Let’s turn the beat around

 We congratulate the winners of the three seats up for grabs on Asheville City Council  — and look forward to the new ideas and energy they will bring with them.

 Winning in the Nov. 3 general election were top vote-getter Keith Young, deputy clerk of Buncombe County Superior Court and the first African-American to serve on council since 2009; followed by Brian Haynes, assistant manager for Habitat for Humanity; and Julie Mayfield, executive director of MountainTrue (an environmental group).

Not making the cut were (in order) Vice Mayor Marc Hunt, the lone incumbent in the race; financial advisor Rich Lee and LGBT advocacy group campaign manager Lindsey Simerly.

The saddest aspect of the election was that, while the turnout was much better than the 12.8 percent who voted in the October primary, only one in six of the city’s 67,125 registered voters cast ballots in the general election.

On the bright side, those who felt strongly enough to cast votes deserve credit — and to have their choices leading the city.

 Based on many interviews by the local news media, the voters’ top concern appears to be the city’s pace of growth is focused too much on tourism, which is leaving many workers in that field lagging financially and struggling to find decent housing on service-industry wages.

 Lastly, we are ecstatic that the two top vote-getters, Young and Haynes, favor making the city-owned land across from the U.S. Cellular Center and the Basilica of St. Lawrence, a  public park, which would be a big step in a new direction for Asheville.