Primary season was quiet for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. May’s only contest saw Democratic Commissioner Al Whitesides earn the District 1 nomination over Bill Branyon with 71.4% of the vote.
But all three available seats are contested this time around. Whitesides now faces Republican Anthony Penland for the position to represent much of eastern Buncombe County. Penland, chief of the Swannanoa Fire Department, had been appointed as a commissioner to replace the late Mike Fryar in 2020 but lost to Jasmine Beach-Ferrara in that year’s general election.
In District 2 to the county’s southwest, incumbent Robert Pressley seeks a second full term against Democratic challenger Martin Moore, who chairs Buncombe’s appointed Board of Adjustment. Pressley, the board’s only Republican, was first appointed in 2016 after the resignation of Miranda DeBruhl and won reelection in 2018 over Democrat Donna Ensley by fewer than 700 votes.
Finally, the District 3 race in Buncombe’s northwest pits Democratic incumbent Amanda Edwards against longtime Republican activist Don Yelton. Yelton has had a strained relationship with his party over the years; he was removed from the county GOP’s executive committee in 2012 due to “party disloyalty,” and he resigned as a Republican precinct chair in 2013 after a controversial interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Due to recent changes in commission district lines, voters are encouraged to check their sample ballots at avl.mx/6nq before heading to the polls.
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 1
Anthony Penland
Website: AnthonyPenland.com
Occupation: Fire chief
Previous candidacy or offices held: Buncombe County commissioner
Key endorsements:Republican National Hispanic Assembly of North Carolina, N.C. Police Benevolent Association
Amount of money raised: Did not respond
Top three donors: Did not respond
Are recent changes to Buncombe County’s occupancy tax law sufficient to address community concerns over tourism’s impact? If not, what else should be done to ensure tourism revenue helps the greatest number of people? The new law passed on July 1. Buncombe County has projected $46 million to go toward the occupancy tax fund. Will that address the needs of the community? To answer this question, an evaluation of the tax at the end of the budget year would need to occur. This evaluation would look at what the money was used for and how many of our county citizens did we serve with this money. Can it be used for affordable housing?
What strategies do you support for achieving the county’s 2030 affordable housing and land conservation goals? If we are going to reach our goals, I believe we need to form strong partnerships with contractors, Realtors and landowners. The price for products has increased. Are we meeting the affordable housing goals when it costs more to build? What is considered affordable in today’s market? What percentage of our homeless population comes from the lack of affordable housing? What about our fixed-income citizens? These are questions that need answering if we are going to reach those goals.
Do you have equity concerns about the county’s property valuation and tax system, and if so, what changes would you propose? I understand the reason for the property reevaluation, and some neighborhoods increased higher than others, but all across the county, residents felt the impact. For some, it is part of the process. While an adjustment will be hard, they will do their best to make the adjustment. For others, they do not have the means to adjust. That should be concerning. Are there programs that can be implemented? Are these programs helping those who need it the most?
How can county government best support emergency services amid an ongoing opioid epidemic and staffing shortages? I believe it is vital to protect our citizens. We do this by supporting all the components of public safety. We have to address the staffing shortage somehow. We have to stop enticing our current overworked staff with more money to work a double shift. Some are going without sleep the night before. This is putting the lives of our great staff and citizens in danger, whether it is an opioid epidemic or other medical calls for service.
Local school systems have consistently asked for more financial support than Buncombe has provided in recent years. How should the county approach funding for K-12 education? Revenue, expenditures and priorities. To approach funding, you have to evaluate the revenue coming in compared to the expenditures going out and what are the priorities for those expenditures. Many requests are made to the county for the use of the revenue. Many times requests for expenditures are over the revenue amount. Adjustments to the request are made, and priorities are set. What is the priority? Is it the same at decision time as it is at campaign time?
Al Whitesides
Website: AlWhitesides.com
Occupation: Retired banker
Previous candidacy or offices held: 8 years Asheville City Board of Education
Key endorsements: Sierra Club, NC State AFL-CIO, Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Association of Educators, Buncombe County Democratic legislative delegation
Amount of money raised: See latest financial report.
Top three donors: See latest financial report.
Are recent changes to Buncombe County’s occupancy tax law sufficient to address community concerns over tourism’s impact? If not, what else should be done to ensure tourism revenue helps the greatest number of people? The recent changes to Buncombe County’s occupancy tax law are sufficient to address community concerns over tourism’s impact at this time.
What strategies do you support for achieving the county’s 2030 affordable housing and land conservation goals? In order to reach our 2030 county goals for affordable housing and land conservation we must set annual goals and adjust them if we fall behind in reaching our yearly goals.
Do you have equity concerns about the county’s property valuation and tax system, and if so, what changes would you propose? The changes I would like to see made need to come from the state legislature. We need a homestead exemption for primary homeowners at age 65. (We should freeze their property taxes until their property sells.) We need to charge more taxes for second homes, and when property sells, the new property tax value should be based on the sale price. I believe these changes will make our tax system more equitable than it is today.
How can county government best support emergency services amid an ongoing opioid epidemic and staffing shortages? I believe county government can best support emergency services amid an ongoing opioid epidemic and staffing shortages by working closer with all organizations working to solve this problem in our county. The county needs to continue to help organizations eliminate duplication of services and obtain grants, state and government funds to solve this problem.
Local school systems have consistently asked for more financial support than Buncombe has provided in recent years. How should the county approach funding for K-12 education? Going forward, counties have got to work closer with our state government to increase funding for K-12 education. In recent years, it seems the state continues to put more on the counties while they create a $6 billion rainy day fund.
District 2
Martin Moore
Website: MartinForBuncombe.com
Occupation: Attorney
Previous candidacy or offices held: First-time candidate
Key endorsements: Sierra Club, AFL-CIO, Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville City Association of Educators, Equality NC
Amount of money raised: Approximately $10,035 as of Sept. 23
Top three donors: Ken Brame, Todd Lentz, Catherine Perez, Gerald Dillishaw, Brian Smith (last four contributed equal amounts)
Are recent changes to Buncombe County’s occupancy tax law sufficient to address community concerns over tourism’s impact? If not, what else should be done to ensure tourism revenue helps the greatest number of people? I believe we must continue to advocate and adjust as our community is impacted by tourism. Locals, including small-business owners, are paying more than their fair share when we think about the long-term impact on our community. If tourism is going to continue to be a significant part of our economy, we have to make sure that our infrastructure will support our locals and the tourism that can benefit our community.
What strategies do you support for achieving the county’s 2030 affordable housing and land conservation goals? The two bonds on the ballot are an important first step. Investing in these initiatives will assure that the county commission can take steps to regulate or own property to reach our housing and conservation goals. The Comprehensive Plan also incorporates community feedback and will guide how to best exercise the tools at our disposal. State law puts limits on what we can do, but we need to give our neighbors a meaningful voice in how we address these issues.
Do you have equity concerns about the county’s property valuation and tax system, and if so, what changes would you propose? Equity is always a concern when reviewing property valuation and taxation systems. It’s about fairness to folks who have been here for generations. When I speak to neighbors in Shiloh, for example, I think it’s irresponsible for us to ignore their concerns about our processes. District 2 includes neighborhoods, including parts of Shiloh and Candler, that need to be appropriately represented on our boards. As a commissioner, I’d start with assuring our review committees are representative of our diverse community.
How can county government best support emergency services amid an ongoing opioid epidemic and staffing shortages? Supporting our emergency services teams has to start with a candid conversation about where we are falling short and hearing from those on the ground, like our community paramedics, about what they need to save lives. A competitive wage will attract staff, but we need to be creative about incentives for first responders. Partnerships with A-B Tech to assure we’re offering (more) substantial scholarships or financial aid to those seeking to work in emergency services is a start.
Local school systems have consistently asked for more financial support than Buncombe has provided in recent years. How should the county approach funding for K-12 education? Our parents, teachers and students are all saying the same thing: Invest in education. It has to be a top priority. Whether we’re looking at education funding as a social/equity issue or an economic one, our community benefits from investing in education. The county commission started on this with the early education initiatives, and I want to see that investment pay off, which means following through.
Robert Pressley
Pressley did not provide answers in advance of the Xpress deadline.
District 3
Amanda Edwards
Website: ElectAmandaEdwards.org
Occupation: Executive director, A-B Tech Foundation
Previous candidacy or offices held: Elected to County Commission in 2018
Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Association of Educators, Equality NC, Sierra Club, WNC Central Labor Council
Amount of money raised: $18,550
Top three donors: Elect John Ager, George Beverly, Ken Brame
Are recent changes to Buncombe County’s occupancy tax law sufficient to address community concerns over tourism’s impact? If not, what else should be done to ensure tourism revenue helps the greatest number of people? Our community’s well-founded concerns about tourism and its impacts on residents, infrastructure and natural resources go well beyond this occupancy tax. When the North Carolina legislature adopted new provisions in July, we did not get an ideal proportion of tourism revenue used to meet local resident needs versus that used to advertise to tourists. What is positive is that we brought tourism advocates, community advocates and elected officials together to change what was. We moved in a better direction.
What strategies do you support for achieving the county’s 2030 affordable housing and land conservation goals? I support voting yes on both ballot questions: yes to Open Space and yes to Housing. That is a strategic action each of us can take. We’ll establish funding streams for land conservation, water protection, middle-income homeownership, affordable rentals and repairs by 2030. (See BetterWithBonds.org). I advocated for accountability provisions, including the Citizen Oversight Commission, independent audits and a transparent progress dashboard. Our bipartisan commission unanimously adopted these. I support strategic partnerships and leveraging federal funding. See ElectAmandaEdwards.org.
Do you have equity concerns about the county’s property valuation and tax system, and if so, what changes would you propose? Yes. I thank the local data analysis firm Urban3 for presenting a report on this topic to the commission last year. They identified what they describe as a widespread practice rather than a system that’s exclusive to Buncombe County. I supported investigating the topic. We established the Ad Hoc Reappraisal Committee. The committee identified several issues; I propose pursuing fairness in our valuation and tax system by rallying to effectively change the state laws governing valuation. See avl.mx/c22.
How can county government best support emergency services amid an ongoing opioid epidemic and staffing shortages? As commissioners, we need to fund, appreciate and problem-solve with our emergency services staff and our community advocates. I support pay increases for our people who are providing lifesaving and life-sustaining work. I lobbied to ensure the proposed county budget funds emergency services apprenticeships. I advocate for directing opioid settlement funds to emergency services. Through listening, I’ve learned that our older population has become increasingly reliant on emergency services for basic health care. We need solutions to meet this need.
Local school systems have consistently asked for more financial support than Buncombe has provided in recent years. How should the county approach funding for K-12 education? We must stop allowing Raleigh to shift responsibility. I urge residents and electeds to demand the legislature meet its constitutional responsibility to fund our schools. The state has a $6 billion rainy day fund. Consecutive years of financial neglect by the General Assembly (a reversal of generations of annual investments in high-quality education) can only be reversed by the General Assembly. Until then, our needs will continually exceed our local means to provide an exceptional K-12 education for each student.
Don Yelton
Website: DonYelton.com
Occupation: Observing local politics destroy Buncombe County
Previous candidacy or offices held: No office held
Key endorsements: Not seeking endorsements
Amount of money raised: All local and self. You never raise enough unless someone is funding you for payback.
Top three donors: Myself so far
Are recent changes to Buncombe County’s occupancy tax law sufficient to address community concerns over tourism’s impact? If not, what else should be done to ensure tourism revenue helps the greatest number of people? Without exposure, you would not have tourists. The exposure we are currently getting will definitely hurt tourism, and no money will build back from people relieving themselves in entryways and streets. Address the real problems first!
What strategies do you support for achieving the county’s 2030 affordable housing and land conservation goals? To achieve affordable housing, we should evaluate taxing policy. We should reward business owners for helping with housing for necessary servers, cooks, etc., and it can be done. I can’t describe my approach in 80 words. The world does not fit the rules established by the government and others.
Do you have equity concerns about the county’s property valuation and tax system, and if so, what changes would you propose? Yes. The current system uses sales, but the property does not increase when the existing property sells for two to three times the evaluation. But when the revalue occurs, the overlay drives up the taxes for those that did not sell. This requires the legislature to act. The first step would be for all commissioners to push for a change in taxing policy.
How can county government best support emergency services amid an ongoing opioid epidemic and staffing shortages? The county government is stuck in the middle: affordable housing, more money for school, police and emergency workers. The answer is not more money but how the money is spent. The city residents have a school tax for part of the schools. They have bad streets. The courts release folks charged with crimes. The answer is not money but how it is spent.
Local school systems have consistently asked for more financial support than Buncombe has provided in recent years. How should the county approach funding for K-12 education? You keep asking for money. And now for the important issues. Where can the county get more money? Property tax. Property tax is increasing and will increase with new evaluation. Fix up older homes and value increases, thus taxes go up. Put more land in conservation, and that decreases land for building. We must be more creative and really consider the total impact of actions.
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