you formulated wily plans and crafty maneuvers to help you navigate through the labyrinthine tests and trials up ahead? I hope so. If you hope to solve the dicey riddles and elude the deceptive temptations, you’ll need to use one of your best old tricks — and come up with a new trick as well. But please keep this important caveat in mind: To succeed, you won’t necessarily have to break the rules. It may be sufficient merely to make the rules more supple and flexible.
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ACROSS 1 Citizens United, e.g., for short 4 Give up 8 Button whose icon consists of a triangle over a horizontal line 13 Prefix with friendly 14 What fire poppies do after a wildfire 15 Louis ___, “My Dinner With Andre” director 16 Bird able to run faster than the fastest human 17 99, in chemistry 19 Something removed before signing 21 “My gal” of song 22 Terminal abbr. 23 Lump in the throat 26 Most likely to be picked, say 28 99, in Islam 31 Black cat, some think 32 Stereotypical dog name that isn’t actually used much 33 Area of expertise 37 “Who ___?” (end of a riddle) 38 U.S.A.F. honor 39 Saucer, perhaps 41 Fall into decay 42 “Hidden Figures” actress Janelle 44 The “A” in A.D. 46 Looks for gold 47 99, in hockey 50 Invites out for 53 Stab in the back 54 Fill-in-___-blank 55 Letters of “good” cholesterol 57 Former Ohio governor John 60 99, in pop music 64 December 1st? 65 Spice that comes in stars 66 Dugout, e.g. 67 Tree with oval-shaped saw-toothed leaves 68 Expensive violin, for short 69 Glasses, in adspeak 70 Mountain seen in “The Sound of Music”
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DOWN 1 Look-see 2 Pinnacle 3 “Sure, I’m game” 4 Shears 5 Immeasurably long time 6 ___ Equis (beer) 7 First responders, for short 8 Mexican revolutionary Zapata 9 When M.L.K. was born: Abbr. 10 Omit, as a syllable 11 Parts of a crossword that the constructor works on last 12 Entice 14 Major component of chili 18 Jazz pianist Hines 20 Either of two directing brothers 24 “Will do my best” 25 Chap 27 Symbol of the golden ratio 28 Linguist Chomsky 29 Arsenal supply 30 Upscale section of an airport
34 Something that just might work 35 “Out of my way!” indicator 36 E-commerce site with handmade crafts 38 Place for final words 40 The United States Bullion Depository, familiarly 43 Responses of disappointment 45 Bird’s beak 46 Schoolsupporting orgs. 48 Baby ___, character in “The Mandalorian”
49 Clear, as a computer’s memory 50 Book often stored horizontally 51 Push aside 52 Fermented milk drink 56 Hybrid business entities: Abbr. 58 Holder of mitochondria 59 Source of canvas and cannabis 61 They take a look at fliers, for short 62 Length of a 400-meter run 63 Washington’s bill
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2 200 20 02 To our readers In some respects, the Mountain Xpress voter guide is among the most straightforward documents we publish. Our reporters reach out to every candidate running in a contested local race to represent Buncombe County, record their answers to the same set of questions and present the results side by side. It’s a direct amplification of the voices that seek to be heard in the halls of government. But behind the simple commitment to publishing this guide lies the mission that has powered the paper since 1994: “to build community and strengthen democracy by serving an active, thoughtful readership at the local level, where the impact of citizen action is greatest.” Our guide is
an act of service, an attempt to give our readers tools for change. Those who live in these mountains have the right to make informed decisions about their representatives. And those who desire power over others should explain their views on the record, where they can be considered and debated and held to account. People who want the best for Western North Carolina can disagree with passion and respect over how our society should work, but they need a shared set of facts to advance that conversation. 2020 has brought unprecedented challenges to our region’s health, economy and civic life. Yet even with more news to report than ever before, we believe that in-depth coverage of elections
remains one of our most critical responsibilities to the public. Early in-person voting begins Thursday, Oct. 15, and the Buncombe County Board of Elections has more information about when and where to vote at avl.mx/44w. Absentee ballots to vote by mail may be requested through Tuesday, Oct. 27. Polls are open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. No matter the way in which you cast your ballot, we hope this guide provides the information you need to choose your elected officials. And we hope you’ll continue to see Mountain Xpress as a companion in building community, the work that will not end once the last vote is counted.
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
U.S. House of Representatives
Democrat Website: MoeDavisForCongress.com Occupation: Retired judge with the U.S. Department of Labor Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.); Gov. Roy Cooper; Dr. David Crane, Maggie Valley resident who is the former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, former UndersecretaryGeneral of the United Nations and commissioner on the N.C. Commission of Inquiry on Torture; VoteVets.org; North Carolina Association of Educators. Amount of money raised: Through June 30 reporting period: $493,434 Top three donors: N/A
COVID-19 is having significant negative effects on the WNC job market while the area’s cost of living has continued to rise. What will you do to create employment opportunities that pay a living wage?
Right now, businesses are suffering due to COVID-19. The economic shutdown in North Carolina has harmed hardworking men and women across the state. I firmly believe that free-market solutions are the best way to put financial freedom back in the hands of the people in Western North Carolina. I want to slash regulations, incentivize entrepreneurship and invest in our lowerincome population. Through policies like opportunity zones, I believe we can significantly increase wages across the state.
I support raising the minimum wage to a living wage because no one who works full time should live in poverty. The key to improving our job market is to make Western North Carolina more attractive for companies and individuals to relocate here. To do that, we must make health care affordable and accessible, expand broadband internet to our rural areas and invest in education to have a workforce that is prepared for hightech jobs that we can then recruit.
How does your approach to climate change address its accompanying social challenges, such as climatedriven migration and disproportionate impacts on low-income communities?
America needs to be at the forefront of addressing climate change. Low-income communities are often more seriously impacted by climate change. From financial barriers to locational impediments, lower-income earners feel the effects of climate issues long before others. My solution is aggressively opening up the market for climate solutions, lowering burdensome regulations on environmental innovations and generating competition to lower prices for lower-income workers.
We need to approach climate change on a local, state, national and international level. Start by supporting green energy that brings good jobs that pay well and protect the environment so critical to our regional economy. We need state and national goals for reducing our use of carbonbased fuels, which is good for national security. And we must return to the Paris Agreement. Restoring leadership around the world will let us lead policy on migration and other social impacts of climate change.
What specific federal funding do you intend to pursue on behalf of WNC projects?
I plan to pursue an increase in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funding, as well as a standard formula so that communities know how much in funding they can expect to receive each year. I plan to aggressively pursue an increase in broadband for rural areas in NC-11. This COVID-19 crisis has showcased the importance of fast and effective internet across the entire district. I will also fight for increased access to federal incentives like opportunity zones.
I support Jim Clyburn’s $80 billion Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act, similar to the rural electrification of nearly a century ago, that would bring broadband internet to rural Western North Carolina. The Great American Outdoors Act will provide much-needed funding for our parks and forests, but we also need infrastructure investment throughout our district to move projects ahead, including funding for green energy expansion.
What WNC residents do you believe have the least voice at the federal level, and what message do you hope to bring from them to Washington?
Over 60% of the voters in this district don’t have a college degree. I am one of them. For too long, our views have been represented in Washington by people who aren’t representative of our backgrounds. I believe that people like my opponent who look down on those with less education are not going to provide functional solutions for the working people of this district. I represent a key demographic that, all too often, is not heard on the federal level.
Our rural residents have been forgotten by Washington. Look around the district. We have shortages of doctors and nurses in almost every county. Almost 1-in-5 live in poverty in some counties. We have among the highest rates of uninsured in the country. Some counties have less than 50% access to broadband. We can’t grow and thrive unless we change. Mark Meadows did nothing for this district. We need someone who will work for us, not someone owned by corporate interests.
Given your social media history, which political opponents have found to be offensive or inflammatory, how can voters trust that you will represent all of WNC?
My opponent has enjoyed accusing me of being many things on social media. That’s fine; mudslinging is part of politics. But what he can’t argue with is my desire to serve and my dedication to the people of this district. I was born in these mountains, raised by these people. He moved here in 2019 to seize political power. I spent my life here to protect our values from people just like him. My only duty is to the people of this district, and I can promise you that I will represent you well.
The question misrepresents the target of those tweets: politicians, not the good people of WNC who are victims of their games. Remember what the N.C. GOP did to override Gov. Cooper’s budget veto in 2019? The veto came because Republicans wouldn’t allow Medicaid expansion, but they tricked Democrats to override the veto and voted to deny health care to thousands. I lashed out because they hurt Republicans, Democrats and independents alike. I was fighting for all of WNC then, and I will in Congress.
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THE QUESTIONS
— Daniel Walton X
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Republican
MOE DAVIS
Website: MadisonCawthorn.com Occupation: Owner and CEO of a real estate investment company Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: National Right to Life, National Federation of Independent Business, Henderson County Sheriff Lowell Griffin, Transylvania County Sheriff David Mahoney, President Donald J. Trump Amount of money raised: $438,209 through June 30 (including primary) Top three donors: N/A
District 11
The shadow of President Donald Trump, as well as the national attention it brings, looms large over the race for North Carolina’s westernmost congressional district. Republican Mark Meadows, the previous four-term holder of the U.S. House District 11 seat, left his position vacant to become White House chief of staff in March. Both Meadows and Trump endorsed Madison County real estate agent Lynda Bennett — who was soundly defeated by Madison Cawthorn, a 25-year-old political newcomer, in a June runoff for the Republican nomination. And Cawthorn’s strongest opponent, retired Air Force Col. and former Guantanamo Bay chief prosecutor Moe Davis, has repeatedly tied Cawthorn and Trump together in strident social media posts as he campaigns to become WNC’s first Democratic representative since Heath Shuler, who retired in 2013. “My #NC11 opponent pledged his allegiance to Donald Trump and will do as he’s told. My allegiance is to the Constitution and Western North Carolina,” Davis wrote in a representative Sept. 24 tweet. Aiding Davis’ chances to take the seat are new maps approved by North Carolina state judges in December, which place the entirety of Buncombe County (and its large Democratic voter base) in District 11. Asheville residents currently represented by Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry in District 10 will now cast ballots in the NC-11 race, a move a panel of federal judges had ordered in 2018 to remedy unconstitutional gerrymandering. Green Party candidate Tamara Zwinak and Libertarian Tracey DeBruhl are also contending to represent the district. Zwinak, a licensed clinical social worker, mounted a previous Green Party bid for county office in New York; DeBruhl’s 2018 campaign for Buncombe County Sheriff featured campaign signs that said “Paid for by Christ.”
MADISON CAWTHORN
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
TRACEY DEBRUHL Libertarian
TAMARA ZWINAK Green
Website: avl.mx/8jm Occupation: Construction/ marketing business owner, charity and disaster relief volunteer, musician, U.S. Marine Previous candidacy or offices held: Candidate for Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and Buncombe County sheriff Key endorsements: N.C. Industrial Hemp Association, and mostly churches, charities, family and friends that, to prevent political retaliation as the Democrats and Republicans are notorious for doing, I will protect by not naming! Amount of money raised: I don’t beg for money; personally, I would prefer your voices in uniting to help our children have better options. Top three donors: The original game plan was a $45,000 sale that was lost due to COVID-19 shutdowns. So it’s been in God’s hands!
Website: avl.mx/8go Occupation: Licensed clinical social worker Previous candidacy or offices held: Green Party candidate for a New York county legislative seat Key endorsements: None Amount of money raised: None Top three donors: N/A
What if there’s other solutions? The Democratic and Republican minds are limited and limiting society too! I know where billions are being wasted. I know where jobs are being lost. And I have a project that will bring multibillions into our nation. As for solving the plague the DNC and GOP idiots have unleashed on US? They panicked and released a Pandora’s box that might not be fixable; time will tell! I’m gonna make us money and make it so doctors can do their jobs!
The pandemic shuttered business and caused record unemployment rates. Government stepped in to provide stimulus checks and additional unemployment benefits. The way to create employment opportunities in the region is by lowering taxes on business or offering tax incentives. In a capitalist economy, free markets are the best way to increase employment and start innovative businesses. I support raising the federal minimum wage to $18 an hour.
I’m not going to try to change the climate or control Mother Nature! We have homeless initiatives that are working I will grow! I will promote environmental programs while making/saving us money! So the scientists can more proficiently do their jobs! And we will help the less fortunate be more successful with more resources I know how to earn US!
We are in a global emergency that is much larger than climate change. The pandemic is the result of the destruction of the rainforests and natural habitats. Plastics are destroying the coral reefs and contaminating our water and food sources. Industrial waste is polluting our soil and streams. I plan to create the U.S. Department of Sustainability, tasked with formulating a comprehensive National Sustainability Plan to address the complex and intersecting aspects of this global emergency.
ALL GO WEST: North Carolina’s 11th U.S. Congressional district has been redrawn to include the entirety of Buncombe County, which was previously split with District 10.
Buncombe County’s 2020 voting timeline Mark your calendar! Take note of the following important dates to make sure your vote is counted before state deadlines:
• Thursday, Oct. 15: Early voting begins at 16 locations across Buncombe County. Sites are open 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on weekends. Voters can also deliver absentee ballots to these sites. Eligible individuals not yet registered to vote may use “one-stop” combined registration and voting at early voting sites.
LOL. Wow ... 1 step ahead, ain’t I? Just shows why America trusts its Marines! All I am needing is our legal department to draw the paperwork, a few materials and the location to do it, or a meeting with the Commandant USMC/Joint Chiefs, or a private industry to fund it. Off already proven figures, $10 billion to $100 billion initial return. With a residual return. That I won’t tell my competitors for free! Any doubts? I called the police issue before it happened and spoke of this in 2018, didn’t I?!
Accessible health care is a top priority for the people of WNC. I will increase federal block grants to keep public clinics and hospitals open and easily accessible. I will also sponsor funding for block grants to deliver a coronavirus vaccine, delivery items such as syringes, rapid testing results, medication and PPE.
Whoever’s party is not in office and only the donors or ones with money ever see justice! Unless it benefits the Democrat or Republican in office! So my message of hope! COMES BY EVERYONE SEEING A MARINE AND COMMUNITY VOICE LIKE MYSELF TAKING THE UNDERDOG ROLE! And RUNNING LIBERTARIAN!
The homeless have no voice in Congress. Renters have the least say in federally funded housing programs, resulting in displacement and homelessness. When elected, I will reform the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to mandate the inclusion of a Tenant Association at each development and mandatory eviction tracking. No one should be homeless in America, and I will end homelessness if elected.
• Saturday, Oct. 31: Last day for early voting in Buncombe County. Polls run 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Some will say ME! After all, I have went head on into the storm and have been fighting the crooked Democrats and Republicans on their doorsteps! Marines’ pet peeves are cowardly bullies! After seeing how racist and abusive the parties are to our poor, how they disgrace our Constitution and rights! I have got in their faces and stayed there! And you’re welcome for showing you how weak the bullies really are! BUNCOMBE’S NOW GOT MORE INDY! Than either! You’re welcome! And you already know I will! Cause I already AM!
I find Madison Cawthorn the most offensive in his brazen unrestrained display of high-capacity weapons and handguns in our climate of gun violence. Too many young people are influenced by this behavior from a person in leadership, and this sometimes ends in tragedy. We all must realize the impact we have on people. When you send me to Congress, you will be going with me. My office is your office. My door will be open to everyone, and I will listen to your opinions and concerns.
• Friday, Nov. 6: Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked and arrive at the Buncombe County Board of Elections by this date to be counted.
• Tuesday, Oct. 20: Last day the U.S. Postal Service recommends requesting an absentee ballot. • Tuesday, Oct. 27: Last day to request an absentee ballot.
• Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day. In-person voting will be held in 80 county precincts. Polls are open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. All mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked by this date, and those delivered by hand must arrive at Buncombe County Election Services, 77 McDowell St., by 5 p.m.
• Friday, Nov. 13: The Buncombe County Board of Elections will finalize its official canvass, or ballot authentication process, and formally declare winners.
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 48
N.C. Senate Voters might be forgiven for thinking that Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards is running to represent Asheville. Since last October, the District 48 incumbent has tangled with Asheville City Council over the conduct of local elections, blasted local reporters as “20-something journalists whose most frightening experience is learning they have a gluten allergy” and threatened to withhold state funds from the city’s government after Council voted to reallocate $770,000 from the Asheville Police Department budget. But under district maps adopted by the General Assembly in September 2019, no one who lives in the city will cast a vote for Edwards in 2020. The new District 48 trades parts of South Asheville for Buncombe County’s more sparsely populated east, including Barnardsville, Black Mountain and Swannanoa. “I will work just as fervently to represent this new district,” Edwards wrote about the changed lines, in response to a question in the Xpress voter guide. Edwards’ opponent is Brian Caskey, the mayor pro tem of Mills River in Henderson County. The only Democrat on the Mills River Town Council, located in a county where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by over 14,000, Caskey has said he hopes to bring bipartisan appeal to district voters. In District 49, which now covers all of Asheville and the western two-thirds of Buncombe County, Democrat Julie Mayfield hopes to represent many of her current constituents on a larger stage. The Asheville City Council member has the endorsement of outgoing Democratic Sen. Terry Van Duyn, who gave up her reelection chances to mount an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor. Mayfield faces Republican Bob Penland of Candler, a Navy veteran and first-time candidate.
— Daniel Walton X
4
BRIAN CASKEY Democrat
CHUCK EDWARDS INCUMBENT
Republican
Website: BrianCaskey.com Occupation: Educator Previous candidacy or offices held: Mayor pro tem, Mills River Town Council (current) Key endorsements: N.C. Association of Educators, AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, Moms Demand Action, Equality NC Amount of money raised: $75,000 Top three donors: My campaign has over 1,000 donors and has taken zero PAC money.
Website: ChuckEdwardsNC.com Occupation: Small-business owner Previous candidacy or offices held: N.C. Senate District 48 Key endorsements: N.C. Police Benevolent Association, N.C. Troopers Association, National Federation of Independent Business, N.C. Right to Life, N.C. Values Coalition Amount of money raised: Please refer to N.C. Board of Elections website Top three donors: Please refer to N.C. Board of Elections website
The recently redrawn Senate District 48 traded Arden and Biltmore Forest for Black Mountain, Swannanoa and Barnardsville. How will these new boundaries influence your approach to representing your constituents?
The new boundaries are a result of the courts demanding that District 48 — the most gerrymandered Senate district in North Carolina — be redrawn. I believe that this is a positive change for District 48, since eastern Buncombe tends to be rural farm country, just like much of Henderson and Transylvania counties. My family lived in Riceville Valley for many years, so while we currently live in Mills River, we’re very familiar with the area.
My approach will not change. I will work just as fervently to represent this new district.
Candidates elected this year will draw new electoral district lines for North Carolina based on the 2020 census. What would be the fairest process for drawing those district boundaries, and how would you advocate for that process?
My opponent, Chuck Edwards, has attended American Legislative Exchange Conference (ALEC) seminars on how to perfect the gerrymander. Incredibly, attendees were encouraged to burn their notes afterward. I believe that legislators, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, cannot be trusted to draw their own districts. The only real solution is to establish a nonpartisan commission that will draw fair legislative districts and to protect their work with a constitutional amendment.
I will advocate for an open and transparent process that will adhere to practical district drawing procedures that adhere to the N.C. Supreme Court’s Stephenson v. Bartlett ruling.
What further state-based COVID-19 relief efforts are appropriate, given the likely long-term damage of the pandemic on the local economy?
The pandemic has exposed the weaknesses of North Carolina’s social safety net. It has also exposed the General Assembly as “all talk, no action.” They are too busy undermining the governor to take positive actions. We must expand Medicaid, since the federal government pays for 90% of the cost (and we’re already paying for it). We must fix our broken unemployment insurance program, make sure that corporations pay their fair share and create a more diverse array of high-paying jobs. And we can.
North Carolina will require continued monitoring of infection rates and providing support to medical facilities, research facilities and our education system.
What do you see as the state government’s role in promoting racial equity?
We are becoming a more diverse society by the day, and this should be celebrated. Unfortunately, the fires of racism still burn bright in some pockets of North Carolina. We must encourage investment in Black-owned startups and other businesses, and we must always be striving to ensure that intentional investment in communities of color takes place. We must push for a pathway to citizenship for our farm workers as well. Farmers want this, and it is the ethical and moral thing for us to do.
State programs and resources should be accessible to all races and should not favor one over another.
North Carolina is one of nine states with a legal restriction against third-party power sales. What legislation would you support to improve consumer access to renewable energy and fight climate change?
As a council member in Mills River, I advanced the idea of installing solar panels on every town-owned building and was successful in that effort. The result is that we have reduced our carbon footprint by 77%. Solar power is a passive and extremely efficient way to create electricity, so I will make reestablishing tax breaks and incentives for solar power — available to each and every citizen — a priority in the first legislative session in 2021.
I will continue to advocate for an “all of the above” energy strategy that considers costs and reliability. I served on the conference committee for H589 that rewrote Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act regulations. In this bill, I was proud to have helped incorporate 6,880 megawatts of renewable energy into the North Carolina energy portfolio.
District 48 0 20 02 2 20
THE QUESTIONS
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
MOUNTAINX.COM
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 49
JULIE MAYFIELD
District 49
Democrat
BOB PENLAND Republican
Website: MayfieldForNCSenate.com Occupation: Co-director, MountainTrue; Asheville City Council member Previous candidacy or offices held: Asheville City Council Key endorsements: Sierra Club, Equality NC, Lillian’s List, N.C. State AFL-CIO, Sen. Terry Van Duyn Amount of money raised: $121,253 Top three donors: Mack Pearsall, $7,900; Fred Stanback, $5,400; Ron Edgerton, $2,500
Website: BobPenland.com Occupation: Retired military Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: NRA A rating, Grass Roots NC 97% Amount of money raised: $14,000 Top three donors: Fremont Brown, $5,400; Meadows for Congress, $1,000; Stan Shelley, $1,000
I disagree with her withdrawal of legislation that would have tightened religious exemptions for vaccines. Thinking ahead to when we have a COVID-19 vaccine, everyone will need to vaccinated, with few to no exceptions.
I have not researched her voting record, as I am not running against her.
Candidates elected this year will draw new electoral district lines for North Carolina based on the 2020 census. What would be the fairest process for drawing those district boundaries, and how would you advocate for that process?
I support appointing an independent commission that would draw lines based on neutral, nonpartisan criteria developed and adopted by the legislature. I would be happy to introduce or co-sponsor such legislation.
It is up to the legislative branch to redraw district lines. This is spelled out in the Constitution.
What further state-based COVID-19 relief efforts are appropriate, given the likely long-term damage of the pandemic on the local economy?
Resources for rent/mortgage assistance, extending and increasing unemployment benefits, extending the eviction moratorium for residences and businesses.
Open the businesses back up and let the economy recover.
What do you see as the state government’s role in promoting racial equity?
Just as we are doing here in Asheville, the state should examine all structures and programs to ensure they promote equity and should make new investments in programs that support people and communities of color, particularly in education and housing. Police reform is also a key factor in promoting racial equity — improving use-of-force policies, requiring intervention when force is excessive, better training and more focus on race awareness and intrinsic racism.
I feel that each person should be treated equally and fairly but should have no special treatment from any government.
North Carolina is one of nine states with a legal restriction against third-party power sales. What legislation would you support to improve consumer access to renewable energy and fight climate change?
North Carolina should allow for third-party sales as part of a larger climate change agenda that will get the state to 100% renewable energy.
I have not researched this enough to give a reasonable view at this time.
0 20 02 2 20
47
50
49 48
THE QUESTIONS What action by outgoing Sen. Terry Van Duyn have you most disagreed with?
GIVEN THE SPLIT: New North Carolina Senate districts keep all of Asheville in District 49; some of South Asheville was previously included in District 48.
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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NO JOB TOO LARGE OR SMALL
FATHER AND SON
Home Improvement Billy & Neal Moxley
100 Edwin Place, AVL, NC 28801 | Billy: (828) 776-2391 | Neal: (828) 776-1674
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
N.C. House of Representatives Districts 114-116 The same trio of Democrats that has represented Buncombe County in the N.C. House of Representatives since 2015 is running for yet another term in 2020. Thanks to new district maps developed by the General Assembly last year, however, those usual suspects won’t serve the same constituents should they be reelected. Eight-term incumbent Susan Fisher, whose District 114 previously centered on Asheville’s urban core, would instead represent Buncombe County’s northwest, including Leicester and Sandy Mush. She faces first-time Republican challenger Tim Hyatt and Libertarian Lyndon John Smith; in the 2018 election, Fisher won the most decisive victory of any local candidate, besting Republican Kris Lindstam with over 82% of the vote. Fisher’s new district dips just south enough to include her West Asheville residence, thereby avoiding an overlap with the new District 116
seat sought by Brian Turner. The Biltmore Forest representative’s district now covers a chunk of Asheville and the county’s southwestern communities, such as Candler and Bent Creek. Opposing him is Republican Eric Burns, whom Turner has previously blasted for holding in-person campaign events during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rounding out the county’s representation is John Ager. His new District 115 loses Weaverville and much of the county’s north while retaining Fairview and gaining constituents to the east and south. Republican Mark Crawford, who last served in the General Assembly in 2001-02 after being appointed to fill the term of former Rep. Lanier Cansler, is seeking Ager’s place in the House after a failed 2018 bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Terry Van Duyn in District 49.
— Daniel Walton X
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114
85
[MAP]
115
116
117
112
113 SLICES OF PIE: Buncombe County’s redrawn North Carolina House districts for 2020 give each a more even mix of urban and rural areas. 6
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
MOUNTAINX.COM
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 114
SUSAN C. FISHER
District 114
INCUMBENT
Democrat
TIM HYATT
LYNDON JOHN SMITH
Republican
Libertarian
Website: ElectSusanFisher.org Occupation: Legislator Previous candidacy or offices held: Chair, Asheville City Board of Education Key endorsements: N.C. Association of Educators, Sierra Club, Equality NC, National Association of Social Workers, Lillian’s List Amount of money raised: $20,000 Top three donors: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, $5,400
Website: None Occupation: Retired/Disability Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: None Amount of money raised: $150 Top three donors: Self, $100; Mark Crawford, $50
All of Buncombe County’s recently redrawn House districts include a broader mix of urban and rural areas. How will these new boundaries influence your approach to representing your constituents?
My redrawn district is very similar to how my district was drawn at the time I was first elected in 2004. My approach will be to be as responsive to everyone in the entire county as I can be, which is the same way I have approached the job from the beginning.
It won’t. I will represent all fairly.
Elected officials are bound to vote the preferences of our constituents. A more diverse constituency does present challenges, but the task remains the same: to listen, learn and best represent the interest of our community. Balanced consideration of the issues and a focus on enabling a free market will be the guiding principle of my service.
Candidates elected this year will draw new electoral district lines for North Carolina based on the 2020 census. What would be the fairest process for drawing those district boundaries, and how would you advocate for that process?
I co-sponsored an early bipartisan bill, which passed the House and failed in the Senate, calling for a nonpartisan redistricting commission. That is the process that I continue to support. I look forward to co-sponsoring a similar bill in the next biennium of the N.C. House.
I would advocate for the future boundaries based on the needs indicated in the census and from input from the constituents instead of using these boundaries to gain votes.
District lines should be drawn by a nonpartisan independent commission with 100% transparency and accountability. Members of the commission should be tasked to draw districts based on clear criteria and be devoid of all partisan and racial considerations. Contiguous, rational borders for districts will induce trust and reinforce a diverse vested community of voters. Equally as important is to keep money out of politics, which is why I do not accept campaign contributions.
What further state-based COVID-19 relief efforts are appropriate, given the likely long-term damage of the pandemic on the local economy?
More aid to front-line workers in the form of pay, increased broadband accessibility, aid to small businesses in the form of grants similar to what Buncombe County and the city of Asheville have done but on a larger scale and increased resources/pay to schools and school personnel, as well as more aid to county and municipal governments.
Truth, not fear, from the governor to the media. People need to be able to return to their jobs; children need to be able to return to school; churches need to be able to return to regular services. It’s time to move forward.
The role of the state throughout the pandemic should be to provide accurate information and guidance and to assist in and facilitate providing medical supplies and services to those in need. The sad reality is the state can’t fairly identify and allocate resources to individual businesses that have been impacted. The state can provide advisory services and training to support recovery efforts through targeted university extension programs accessible to all our farmers and business owners.
What do you see as the state government’s role in promoting racial equity?
We should be looking at ways to remove the vestiges of institutional racism within government and the agencies it oversees, e.g., removal of statues and painful reminders of an oppressive time in our history. We should look to help support cities and counties in their work with regard to racism and racial equity, remove barriers to voting for all people and further examine our criminal justice system to rid that area of government of institutional racism.
Racial equity begins with each individual.
The Declaration of Independence states that we are all created equal. The Constitution is amended to ensure that every citizen has the same opportunities and is treated equally under law. Socioeconomic determinism and racial inequality have old and deep roots, and it is the government’s duty to remove systemic inequities. It is critical as well to hold all government functions, services and officials accountable for implementation of this fundamental standard.
North Carolina is one of nine states with a legal restriction against third-party power sales. What legislation would you support to improve consumer access to renewable energy and fight climate change?
Over the past decade, the current leadership has successfully taken North Carolina from its position as one of the top producers of solar energy in favor of traditional power sources. We need to revive incentives for renewable energy companies and individuals to promote the creation and installation of alternative energy sources in our state. I look forward to continuing this effort with new, more forward-thinking leadership in the state House.
Any legislation that includes a plan to make all energy a clean and reliable source of usable energy.
It goes against the spirit of the Constitution to limit innovation and prevent citizens from choosing how they receive services. A third-party power sales ban is wrong. Legislation removing barriers to entry for innovative solutions to complex problems is what’s needed. Removing subsidies and unfair contractual advantages for large power companies, requiring them to repair the damage to our environment — both past and ongoing — would level the playing field for eco-friendly companies to flourish.
0 20 02 2 20
Website: None Occupation: COO/Self-employed Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: None Amount of money raised: None Top three donors: N/A
Hyatt did not provide a candidate photo.
THE QUESTIONS
MOUNTAINX.COM
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 115
N.C. House of Representatives Continued
JOHN AGER INCUMBENT
Democrat
MARK CRAWFORD Republican
Website: ElectJohnAger.org Occupation: Farmer Previous candidacy or offices held: N.C. House District 115 Key endorsements: N.C. Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Police Benevolent Society (PBA), Sierra Club, NC Association of Educators (NCAE), State Employee Association of NC (SEANC) Amount of money raised: $70,000 Top three donors: Fred Stanback, $5,400; Ron Edgerton, $5,200; Rich Wasch, $2,500
Website: None Occupation: Teacher Previous candidacy or offices held: Past member, N.C. House of Representatives Key endorsements: Grass Roots North Carolina, N.C. Right To Life, and past endorsements of the Fraternal Order of Police, Police Benevolent Association, and State Employee Association of North Carolina Amount of money raised: $30,000 Top three donors: J. L. Kirk, $500; M.A. Durand, $200; Self, $200
All of Buncombe County’s recently redrawn House districts include a broader mix of urban and rural areas. How will these new boundaries influence your approach to representing your constituents?
My redrawn District 115 does include more suburban and urban voters than before, but I have always represented my district as if it were Buncombe County as a whole. As a buy-local farm (Hickory Nut Gap), our sales go to restaurants and retail outlets in Asheville. Most of our outlying workers drive into urban areas for employment. Rather than emphasize the urban/rural divide in North Carolina, I believe in trying to bridge those divisions to the economic and cultural benefit of everyone.
I have always sought to represent my constituents 100% equally, no matter where they live, who they are or their personal politics. I state this based on my past service in the N.C. House of Representatives and use this as the example on which I stand.
Candidates elected this year will draw new electoral district lines for North Carolina based on the 2020 census. What would be the fairest process for drawing those district boundaries, and how would you advocate for that process?
I have been appalled by the manipulation that has gone on in drawing political boundaries in North Carolina. If our elections cannot be free and fair, how can we expect our government to be free and fair? I would be in favor of introducing an End the Gerrymander bill on day one of our 2021 long session. That bill would allow for the least possible involvement by the N.C. General Assembly. The League of Women Voters has come up with the parameters for the best outcome.
In 2001, when I was serving in the N.C. House of Representatives, when then-Rep. Larry Justus introduced one redistricting plan for the N.C. House, I was the ONLY representative, on either side of the aisle, to stand up and call for totally impartial drawing of districts. The former Buncombe legislative districts redrawn last year are now just as gerrymandered as they were previously, but for different reasons: the principles of “overvoting,” lack of minority party representation, etc.
What further state-based COVID-19 relief efforts are appropriate, given the likely long-term damage of the pandemic on the local economy?
The glaring failure has been our unemployment insurance system. In 2013, UI was changed to become the stingiest among all the states, both in money paid and duration of benefits. We will need to look at help for local governments as their budgets are strained. The Department of Transportation will need financial help as gas tax revenues have fallen. And I would like to see lowinterest loans available to small businesses teetering on bankruptcy.
I believe the greatest and most useful state-based COVID-19 relief efforts would be in the form of enhanced and greater numbers and speed of tests, increasing the availability of any resources which actually have been proved to assist in recovery (e.g., blood plasma with antibodies, etc.), provision of personal protection gear and ongoing economic assistance wherever possible.
What do you see as the state government’s role in promoting racial equity?
Our racial attitudes are primarily matters of the heart that we all need to confront. That being said, the NCGA should take the leadership in promoting equity among all of our citizens. State hiring practices should be colorblind. We need to build on the success of our HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities). The NCGA needs to partner with minority churches to find ways to promote public safety and deliver social services. And we need a higher minimum wage and Medicaid expansion.
From our Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our state government’s role is simply to treat all persons equally and protect all citizens’ lives, liberties and their abilities to conduct their respective pursuits of happiness.
North Carolina is one of nine states with a legal restriction against third-party power sales. What legislation would you support to improve consumer access to renewable energy and fight climate change?
Balancing reliable power, the Duke electric monopoly and renewable energy third-party sales is a challenge for the legislative process. North Carolina had robust incentives to promote solar installations, resulting in a state No. 2 in the U.S. for solar power generation. We have lost much of that momentum. Easing restrictions on third-party sales will be a start, and we should actually take a look at the pros and cons of maintaining Duke’s monopoly. The climate crisis needs to inform much of our work in 2021.
I am proud that my father, long before it was popular to do so, installed solar heating on our home back in the late 1970s. I am a supporter of everyone’s right to generate power from their own resources, so I envision generation of power as a product, like any other product in our economy, and it should be able to be marketed/traded/ exchanged like any other commodity or commercial product. So, I support these activities pursuing renewable energy and conservation.
Districts 115-116 0 20 02 2 20
THE QUESTIONS
8
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
MOUNTAINX.COM
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 116
ERIC BURNS Republican Website: None Occupation: N/A Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: None Amount of money raised: N/A Top three donors: N/A Burns did not provide a candidate photo.
BURNS DID NOT SUBMIT ANSWERS TO THE XPRESS VOTER GUIDE BY THE PRINT DEADLINE.
BRIAN TURNER INCUMBENT
Democrat
Website: TurnerForNCHouse.com Occupation: Commercial Realtor Previous candidacy or offices held: Currently serving third term representing House District 116 Key endorsements: Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, State Employee Association of North Carolina, Police Benevolent Association, Equality NC Amount of money raised: $100,000 Top three donors: Dean Debnam, $5,400; Fred Stanback, $5,400; Mack Pearsall, $5,400
Not much will change with my approach to representing the community. I will continue to hold town halls when possible and actively listen to the constituents I represent so that I can make the best decisions possible when I’m in Raleigh. Many of the challenges we face, such as better funding for public education, climate change, food insecurity and access to broadband, aren’t rural or urban issues; they are issues that affect all of us. Every term that I have served in the minority, I have supported independent redistricting. Last year, I was the primary sponsor of bipartisan House Bill 69, which calls for independent and nonpartisan redistricting. If I am in the majority next year, I will still believe that independent redistricting is critical to a functioning democracy and politicians should never be in charge of drawing their own maps. First of all, every North Carolinian should have access to affordable and reliable broadband. In a COVID-19 world, remote learning and working from home are realities, not luxuries, and we need to make sure there is an even playing field. Secondly, North Carolina has one of the most meager unemployment benefit systems in the country. The Republican majority slashed benefits from a $535 weekly maximum for 26 weeks to a $350 weekly maximum for 12 weeks. Third, we need to expand Medicaid immediately. We need to recognize that many of our state and local laws, policies and programs have racial bias built into them. North Carolina should develop a tool to audit our policies and programs for bias. In auditing our own policies, we could ensure we are rooting out bias written into everything from how we fund education and home financing programs to purchasing and contracting. We could provide this tool to local government bodies to assess and remove bias written into their own policies and programs. We are repeatedly told that free market competition benefits the consumer. If that is true, there should be no objection to third-party sales of electricity. I think giving people choices in how and from what sources they receive their power could support the adoption of renewable energy. This is why I co-sponsored House Bill 245, which would allow for third-party sales of electricity in North Carolina.
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Anthony Penland for Commissioner
Our Home... Buncombe County NC is my life long home.
As a public servant for 30 years I have taken risks for others and dedicated my life to the safety of our community. As Commissioner, I will continue the same level of dedication to your quality of life.
Anthony Penland Focused on Our Future www.anthonyfordistrict2.org MOUNTAINX.COM
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE COMMISSION CHAIR
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners The last time Democrats held complete control of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners was 2012, when state legislation introduced by then-Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, broke the county into districts and led to the election of three Republicans. New district lines now in play for the 2020 election won’t completely reverse that change, but they’re likely to come close. Moffitt’s law required board districts to follow the same boundaries as those of Buncombe’s state House seats. Those lines, redrawn last year, give each district a substantial slice of heavily Democratic Asheville. Previously, all Asheville voters were packed into District 1, giving Republicans proportionally greater say in more rural Districts 2 and 3. When the entire county is considered, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 30,000. Republican incumbents Joe Belcher and Anthony Penland thus find themselves in demographically challenging contests. Penland, who was appointed in March to fill the District 2 vacancy left by the late Commissioner Mike Fryar, faces Democratic incumbent Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, who had previously represented District 1. Fryar won his 2016 race against Democrat Nancy Nehls Nelson under the more favorable old lines by slightly more than 300 votes. Belcher’s District 3 opponent is Democrat Parker Sloan, a first-time candidate with the endorsement of local party figures such as Sheriff Quentin Miller and Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger. Sloan bested Donna Ensley by over 1,400 votes in the March Democratic primary; Ensley herself had previously proven a strong candidate in the old District 3, losing to incumbent Republican Robert Pressley by fewer than 700 votes in 2018. Pressley’s seat remains secure through 2022, so at least one Republican will stay on the board if Belcher and Penland are ousted. But Pressley is also taking a shot at the chair position held by Democrat Brownie Newman. His chances may be suggested by the 2018 countywide election for sheriff, in which Miller trounced Republican Shad Higgins with over 61% of the vote. 10
BROWNIE NEWMAN INCUMBENT
Democrat
ROBERT PRESSLEY Republican
Website: BrownieNewman.com Occupation: Solar energy sector Previous candidacy or offices held: Elected to Buncombe County Board of Commissioners District 1 in 2012. Elected Commission Chair in 2016. Previously served two terms on Asheville City Council. Key endorsements: Equality NC, N.C. Sierra Club, Buncombe County Education Association, Asheville City Association of Educators Amount of money raised: $22,000 Top three donors: Mack Pearsall, $3,000; Ken Brame, $1,000; Barry Evans, $1,000
Website: RobertPressley.net Occupation: Retired Previous candidacy or offices held: Current Buncombe County commissioner serving second term Key endorsements: The citizens of Buncombe County Amount of money raised: $33,000 Top three donors: Tom Thrash, $2,500; Mike Summey, $2,000; Toby Cole, $2,000
How will you work as the chair of a board with significant ideological diversity to conduct county business while ensuring all viewpoints are respected?
As commission chair for the past four years, I have managed our meetings in a manner that allows all commissioners’ voices to be heard and for a full and open discussion of the issues. One result of this is that our meetings are longer, but it is worth it to ensure commissioners can get their questions answered and share their perspectives.
As chair of the board, it would be my obligation to represent the entirety of Buncombe County. I would do that with the best interests of everyone involved. Voting would be the result of working together with fellow commissioners, with decisions made in the chamber and not behind closed doors.
What approaches will you take to keep Buncombe County county fiscally healthy amid the COVID-19 recession?
Buncombe County has had the lowest rates of COVID-19 of any metropolitan county in North Carolina. We were the first county to declare a public health emergency and to cancel nonessential gatherings. These early actions helped keep cases lower. Of the 100 counties in the state, we were the second to require masks and face coverings for indoor environments. This has also helped reduce COVID-19 transmission. All Republican commissioners voted against the face mask policy.
One of the exciting results of recovery will be the increases in our sales tax from consumer confidence. Article 39 (a portion of our sales tax) goes to fund our school capital projects. So I will do what I can to safely assist our small businesses and families in Buncombe County to improve their fiscal and financial well being.
How should Buncombe County direct the Sheriff’s Office in response to community discussions around defunding or reimagining the police?
We are fortunate to have Quentin Miller as sheriff in our county, a progressive person and the first African American elected to this role. He has enacted policies to require officers to intervene if they see inappropriate or dangerous behavior from fellow officers. We are working now to reform the 911 system to create the capacity to dispatch mental health and social workers for calls where these staff would be better to respond than a traditional officer with a gun.
Unlike my opponent, I recently voted to fund a matching federal grant that assisted the sheriff’s office in helping reduce the jail population. As the board chair, I would be concerned about the direction of Asheville City Council and Asheville Police Department defunding discussions. The safety of ALL citizens of every community in Buncombe County would be my priority, and I would fund accordingly.
Aside from supporting renewable energy, what specific steps should the county take to manage the impacts of climate change?
Scaling up deployment of renewable energy is the most important action to address the climate crisis. We must close the existing power plants that burn coal and gas and replace them with renewables (coupled with storage) as soon as possible. Doing this within the next two decades requires us to increase renewable deployment about 10 times over current rates. We also need to electrify our vehicle fleets, improve community transit and locate future growth in transit- and pedestrian-friendly areas.
I would use my influence to work with commissioners and leaders at the state and national level to protect Buncombe County and its beauty.
What one board decision in the past year would you have handled differently if it had been left entirely up to you?
I opposed the additional funding to expand the drug interdiction team at the sheriff’s department, but we lost that vote on a 5-2 vote. If it were up to me, I would have redirected those funds toward addressing chronic homelessness.
I would have abstained from voting for any politically motivated resolution.
The only race not featuring an incumbent is for District 1. Political newcomer Terri Wells, a farmer from Sandy Mush, represents the Democratic side of the ballot and is opposed by Republican business owner Glenda Weinert. Weinert previously ran in 2018 against Democrat Amanda Edwards to represent District 2, losing by over 4,200 votes.
— Daniel Walton X
THE QUESTIONS
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 1
Special thanks to the following readers
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners
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GLENDA WEINERT Republican
Website: TerriWellsForCommissioner. com Occupation: Director of community and agricultural programs, WNC Communities Previous candidacy or offices held: First-time candidate Key endorsements: Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville City Association of Educators, WNC Sierra Club, Equality NC, and farmers across Buncombe County Amount of money raised: $40,889, with more than 180 people contributing Top three donors: Patricia Campbell, $2,050; Bernard Arghiere, $2,000; Kevin Jones, $1,200
All of Buncombe County’s recently redrawn commission districts include a broader mix of urban and rural areas. How will these new boundaries influence your approach to representing your constituents?
It is important as a commissioner to represent all constituents. Regardless of the boundaries, all members of our district must be fairly represented. The boundaries will not change how I represent anyone that lives in my district.
I have a record of working respectfully with diverse groups of people to get goals accomplished. My deep roots in our rural farming community, as well as my experience working with the Asheville City Schools Foundation, will serve me well in bringing people together to work toward a broad vision that includes strong schools, economic opportunity, improved transportation, high-quality broadband internet, affordable housing, recreational opportunities and conservation of our natural resources.
What approaches will you take to keep Buncombe County county fiscally healthy amid the COVID-19 recession?
I will work to open our county safely so that all businesses can work to be restored. While it is critical to be safe, it is critical to reopen our county. We must help our business community start to regain its stability.
I will use my oversight and budget management experience to ensure that we provide the funding to keep all necessary county services operating with efficiency and effectiveness. As commissioner, I will ensure that we always review each budget with a strategic lens to assess how best to invest county funds in our community to improve the lives of our residents while maintaining a strong fiscal foundation that will allow us to maintain solid services even through challenging times.
How should Buncombe County direct the Sheriff’s Office in response to community discussions around defunding or reimagining the police?
I believe it is critical to defend the police, not defund them. Training is critical; we should focus on more resources for police, not less. The safety and well-being of our constituents is our responsibility.
By a wide margin, people throughout Buncombe County elected Sheriff Miller to provide professional oversight and public safety. As commissioner, I will work with Sheriff Miller to ensure that our sheriff’s office is providing equitable, just and professional services to protect and serve everyone. We must include the community in these important conversations about policing. It is incumbent upon all of us to work together to ensure that all of our citizens feel safe and supported.
Aside from supporting renewable energy, what specific steps should the county take to manage the impacts of climate change?
County commissioners should always take into consideration anything that impacts our community and the resources it requires to meet those demands.
I will ensure that we proactively work as a community to mitigate the impacts of climate change. We must have a broad vision. We can implement carbon sequestration by conserving large intact forests and by using soil conservation practices. Expanding broadband will reduce vehicle miles traveled and emissions, in addition to many other benefits. As a commissioner, I will also push to implement the best management practices for transportation and planning to support our community’s sustainability.
What one board decision in the past year would you have handled differently if it had been left entirely up to you?
We need a commission that is open and transparent. I’ve observed a tremendous number of decisions being made before they come to the floor. I also believe we need to allow more public discussions.
It is clear to me that the Waste Pro contract and services do not provide the necessary benefits to our county residents. I would have carefully assessed the contract and raised specific questions.There are multiple valid reasons that residents are not satisfied with the service. As someone who considers various perspectives and tries to think of unintended consequences, I realize that a one-size-fits-all approach to waste management across Buncombe County is unlikely to meet our varied needs.
District 1 0 20 02 2 20
Anna Schulz Bob Hinkle Brooke Heaton Carol Stangler Carrie Frye Carroll Oursler Cassie Dillon Charles Jansen
THE QUESTIONS
Dawn Chavez Deborah James Emil Revala Gretchen Henn Inge Durre Jennifer Murphy Jim Duffy Joe Lawrence John White Judy Kerlee Kevin Heslin Larry Thompson Lew Gelfond Linda Tatsapaugh Michele Bryan Rebecca Ash Rob Mikulak Robin Lenner Rod Douglas Rodney Bossert Sarah Christy Simone Bernhard Sondra Dorn Stephen Goldman Victor Dostrow Virginia Daffron Wendy Bell
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Democrat
Website: GlendaPWeinert.com Occupation: Business owner Previous candidacy or offices held: Candidate for Buncombe County commissioner Key endorsements: Commissioner Robert Pressley Amount of money raised: $30,000 Top three donors: D&T Luck
Amie Paul Blaise deFranceaux
TERRI WELLS
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 2 JASMINE BEACH-FERRARA ANTHONY PENLAND
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners
INCUMBENT
Republican
Website: JasmineForBuncombe.org Occupation: Executive director, Campaign for Southern Equality Previous candidacy or offices held: Buncombe County commissioner Key endorsements: WNC Labor Council, Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville City Association of Educators, Sierra Club, Equality NC Amount of money raised: Approximately $28,000 Top three donors: Bernard Arghiere, $2,000; Brownie Newman, $1,500; Jeffrey Cooper, $1,000
Website: AnthonyForDistrict2.org Occupation: Fire chief Previous candidacy or offices held: Buncombe County commissioner Key endorsements: Woodfin Mayor Jerry VeHaun, Southern States Police Benevolent Association Amount of money raised: $7,664.19 Top three donors: Edward Harwood, $1,000; George Morosani, $1,000; Jerry VeHaun, $500
All of Buncombe County’s recently redrawn commission districts include a broader mix of urban and rural areas. How will these new boundaries influence your approach to representing your constituents?
It’s an honor to listen to the stories of Buncombe County residents from across District 2. My approach to representing constituents will remain consistent — it starts by listening closely, especially to impacted communities; researching best practices on policy issues; and working with key stakeholders to develop local solutions that work for people in our community.
The new boundaries will not have any influence in how I represent a county citizen. Each citizen will be represented to the best of my ability no matter their location throughout Buncombe County.
What approaches will you take to keep Buncombe County county fiscally healthy amid the COVID-19 recession?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to vigilantly remain focused on saving lives, safely reopening and helping our community be as resilient as possible during this protracted crisis. Specific measures to keep our county fiscally healthy include leveraging state and federal aid programs and philanthropic funding to support local response efforts and reassessing planned growth in key strategies to assess the most effective and responsible ways to proceed.
A CNBC August 2020 news article is reporting data that begs the question are we in a recession. The housing market is booming, almost bubbling, with a near-record stock market and robust retail sales. But we also know that individuals and businesses are struggling. My approach will be, no matter the circumstances, to make sure we are good stewards of our citizens’ money and to make sure that our decision-making keeps the county financially healthy.
How should Buncombe County direct the Sheriff’s Office in response to community discussions around defunding or reimagining the police?
Buncombe County should work closely with community members — particularly impacted communities — and BCSO leadership to reimagine how public safety services function in our community. I support developing a model of mobile mental health crisis services that are part of 911 response protocols, sustaining the reduced jail population and reinvesting the resulting savings in community programs and taking substantive action to eliminate racial disparities in our local criminal justice system.
I am and will be a big supporter of our law enforcement community. Of all the important topics in our community, we must be reminded that safety and security are part of a person’s basic needs and is one of the most important roles of government. Public safety will be supported by me but will also be held accountable
Aside from supporting renewable energy, what specific steps should the county take to manage the impacts of climate change?
I support increasingly robust efforts to manage the impacts of climate change, including expanding a current project to install solar panels on public infrastructure, adopting resilient community practices related to extreme weather events and migration, collaborating with the city of Asheville to increase access to and use of public transportation and supporting new jobs in the green economy.
Advertisers and marketers have learned that labeling a product “environmentally friendly” sells. I want to examine every possibility so that we may have a positive impact on protecting our environment while also remaining cost effective. Powering our county buildings should bring a cost savings to our citizens, not a burden. My platform of “Focus on our Future” is inclusive of applying commonsense protection to our environment.
What one board decision in the past year would you have handled differently if it had been left entirely up to you?
I don’t think any decision should be left entirely up to a single county commissioner.
The inclusion of all commissioners in the discussion phase of resolution preparation so that questions can be asked prior to the meeting where the resolution will be voted on. There are times when we are just not going to agree on the issues, but there should not be a time when we do not reach out to others.
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THE QUESTIONS
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Incumbent (District 1)
Democrat
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE DISTRICT 3
JOE BELCHER INCUMBENT
Republican Website: BelcherForCommissioner.com Occupation: Retired Previous candidacy or offices held: Buncombe County Board of Commissioners District 3 for 8 years Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Association of Educators, N.C. Manufactured and Modular Home Builders Association Amount of money raised: $7,500 Top three donors: On file at the Board of Elections.
PARKER SLOAN Democrat Website: ElectParkerSloan.com Occupation: Senior community and economic development manager, Cypress Creek Renewables Previous candidacy or offices held: Buncombe County Planning Board member, Buncombe County Democratic Party vice chair Key endorsements: Sheriff Quentin Miller, Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger, Retired Asheville Housing Authority Director Gene Bell, Sierra Club, Equality NC Amount of money raised: $26,000 Top three donors: Mack Pearsall, $2,500; Bernard Arghiere, $2,000; Brownie Newman, $1,500
As an 8-year incumbent I serve the entire county, so I will continue to do so.
Buncombe County is a place that we share — we’re all in this together. We’re blessed with natural beauty and caring people. I am committed to keeping it that way while expanding equity and fighting climate change. I have the skills and experience to lead our commission to adopt the professional planning mindset that we need in order to manage growth and provide for our residents. Everyone deserves access to high-quality housing, education, food resources, recreation, jobs and transportation options.
Continue to support our small businesses and get families back to work. Buncombe County received a large share of sales tax, and part of it is used for school capital needs, so it is important to safely move back to consumer confidence countywide. I expect as our numbers improve we will rebound quickly. That is the mountain culture: come together and move forward.
Promoting recognition that working together to contain the virus is key to our economic and physical health. Monitoring our budget and reassessing spending to ensure we provide essential services. Continuing advocacy for proven preventative measures (masking and the 3 Ws), investment from Dogwood Health Trust and federal assistance for virus containment and dayto-day essentials for our residents. Compassionate, equitable approach to addressing disparities made worse by the pandemic and federal failures.
I will continue to practically support the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office. As a commissioner, my job is to fund the office; it is the sheriff’s responsibility to run that office. I think many entry-level pay positions should even be increased to retain and attract the best people. I have voted to fund an extensive training facility for all our first responders and will continue to do so.
Work with the community and the sheriff’s office to get clear on what we want from officers, what services we want them to provide, at what standards, and what services others can provide. LEOs are public servants who work for and within our community. I support the CAHOOTS model for dispatching medical professionals to provide safe, effective response to nonviolent substance abuse and mental health emergencies. I look forward to input from our sheriff, who has proposed a “police as guardians” model.
I voted for the two largest solar investments in Buncombe County. One is a joint venture with Duke Power on the old landfill, and the most recent is to install solar on 47 Buncombe County buildings and schools. I believe we all should be good stewards of God’s creation, and I intend to support policy that mirrors that view.
I’ll get our county to 100% renewable energy by 2024 (not 2030) and leverage my solar policy and development experience and our county’s successful solar requests for proposals to decarbonize our community before 2042. Expand broadband, implement community-based planning and multimodal design — all of which reduce vehicle miles traveled and emissions and improve equity. Lack of planning expertise on the commission has hurt us. We’ve missed opportunities to mitigate climate change and protect our waterways.
We voted to include $200,000 to begin the “One Buncombe Fund” for COVID-19 relief. If it was up to me, I would have funded more (up to $1 million) for job recovery and small business protection. Because the need was so great in Buncombe County, I did work with the legislature and local hotel association to fund $5 million in the Buncombe County Jobs Recovery Act, which benefited 360 tourism-related businesses and put 4,800 people back to work safely.
I’d have jump-started the doubling of affordable housing in our county by proposing an Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance for review by the county’s Affordable Housing Committee, and then lobbied fellow commissioners to adopt it. The policy would require the creation of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households by requiring developers to construct a percentage of units to be sold or rented below market prices. It’s a fair, effective policy that somehow isn’t on the commissioners’ radar.
Find your sample ballot To find sample ballots and check voter registration status, visit the N.C. State Board of Elections voter search website at
avl.mx/6nq • Users must enter their full name and voter status. After searching, the system will display a list of matching names. Selecting your name takes you to a page with sample ballots (located in the top left corner under “11/03/20 GENERAL”), the address of your election day polling place and the jurisdictions of your representatives. If you voted absentee, this page also shows the status of your ballot. • If your name does not show up, you are not registered to vote in North Carolina. If you believe this is an error, contact your county Board of Elections. • Each county Board of Elections also has sample ballots available on its website. Voters are encouraged to fill one out in advance to minimize time spent in a polling place.
ELECTION INFORMATION YOU NEED
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE AT-LARGE
Buncombe County Board of Education In a normal year, the Buncombe County Board of Education would spend its meetings considering school budget requests and policies for student behavior. But members have instead found themselves thrust into the contentious debate surrounding how schools should approach their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic. That issue has sharply divided the board in recent months. On July 28, plans for some students to start the year with in-person instruction passed 4-3; after a 5-2 vote on Sept. 10 to bring all pupils back to the classroom, the board changed course on Sept. 17, voting 4-3 to stick with virtual high school through at least the end of the fall semester. Another 4-3 vote on Oct. 1 directed high schoolers to return two days per week starting Monday, Oct. 19. Voters will have a chance to shift the nonpartisan board’s approach to school reopening and other issues in November, with two seats up for election. In the Owen District, incumbent Peggy Buchanan, who cast the deciding vote in the Oct. 1 decision, faces challengers Everett D. Pittillo, a business manager, and Linda Tatsapaugh, a summer camp administrator. (Although board positions are assigned to represent different districts, all county citizens vote for all seats.)
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At-large member Donna Pate, who also voted for in-person instruction, is not seeking another term on the board. Running to fill her spot are two former teachers: Amanda Simpkins and Mark Watman.
— Daniel Walton X
AMANDA SIMPKINS Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
Website: Facebook.com/ ElectAmandaSimpkins Occupation: Currently a real estate agent, formerly a high school mathematics educator Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Board of Education at-large member Donna Pate Amount of money raised: None Top three donors: N/A
MARK WATMAN Unaffiliated
(Personal voter registration)
Website: ElectWatman.com Occupation: Buncombe County substitute
teacher Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: This is a nonpartisan race. All the students, teachers and staff at the schools where I have worked Amount of money raised: None Top three donors: Self, $700
THE QUESTIONS What aspect of Buncombe County Schools most needs improvement, and how will you address that need?
We need to continue to work toward equity in our district. The truth is that schools shouldn’t be being funded solely based on enrollment. Many of our schools and districts have higher needs than others. This needs to be taken more seriously to bridge the gap across Buncombe County.
The school’s current crisis plan only covers external threats. There is no organized plan or policy to deal with an internal crisis due to social, psychological or behavioral events that cause a major disruption of the school day. The source of this disruption could be from an event originating inside or outside of the school. This would involve counseling and support for students and staff at the beginning, during and potentially after school. I would assist in amending the crisis plan.
How can Buncombe County best prepare for further disruption to schooling due to COVID-19 or other challenges?
We need to continue to follow the data and make databased decisions with regard to returning to the classroom. Our local health department needs to be weighing in. Plans for many different scenarios need to be made.
Fortunately, the county’s numbers are dropping. We may be able to go to an every-other-day A/B schedule, combined with remote learning, to get students closer to daily attendance. If it turns out that many of our students have fallen significantly behind with their academic progress, we may have to consider an alternative to the current school calendar to get them caught up.
What priorities will you set in future education budget requests to a county with reduced revenues due to the COVID-19 recession?
My priorities are funding for equity across the county and better funding our BCS teachers and staff so that we can retain our top-tier employees and stop losing them to other districts and states.
As we emerge from the effects of COVID-19, there will be some short-term shortfalls. There are several possibilities to fund these deficits, and none of them are popular. They will evoke a strong reaction from taxpayers. Things like deficit borrowing, selling short-term bonds, briefly cutting back on some academic and extracurricular programs and possibly a time-limited raise in taxes. We also need to seek alternative sources of revenue, including available grants.
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MARGARET (PEGGY) BUCHANAN INCUMBENT
Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
Website: None Occupation: Retired registered nurse and
clergy Previous candidacy or offices held: Currently on Buncombe County Board of Education Key endorsements: None Amount of money raised: None Top three donors: N/A
EVERETT D. PITTILLO Republican
(Personal voter registration)
Website: ElectEverettDPittillo.com Occupation: Business manager Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: None Amount of money raised: $20 Top three donors: N/A
LINDA TATSAPAUGH Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
Website: LindaForSchoolBoard.com Occupation: Summer camp administrator Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: Buncombe County Association of Educators, Julie Mayfield, Jan Blunt Amount of money raised: $1,756 Top three donors: Victoria Rankins, $200; Julie Mayfield, $100; Greg Brisendine, $100
Currently, the biggest issue is getting all students back to school. While this is of prime importance, the safety of the students is first and foremost. I will address that need by listening to all concerned parties, administration, teachers, students and their families and voting on return to school considering all.
Most schools within the county are becoming outdated due to age. Because of their age, this has also caused overcrowding with the increase of people having moved to our area. Our county is in need of a full-time grant writer to supply funding from sources other than our local government. This will generate necessary revenue to update and build more innovative locations.
Schools need more resources to meet the complex needs of students so that they are ready to learn. This includes increased social, emotional and behavioral supports, social workers, counselors and nurses. I will promote inclusion of funds for these in the budget and support strengthened and expanded community partnerships as well.
I am proud of the way the schools responded to the current crisis. I will support all efforts to achieve the best outcomes for our students. I feel we were prepared for our initial response and have learned to use resources to their best advantage.
First and foremost, our board needs to be more transparent. It seems these decisions are being made without first acknowledging staff and parent concerns. Next, the virtual program needs to be implemented with better training and devices for staff and families. Other school districts have long used virtual learning for snow days, giving them a slight edge over our county.
To successfully bring students back into schools, we need adequate health and safety supplies and consistent adherence to sound safety policies. For now, families need the continued option to learn remotely, and we must ensure they have internet access. The school system should continue to develop quality remote learning tools so that, when it is needed, students continue to learn at a high level. At the same time, we need comprehensive plans for safely reopening fully as soon as possible.
Right now, the main concern is safety within our system. So many are unsure about this virus, and everyone should feel safe. Long-term, we need to consider our children and the economic burdens on families due to the recession. All requests need to keep the children and their families as a priority. Eventually, this shall pass, and requests will be made to better our educational processes, having all children treated and taught equally.
We must continue to raise teacher and support staff pay, even if in small increments. We need to meet the mental health needs of students, perhaps with the help of creative partnerships. The arts should not receive disproportionate cuts to other subjects. And we need to scrutinize facility improvements to prioritize the most urgent and necessary.
1. Recruitment and retention of teachers. 2. Improve the safety of our schools. 3. Investigate why students are lost to charter schools and amend our programs where possible.
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Do I need to bring my ID? • Voters will not be required to show photo identification for the 2020 elections, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. State and federal courts have temporarily blocked the state’s photo ID requirement, passed by a statewide referendum in 2018, from taking effect this election cycle. • However, eligible voters registering to vote at a one-stop voting site must provide one of the following: a North Carolina driver’s license or an identity card from the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles; a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or utility bill showing the voter’s name and address; a student photo ID plus a school document showing the student’s address; or any document from a government agency showing the voter’s name and address. • Having trouble? Call the N.C. State Board of Elections at 919-7150135, the Buncombe County Board of Elections at 828-2504200, or 866-OURVOTE, a nonpartisan election support hotline by the nonprofit Election Protection.
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
Asheville City Council Much has changed since the March 3 primary for Asheville City Council. The fiscal fallout of the coronavirus pandemic has mostly scuttled candidates’ support for new taxes to fund city programs such as transit; existing concerns over racial justice and policing have come to dominate the conversation after months of street protests. The political landscape of the Council race has also shifted over the past several months. Activist Nicole Townsend, who had finished fifth in a 10-way nonpartisan primary with over 9,600 votes, withdrew her candidacy in August, citing concerns over COVID-19’s impact on her family and city government’s role “in the continual perpetuation of systemic harm.” And on Sept. 22, attorney Antannette Mosley was sworn in to serve out the remaining term of Vijay Kapoor, one of Council’s most fiscally conservative members. Amid these big developments, the race still promises to bring a significant shake-up to City Hall. With three seats up for election, even if incumbent Keith Young wins another term, he’ll be joined by two new colleagues out of the five-candidate field to replace outgoing Council members Brian Haynes and Julie Mayfield. Two challengers, Kim Roney and Rich Lee, are familiar Asheville faces who have yet to win a seat on Council. The two placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 2017 general election; Lee made his first Council bid in 2015 and finished fourth. Notably, Roney is the only unaffiliated candidate in an otherwise all-Democratic field. New to electoral politics are Sage Turner and Sandra Kilgore.
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However, both have served on various appointed city boards and commissions, and both claim the endorsement of Mayor Esther Manheimer. Turner also led all other candidates in the March primary by over 1,200 votes; Kilgore narrowly made the cutoff for the general election, finishing in sixth over Kristen Goldsmith by about 650 votes.
Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
RICH LEE Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
Website: ElectSandraKilgore.org Occupation: Real estate broker/owner Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: Sierra Club, Former Asheville Housing Authority CEO Gene Bell, Mayor Esther Manheimer, Buncombe County Commissioner Amanda Edwards, Buncombe County Commissioner Al Whitesides Amount of money raised: $11,500 Top three donors: Realtors Political Action Committee, $2,500; Jon Sarver, $500; Kathy Kline and Donna Engley, $250
Website: RichLeeForAsheville.com Occupation: Financial adviser Previous candidacy or offices held: Two previous runs for City Council Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Association of Educators, WNC Central Labor Council, Sierra Club, N.C. Rep. John Ager Amount of money raised: $12,000 Top three donors: My mom and I have each contributed over $1,000. After that, Bernard Arghierre at $800.
How will you manage the city’s budget to maintain quality of life in light of revenue shortfalls driven by COVID-19?
I would recommend we reanalyze the entire budget with Council, the city manager and department leaders. Our goal would be to map out a strategy to ensure the city remains sustainable in light of our present state of uncertainty. The budget for essential services would have to be solidified before determining and prioritizing all other city expenses. It is important for the city to be frugal and maintain a healthy reserve as we move forward in repairing the damage caused by the pandemic.
These times need comprehensive fiscal management, and I think that’s my strength as a candidate. On Council, I would be open to new bonds for capital works, restructuring city departments, selling or leasing city-owned land, building affordable housing and transit partnerships with the county and finding new ways to access the tens of millions in hotel taxes collected by the TDA for local needs.
What actions will you take to fulfill Asheville’s recent commitment to reparations for the Black community?
First, I would reach out to the community to find out what are their most immediate needs and take actions to address those concerns. The community needs to feel that this is not another broken promise and that the city is devoted to reversing the damage caused by decades of systematic racism. We will not be able to change things overnight; however, providing assistance with basic necessities such as health and safety should be our first course of action.
I think the evidence shows it’s possible to reduce the police budget by as much as 50%, if done carefully, and a model of public safety that eschews violence and bias against Black Ashevilleans would be a form of reparations. Other forms should come from a citywide conversation, but I expect they would include a return of land taken during urban renewal, closing the opportunity gap in schools and a robust program of community investment.
How will you reduce the gap in opportunities and academic performance between white and Black students in the Asheville City Schools?
Reducing the achievement gap must be addressed from many angles. My first step would be to restructure the oversight committee to provide more transparency and accountability. Improving early education and preschools is the foundation. We must use proven techniques, such as personalized learning, culturally relevant topics and more profound relationships with the parents. Benchmarks must be put in place to track and monitor student progress for the programs to be successful.
Council can most directly impact the achievement gap by: 1) Moving to an elected school board. I’ve struggled with this for years, but I think it’s time. 2) Addressing factors outside school. That means housing security, community development, safer public housing that’s integrated into the community and building the Black middle class. 3.) Controlling the local school supplement paid by the ACS tax. We like to pretend the city’s responsibility ends with setting the tax rate, but it doesn’t.
How will you ensure progress toward Asheville’s emissions reduction and renewable energy goals as COVID-19 stresses the city budget?
I would like to see the city form more alliances with clean and renewable energy companies. By partnering with them, we can then provide more educational awareness, as well as product incentives that will thereupon increase community utilization. Forging these types of relationships would not only save residents money but would help in reducing emissions immensely.
The good news is the shutdown has done more to reduce Asheville’s carbon output than lots of previous efforts. The bad news is with things reopening into recession, there’s going to be pressure to sacrifice environmental goals for economic ones. Asheville needs to see they’re the same thing. This is a chance to rebuild a greener and a better economy at the same time. Rewriting zoning, creating density around transit, planning trees and green spaces — those are all goods that can come from this.
Buncombe County and state government have a great opportunity to work toward improving the split for the hotel occupancy tax. The hotel industry has offered a 67/33 split; however, I feel the city should pursue more favorable terms. This would also be a good time for the state to consider imposing impact fees on all new construction to assist in the funding of our dilapidated infrastructure while also easing the tax burden on our local residents.
First on my list is transit. The only way to have a truly useful and sustainable bus system is with county support. That would allow routes to run more frequently and extend outside city limits. Next is jointly lobbying the state to redirect hotel taxes to local needs. After that, development standards around tree loss, pollution and stormwater runoff outside the city. A development in Swannanoa floods businesses in Biltmore Village, and it’s time for county zoning to recognize that.
— Daniel Walton X
THE QUESTIONS
What new opportunities for collaboration do you see with Buncombe County and state government?
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SANDRA KILGORE
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
KIM RONEY Unaffiliated
(Personal voter registration)
SAGE TURNER Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
KEITH YOUNG INCUMBENT
Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
Website: KimRoney4Asheville.com Occupation: Piano teacher, service industry worker, community radio producer Previous candidacy or offices held: 2017 candidate for Asheville City Council, 4-year volunteer on Asheville Multimodal Transportation Commission and Transit Committee Key endorsements: Council member Sheneika Smith, Council member Brian Haynes, Rev. Amy Cantrell, Sunrise Movement AVL/NC, Sierra Club Amount of money raised: $16,497 Top three donors: Kendall Wright-Oliver, $2,000; Esther Cartwright, $2,000; Amy Mandell, $500
Website: SageForAsheville.com Occupation: Finance and project manager Previous candidacy or offices held: None Key endorsements: Sierra Club, Mayor Esther Manheimer, Council member and N.C. Senate candidate Julie Mayfield, Asheville and Buncombe Associations of Education, former Buncombe County Democratic Party Chair Emmet Carney Amount of money raised: $23,708 Top three donors: Russell Shuler, $5,400 (in kind), Keith Wright, $5,000 (in kind); Mack Pearsall, $1,000
Website: ElectKeithYoung.com Occupation: Deputy clerk of superior court Previous candidacy or offices held: Asheville City Council Key endorsements: Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund Amount of money raised: $4,400 Top three donors: Bonnie Matherson, $1,500; Albert Sneeden, $1,500; Self, $500
To ensure a just transition through the pandemic, systemic racism, economic instability and climate change, we need to map all our local resources, including our city budget, hotel occupancy taxes and regional funding such as the Dogwood Health Trust. As a Council member, I will instruct staff, welcome public engagement, build coalition and be steady in the work to get our city budget in line with our shared values with healing as our focus, equity as our demand and resiliency as our goal.
Safety first: Let’s get everyone through COVID-19 alive and well-positioned for good long-term health. Home in on our primary goals and take on only emergency initiatives. This means no more studies, consulting contracts or personnel expansions unless funded by external programs. Continue moratorium until lodging taxes are committing more to city needs. Continue to reimagine policing and divest/invest in community needs. Focus on spending down the bonds and building affordable housing.
In light of new revelations from our budget staff, our fund balance will not take as big of a hit as initially expected, thus remaining between 16%-17%. We are in a good position to weather the storm, as well as continuing to take advantage of federal aid that is currently covering a great deal of some of our COVID-related expenses.
In solidarity with Black AVL Demands and the Racial Justice Coalition, I’ll listen and follow through with community-led solutions locally while we work toward [federal reparations bill] HR40 nationally. Local efforts may include a moratorium on the sale of city-owned land acquired through urban renewal, investment in long-term safety strategies and ensuring organizational accountability by having our Office of Equity and Inclusion report directly to Council.
Implement the Reparations Committee to plan and advocate for community goals. Increase prioritization of contracts and business incubation. Much of the lack of equity for Black Asheville is rooted in lack of access to housing and ownership or removal of such through redlining and urban removal. I will put my expertise with housing, affordability, homeownership, programs and funding opportunities to work to restore ownership and entrepreneurship and create equity.
My next initiative, which I’m currently working on, will be to establish a blended component unit and a permanent or restricted fund to establish a permanent funding solution that will fund reparations in perpetuity and take advantage of public and private donations from a myriad of parties.
We need investment in long-term safety strategies that serve students in every part of life, including housing, transit, expanded hours for community centers and mentorship partnerships, including Word on the Street, My Sistah Taught Me That/My Daddy Taught Me That, YTL: Youth Transformed for Life and Hood Huggers. To support culturally competent education with a traumainformed approach, we must consider an elected Board of Education held accountable to equitable outcomes.
We need to work on the factors that bookend the school day and impact children’s ability to learn and be at their best, including housing and food security, access to the internet and assistance with virtual schooling. Continue to provide grant funds for orgs helping impacted youth. Move the school board to elected seats, reinstate joint meetings of Council and the school board and request quarterly updates on the gap, initiatives, results and needs.
By continuing to support the joint venture established by the city of Asheville, community and the school system. Also, by supporting our Community Development Block Grant/Strategic Partnership Funds funding process through an equity lens that suggests funding community resources specifically tailored to closing the achievement gap. (Since we are prohibited from funding the school system directly.)
Climate change is the biggest public safety issue of our time! We need a Green New Deal with a race and class analysis and to act on the Cadmus [100% renewable energy] report with appropriate urgency. I didn’t support the recent suggested tax increase because of potential impact on renters; however, I’m ready to lead our next bond program through public engagement, community partnerships and creative protections for renters and local businesses as we work to heal people and planet.
Continuing to implement the Transit Master Plan and solar initiatives. Await changes in lodging tax legislation before changing hotel rules to assist in funding for transit and a workforce shuttle. Upzoning all residential zones within 0.5 miles of transit corridors to multifamily. Repairing and increasing electric vehicle infrastructure using available grant money. Updating the UDO to induce better planning and reduced reliance on personal vehicles. Fare-free transit periods to increase ridership.
This is definitely tough, considering the tight squeeze on finances. However, I’m inclined to follow the recommendations of our sustainability department and listen to our partners in the community that have a foothold and track record for doing this type of work. Also, continuing to utilize federal funding to leverage upgrading our fleet of buses with hybrids that have better emissions standards. (Because of terrain and other factors, electric buses have sadly been a struggle here.)
We have to collaborate for a Green New Deal as we secure our food and water systems; support local, livingwage jobs; partner for resilient neighborhoods; restore our tree canopy; and increase accessibility to economic mobility. We’ll coordinate planning and zoning for deeply affordable housing on transit corridors, overhaul the TDA and reform our hotel occupancy tax and build coalition for community renewables legislation! Join the movement to Be ‘Bout it Being Better at kimroney4asheville.com.
City and county partner on: return to paratransit and transit support pledge; on LUIG (Land Use Incentive Grants) to create affordable housing in the city; building of a new public housing community and redevelopment of existing public housing communities every 4 years; on policies for short term rentals. City/NC: Recovery funding; lodging tax and restrictions, vacancy tax on second homes, inclusionary zoning, municipal transit tax, banning plastic bags, tax increment financing, Green New Deal.
Civilian review boards for police accountability, reparations, public transportation, tax allocations, TDA structure and allocations and extraterritorial jurisdiction review.
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NICOLE TOWNSEND Townsend will appear on the ballot but announced that she was dropping out of the race in August.
Voter guides beyond Buncombe This year’s ballot covers far more than the local — and let’s face it, Xpress can’t do it all. The following nonpartisan voter guides offer information and candidate profiles for state and national races: • Vote411, a bilingual voter guide sponsored by the League of Women Voters, can be personalized to match your sample ballot. avl.mx/8im • Democracy NC offers a comprehensive guide to state races in both English and Spanish. avl.mx/8in • Common Cause NC’s 2020 Voter Guide breaks down each candidate’s responses to questions by issue. avl.mx/8is • The NC Values Coalition has teamed up with iVoterGuide to create a nonpartisan voter guide that scores candidates on their adherence to “life, family and religious freedoms.” avl.mx/8iv • The N.C. State Board of Elections 2020 Judicial Voter Guide focuses solely on the 16 candidates running for seats on the NC Supreme Court and the NC Court of Appeals. avl.mx/8io
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
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2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors 0 20 02 2 20
Near the bottom of this year’s ballot lies a position that’s literally down to earth. The Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors manages programs to conserve Buncombe County’s natural resources, from rivers and streams to quality farmland. Three of the board’s five seats are elected positions, but only one is up for election in 2020. Incumbent Gary Higgins, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Foster in February, is making his first run for office after a nearly four-decade history as a civil servant in county soil and water conservation. Opposing Higgins is perennial candidate Alan Ditmore, who has run unsuccessfully for a Board of Supervisors or Buncombe County Board of Education seat in every election since 2008. Ditmore did not respond to multiple requests for participation in the Xpress voter guide. However, his previous campaigns have repeatedly proclaimed a belief that contraception and abortion, through preventing human overpopulation, are the most effective means of protecting the environment.
ALAN DITMORE
INCUMBENT
Unaffiliated
Democrat
(Personal voter registration)
Website: N/A Occupation: N/A Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A Key endorsements: N/A Amount of money raised: N/A Top three donors: N/A Ditmore did not provide a candidate photo.
(Personal voter registration)
Website: None Occupation: Retired from Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District Previous candidacy or offices held: Presently serving as chair of the Buncombe SWCD Board of Supervisors Key endorsements: None Amount of money raised: None Top three donors: None
THE QUESTIONS How can the local work of the Soil and Water Conservation District support broader efforts for environmental protection and climate change?
DITMORE DID NOT RESPOND TO MULTIPLE REQUESTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE XPRESS VOTER GUIDE.
The Buncombe SWCD assists landowners with planning, designing and installation of soil and water conservation practices that result in increased resilience to climate change. This includes conservation practices that conserve and retain water. The district is participating in the WNC Carbon Farm Planning Pilot, which is a regional effort promoting agricultural weather resilience at the farm level. The program will use computer-based programs that will document on-farm carbon sequestration.
What new collaborative opportunities do you see for Soil and Water given the district’s recent merger with the Buncombe County Center of N.C. Cooperative Extension?
The recent change was primarily administrative and will allow one county director to oversee two separate departments. The Agriculture and Land Resources Department director works with both the SWCD and Cooperative Extension, but there has not been a merger (meaning that there is now just one department). Both departments will continue to direct their separate programs. We might anticipate some increased collaboration, but at this time, I am not aware of any specific steps that are planned.
How will you make the district’s work more visible to the public?
I will promote a strong environmental education and marketing program which includes utilizing the county website, social media, newsletters and other outreach. We need to make a strong effort to reach out to local media to tell our story and let the general public know what we do every day to protect our soil resources and water quality. We have a lot of good projects and initiatives that we need to publicize more effectively.
— Daniel Walton X
Vote by mail 20
GARY HIGGINS
2020 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE
• If you’d like to vote by mail, request an absentee ballot through the N.C. State Board of Elections’ online ballot request portal (avl.mx/8ii) or by filling out and submitting an absentee ballot request form (avl.mx/8ij) by mail. All forms must be returned to the corresponding county Board of Elections by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27; request forms can be mailed, emailed, faxed or delivered to the county election office in person by the voter or a near relative.
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• When your ballot arrives, follow the enclosed directions. You must mark the ballot in the presence of a witness, who must sign the absentee ballot envelope upon completion. • The completed absentee ballot can be mailed back to the county Board of Elections (you will need your own postage stamp) or delivered to any early voting site or the county Board of Elections. An absentee ballot can be delivered
by a near relative, but it must be postmarked or dropped off by 5 p.m on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. Absentee voters can sign up for text or email updates on the status of their ballot through BallotTrax (avl.mx/8il), run through the N.C. State Board of Elections. • Absentee request Spanish can be avl.mx/8ik.
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