Press release from Shane McCarthy:
Shane McCarthy, Asheville Construction Manager, Environmental Advocate, Running for City Council
Shane McCarthy, a 25-year old construction manager and climate change advocate, filed to run for Asheville City Council on Monday, Dec. 16. McCarthy was born and raised in Asheville. After graduating from A.C. Reynolds High School, he worked in the service, retail, and construction industries. He then became the first in his family to graduate from college by earning a Civil Engineering degree from North Carolina State University, where he graduated in the top of his class.
McCarthy has since worked at an engineering firm designing traffic signals and roads, and at the NC Department of Transportation overseeing contracts for highway projects. McCarthy now works as a manager at a local construction company that builds and renovates houses. He and his wife Emily live in the East End/Valley Street neighborhood, where McCarthy served as the secretary of the neighborhood association during 2019.
McCarthy’s website has plans to make housing more affordable by removing barriers to home ownership, and by building housing that’s affordable for people with low incomes. “The people who keep Asheville running deserve to be able to live here. Right now, that’s not happening,” he says. McCarthy is a renter, and recently faced a rent increase of 5% himself, according to a November 3 Facebook post. He says “I’m running for city council because I want to be able to afford to live here in five years.”
On the climate crisis, McCarthy wants to fight it by protecting our tree canopy, weatherizing the homes of low-income families, and building renewable power. McCarthy’s website says that he is “a life-long steward of our environment” who has organized river cleanups, weatherized low-income homes, and spoke at Asheville’s Climate Strike on September 20, 2019.
McCarthy plans to improve Asheville’s transportation system, which consistently ranks among the most dangerous in the state, by improving the bus system, filling in the gaps in our sidewalk network, and improving traffic signals. His website claims that “Shane’s experience in the transportation engineering and construction fields makes him the best candidate to ensure Asheville’s transportation system works better for everyone.”
He wants to protect against the negative side-effects of tourism by reforming the Tourism Development Authority (TDA) to invest more tourism tax dollars into our community, instead of advertising for more tourists. “When it comes to tourism,” he says, “Asheville needs to put Ashevillians first.”
Asheville City Council is elected by voters who live in Asheville City limits. The office is non-partisan. Three city council seats are open next year, and voters can choose up to three candidates to vote for. The primary election is on March 3, 2020, and the general election is on November 3, 2020.
a local person on FB finally defined ‘climate justice’ for me perfectly…. ‘Climate justice simply means TAKING money from some people to give to others for VOTES’ …. so simple.