Press release from Rich Lee:
Rich Lee Files for 2017 Council Election Asheville, NC (July 17, 2017)
Pledging to keep working for the community’s interests “one pothole, one inequity, one problem at a time,” candidate Rich Lee officially filed for election on Monday, saying in an online video, “It’s not about politics, partisanship or personal ambition… It’s about pulling together and working things out.”
Lee was first runner-up in the 2015 council race. A longtime advocate for increased government transparency and engagement, he said the experience strengthened his commitment. “The next morning I applied for every open city board and commission seat,” he wrote in a letter to supporters. “The city still struggles to be an affordable and sustaining home to many… But I have hope.”
Lee moved to Western North Carolina in 1997. He graduated with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Western Carolina University, then served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Jordan from 2004 to 2006. In 2012 Lee co-founded East West Asheville Neighborhood Association, going on to become Vice President for Membership of the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods. He currently sits on the city’s Transportation Commission and Greenway Committee. Perhaps his most visible community role, Lee is co-founder and administrator of the Asheville Politics Facebook group, a boisterous citizen-run forum for local issues and news. From that position, he has continued to push for more open, accountable government, notably lobbying against property tax increases and the Asheville council districting bill passed by the state legislature, saying Asheville needs to pursue its own path to better representation on council.
Lee works as a financial advisor at Edward Jones Investments, specializing in environmentally and socially responsible financial planning for hundreds of local families. He lives in Haw Creek with his partner Lindsay and their four young children.
Along with his campaign filing, Lee submitted finance forms showing $10,390 raised in the first half of 2017. The election is this fall: a top-six primary on October 10th, then a top-three general November 7th.
Learn more at www.richworksfor.me and facebook.com/richleeforasheville
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