From Staff Reports

The candidates landed some blows during a forum featuring the aspirants for two seats in N.C. House districts 115 and 116 at a Power Lunch Sept. 27 at Magnolia’s Raw Bar & Grille in downtown Asheville.

The forum, hosted by the Council of Independent Business Owners, included brief opening statements from the candidates, followed by answering questions prepared in advance by CIBO. About 100 people attended.

The candidates included Susan Wilson, Democrat, and Nathan Ramsey, Republican, both seeking the District 115 seat; and Jane Whilden and Rep. Tim Moffitt, battling for the District 116 seat.

While some jabs were fired earlier in the forum, it was not until the end, when the candidates were given the opportunity to ask their opponents a single question that the heat was cranked up a notch.

Leading off on the question to one’s opponent, Wilson asked Ramsey, “Is there any vote that you cast when you were county commissioner chair that you regret?”

Ramsey said his biggest regret was voting in 2001 for limited zoning in areas of Buncombe around the city limits, where the city said it planned to exercise its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

“The majority (of county voters) voted against it (zoning), and the commission (including himself) went ahead with it anyway ... Partly why I ran for office (in 2000) was because I felt it was bad policy” for the commissioners to ignore the wishes of the voters after a referendum is held.

“I got the heck beat out of me by people who supported me,” Ramsey said. “They said, ‘Nathan, you said you would never vote for zoning.’ That’s why I am not making any promises in this campaign. I’m going to do the best I can and, if that’s not good enough, fine.”

In turn, Ramsey asked Wilson, “Are you advocating any tax increases to address budget issues you were talking about for North Carolina?”

Wilson replied, “Would I raise taxes? That’s kind of an interesting question.” She noted that tax reform usually means a tax increase, whether it involves closing loopholes or widening the base.

“I’m not going to make a promise one way of the other because I am interested in looking at what kind of structure we can create in North Carolina that’s a better structure than we have ... As for actively saying, ‘Yeah, let’s go raise taxes,’ no, I’m not for that ... I don’t want to pay any more taxes than anyone else does.”

Whilden said her question would be “why Mr. Moffitt has decided to accept so much ‘outside’ money — outside Buncombe County — to run his campaign?”

Moffitt replied, “That’s a good question — and I think it could be asked” of Whilden, too. He noted that the costs of running for state office “have gotten so high” that “it’s just kind of the way it is” to have to accept funds from outside the district. While Moffitt said he has received about 400 individual contributions, he said that was not enough to be competitive.

In his question to Whilden, Moffitt queried, “My campaign is about my record — I’m pleased with it. I’m here to find out why my opponent is not running on her record.”

Disagreeing with the premise of Moffitt’s question, Whilden countered, “He (Moffitt) is running on his record and I’m running on mine.” During the one term she served before losing to Moffitt in 2010, Whilden said she had about six bills passed. 

While Moffitt had 15 bills passed in his first term, Whilden said most of that activity has gone for naught because she feels Moffitt’s record is not a good one. Moreover, she lamented that some of Moffitt’s legislation has justifiably upset city and local officials.

“He may have gotten a lot of bills passed, but let’s look at the bills he got passed,” Whilden said. “He is trying to take our water away, he is trying to take our airport away, he has slashed funding to our schools over a billion dollars. This man’s record is not good. It may be long, but it’s not good.”

 Earlier, in her opening statement, Wilson noted that she moved to Buncombe County in 1991 and has worked as a child suppert attorney and an abuse and neglect attorney. She said she moved to the area because “it’s absolutely beautiful” and because of the quality school system.

Wilson said businesses need to be attracted to Buncombe and “we need good educational facilities to do this.”

Ramsey noted that he is a Buncombe native and “I grew up here,” graduating from Reynolds High School and UNC Asheville. He then earned a law degree from UNC Chapel Hill, returned to Buncombe “and began milking cows” at his dairy. 

Ramsey said that “small business is the backbone of Buncombe County. For Buncombe to be prosperous and successful, it needs to encourage business by cutting regulations. He noted that he served for eight years as chairman of the Buncombe Board of Commissioners — as the lone Republican with four Democrats. Ramsey said his board tenure shows that he can work successfully “in a nonpartisan way.”

Whilden said, “I served for one term — and I’d like to run for another term ... I’m running because I love where we live .. I’m very attached to this area.”

Then, taking a more combative tack, Whilden said she is running because education was “slashed” by over $1 billion in the last three years. “I feel we need to build up our schools because strong schools make for strong businesses.” Whilden also said, “ I think local issues need to be decided locally.”

Moffitt said, “I don’t consider myself very political.” He also noted that he turned 48 years old “this week.” He spoke of his early life in Asheville, living downtown, where he sported a mullet hairstyle. Moffitt noted that he found opportunity, even though he was cash-short, as various business professionals helped him on the road to success. “It’s great to call this home and to be here today,” he said.

Among the questions asked by CIBO was: If elected, what’s your No. 1 priority?

“Well,” Moffitt replied, “I’ve been in office just this one term ... We had a deficit we had to work on ... I think what’s still pressing us is the economy.” He also said that, to some extent, tax reform is a priority.

Continuing, Moffitt said that “15,000 rules were implemented between 2000 and 2010 (by the state legislature) — that’s an extraordinary” number. Ultimately, he said, “We’ll focus on job creation.”

As for her top priority, Wilson said, “I think I’d focus on schools ... We need to put money in on the front end because it pays dividends in the back end.”

Whilden said, “My No. 1 priority is education. I’m very, very upset with the $1 billion cut from our school ... I just think it’s horrible the way our education system in the state has been slashed — and I just don’t want to see it burned.”

Ramsey said his top three priorities would be tax reform, improving the ability to improve workforce schools and refining “the way we build our infrastructure,” so that North Carolina is poised to prosper in the 21st century.

Another question was: “Did you support Amendment 1?”

“I did vote for Amendment 1,” Ramsey replied. However, he added that he feels people should have the right of free association.

Wilson said, “I did not support the marriage amendment. Clearly, the target was the gay and lesbian population” of North Carolina.

Moffitt asserted, “I voted in favor of the marriage amendment. I think the government’s involved too much in our lives, but, given the way things are,” he voted as he did.

Whilden, who opposed Amendment 1, said, “I agree with something Mr. Moffitt has said ... I don’t think government should be inolved in the marriage business.”