If Xpress learned one thing from assembling this year’s Voter Guide, it’s that Asheville City Council candidates really do not like yes-or-no questions.
Only one Council hopeful, Andy Ledford, gave answers to all nine queries. Every other candidate failed to provide a clear yes or no to at least one question; incumbent Antanette Mosley and challenger Alex Cobb declined to participate entirely. “These are complex issues which require thoughtful, nuanced consideration,” Mosley wrote.
Xpress agrees. But with a primary field of 11 competing for six spots in the general election for Asheville’s governing body, we also believe that asking a broad variety of yes-or-no questions helps voters narrow down the field based on candidates’ stated values. (We plan to ask more detailed questions on specific issues in our general election coverage.)
And this year’s crop of candidates brings a range of ideological approaches. Ledford, Cobb and Doug Brown are running as a slate — together with mayoral candidate Dr. Cliff Feingold — known as “Your Team Asheville,” with a focus on public safety and business-friendly policies. Others, including Andrew Fletcher, Will Hornaday and Nina Tovish, hope to manage development for the benefit of community needs, such as affordable housing.
Former Asheville sustainability officer Maggie Ullman Berthiaume brings an emphasis on solar energy and the support of local climate philanthropist Mack Pearsall. Allison Scott, who worked to pass Asheville’s nondiscrimination ordinance, would be the first openly trans person to sit on Council. Incumbent Sheneika Smith is focusing on equity with proposals for purpose-built development and restorative justice.
And rounding out the field is Grant Millin, who is already looking beyond the Council race. His top priority upon election, as relayed to Xpress, is to start developing himself as the city’s next mayor.
Candidate answers to yes-or-no questions are shown in the grid below; click or tap the image for a larger view. The name of each candidate is linked to their long-form responses in the post.
- Maggie Ullman Berthiaume
- Doug Brown
- Alex Cobb
- Andrew Fletcher
- Will Hornaday
- Andy Ledford
- Grant Millin
- Antanette Mosley
- Nina Tovish
- Allison Scott
- Sheneika Smith
Maggie Ullman Berthiaume 
Website: Maggie4AVL.com
Occupation: Climate advocate
Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A
Key endorsements: WNC Labor Council AFL-CIO; State Sen. Julie Mayfield
Amount of money raised: $18,000
Top three donors: Mack Pearsall, Nanci and Clark Mackey, Pam Evans
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? I work with nonprofits to help them row in the same direction on climate change. I will apply my professional skills to build community coalitions for what Asheville needs. I was Asheville’s first sustainability director. I saved $1 million a year in energy costs and used those savings to create a funding stream for new programs. I increased residential recycling 35%. I have the skills and proven experience to take Asheville’s ideas and put them into action.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. 1) The housing market is in the driver’s seat, and it is running Ashevilleans out of town. I will ensure incentives help people most in need: people earning a living wage or less.
2) Solar power is good for the environment and is a cost-effective budget strategy. I will champion installing solar on every city building. 3) I will prioritize funding core city services for a healthy, safe and livable community, including sidewalks, greenways, parks and living wages to retain top-notch staff.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? My values are trust, inclusivity, equity and coalition building. When Ashevilleans vote for me to serve them on City Council, I intend to work with the community and current Council to support the needs of all Ashevilleans. I don’t want to start that relationship using hindsight against our community and current leaders.
Doug Brown
Website: Doug.YourTeamAsheville.com
Occupation: Sales
Previous candidacy or offices held: President of my college dorm
Key endorsements: Did not answer
Amount of money raised: $1,500
Top three donors: Did not answer
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? Financial responsibility — I ran a successful sales territory that covered the Far East. Get-it-done attitude — I started a car detailing business that put me through college and a school photography business with four crews covering Jakarta to Dubai. Listening and teamwork — I started businesses in Japan and Mexico and have served as a college counselor, teen mentor, coach and Sunday school teacher. Appreciation for nature and Asheville’s beauty — I surf and was a camp host in California’s Eastern Sierras.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. 1) Give Asheville residents and businesses a safe and clean city again. How? Boost Asheville Police Department morale and recruits. 2) Serve the needs of residents and workers. How? Listen, learn and respond with reasoned facts with the motive to serve the public. 3) Vagrants and panhandlers break city ordinances and must be directed to shelters and treatment where they can learn recovery, accountability and how to live a purposeful life.
Which recent City Council decisions do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? The Merrimon Avenue “road diet.” Why not first ask the police, fire and emergency medical services what they would recommend?
Alex Cobb
Website: Alex.YourTeamAsheville.com
Occupation: Real estate broker
Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A
Key endorsements: Endorsements by big-money donors are not my concern. I am running for the people of Asheville. An endorsement by the mom, the elderly or the people who make the community is more important.
Amount of money raised: Did not respond
Top three donors: Did not respond
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? My degree is in criminal justice, so I have a deep respect for law enforcement, but I also understand individual rights. My management experience in the restaurant business gives me the skills to look at budgets and make adjustments. I am now a real estate broker; this has given me the experience to know the struggles of finding housing and how hard it can be. The very best quality about me is I am extremely empathetic and caring.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years? 1) Homelessness: Focus on the root causes of homelessness, which are mental health and addiction. If we focus on treatment, then housing, we can achieve better results. 2) Rebuilding the Asheville Police Department: I will support the APD and look at ways to retain officers. 3) Housing: We need to make living in Asheville more affordable by reducing the costs of renting. We must stop property tax hikes, and I would incentivize current short-term rental owners to convert to long-term rentals.
Which recent City Council decisions do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? The decision to use the Ramada Inn as a low-barrier shelter has caused many problems in East Asheville. Crime has increased dramatically, as have overdoses and deaths. Businesses are experiencing shoplifting. Tax dollars are going to this, and it is not helping the people who are in need. The city was not prepared and allowed a local nonprofit to manage the shelter that was not capable of doing so. Asheville needs to be transparent and listen to community members.
Andrew Fletcher 
Website: FletcherForAsheville.com
Occupation: Jazz musician, LaZoom tour guide, economics student
Previous candidacy or offices held: Asheville City Council candidate 2017
Key endorsements: Sunrise Movement Asheville
Amount of money raised: $3,500
Top three donors: Andrew Fedynak, Laura Conner, Elliot Eichler
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? I currently serve as vice chair of both the city of Asheville’s Downtown Commission and Public Art and Cultural Commission. I chair the Public Space Management Committee and am the past chair of the Haywood/Page Advisory Team. I’ve been an active organizer with the Asheville Buskers Collective and I serve on the board of both the Nina Simone Project in Tryon and Asheville Music Professionals. I’m currently a senior in the economics program at UNC Asheville.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. First, and most easily, would be to guarantee that public decisions regarding development and public funds are made in the full view of the public. Second, I would advocate for better wages for rank-and-file city workers so we could fully staff the departments that deliver essential city services like parks, sanitation and firefighting. Third, I would ask for a full review and refresh of all zoning laws, also known as UDO reform.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? The Flatiron Hotel approval was a grave mistake. The follow-up was worse: The new hotel development rules have led to an even faster rate of hotel construction. The entire approach to land use in Asheville has benefited out-of-town developers at the expense of our community. We have limited land and must enact land use policies that prioritize community needs, such as affordable housing with access to healthy food, good jobs and education, rather than hotel profiteers.
Will Hornaday
Website: HonorAsheville.com
Occupation: Designer
Previous candidacy or offices held: Current president of Albemarle Park neighborhood; past president, Charlotte Street Business Association; vice chair, Historic Resources Commission
Key endorsements: AFL-CIO WNC Central Leadership Council
Amount of money raised:$2,200
Top three donors: Ted Barnhill, Erin Dickinson, Bill Murphy
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? I listen and I ask lots of questions. There is invaluable expertise in our citizenry, and by volunteering my time and energy to local nonprofits, the Historic Resources Commission and neighborhood and business groups, I’ve made connections with some incredibly smart, caring people who have experiences and ideas to make our city better. Additionally, my background in graphic design gives me the skills to come up with creative, collaborative solutions to our problems and tools to implement and promote them.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. I would like to see Asheville hire an urban forester and implement a stronger stormwater ordinance within the first year. We should also expand our composting program and be able to distribute bear-resistant trash cans to anyone who needs one. By the end of year two, I’d like to have deconstruction and adaptive reuse ordinances in the final phase of development and free shuttle bus routes to and from downtown in the design phase.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? I think this Council is making pro-development decisions based on promises of a handful of city-subsidized, temporary, not-so-affordable housing units that can have negative impacts on our health, safety and environment. Conditional zoning should only be awarded for exceptional projects that elevate our town. As I write this, 13 historic houses in the Chestnut Hill National Register District, which provided 35 units of truly affordable housing for diverse families and workers, are being destroyed. We deserve better.
Andy Ledford 
Website: Andy.YourTeamAsheville.com
Occupation: Engineer
Previous candidacy or offices held: None
Key endorsements: None
Amount of money raised: $200
Top three donors: Self-funded
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? I am an Asheville native, a father and a veteran. As an engineer, I have experience in fixing problems, minimizing waste and improving processes. We need to look ahead, research ideas that work and implement positive, permanent fixes that will serve us now and in the future. I want to return Asheville to being a town that takes care of our own, provides stability and meets the needs of all our citizens.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. I want to bring better representation for South Asheville. The biggest issue I see, especially in the south of the city, is traffic. City Council should work with the N.C. Department of Transportation and get public input on the biggest problems around town. Another issue is public safety and services. Not enough police to enforce laws, not enough public works to keep trash picked up, potholes going unrepaired. I want to bring the city back up to full staff.
Grant Millin 
Website: GrantMillin.com
Occupation: Strategy innovator and CEO of StratGen, a management consulting for public good business
Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A
Key endorsements: N/A
Amount of money raised: Did not answer
Top three donors: Did not answer
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? My observing and engaging with Council and city of Asheville activities for many years — versus other candidates just showing up and registering this year because things don’t look so hot at City Hall — is a key differentiator. The list of important experiences I have accumulated will be detailed on my website and blog when I formally announce in April, including prompting the city noise ordinance dashboard and my central role in ending the political career of Charles Taylor.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. 1) Start developing the next mayor. I will request to be seated on the Public Safety Committee and selected as vice mayor, and I am prepared to be the next mayor. 2) Define the process for selecting the next city manager, including the leadership characteristics and restructuring targets for the next city manager’s strategy. 3) I have announced the COA Restructure and Center of Progress platform. Zero of the other candidates have bothered to help define what Council needs to look like as to performance.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? I would say Debra Campbell being selected, apparently without a process similar to how the past city manager was presented alongside other candidates in a town hall forum. In no way is that the only reason I am running for City Council, and in many ways I like what Debra tries to do. Also, a recent International City/County Management Association study states municipal executives get a six-year average tenure; not 15-20 years, as has been the case locally this century.
Antanette Mosley
Website: MosleyForAsheville.com
Occupation: Attorney
Previous candidacy or offices held: Appointed incumbent on Asheville City Council
Key endorsements: AFL-CIO WNC, WNC Sierra Club
Amount of money raised: Did not respond
Top three donors: Did not respond
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? I am a multigenerational Ashevillean, and my deep roots in the community inform my decision-making. I’m an attorney by profession, so I’m analytical in my approach. Prior to joining Council, I worked for a local affordable housing nonprofit. I currently sit on the Housing and Community Development Committee and am the Council liaison to the Asheville Housing Authority.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. I will champion an increase in housing stock, including equitable, affordable housing. I will also support staff with policies that build upon and improve delivery of core services. Also of great importance is the establishment of intergovernmental and public-private partnerships.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? I was the sole Council member to vote against the assignment of a real estate contract for the Ramada Inn to an out-of-state, for-profit entity without a bid process. My primary reasons for opposition related to equity and transparency concerns.
Nina Tovish 
Website: Tovish4AVL.com
Occupation: Writer, artist, real estate broker
Previous candidacy or offices held: None
Key endorsements: AFL-CIO WNC Central Leadership Council
Amount of money raised: $665
Top three donors: Lynn Borton, Robert Woolley, Nina Tovish
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? I’ve been a politically engaged citizen since my youth, never as an ideologue, always as a pragmatic idealist. I pay attention to how government — national, state or local — interacts with us and whether it upholds the processes and values of democracy. In Asheville, I’ve been participating in City Council meetings for years, seeking to make our city government more responsive, inclusive, transparent and accountable. My experience in real estate helps me understand the complexities of our city’s affordable housing crisis
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. 1) Improve the city residential property tax rebate piloted last year: Make it permanent and automatic using a formula including years of ownership, percentage valuation increase and actual assessment. 2) Ensure the city achieves its stated goals for reducing fossil fuel use by accelerating the deployment of solar panels and upgrading existing facilities. 3) Empower meaningful resident participation early in the formulation of city decisions through easier access to public information and processes, including Council meetings, effective boards and commissions, and community groups.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? City Council’s 2019 vote to permit the transformation of the Flatiron Building from a historic downtown anchor for local small businesses into yet another hotel for tourists was atrocious. It epitomizes a decision-making process that disregards residents’ voices, fails to promote a vibrant, diversified local economy and prioritizes favorable outcomes for large developers over our urgent community needs and quality of life. This is our city; we deserve a City Council that listens to us and puts residents first.
Allison Scott
Website: AllisonForAsheville.com
Occupation: Director of impact and innovation for the Campaign for Southern Equality
Previous candidacy or offices held: Did not answer
Key endorsements: Victory Fund
Amount of money raised: Did not answer
Top three donors: Anne Guse, Shelley McCormick, Amy Mandel
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? Lifetime local Allison Scott is a trans woman whose accomplishments as a community organizer and bridge builder include helping implement Asheville’s first LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinance; serving as director of impact and innovation for CSE, overseeing over $500,000 in grant-making to LGBTQ people in need during the pandemic; serving as co-chair for the Biden for President NC LGBTQ Leadership Council; over a decade of experience as an IT manager for several large corporations; and chairing Asheville’s Citizens/Police Advisory Committee.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. 1) Implement “community paramedicine” units, similar to those used by Buncombe County, for drug and mental health crisis response to better support our unhoused and most vulnerable neighbors. 2) Change Council meetings to always include virtual and in-person options for the public to attend and comment, promoting government transparency and accessible civic engagement. 3) Change zoning laws to include denser development as one of many initiatives to address Asheville’s affordable housing crisis. Visit AllisonForAsheville.com to learn more about Allison and the issues.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? The Ramada Inn project should have included more planning and community input, along with robust wraparound services, before being implemented.
Sheneika Smith 
Website: N/A
Occupation: Vice mayor, Asheville City Council
Previous candidacy or offices held: Asheville City Council (2018), vice mayor (2020)
Key endorsements: Asheville Fire Fighters Association
Amount of money raised: $0
Top three donors: N/A
What relevant experience makes you a good candidate for City Council? Elected to Asheville City Council in 2018, appointed vice mayor in 2020. Currently, chair of the Public Safety Committee and Boards and Commissions. Professional experience includes community organizing and event planning, workforce development outreach and recruitment, and behavioral/mental health work.
Name three achievable goals you would champion in the next two years. 1) Purpose Built Development — To address intergenerational poverty, crime and substandard living conditions, upward mobility has to be created. The Purpose Built model develops new affordable, mixed-income housing options for distressed communities. 2) Restorative Justice — Asheville has been facing cycles of rising violence. Restorative justice creates new outcomes by reimagining what restitution, resolution and restoration look like and how to achieve those goals. 3) Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Operations Planning — I want to work with intergovernmental, interagency and community players to create resilience hubs.
Which recent City Council decision do you most disagree with, and what would you have done differently? N/A
I’m the owner of a Management Consulting for Public Good business. That’s not the brand name of my firm, MX.
I did respond on the issue of reparations allocations. I can make my MX questionnaire available. I added an asterisk to almost every question MX asked. Since there’s no final report from the COA Community Reparations Commission no one can say what if anything will be funded. So I did the right thing and spelled that out.
I will be meeting with downtown businesses Monday and will officially announce my campaign Tuesday.
Hello Grant, thanks much for getting in touch. I apologize for the confusion over the name of your firm; those words were capitalized in your response to the voter guide, so I interpreted it as a business name. I’m happy to edit that as directed.
Regarding the reparations question, you did not respond with a yes or no as required. We’ve linked to your website, where voters can go for more detailed explanations of your positions; you’re also welcome to share a direct link in the comments here.