Allow me to add my endorsement and wholehearted support to re-elect Jan Davis to Asheville City Council. His deep roots in the community and his four decades of civic and governmental service uniquely equip him to be the ideal member of Council.
During his two terms, he has demonstrated his leadership skills in facilitating, uniting and collaborating with all stakeholders in the community. Asheville’s future will be greatly enhanced with his historical perspective and realistic vision for the future.
Let’s express our thanks to him for his unselfish and tireless efforts by voting for him and urging friends and neighbors to do likewise.
We need his services on City Council now more than ever.
— Dorland Winkler
Asheville
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I wasn’t sure Jan was in my top 3, but he is now. I want to think Cecil for his sneak attack to remind me that it is a good thing to have an honest, small business owner on council. The nerve of Jan to fairly service ABC vehicles at his place of business, even when he had nothing to do with their selection of his tire store. Thanks again Cecil.
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I’d like to note that I made no “sneak attack” on Jan Davis.
The 125 page report from the ALE Agent who investigated our ABC board made particular mention of the apparent conflict of interest with Davis being the Council liaison to the ABC Board, and doing all of their repair/service work.
Davis was concerned enough that he had gone to the trouble of clearing it legally with the City attorney.
What I observed, and continue to observe, is that the appearance of impropriety is a real problem that could easily have been avoided. There are six other Council members who could have functioned as liaison to that body.
This sort of appearance of impropriety lends credence to the many who see all government as corrupt, who make charges of cronyism, who choose not to vote because “they’re all crooks.”
I oppose Davis for reelection because he consistently votes in opposition on the issues that matter to me and to the people who voted for me. But that has nothing to do with my critique of his decision to blur the lines of accountability vis-a-vis the ABC Board. I hold myself to the same standards I apply to everyone else in public service.
I agree, it’s about appearances. I doubt that anybody believes that the relatively small amount of money paid to Jan’s business by the ABC (less than $5000 over several years) would have led Jan to do anything inappropriate in his post as liaison. Problem is, the next person who comes along, whether it be a Council member, or a City staffer, or an appointee to a City Commission, sees the precedent and the climate of, “Hey, trust us – this is just the way we do business in a small town”. And they see that this climate gives them cover to do something genuinely corrupt. And before you know it, we’ve got another scandal.
I would love to see the default position be “Let’s not do anything that even gives the appearance of impropriety – let’s set the cleanest example possible, for everyone to see and follow,” rather than, “I wanted that business, and I wanted that post, and screw appearances. I got them both after my employee, the City Attorney, told me it was OK.”
Again, Jan is a decent guy, but this was a really poor choice on his part, IMHO.