From Staff Reports 

Brian Turner, a former assistant vice chancellor at UNC Asheville, announced Dec. 10 that he is going to run against the legislator Ashevillians love to hate — state Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Arden.

Moffitt, the two-term incumbent serving in House District 116, which covers western Buncombe County, already has said he will seek re-election.

Like any candidate these days, Turner is promising to use his position as legislator to better invest in the community. To maximize returns, he would put more funding into education and economic development.

Turner is a small business-owner and the former head of manufacturing and operations for Mills Manufacturing. His background would allow him to bring a wealth of information about both public and private sector needs to Raleigh, he said.

“My wife and I chose to raise our daughter and build our business here because this is where I grew up, our families are here, and we believe this is a great place to live and work. Unfortunately, many of the things that make this area great have been threatened and, instead of just standing on the sidelines, I want to do something about it,” Turner said.

“We need to be strengthening our schools, community colleges, and universities, or we will no longer be competitive in attracting the kind of stable, well-paying jobs this region was built on. While we need to attract new businesses we must not forget to invest in helping locally owned small businesses.These businesses are the foundation of a strong local economy; they are the businesses we all know, the businesses that have been here for generations,” the candidate noted.

 “I want to listen to the concerns of people and the businesses in our region that are affected daily by the decisions made in Raleigh, I want to give voice to those concerns, and ensure the interests of this community are being fairly and honestly represented in the capital.

“We need elected officials who understand the winner-take-all mindset that has infected Raleigh is not sustainable, and we need to be willing to work together, regardless of party, to achieve positive solutions to the challenges we face,” Turner said.

Incumbent responds to rival’s announcement

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is Rep. Tim Moffit’s response to an inquiry by the Daily Planet about Brian Turner’s announcement that he will challenge him in the upcoming election.

First, I’d like to say that it is an honor to serve and it is truly humbling at the same time. 

On a regular basis, I receive calls and emails from citizens in the district that are in need of help. Sometimes it’s a simple issue like a driver’s license renewal problem for a deployed soldier and other times it might be a former state employee who has lost a loved one and needs help navigating our benefit system.

Solving these problems is some of the most rewarding work I do.

As for policy, we must complete the budget for the second half of the biennial cycle.  Conservative budget planning last year, along with an improving business climate appear to be aligning to produce surplus state revenues for 2014.

Directing those funds toward education and DHHS should pay dividends to our citizens in the future.

As for a specific local issue, I continue to work hard on resolving the ever present problem of groundwater contamination around the old CTS site. 

Most recently, I’ve been working with state, federal and local agencies to release funding for extending more municipal water lines to the affected residents while continuing to seek a full clean up of the site. This is a problem that was decades in the making, but I want to see it through to its complete resolution.

Lastly, as you know, I tend to tackle big issues, such as ending forced annexation and protecting private property from the overreach of government, lowering taxes through tax reform, creating a better business environment through regulatory reform....

I will continue working on these policy areas and more while striving to make our area and North Carolina a better place to live as well as raise our families.