I'll be voting to return Jan Davis to Asheville City Council this fall, and I encourage Xpress readers to do the same. Jan has been a steady hand on Council since 2003, and has always had a pragmatic view about how to get the best outcomes for all stakeholders in city policy. I often see him out in town, and every time I've spoken with him, he's been genuinely interested in my opinion and has offered details on current matters that I hadn't known.
He's doesn't view the City Council as a place for pet projects, but rather as a place to serve the community. Some of us have complaints about particular things in Asheville, but few of us are leaving to go somewhere else. Jan has been a big part of our continuing success.
— Jon King
Asheville
As a local brewer I will be voting against Jan Davis in the coming election and will urge others to do the same.
Jan fought against putting professional urban planner Joe Minicozzi on Planning & Zoning, citing a potential “conflict of interest” due to his position as Exec. Dir. of the Asheville Downtown Association. The ADA does not develop property or propose buildings or do anything that would come before P&Z, so where is the conflict?
At the same time, Jan supported and voted for Jeremy Goldstein, the owner of one of the largest commercial real estate companies in town. He couldn’t even answer all the questions at the City Council interview, citing the fact that he has clients in every highrise built in downtown for the past 20 years. He is a walking “conflict of interest”, yet Jan had no problem putting him on this very important Commission in place of a professional with no direct financial ties to development interests.
Who is Jan representing on City Council?