From Staff Reports 

 The Asheville Civitan Club hosted a luncheon forum featuring candidates for chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and Commission District 1 at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Asheville on Oct. 16.

“This is not a debate, it’s a forum,” Ed Sheary, Civitas forum organizer and moderator, said in opening the one-hour program. He explained that each candidate would be given 10 minutes to explain his or her goals and aspirations and then the floor would be opened up for a maximum of five-minutes of questions from Civitan members.

Featured were Democrat David Gantt, chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and his Republican challenger, J.B. Howard; and  Democrats Holly Jones and Brownie Newman and Republican Don Guge, vying for two seats for District 1 of the expanded board. Jones is the lone incumbent.

Starting with the race for chair, Gantt, an Asheville lawyer, said that “the most pressing issue (in the county) is jobs ... These are probably the toughest times people have known since the Great Depression.” He also emphasized the value of education.

He urged everyone not to give up on manufacturing and assume China will take it over, noting that the board did well in recruiting Linamar to fill the old Volvo plant in the county. Linamar, Gantt said, will bring a minimum of 400 new, good-paying jobs.

At the same time, Gantt emphasized that “there’s string attached” with Linamar as well as New Belgium Brewery, whereby Buncombe’s first incentive payment to the latter will not be made until 2016 to ensure that it comes through with its promised jobs and investment.

With a note of pride, Gantt said Buncombe has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in North Carolina.

Regarding questions he anticipated on the handling of taxpayers’ money, he said, “Our debt is 9 percent of the 100 percent capacity we have to borrow.” Specificially, he said Buncombe has the equivalent of a $63,000 mortgage on a $200,000 home.

“We have a AAA (bond) rating. That means we broowed money or refinanced all of our debt at 1.7 percent.”

“We going to continue to do the right things and work hard to keep the county in a good (financial) situation.”

Gantt added that “30 years ago, we were in the ‘Dirty Dozen’ of the (counties in) the United States” in which the schools were in “bad condition ... We’ve built a lot of schools”
and upgraded facilities, such as libraries.

“Out in Woodfin, we just opened a $5.7 million public training facility,” Gantt said. “We have 150 fewer (county) employees than we did 15 years ago,” mainly thanks to technology.

“So there’s a lot of good things happening here,” Gantt said. “We’ve got a good commission, but we can always get better. 

In a question-and-answer period afterward, a man asked: How much of the county’s retirement has been funded?

“We have a very good retirement system,” Gantt replied.

“So it’s completed funded?” the man asked in a follow-up.

“Yes, sir,” Gantt said.

Another man asked Gantt about the ramification of the AAA bond rating.

“We’re the fifth (county) in the state” to earn the highest rating, Gantt said. “Wanda Greene is a brilliant county manager. I think when you have good people, you give them guidelines on what you expect and then get out of the way.”

J.B. Howard, who  is retired from the State Highway Patrol and now runs a private investigation firm, said, “Now Mr. Gantt ... didn’t mention that he moved to Asheville and ran his business out of the back of his Pinto for a year” until he built up his legal practice, enabling him to work out of an office.

However, Howard added, “Try living out of a rucksack,” as he had. 

The challenger noted that Gantt “talked of accomplishments ... What I don’t agree with is paying astronomical amounts of money to bring new businesses here and let local businesses die. That’s cruel.”

What’s more, Howard charged that the Board of Commissioners is “like a teenager with a credit card ... Somebody has to pay for that ... Unless someone can get in there to cut spending,” future generations will be saddled with bills from what Howard contended was reckless spending.

“Instead of paying some beer company $8 million bucks to come here,” that money could have been used for improving schools and for “children going hungry” in Buncombe.

Howard lamented that Asheville is known as “beer city” and said, “I’m deadset against zoning.” He said once zoning is approved, freedom in that sphere is gone forever.

Howard was asked only one question: “If you’re against zoning, what would you replace it with?”

“I’d let builders use deed restrictions to control land management,” Howard replied.

For the commissioners 1 seats, Guge said, “There a lot to my past. I’ve been a very active individual ... I’m a detective with the Woodfin Police Department, with 22 years’ experience in law enforcement.” He said law enforcement has been a family tradition.

“I also opened up a gun shop. I started it with zero money. It took me 13 years, but it is my retirement.”

Guge added, “If you can’t tell from my accent, I’m from the (Swain County) mountains of North Carolina. 

He noted that he earned a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University. While attending Clemson, Guge said he was in the U.S. Army Reserves” and out of college became a law enforcement officer and then, as a member of the Army Reserves, seved a tour of duty in Iraq and other places in the Middle East.

“I came back and remained in law enforcement and got a master’s in public affairs at Western Carolina University,” he said.

Turning to the present, Guge said, “An hour ago, I was on the streets of Woodfin with a bullet-proof vest on — we’re short-handed.” Afterward, he said he would don the bullet-proof vest and resume patroling Woodfin’s streets.

“Mr. Gantt talks about working out of his Pinto” in his early days in Asheville. “He didn’t tell it today, but I love that story.”

As a commissioner, Guge said, “I want to help people be proud of their achievements... I agree with Mr. Gantt and Mr Howard that jobs is the issue.”

He termed A-B Tech one of “the most outstanding community colleges in America. Also, it is one of only two (state) community colleges accredited to train SBI agents....

“I want to bring in jobs. We’ve got a lot of empty buidlings in this county ... A lot of times, when you’re talking about jobs in this region, they’re talking about tourism jobs., which are often minimum-wage jobs.

“I can tell you I’m a conservative, God-fearing and I’ve stood on my own two feet for a long time,” Guge said.

During a question-and-answer period, someone drew laughter from the crowd when he asked Guge, “What are you going to do for me?”

“Folks, what I want to do is what you want,” a smiling Guge replied, diplomatically. More specifically, he said, “I want the lowest possible tax rate and the least amount of responsibility put on our taxpayers. 

“I believe in smaller government, but I’m all for bettering someone else becomes it comes back” to the taxpayers.

“I’m tired of our young people having to leave the county for jobs,” Guge said. “Folks, I left Swain County because there were no jobs.”

Jones, who is seeking to keep her seat on the commission, said the Civitan Club makes her “see the words, ‘civil, civil, civil.’ We keep forgetting how important civil, respectful dialogue is.

“As many of you may know, I’ve been part of an uncivil dialogue” with the Buncombe County Republican Party, “so I appreciate your civility.”

Jones noted that she moved to Buncombe more than a decade ago to serve as the chief of the YWCA in Asheville. 

“Many people might not understand that nonprofits (receive funds) from a wide variety of revenue streams,” she said. “Over 50 percent of our budget is earned revenue.”

She added, “I am a product of public education in North Carolina. My Mom was a schoolteacher. So education is one of the fundamentals I will continue to fight for.”

Jones said she holds both an undergraduate in public policy and a graduate degree in public health from UNC Chapel Hill. After college, she served overseas for a period, which Jones said she considers an experience that broadened her horizons.

She noted that she served on Asheville City Council before winning a seat on the Buncombe commissioners.

“I’m one who recognizes the importance of collaboration,” Jones said. The three values driving her in the campaign include transparency, innovation and collaboration, she noted.

“We will be shooting ourselves in the foot if we don’t try to work with everyone,” she said. “The relationship with the (neighboring) municipalities, I think, is good.....”

Someone then asked Jones about where she would stand on converting to a system of install runoff elections.

“I think it’s an important conversation to have,” Jones replied. “The amount that we paid for the runoff (recently) was probably fairly astronomical. I am open to a continued dialogue on that.”

Jones also was asked which project would she take the most pride in from her years on City Council and the Board of Commissioners.

“Investments in affordable housing,” Jones answered. “Right now, I’m very excited about what’s happening on Eagle Street,” where big plans are in place to refurbish what traditionally was the business and social center of Asheville’s African-Americans.

Brownie Newman, a former two-term Asheville councilman who is seeking a commissioners seat, noted that he moved to Asheville to attend school at nearby Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa.

He now is a partner in FLS Energy, a solar energy development company, with offices fronting on the French Broad River in Asheville’s River Arts District.

Regarding his time as a councilman, Newman said, “I’m proud of a lot of the things we accomplished on City Council. When we come together, we can accomplish great things.

“We set a goal of reducing fossil fuel consumption by 8 percent ... We aggressively pursued that goal. When it was time to replace our old fleet of diesel vehicles, we replaced it with much more fuel-efficient vehicles.”

Newman also said council during his tenure began “replacing all the streetlights in Asheville with new energy-efficient LED lights, saving taxpayers $650,000 per year.

“There’s a lot to be proud of here,” Newman said. “Bringing Linamar here” was a good day. “The loss of Volvo — that was a bad day, but we got someone in the Volvo building that I think will be here a long time.

“I’m also supportive of upgrading the riverfront. New Belgium (Brewery) is going to invest over $100 million to upgrade the riverfront in its new location in the RAD, he said.

He also spoke of Asheville’s investment in fixing what he termed its “long-neglected water system.” Newman praised the Housing Trust Initiative, where “we’ve reduced chronic homelessness in Asheville.

“I think these are all things we can accomplish when people come together,” he said.

During the questioning after his talk, Newman spoke of the program to perform home repairs for needy senior citizens, noting, “Spending a couple thousand dollars might be cheaper (for taxpayers) in the long-run to keep someone in their home.”