Register of deeds keeps office open late, riling conservatives 

By JOHN NORTH

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Two Asheville-area conservative activists caused a stir Oct. 10 when they took issue with a decision by City Council to allow the draping of a rainbow flag, symbolizing gay pride, over City Hall — and compared it to Nazi tactics.

On a related matter, Buncombe County Register of the Deeds Drew Reisinger once again became embroiled in a controversy with conservatives over his office hours — this time, it came after he kept his office open late Oct. 10 to issue the first-ever marriage licenses to gay couples.

An enthusiastic throng had gathered outside Reisinger’s office, hoping to tie the legal knot after a ruling issued shortly after 5 p.m., declaring the ban approved by state voters in 2012 unconstitutional. The ruling was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr. in Asheville.

In response to the gay flag display, conservatives Chad Nesbitt and Dr. Carl Mumpower emailed the Daily Planet and others a picture of City Hall with the rainbow banner, side-by-side with a a Photoshopped picture of City Hall as it would appear with a Nazi swastika draped over it. 

Regarding the decision to allow the two-story rainbow flag be flown at City Hall, Mayor Esther Manheimer noted Oct. 10 that it had more to do with supporting civil rights than entering the political fray over same-sex marriage.

The mayor said she did not have a discussion with City Manager Gary Jackson about displaying the flag, symbolizing gay pride, a move that drew some criticism. Council unanimously backed the action, she added.

“I recognize that people have different views on these issues, and I’m sensitive to that,” Manheimer said.

Councilman Gordon Smith said City Council informally approved the gesture to hang the flag to recognize “a momentous time in our history.”

The donated flag was flown from City Hall on Oct. 9 into the morning of Oct. 10, as same-sex couples and advocates in North Carolina awaited a court ruling on gay marriage.

Meanwhile, conservatives Mumpower, a former councilman; and Nesbitt, a former chairman of the Buncombe County Republican Party, said council violated state open meetings law by not holding a vote during an official meeting in public.

“There is a reason that North Carolina instructs local elected bodies to handle their affairs in an open and deliberative way,” Nesbitt and Mumpower said in a statement. “Otherwise, they would be free, such as in this case, to indulge their personal feelings and conduct business behind closed doors and over private phone lines.”

 In their statement, Nesbitt and Mumpower generated a buzz by including a Photoshopped depiction of a Nazi flag flying from City Hall.

“I am equating their methods with the Nazi movement,” Mumpower said. “They are indifferent to the rule of law and indifferent to the vote of the people. And that’s Adolf Hitler all over again in a different disguise.”

Mumpower organized an Oct. 10 gathering of about 20 to 25 people, including ministers, to hold up a Christian flag outside of City Hall. Instead of speeches, the group said a prayer — and then disbanded.

Meanwhile, Asheville police and bomb-sniffing dogs responded to a bomb threat at the William H. Stanley Center on Woodfin Street in downtown Asheville on the morning of Oct. 13, after a caller made disparaging comments about the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses, according to Natalie Bailey, spokeswoman for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

No explosives were found and the building was not evacuated.

“We have protocols and procedures in place to keep everybody safe, and in this particular instance everything worked the way it should,” Bailey said. “Our folks went out and checked and nothing was found. Once they did that, people were able to go on and get their licenses.”

The building is home to the Buncombe County Register of Deeds Office, which extended its operating hours Oct. 10 in order to issue Western North Carolina’s first same-sex marriage licenses.

On Oct 10, the day same-sex marriage became legal in North Carolina, Buncombe County set a county record, issuing 44 marriage licenses in one day. On Oct. 13, it issued 51 licenses.

In other action related to the rainbow flag controversy, a pro-life group on Oct. 16 requested permision to hang its banner — protesting abortion  — from City Hall.

“We figure that City Council had created a limited public forum with the use of the building,” says Meredith Hunt, director of Life Advocates.

Hunt was trying to get his 30-foot banner that reads “Stop Aborting Children!” displayed on City Hall by the end of October. 

He said he believes council’s vote to hang the rainbow flag designated the building as a limited public forum, on which there can be no discrimination against viewpoints.

“Even if it happens to be a viewpoint the City Council does not agree with and even the Supreme Court doesn’t agree with,” Hunt said.

Responding to Hunt’s email, Councilmember Cecil Bothwell said the city would not support hanging the anti-abortion banner because it is not a position the city has formally taken. 

Bothwell said council endorsed the pro-equality position months ago. He told Hunt that if anti-abortion laws were passed in the state and the city also took a formal stance on it, then council would likely agree to hang the banner.