The less the government at the national level reflects me, the people around me and the community I live in, the more I’m driven to effect change locally. I’ve known Sage Turner for years and served with her on the Downtown Commission and other committees. I’ve watched her motivate people to action. Sage doesn’t just participate, she leads. She isn’t hesitant to stand on the front lines, embrace a vision and drive change.
It took Sage a long time to decide to run. “There will be many good candidates, can I really make the difference I want to?” she asked me. And I appreciate that. Serving on City Council needs to be a labor of love and is always demanding and can be incredibly frustrating and thankless. But I experienced her dedication, and I encouraged her to run. She has an open mind, asks great questions and doesn’t hesitate to listen to her adversaries. Just as crucial, she identifies opportunities and isn’t afraid to give creative ideas a shot.
Sage is not only willing to learn, she’s my favorite kind of nerd, devouring information and sharing freely what she discovers. Sage was key to the renaissance of her neighborhood, West Asheville. She is proactive with the issues we are facing downtown. She understands that lack of access to ownership drives inequality, divides people and destroys communities. In our society, ownership is power. I want to see her work and years of experience with building cooperatives, expanding access to affordable housing and supporting locally owned businesses gain more traction.
We’re lucky to have strong, visionary candidates running for Council, and we’re able to pick three in the primary. I believe it would serve us well to elect Sage as one of them.
— Franzi Charen
Co-owner, Hip Replacements Clothing
Founder of Love Asheville Go Local
Asheville
Sage is the only realistically qualified candidate. Some of the others are just jokes. Still, we will suffer more council non leadership regardless who is elected.