From Staff Reports 

The 2018 session of the North Carolina General Assembly began May 16, and Sen. Chuck Edwards, R-Henderson, indicated recently that he has no intention of introducing legislation to repeal a law passed last year (SL 2017-83), which would divide Asheville into six districts for City Council elections. 

Edwards is the only member of the local delegation not interested in opposing what he considers a settled matter.

 According to legislation sponsored by Edwards and passed last year, Asheville City Council was charged with drawing a map reflecting members of that body’s preferences for district lines. The deadline for filing the map was Nov. 1, 2017. But, instead of complying with the legislation, the city launched an education campaign and held a referendum to gauge citizen interest in district elections.

 The referendum upheld council’s position with support from 75 percent of citizens. The city is not discussing the legal strategy behind holding the referendum, but it is expected they plan to use the evidence of overwhelming public disapproval for the districts to fight the legislation in court. 

In even-numbered years, the NCGA may only consider unfinished business and new, uncontroversial legislation that applies to the entire state. An exception that would allow changes to Edwards’ bill permits consideration of local bills if they pertain to elections. 

Other members of the local delegation – Sen. Terry Van Duyn, Rep. Susan Fisher, Rep. John Ager, and Rep. Brian Turner – have indicated they would like to overturn the law somehow. Last year, Turner supported the bill with an amendment requiring the districts to be drawn by an independent authority, but he voted against it after the amendment was amended to make adoption of the independent authority’s maps optional.

 The bill passed the Senate 34-15, and the House, 63-47. All but seven votes were cast along party lines.

 The Republican-dominated state legislature has taken many measures to weaken Democrat strongholds in the state. Asheville’s council is 100 percent Democrat, and it is expected the creation of a district in the southern part of the city; which tends to be more conservative, business-oriented, and Republican than the rest of the city; could help Republicans get elected.

 The only problem is, the same day the referendum passed, Vijay Kapoor, a Democrat from South Asheville, was also elected.

 Other actions taken by the NCGA to reduce revenue streams for the City of Asheville include eliminating the city’s ability to involuntarily annex properties, transferring the city’s interest and assets in the Asheville airport to a regional airport authority, and limiting the ability of cities to charge business fees. Asheville exhausted the legal system before attempts to legislate away control of its water system died down. 

Edwards, whose district also includes the southern end of the city, openly claims his motives behind the legislation are to right-size representation and increase accountability. He noted it is not atypical of large cities in the state to divide into districts. Other members of the local delegation challenge districts as divisive and a means of fostering silo-mentality. 

If Edwards’ plan for district elections goes into effect, people in each of the six districts will elect one person to council to represent them, and the mayor will be elected at-large. The elections will remain nonpartisan. 

In his efforts to show openness and inclusion, Edwards is accepting input from members of the public, including fellow legislators, on where the district lines should be drawn. An input form is available at https://www.ncleg.net/Applications/RFC/Default.aspx?id=27