Asheville City Council field grows to five

With two incumbents still undecided and one week left in the filing period, five candidates — Tim Peck, Saul Chase, Marc Hunt, Mark Cates and current Council member Bill Russell — are officially running for Asheville City Council.

Filing began a week ago, with Hunt and Russell the first to file. Earlier that day, Russell announced he had decided to run for another term. Hunt, the city’s Greenway Commission chair, declared his candidacy in April, focusing on environmental and sustainability issues. Yesterday, Chase, a retired school teacher and former Boone town council member, announced he would run, focusing on infrastructure issues. Peck, a local blogger and libertarian activist, has released a statement of his philosophical principles, and filed today.

Other candidates, including Haw Creek Neighborhood Association President Chris Pelly and Timothy Sadler of RelyLocalAsheville, announced runs for office earlier, but have yet to officially file.

Vice Mayor Brownie Newman and Council member Jan Davis remain publicly undecided on running for another term. The Oct. 11 primary will narrow the field of candidates to six, and the top three vote-getters in the Nov. 8 general election will go on to Council.

— David Forbes, senior news reporter

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23 thoughts on “Asheville City Council field grows to five

  1. Bjorn

    I’ll back anyone who’ll seriously, seek to stop adding Fluoride to the local drinking water. Why pay to consume a known hazardous waste?

  2. Jon Elliston

    Forgive me if I missed it, but how many City Council seats will these candidates be vying for?

  3. Three? Maybe I’ll run this year, I like my chances.

    If Marc from Orbit wins a Council seat, then everybody’s late fees get erased.

  4. Betty Cloer Wallace

    Will MtnX now place these candidates on “moderated” status, or does that apply only to elected officeholders?

  5. “Will MtnX now place these candidates on “moderated” status, or does that apply only to elected officeholders?”

    Especially interesting that this status remains, when the individual in reference has never appeared to have a (well deserved) ax to grind…and has always posted in the most gentlemanly way possible.

  6. [b]Will MtnX now place these candidates on “moderated” status, or does that apply only to elected officeholders?[/b]

    I wanted to ask this question but hesitated. I didn’t want to be seen as instigating another “personal attack” on a now public figure.

  7. The Trolls Troll

    “I wanted to ask this question but hesitated. I didn’t want to be seen as instigating another “personal attack” on a now public figure.”

    Thanks for making this thread about said now public figure.

  8. The Trolls Troll

    Oops. I forgot to add that said now public figure is much more interesting than all of the City Council candidates.

  9. Betty Cloer Wallace

    I wanted to ask this question but hesitated. I didn’t want to be seen as instigating another “personal attack” on a now public figure.

    Chicken.

    It’s a MtnX policy question, not a single-candidate question, unless perhaps a candidate is so paranoid or vain he thinks the song is about himself.

  10. Barry Summers

    If Marc from Orbit wins a Council seat, then everybody’s late fees get erased.

    Holy Lordy, it’s the Year of Jubilee!!!

  11. Margaret Williams

    Betty/Mat/MsMag et al. Good question. It is general policy that public-office holders are moderated … candidates too? Allow us to think about that a little further. I’m not really working today. It’s an illusion that I’m typing.

  12. Barry Summers

    Any attempt to ‘moderate’ or thereby censor one particular candidate will lead to threats of lawsuits and general hilarity, is my prediction…

  13. Betty Cloer Wallace

    Margaret, Barry is right. Giving anyone, candidate or incumbent, such an advantage is tantamount to an endorsement.

  14. Barry Summers

    I can think of one candidate for whom a regular chance to address the voters would constitute a handicap…

  15. As long as we elected officials are moderated, I can’t fathom a rationale for not moderating candidates who have filed. And for someone like myself, an office holder who has announced for another seat, how would MtX parse things after I file next February? Would I be an office holder or a candidate? The same is true for any incumbent who chooses to run for reelection to Council.

    I don’t much like the moderation because it makes conversations here so disjointed. If I reply on a weekend evening, it may be days before my comment appears, and then it’s out of sequence. But the policy has to be the same all around.

  16. Ken Hanke

    I can think of one candidate for whom a regular chance to address the voters would constitute a handicap…

    I wonder if we’re thinking of the same one.

  17. Barry Summers

    I wonder if we’re thinking of the same one.

    To confirm your suspicions would invite a note to the moderator that the thread had become uncivil.

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