The 2024 races for Buncombe County Board of Commissioners are unusual for their variety: there is a race for commission chair featuring an incumbent, a commission seat race featuring an incumbent and another commission seat race with two candidates who are new to public office.
Candidates talk about spending, support for education and what regulating short-term rentals should look like.
Three candidates for Buncombe County Board of Commissioners gathered at the May 10 Council of Independent Business Owners meeting to lay out their vision for the county’s future direction.
Duncan, 59, and his team gathered the signatures in 40 days, well ahead of the March 5 deadline, mostly by sending almost 40,000 mailers to unaffiliated or Republican voters in Buncombe who’ve voted in the past three elections.
Van Duncan, former Buncombe sheriff, says he never wanted jail employee facing abuse from supervisor to have to leave her job. Her attorney says she remembers it differently, questions how sheriff could have been in dark about what was happening at jail.
The former jail worker’s lawsuit names the former sheriff, top officers, Buncombe County and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office as defendants.
Board chair Brownie Newman, Vice Chair Jasmine Beach-Ferarra and member Amanda Edwards have placed a resolution endorsing the Sheriff’s Office’s use of MAT on the commission’s agenda for Tuesday, Aug. 20. The treatment is currently offered to the jail’s pregnant female inmates, but Buncombe officials hope to expand its availability to all incarcerated individuals.
At the Black Mountain Public Library on July 23, Sheriff Quentin Miller spoke to roughly 35 people in the first of five planned listening sessions meant to build relationships with community members around public safety. Topics included compliance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers, school resource officers and transparency in the Sheriff’s Office.
As the Democratic Party retook control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections, Buncombe Dems managed to hold onto a few key positions in local elections — perhaps most notably that of county sheriff. Politics also seeped into the Board of Commissioners race, where Republicans fell short in their bid to flip the party composition of the board.
Miller pledged to live up to his campaign promises of promoting the idea of a “community of we” and seeking ways to work together. “We must treat people with dignity and respect,” he emphasized. “We also request that you treat us with dignity and respect.
The primary election on May 8 produced a combination of expected and surprising victories. We talk to some of the local winners.
Mission Health President and CEO Dr. Ron Paulus sees system expansion through mergers as a nearly inevitable survival tactic in the current healthcare environment. “There are many leaders — not me, but Mayo Clinic and others — that believe within 25 years, there will be maybe four or five health systems in the U.S.,” he said.
Buncombe County Democrats are picking their choice for a new sheriff in the primary election on May 8. The five Democratic candidates have differing takes on how to shape the next iteration of the office. And though they find common ground on topics from drugs to community engagement, competition is fierce as they vie for […]
As Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan prepares to leave the post he’s held for the past 12 years, he spoke with Xpress to reflect on the current state of policing, his time in office and the legacy he’ll leave behind.
Female inmates at the Buncombe County Detention Facility are starting to outpace the space available for them. The trend could cost the county in fees associated with transferring prisoners if action isn’t taken.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners heard about the success of the Family Justice Center helping abuse survivors while also learning those using the resources has seen a 50 percent increase in the last three months.
The Buncombe County District Attorney is looking to give opioid offenders treatment rather than jail time via a new diversion program.
Buncombe County commissioners identified combating opioid abuse and increasing teacher salary supplements as top priorities. But is legal marijuana a viable strategy for achieving those goals, or merely smoke and mirrors?
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners gave unanimous approval to a number of projects, including investing in at-risk communities and pool renovations for Warren Wilson College, during its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
The Asheville Police Department trails the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in rolling out police body cameras — but the city is trying to catch up. Police Chief Tammy Hooper outlined a draft policy for the cameras at a recent panel discussion, and says the first cameras will be deployed by summer. We look into what needs to happen between now and then to make that schedule happen.
“There is absolutely no validity to this whatsoever,” the sheriff states. “If somebody calls you and tries to collect money, [saying they’re] from any government entity at the threat of arrest — [know] that [neither] the IRS nor the Sheriff’s Office call and give you an opportunity to pay … any kind of fee or fine that would result in you being arrested.”
