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Daily Planet: New City Council should appoint Freeborn to fill vacant seat |
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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 |
Bryan Freeborn should fill Mayor-elect Terry Bellamy??s soon-to-be vacant seat on Asheville City Council.
This is not a matter of political preference or an endorsement of Freeborn??s campaign for council. By making this statement, we are not indicating an agreement with Freeborn??s agenda or beliefs.
We are instead indicating the simple, numerical reality that on Nov. 8, the citizens of Asheville indicated, by votes cast, whom of the six candidates for City Council they preferred and the order in which they preferred
them. Freeborn came in fourth, with 7,319 votes ?? 1,000 more than those cast for candidate Chris Pelly.
If Vice Mayor Carl Mumpower, who came in third, had instead been bested by Freeborn, this editorial would be endorsing Mumpower as a matter of democratic fairness.
However, some council members are hedging on how they would go about this appointment. Mumpower told the Daily Planet just after the election that ?¨the election was about three council seats and a mayor?Æ and indicated that he did not believe that Freeborn, as the fourth-highest vote-getter, should necessarily fill the seat.
Councilman Brownie Newman, who was not up for re-election this year,
actively campaigned for Pelly and has likewise not indicated that he
necessarily would vote to appoint Freeborn.
In both cases, they have spoken of ?¨other factors?Æ needing to be taken into consideration.
The Asheville Tribune has broached the possibility of Councilman Joe
Dunn, who was defeated by Bellamy in the mayoral race, being appointed
to fill the seat, as he technically received more votes than Freeborn.
However, Dunn did not run for council; Freeborn did.
And the ?¨other factors?Æ that might lead to the appointment of Pelly, or
some other person, simply don??t wash in a democratic system. Bellamy
and the three council members elected are attaining their positions
strictly because of the numbers of votes they received, not because of
a nebulous ?¨other factor?Æ that basically amounts to personal preference.
Furthermore, when such a situation occurred in 1996, council made the
right decision and appointed the fourth-highest vote getter.
Fortunately, Bellamy has clearly stated that she will support
Freeborn??s appointment to the seat as the ?¨cleanest?Æ way to decide the
matter. Council-newcomer Robin Cape has done likewise. While
Councilwoman Holly Jones has not clearly indicated that she would
support Freeborn, she indicated that she is ?¨leaning very
strongly?Æ toward doing so.
In remarks after the election, Jones also made a point that council
should establish some clear standard to determine who receives such
vacant seats in the future.
We agree. Whether that method is a runoff election or the automatic
election of the candidate with the fourth highest votes, the citizens
of Asheville should not have to worry that the matter will be taken out
of their hands.
The voters clearly spoke on Nov. 8 when they put Freeborn in fourth
place. And we are encouraging council to follow its own precedent and
the clearly indicated will of the people and appoint Bryan Freeborn to
city council. Any other course would be undemocratic and unfair.
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