Thank you for your recent two-page article devoted to candidates currently running for office in Woodfin and Weaverville [“Waves of Woodfin: Candidates Talk Development, Tourism as Early Voting Begins,” Oct. 18, Xpress].
My husband and I moved to this area six months ago. As a result, we have limited knowledge of the local candidates and their views on issues. We’ve found it extremely hard to find information on the candidates and issues. We’ve attended two candidate forums, and in both situations, the candidates gave a two-minute “speech” and took no questions from the audience. Extremely disappointing!
So, I was thrilled when you published a two-page article on the candidates and their responses to questions. Fortunately, I learned a lot about the Woodfin candidates. Unfortunately, I live in Weaverville and the (only) 16 lines of content on the Weaverville candidates offered little insight. So, I’m wondering: Did Mountain Xpress choose to give 90% of the content in the article to Woodfin or did the Weaverville candidates choose to give limited information to the questions you posed? Note: The article stated Jennifer Young did not respond to your request for comments.
— Catherine Haynes
Weaverville
Editor’s response: Thank you for your thoughts. Faced with limited space, we opted to focus our attention on Woodfin because of various compelling elements in its election this year. With its mayor of 20 years retiring and a new town manager in place, we wanted to explore how the fresh faces in the Town Council race are helping to usher in a new approach to the way the town addresses development and a growing tourism sector. Woodfin also is on the verge of constructing a $33.1 million river feature that’s poised to entice tens of thousands of visitors a year, impacting residents and infrastructure in Woodfin, Asheville and Weaverville. Additionally, a new stormwater fee in Woodfin has many residents up in arms, adding another layer of intrigue to the election there.
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