From Staff Reports

ENKA — The sparks flew — at least a little — when state Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Arden, and Brian Turner, his Democratic challenger for the District 116 seat, finally met face to face during a voter forum Aug. 29 at A-B Tech’s Haynes Conference Center.

The combination power breakfast-candidates debate was hosted by the Council of Independent Business Owners.Also squaring off were two long-time neighbors, Rep. Nathan Ramsey, R-Fairview, and John Ager, his Democratic challenger for the District, 115 seat.

In addition, the state’s Speaker of the House Thom Tillis, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, addressed the CIBO crowd. His Democratic rival, incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan, did not attend because of a schedule conflict. 

Moffitt, who owns and runs an executive recruitment firm in Arden, laid out his case for the vital role he has played in the Republican-dominated statehouse since it snapped the Democrats’ long reign in 2010.  

“When I went to Raleigh, our state was in shambles after essentially being run by one party for 140 years,” Moffitt said. “A lot of problems were before us. We have taken bold steps forward to get our state on the right path and the results are before you.” As evidence of success, he cited a lower employment rate and lower taxes.

Conversely, Turner said Republican policies has “shifted (the state) out of balance.” Turner, a political newcomer, previously helped to run his family business Mills Manufacturing in Weaverville and served as assistant chancellor of UNC Asheville.

“When we have public schools where kids are sharing textbooks that are 10 years old, we’re out of balance,” Turner asserted. “When major corporations like Duke Energy are getting quarter-billion-dollar tax cuts, while small businesses are seeing tax increases, that’s out of balance.”

However, Turner also pointedly noted to the pro-business CIBO crowd that he is not aligned with the left wing of the Democratic Party. “There are those out there who try to paint me as some far-left, progressive liberal... but nothing could be further from the truth,” Turner said.

While the district leans Republican and has elected Moffitt in the last two elections, Moffitt has frequently — and repeatedly — enraged Democrats in Asheville, with his legislative actions that include attempting to transfer the city’s water system to a regional entity.

On a question about another topic that upset some city officials a few years back, Moffitt said he remains proud of taking action to end involuntary annexation “to reign in the overreach of our cities.”

For his part, Turner voiced support for the move, noting, “Cities and other municipalities are not and should not be allowed to just unilaterally annex neighboring areas.. I think the annexation laws are good.”

Another questioner asked if the two rivals support closing Duke Energy’s power plant at Lake Julian near Asheville, as some local environmental advocates are calling for.

Both men said they did not support closing the power plant “in the near future.”

Education spending, however, was an area where they widely diverged.

Moffitt blamed any inadequacies squarely on his Democratic predecessors for cuts that occurred before he took office. Ever since, he said, “the General Assembly has done a great job in regards to bringing funding back to public education and doing the things that are necessary to make public education better.”

Conversely, Turner asserted: “There’s a lot of numbers floating around out there. … But the fact of the matter is when you go into the classrooms, it seems they’re larger than ever. They’re insufficient for giving our kids the education they need.”

What’s more, Turner said, “Working at UNC Asheville, I saw first-hand the impact that the cuts had to our public university system. We are undermining the economic future of this state.”

Moffitt then fired a subtle verbal jab at Turner for attending private school as a child, noting, “As someone who actually went to public school, the classes are decidedly less in size than they were when I was in public school.”

The debate between Ramsey and Ager had a much less-fiery aspect, perhaps because of the long-time personal history between the two men. “John’s my neighbor,” Ramsey said with a smile. “I’ve known John since I was 

probably about two years old.” Each man grew up in rural Buncombe County and worked on separate farms, a commonality that each stressed in his opening statement.

Ramsey noted that he and his brother “milk about 170 cows a day. My wife (Robin) is here, too, and we probably wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t been made a county commissioner. When she first came out to my house, she asked if we could close the windows. I said, ‘Honey, that smells like money.’” (The crowd laughed at Ramsey’s levity.)

For his part, Ager said, “I’m over at Hickory Nut Gap farm. When I first decided to run, my daughter-in-law told me, ‘I have two words for you: ‘personal grooming.’”

Ager, who has not previously run for office, referred to himself as the “reluctant candidate.” While he enjoys his farm and family immensely, Ager said he feels he has to run because the North Carolina General Assembly is “giving tax breaks to the wealthy, privatizing education, taking the water system, whatever they could get their hands on. I will fight to protect our citizens.”

Nonetheless, the candidates concurred on several issues, such as on a question of whether they would support the closing of the coal-burning Lake Julian plant near Asheville. Both men agreed that encouraging Duke Energy to push for renewable energy is necessary, as closing the plant is still decades in the future.