Asheville’s relatively weak ranking — for yet another year— behind that of some of its top neighborning rivals on the “Best Places to Live” list for 2022 is a reflection of fallout from “the (far left) political agenda that’s being put forth in Asheville, as it promotes homelessness and vagrancy,” among other negatives, local FOP President Rondell Lance told the Daily Planet in a telephone interview on May 21.

I think people are starting to wake up to the far left — or leftist — agenda ... that it doesn’t work,” Lance asserted.

Lance then reiterated that Asheville likely is suffering in its ranking in the “Best Places to Live” listing because of “the liberal mindset being put forth in Asheville. Basically, they don’t want you here if you don’t agree with their (far left) policies. They’re not open” to other ways of thinking.

Based on his own interactions with those from other nearby areas, ‘They read the media and see what’s going in Asheville and realize if they have a different view than the leaders in Asheville, they’ll find themselves ostracized.”

Those with whom he speaks from around the region and nation are well-aware that there are seemingly nonstop “protests, marching — with some screaming — every month or two or three... If you’re coming (as a tourist) to Asheville to relax and see everything, you don’t want to get to caught up in something like that.”

After a pause, the Asheville native and retired career law enforcement officer, noted that “it’s not in the county (Buncombe) — it’s the whole (crazy) atmosphere in the city.”

In contrast, he said that “in (neighboring) South Carolina, it’s an entirely different atmosphere. When you go to Greenville, you don’t see people sleeping in doorways. You don’t see big groups of people marching and screaming.

“Asheville’s unique in its atmosphere, but sometimes that can come with a cost.

“There’s probably more conservative leadership in each of those places,” Lance said in reference to nearby Greenville in South Carolina, and nearby Hickory in North Carolina. (Each city is about a 75-minute drive from Asheville.)

“You’ve got no conservative voice on City Council” in Asheville, he lamented. “And you’ve only got one conservative voice on the (Buncombe) county commissioners (Robert Pressley).”

So does Lance think Asheville’s much-publicized skyrocketing violent crime rate had any impact on its ranking in the “Best Places to Live” listing? the Daily Planet asked.

“I think the crime has some effect,” Lance replied. “In this case (in Asheville), criminals get arrested, but then released” by the district attorney’s office and the courts. In South Carolina, criminals get arrested and then they get prosecuted.” Such a public perception that Asheville goes easy on perpetrators of crime likely hurts its ranking on the “Best Places to Live” list, he said.

“I was in (Washington) D.C. last week for four days for a conference, but I saw fewer homeless in (much more populous) D.C.” than in Asheville. “I saw more homeless in the streets and doorways in Asheville than walking 4 miles around D.C... I thought that was very strange.

“I love Asheville, but we’ve got to change it,” Lance said. “We’ve got to change it in November” via the general election.