The Issues – Where We Stand

I feel that many of the problems facing Buncombe County can be alleviated thru the recruitment and retention of industries that don’t pollute and pay at least a living wage. The county should continue offering economic and tax incentives to recruit jobs that are compatible with our people. The Commission appoints 2 spots to the Economic Development Coalition(EDC) and I will make sure that those appointees agree with the above-stated principles.

We need to all support our public school teachers. I support the Commission’s policy to subsidize local teacher’s pay above what the State provides. I also support finding “out of the box” solutions to specifically assist teachers with affordable housing.

I've worked with an affordable housing non-profit, writing grants, dealing with tax credit projects and managing the actual construction of affordable housing. I know what works and what the pitfalls of affordable housing are. I believe that the solutions are multi-pronged and cannot be solely addressed by government alone but should be a public-private, private and governmental responsibility. One way to get more affordable housing quickly is to use the existing stock of houses and apartments and incentivize those landlords to accept Housing Vouchers. I went out on a limb 8 years ago and started accepting vouchers at a rental house I own and it has been a great decision.

The first 2000 days of a child’s life will determine the rest of their life. If a child is not socially stimulated, fails to thrive and doesn’t have proper nutrition then they will be at a disadvantage. Some children can catch up and be fine but many will not. I served for 5 years on the Board of a local preschool(Verner Center for Early Learning, formally Mountain Area Child and Family Center) and learned the challenges of providing this service to the community. This facility also dealt with Early Head Start, Head Start and Smart start clientele and the lack of proper funding for these services. I think the County should do more to promote Pre-K learning and increase access for all residents of Buncombe County

Buncombe county is experiencing many growing pains and the biggest place this is being seen is with the development of areas of the county that aren’t prepared for it. The influx of new residents has increased sprawl and traffic congestion. The County Commission needs to take the lead in finding common-sense ways to alleviate these problems. If the Commission fails to do so then I’m afraid Buncombe County will be unaffordable for many working people and traffic will be at a standstill.

This one is a no-brainer to me. People love living here because of the rural nature of the area. If the farms are all converted to housing developments then we are all going to suffer. The Quality of our lives will suffer and the Farm to Table idea will no longer work. I support the Commission helping financially to help pay the closing costs of land that is being protected by private land trusts and their donors. I think the County should educate rural residents on their land options and incentivize the protection of large tracts of farmland.

I believe that Greenways are extremely important to the health and well-being of a community. They provide an alternative to using a car to get around your community which reduces traffic and pollution. They also are good for the health of our citizens who can use them to reduce risks of diabetes and heart and lung problems. The county should continue to be involved in facilitating the construction of Greenways but need to “think outside the box” on how to successfully fund these projects. I believe that Greenways can start with simple walking paths to get people using them and I think that the private sector should be more involved with greenways. Black Mountain, Woodfin, and Weaverville all have Greenway plans and the County should work with those towns to make them come to fruition. I also believe that the County should look to private non-profits to have a larger role in developing and building greenways. I have served for many years on the Asheville Greenways Commission and the Asheville Parks and Greenways Foundation. I know what the impediments are and what can work.

The County has been a leader in the state at promoting, financing and building solar arrays on the roofs of many county buildings and schools. While serving on the AB Tech Board of Trustees I took the lead to make sure that the college made all their buildings available for solar panels to produce electricity to offset those costs to the college and the county. I plan to take this effort to the Commission when elected and work with the new chairperson to do our part to minimize the county’s use of fossil fuels for electricity.