By JOHN NORTH

In a situation similar to Gen. George A. Custer’s at the Battle of Little Bighorn, Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe County, stood his ground against a panel and a crowd that — at least from the sounds of it — appeared to be overwhelmingly opposed to his legislative study that could result in the Asheville water system being turned over to an independent authority.

However, unlike Custer, it was not Moffitt’s Last Stand. Indeed, the first-term legislator responded to every question — and emerged to fight another day.

Moffitt, who is chairman of the legislative committee looking at the Asheville system, faced a crowd of about 225 people attending the free multimedia forum focusing on the current Asheville water issue Feb. 20 at Jubilee! Community in downtown Asheville. The event was hosted by Mountain Voices Alliance.

Moffitt began by saying that he feels that he has been misunderstood — but he took the blame for failing to communicate well with the public.

Rep. Tim Moffit (left) converses with activist-panelist Barry Summers.

He also noted that “I just want folks to get a sense of who I am ... You don’t know me. I’m a fourth-generation resident of this area ... I used to live downtown in the mid-’80s at the beginning of the renaissance” there.

Despite repeated accusations and innuendo to the contrary, Moffitt said he definitely is not interested in privatizing the Asheville water system.

 However, he also asserted that he does not think it is fair that representatives of one-third of the water-users — city residents — are dictating to the two-thirds of users — county residents.

 He said the other panelists, with the exception of Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson County, were guilty of “one glaring omission — and that’s (ignoring) the history of the water system” — in their fiscally motivated goal of one day charging customers differential rates for water.

 Moffitt charged that it is taken as a “threat” — by Buncombe and Henderson County customers — when city officials constantly complain about the need to charge different rates to different customers.

 Ultimately, though, “I have no interest in harming our community,” he said.

 Moffitt then suggested that a regional agency could rectify the situation where Buncombe and Henderson residents have no say in governing the city-owned water system that serves them.

 It “has been governed solely by the citizens of Asheville without any real regard to the people in the county,” he said.

 Despite state law prohibiting Asheville from charging differential rates to water customers, “there is a continual threat to people who live outside Asheville” that they will be charged higher rates than their city brethren, Moffitt asserted.

 Conversely, others speakers said the war is over between the city and Buncombe County and that the water system is operating well under Asheville control and, therefore, needs no change.

 “The worst policies we have are when something is jammed down our throat from Raleigh or Washington,” David Gantt, chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, said via videotape.

 The event was billed as an opportunity for the community and a panel of speakers to discuss an effort underway in Raleigh that could possibly remove control of the water system from the City of Asheville.

 The event was triggered by a bill introduced last spring by Moffitt that could take local control of Asheville’s water system from the city and place it into the hands of an independent authority.

 Moffitt later modified the bill into a study. Thus, the committee he chairs is examining the operation of the current water system to determine whether it should be surrendered to an outside agency. 

 “This is not a partisan issue,” meeting moderator Elaine Lite said in a press release before the meeting. “It’s not a city versus county issue. It’s a matter of  our community coming together to determine what is in our own best interest. We have got to do that if we want to keep local control of the water.”

 Councilman Jan Davis, a panelist, noted that “a lot of rumor and inuendo is going around.” He cited a rumor involving his participation at Moffitt’s committee meeting in Raleigh, where some people have said he was cutoff from making remarks.

 “I was neither cutoff, nor not allowed to speak,” Davis said. “I was gathering my thoughts and missed my opportunity,” as Moffitt took his hesitation as a sign that he was finished talking and ended the meeting.

 The crowd cheered when Rep. Patsy Keever, D-Buncombe, said, “The bottom line is, I’m adamantly opposed to privitization of the water system in any shape or form.”

 She added, “Water is the basic element for you, whether you’re in the city or in the county.” Keever said the recent dissolution of the regional water system “was not done in the best way possible, but it was the right thing to do.”

 The crowd again cheered when Keever said, “Asheville has been a good steward for the (region’s) water resources ... If a decision is to be made about our water, it should be made here — and not at the state level.”