Buncombe first hired Ward and Smith last May, agreeing to pay the firm $72,000 annually to advocate for the county’s interests at the state legislature. A Jan. 30 gathering at the DoubleTree hotel in Biltmore Village marked the first extended public discussion of the lobbyists’ work since that contract was inked.
North Carolina can support as many as nine Las Vegas-style casinos with gambling throughout the state, including one in the Asheville area, according to a report commissioned by the General Assembly.
Xpress reached out to the area’s elected officials, activists and community leaders to learn more about what they took away from 2022’s political action.
Asheville on Bikes has recently drawn attention for its successful advocacy at City Hall, but it’s just one of many community organizations that seek to pull the levers of political power in Asheville. Xpress spoke to several of these groups to learn more about how they pursue their agendas.
The local business group’s annual event usually features WNC’s General Assembly delegation and its reflections on happenings in Raleigh. This year, the entirety of Buncombe County’s incoming state House contingent was absent: As newly elected officials, Eric Ager, Lindsey Prather and Caleb Rudow were taking part in orientation at the capitol.
Over 140 people responded to an Xpress questionnaire designed to learn more about Western North Carolina’s unaffilaited voters. Their answers show that, at least in WNC, the simple label of “unaffiliated” elides a wide diversity of ideologies and concerns.
Complete Democratic control of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, a better-than-expected performance by Jasmine Beach-Ferrara and $70 million in new spending for county initiatives all emerged from this year’s midterm election results.
Watch this space for the latest 2022 general election results for Western North Carolina and commentary from the Mountain Xpress news team. The post will be updated regularly throughout the evening.
Every election Corinne Duncan has worked since joining Buncombe County Election Services in 2015, she says, has felt more intense than the one before. Ever more people are voting, requesting information from the office she now directs and scrutinizing the electoral process. And an increasing number of citizens, Duncan continues, want to take an active […]
The event, supported in part by the American Press Institute’s Election Coverage and Community Listening Fund, also aimed to uplift community voices regarding education issues. As moderator Aisha Adams revealed through conversations with the audience, many concerns about the school system are shared among voters with different views, even if they may disagree about how best to solve those issues.
Administrators from local social media groups talk about the challenges inherent in their freewheeling, ongoing public conversations. Opinions vary on how much that rough-and-tumble interferes with achieving posters’ goals.
In preparation for the 2022 general election of Tuesday, Nov. 8, Xpress sent questions to all candidates in contested local races representing Buncombe County voters. Responses from candidates for the N.C. General Assembly, Buncombe County-level races, Asheville city government and local school boards are all collected here.
In November’s general election, Buncombe County citizens will vote on two bond referendums that could together authorize up to $70 million in county borrowing for open space conservation and affordable housing projects.
General election candidates for the 2022 Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors race share their positions with Xpress.