From Staff Reports

Only one incumbent, Jan Davis, is among the six candidates seeking three seats on Asheville City Council in the Nov. 8 election.
The other two seats are held by Vice Mayor Brownie Newman and Councilman Bill Russell, neither of whom chose to seek re-election.
The winners will join three other council members who have served only two years each.

In an Oct. 11 primary, which narrowed the field from eight candidates to six, the leading vote-getters were Marc Hunt, Chris Pelly and Lael Gray. They were followed by Jan Davis, fourth; Mark Cates, fifth; and Saul Chase, sixth. A record low of 10 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the primary.

Mark Cates	Saul Chase
Jan Davis	Lael Gray
Marc Hunt	Chris Pelly

On Oct. 30, the Asheville Citizen-Times endorsed Davis, Hunt and Pelly in an editorial.

Davis, who has served for eight years on council, is the owner of a downtown tire store. He played a major role in the refurbishment of the Asheville Civic Center and in attracting the Southern Conference basketball tournament back to the city.

Hunt, a land preservation specialist, is promoting smart growth to prevent suburban sprawl, which he calls the “greatest environmental challenge.” He backs density bonuses for affordable developments near major roads with bus service.

Pelly, a real estate broker and president of the Haw Creek Community Association, is known as a proponent of building sidewalks and greenways.

In an e-mail statement titled “You won’t read this in the Citizen-Times,” Gray stated that she is for “environment, equality, education.”

In a jab at the AC-T, Gray asserted, “I’m not a sound-bite candidate. The Asheville Citizen-Times has relegated my entire work and community service record down to three words: ‘Montford Neighborhood Activist.’ But there’s a lot more you should know about me.
Meanwhile, Cates, a Florida-raised business consultant, is the only Republican running in the race.

Cates, 42, a former aerospace engineer, is running on a platform of “jobs, jobs, jobs ... There is no other issue right now.”

Besides jobs, other top issues for Cates include developing the economy in  a way that protects, preserves and promotes the city’s unique culture and addressing basic needs, such as clean water, clean air, hunger, poverty and homelessness.

Chase, 59, served on Boone Town Council for eight years in the 1980s and ‘90s. He is a retired North Carolina public school teacher and administrator. He currently works part-time as an SAT coach.

If elected, Chase has plans for improving the streets and sidewalks in Asheville’s neighborhoods and, with his perspective as a public school educator, believes he can help Asheville City Schools.