During these times when elected officials seem distant from us in philosophy and the courage to make difficult decisions, I enthusiastically urge neighbors in the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners District 1 to vote for Bill Branyon.
Mr. Branyon isn’t cut from the same cloth as most politicians, especially those who sit on our local commission. He will stand up for our county against powerful influences like those who think they know better than their constituents. This means representing locals who love this region because of its history of peaceful coexistence with the gifts that nature has allotted to us — the majestic and threatened French Broad River, our national forests and inspiring mountains — along with its hardworking residents.
Many of us longtime residents believe that our current Buncombe County commissioners sold out our community by welcoming Pratt & Whitney as our new neighbor. War profiteer Raytheon Technologies owns P&W. Its CEO, Gregory Hayes, made $23.3 million in total compensation in 2021, the year after our local commission promised $27 million in tax abatements over the next decade to his company. Meanwhile, like canaries in a mine, we have people clinging to life on our streets and eating tourists’ leftovers from garbage cans.
Mr. Branyon will work to see that giveaways such as this never happen again.
I believe Mr. Branyon will help our county return to its compassionate and eclectic spirit that drew most of us here not so long ago or our ancestors decades ago.
— Rachael Bliss
Asheville
“President” Jill Stein certainly kept all of these same promises during her administration, 2017-2021. Writing checks you can’t cash is so easy. /Sarc/
Democrats DESTROY cities and counties and states and countries.