Not to beat a dead horse, but what a disappointment the last few weeks have been in Asheville politics.
It’s been said that people get the government they deserve. Considering the turnout for the last primary, perhaps it’s true. One of the candidates for City Council even suggested that this voter apathy means the voters are satisfied with the status quo.
When I moved here I thought that this was a town full of hip, aware, hippie activists who would never let something like The Ellington happen, but as I take a closer look, I see I was mistaken. As the very essence of Asheville changes in front of their eyes, it seems that most people are more concerned about their hazelnut cappuccinos and low-fat lattes than preserving the cool/weirdness of the town and its environs.
So while you sit in your favorite sidewalk cafe in blissful ignorance, sipping your favorite chardonnay, Asheville slowly morphs into Charlotte/Atlanta.
Your leaders have decided that your silence means that you agree with what they are doing—that we need more skyscrapers, more condos. Not attracting more jobs and building affordable housing as a first priority, but [building] more housing for the already rich and affluent. So maybe they are right, and I’m wrong, and this is the will of the people.
A recent news article cited “gangs” becoming a problem, noticing more graffiti around. Ah, yes—progress. Don’t ya just love it?
Speaking of which, it is difficult for me to comprehend how, in a time when character and integrity is in such short supply in every level of our society and community, the Mountain Xpress has seen fit to terminate the employment of a person who, in my opinion and the opinion of many of his friends, associates and readers, exemplifies those characteristics.
What were you people thinking? When you terminate a person like Cecil Bothwell, you do all of us a disservice. By depriving us of this very important voice in a time when honesty and integrity is needed more then ever, you have diminished your paper. But more importantly, you have left a void for the community of people who were under the impression that your paper was an alternative to the herd mentality—that there was an outlet of reason and sanity out there.
So much for independent thinking, journalistic integrity and honesty. Geez—what was I thinking?
— Jesse Junior
Arden
Welcome to reality. Contrary to your motive for moving here, Asheville is NOT run by “hip, aware, hippie activists”. Instead it is the home for a large number of middle of the road reasonable people who have been disenfranchised by both your idealistic false progressives and by a very monied outside development interest fueled by well to do retires and professionals escaping their own local misery. Somehow I do not think these local and sensible people are all too interested in preserving your “cool/weirdness” at the expense of their town and what progress means to them.