Robert Parker

From Daily Planet Staff Reports

Robert Parker, who recently was elected chair of the Libertarian Party of Buncombe County, has great expectations for the local party under his leadership.

Parker, who was the only nominee, was elected by acclamation during the county party’s annual convention on Aug. 4 at El Chapala restaurant on Merrimon Avenue.

In an e-mail response later that night to the Planet’s questions, Parker wrote, “I just want there to be a future for liberty and freedom. I feel if no one stands up for that which we/they believe in, someone (in this case, often the government) will gladly step in and take it — or change it to ‘help’ them.

“In this case, I feel personal freedom is at an all-time low in this country and looking toward the future, it doesn’t look like the status quo is going to change any time soon.

“It seems the job of LP Buncombe and other groups like them (is) to remind our friends in government that it is unacceptable to take away our freedom and that not everyone wants the sense of temporary safety that loss of freedom brings them. I am, of course, referring to Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote on freedom....

“I want organizations like LP Buncombe around to keep an eye on what is happening and not be afraid to speak up when it doesn’t appear to serve our best interests as a country and a people, Parker noted.

He has worked since January as a mechanic in the school bus garage at the Buncombe County School System Transportation Department.

Parker, a Delaware native, moved with his family in 1981 to Black Mountain, where his mother still lives.
The new LP chairman has spent much of his life in Charleston, S.C., where he earned a bachelor’s in history with a minor in religious studies from the College of Charleston. He moved back to the Asheville area in 1999.

He got involved with the LP-B in 2002, when he started attending its Monday night socials with his family and ran — that year — for the state House of Representatives on the LP ticket for his district. He also ran for the state house in 2004. He was unsuccessful in both political bids.

This month, Parker earned a diploma as an automotive systems technician from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. He expects to earn an associate’s degree in auto mechanics in spring 2009 from A-B Tech.