Candidate Questionnaire: David Gantt, Chair of the Buncombe County Commission

Commissioner David Gantt is seeking our endorsement for chairman of the Buncombe County Commission. Below are his responses to our candidate questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?

Buncombe County is already leading the rest of the country with Project Access, providing health care and health services to all residents of Buncombe County. We have created regulations concerning placement of cell phone towers that has become the model for the rest of the state. I made numerous successful amendments to the cell tower ordinance to toughen it up. We are the first mountain county to adopt a storm water ordinance. In education, the AB Tech Business Incubator is providing the groundwork for innovation and job creation. We need to continue our forward momentum through our Voluntary Land Conservancy Plan, water agreements that see into the future and have a regional approach, and the continuing development of wise growth policies. We SHOULD be leading the country in green job development and preservation of our mountain beauty, but we are behind in both of these areas.

2. What is your number one priority with regard to development and land use?

Continued work on protecting our steep slopes and ridge tops. I have worked hard my three (3) terms on the County Commission to enact laws that protect and preserve our mountains and open spaces. We have been moderately successful in passing the first storm water, erosion, and zoning laws in our history. We have also been able to enact a Blue Ridge Parkway overlay that protects over-development near that national treasure. I will continue to work on policies that benefit the residents of Buncombe County and not the developers who wish to construct thoughtlessly.

3. Growth projections for Buncombe are continually revised upward. Have previous approaches to development become obsolete? Would you support a temporary moratorium on development while the county works with municipal governments to prepare for these new projections?

Growth is indeed coming to Buncombe County. Many of these folks are coming here to retire but many more are coming to seek a quality of life offered in our mountains. We cannot and should not stop growth. The coming growth is going to strain our infrastructure and re-define how we think about our neighborhoods and our neighbors. In order to maintain a healthy economy and a healthy environment, we have to get in front of the wave and work on wise growth plans NOW. Dialogue is never outdated. Continued conversations throughout the county are important and necessary to wise growth. I support mandatory classes for developers on building in mountain topography, green building and wise building with voluntary compliance based on gained knowledge. I have also proposed a study of impact fees on developers to help finance some of the additional government costs new construction creates for taxpayers.

4. How can the county practice environmental stewardship and promote broad-based economic growth at the same time?

See my answer above. I don’t think environmentally sound practices and economic growth are inconsistent. I believe that the jobs created by “green” industry will eventually rival the number of traditional construction jobs. We have to work with our High Schools, UNCA, Warren Wilson College, and AB Tech to foster the green jobs and move out economy. We have to look at expanding affordable, green housing through partners like Mountain Housing Opportunities.

5. Many of our members want their local governments to lead the way in promoting energy independence and combatting global warming. In what ways should the county work towards these goals?

Energy independence is a goal we must work towards. Several County programs are in place through the landfill working with the methane gas, recycling, energy efficient cars in government fleet. More needs to be done on to promote individual responsibility toward energy usage and conservation and government incentives for alternate forms of energy such as wind and solar energies.

6. Do you see a role for the county in promoting energy efficiency in transportation and residential and business use?

Buncombe County should lead the way on energy efficiency. Many of our short term efforts will be basic, like replacing seventy (70) year old windows in the Buncombe County Courthouse. This is a small step towards a larger problem. We need to look at requiring LEED certification, green roofs, green building and incentives for companies and businesses who recycle go green. I would like to recognize and award best green practices in business and private homes.

7. The county government plays a central role in providing social services. Where has it been most successful? Where does it most need improvement?

Buncombe County has been enormously successful in providing healthcare to all residents. The welfare roles in Buncombe County have declined from a high of almost 7000 individuals to just 700 due to aggressive work and retraining programs and educational offerings. The County partners with Mountain Housing Opportunities, ABCCM, United Way, Eblen Charities to work on programs of workforce housing, fuel oil distribution, and daycare. We have to do better in creating a good supply of housing that working folks can afford.

8. Do you think that the current commission has carried out its work in a manner that is sufficiently transparent? If not, how would you change things?

I voted initially set up televising Commissioner meetings. I also led the fight to create Public Access Television before federal laws closed the window to this programming. Initially, I voted to suspend televising public comment since this time was filled with political campaigning and personal agendas that had little to do with the purpose of public comment- to hear public concerns and questions. With changes to the rules of presentation, I fully support televised commission meetings. The minutes of all meetings are posted on line and video is available through URTV.

9. Has the current commission made decisions that you strongly disagree with? If so, what will you do to remedy those decisions if you are elected?

I most strongly disagreed with the referendum on zoning. We do not have a referendum based government and I will not support motions that call for referendums. North Carolina government, including county, do not adopt the government by referendum guidelines that influence many states such as California. The buck stops with the elected officials. We are elected to make hard decisions and can be voted out if those decisions go against the will of the people. I will not bring up motions for vote without significant public comment.

10. Do you have a plan for how you will win this election? If so, could you briefly describe the elements of your plan?

I plan to make contact with as many voters as possible via speeches, internet, phone and letters. I am not optimistic that I can match my opponent’s $120,000 television budget, but I will do the best I can with the available resources. I will also loan my campaign $10,000 to $15,000.

11. Would you call yourself a political progressive? Why or why not?

Progressive. When I consider new laws, I always put the working men and women I represent in my law practice before other considerations. I believe we have a moral obligation to improve both economic and environmental conditions for our children and grandchildren who will follow us. We are stewards of these beautiful mountains. Once they are developed, we cannot “undevelop” them. I will continue to work hard to make sure developers and construction interests respect our natural resources.

Candidate Questionnaire: Susan Fisher, State House District 114

Susan Fisher is seeking our endorsement as she runs for reelection in state house district 114, which includes most of Asheville's western precincts and parts of Buncombe County outside the city limits. Below are her responses to our candidate questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

1. What are the three biggest challenges facing our state, and, briefly, how do you think we should address them?

Improving Education

We need to reduce the dropout rate and I am glad to be leading a part of the Speaker’s Initiative to address this issue. Money has been appropriated and we have convened some of the most knowledgeable people in education, higher education, business and industry to review what programs are working and what needs to be changed to keep students in school. My co-chair on the House Education committee and I conducted public hearings around the state to find out from students, parents, educators and others what they believe needs to happen in order to stem the dropout rate. That work will continue during the next biennium.

Expanding Access to Health Care

We need to improve the Mental Health System, increase Health Insurance Coverage for children, improve Minority Health outcomes and continue to study ways to provide Health Insurance to all of North Carolina’s residents. There are currently 4.1 million people in North Carolina without health insurance and we need to continue to put pressure on the pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and medical community to assist us in addressing this issue. I am committed to this effort and co-sponsored legislation with Rep. Verla Insko to continue to examine ways to address this important issue.

Protecting the Environment

We have a good beginning to addressing the drought in North Carolina, but the effort needs to continue in terms of education our citizens and our industry leaders about ways to conserve and by providing incentives for using less of these valuable resources. We need to continue to provide opportunities to preserve open land and farmland for future generations, by continuing to provide funds to assist those who wish to keep their land in conservation for particular uses such as farming.

2. What has been your proudest accomplishment during your time in office?

One of my proudest accomplishments has been moving the Comprehensive Health Education bill further than anyone had been able to since the Abstinence Only legislation was passed in the 1990’s. This is a bill that I continue to work to move forward to passage since I believe that we must give our students the information they need to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections including HIV. The age group with the highest incidence of new HIV cases is between 14 and 21. We now know that teens are engaging in sexual activity in numbers just as high with abstinence only education and I believe our schools must be allowed to provide them with medically accurate and age appropriate education.

3. Do you have any differences with the House Democratic caucus and leadership? In what areas or issues would you seek to move your fellow Democrats in a different direction?

Yes. I have some differences. Although, in general, I believe that leadership under Speaker Joe Hackney has been a breath of fresh air compared to the previous speaker, there are areas where I believe that Democrats are not behaving like Democrats. For example, during the last biennium’s work on the bullying legislation, Rep. Rick Glazier and I worked very hard with the conference committee on this bill to bring agreement and ultimate passage of this important and timely legislation, but there were democrats who felt more allegiance to their conservative religious affiliation than to protection and safety of children. Another example is the recent boat towing legislation. This is one instance where I, and a few others of the “democratic wing” of the democrats in the House voted to sustain the governor’s veto. We were thinking more in terms of public safety concerns. However, the vote resulted in the veto being overturned. I will continue to voice my strong opinions and those of my progressive constituents on issues like these and my hope is that we grow into a legislative body that embraces more of a progressive philosophy.

4. What is your top priority for your next term?

Among my top priorities will of course be education, working with the Speaker to reduce the dropout. I hope to reintroduce the comprehensive health education bill (sex ed) in the House and to continue to grow in influence in the areas of education, health, women’s and children’s issues and the environment.

5. Do you consider yourself a progressive? Why?

Yes! One of the better definitions I have found of what it means to be progressive says that

“A progressive is: open minded, inclusive, compassionate, proactive and engaged in positive change, innovative, sustainable, optimistic, idealistic, for equality and justice, informed and conscious, evolving, and a leader challenging the status quo.”

Historically, progressives advocated for worker’s rights and social justice. We continue to do the same things today, but in a different backdrop within a multiplicity of generations and causes. What I am trying to do is continue the work of what has been referred to as the “democratic wing” of the Democratic Party by adhering and setting an example for others to be led to subscribe to the definition above.

Mr. Troxler and the GMO's

My recent post on pesticides and State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler's role in blocking protections for agricultural workers reminded me of another story about Steve Troxler from way back in 2005.

Here's the gist of it:

A bill likely will pass in the legislature this session that will stop local governments from banning genetically modified crops, as three California counties have done. The bill, requested by the Department of Agriculture [emphasis added], passed in the Senate on Friday, the last major hurdle to its success. The House, which passed the bill in May, must agree to a few changes to make it final. . .

Troxler said the Agriculture Department asked for the bill, which is similar to those being floated in several other states. It would give the state Board of Agriculture, which Troxler chairs, sole authority to outlaw plants. He said the push comes at the request of seed dealers, farmers and agribusiness companies that were concerned about what they saw in California and New England - where "genetically engineered free" movements have gained steam.

In a nutshell, what happened was that Monsanto and some other companies saw local governments (in California, Maine, and Vermont) banning GMO crops, and took action.

The bills are not a home grown initiative, but part of a nationwide agribusiness effort. Similar bills, containing identical language, have cropped up in at least nine other states as part of an orchestrated campaign by industry to prevent citizen initiatives . . .

“These bills represent a pledge of allegiance to Monsanto,” said Hope Shand, Research Director of ETC Group in Carrboro, “and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture was quick to take the pledge, followed by their friends in the General Assembly. But what’s good for Monsanto isn’t necessarily what’s best for local communities.”

North Carolina's organic farmers agreed with this assessment, with Tony Kleese of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association telling the Raleigh News and Observer:

allowing local governments to create zones where genetically engineered crops aren't allowed could protect organic crops from being contaminated by wind-blown pollen.

"Now, that right will be taken away . . . The more of these kind of laws that go into effect, the more the balance tips to genetically engineered crops."

In the end, the bill died in conference, perhaps because after the public outcry legislators were happy to give it a quiet death - or perhaps because the vague language of the bill, which cleverly managed to omit any mention of GMO's, meant that local communities couldn't take action against any invasive or noxious plant without a go-ahead from Steve Troxler.

So what's my point? I mean, besides the fact that Monsanto has already given Steve Troxler $1000 this cycle?

Well, two things: first, note the creative use of preemption - the process by which the state legislature tells cities and counties they simply can't regulate in a particular area. Democrats use this tool as well - Troxler's bill, after all, had Democratic sponsors in the House and Senate - and there's a payoff in having some laws and regulations uniform across the state.

But two of the most pernicious legacies of 1994 (when Republicans won control of the state house) involve preemption. School systems that want to use a sex-ed curriculum that moves beyond abstinence have to jump through a lot of hoops to prove that they're not offending anyone. And North Carolina's cities and counties are powerless to regulate guns according to the standards of their communities, thanks to Republicans who were taking their marching orders from the gun lobby.

Second, national issues aren't only addressed in D.C. In fact, had Monsanto gone to Congress and asked them to pre-empt the power of states to regulate GMO's (say by arguing that the transmission of pollen involved interstate commerce), you can bet that there would have been an outcry and probably a lot of bad press. So Monsanto turns to the state legislatures and to people in obscure offices like the Departments of Agriculture. If the bill passes, great - they can move on to the next state - if not, then nobody's going to notice or care all that much.

Using state governments to stay under the radar has, in fact, become a favorite tactic of corporate conservatives. Which, again, is another effect of the failure of media to cover state and local politics.

Endorsement process for local, state legislative, and statewide general election candidates

In January, our members voted to support local and statewide candidates who sought our help. We endorsed five great candidates in the primary, and now we're looking to endorse even more great candidates for the general election. So starting today, Asheville Democracy for America invites candidates running for office in Buncombe County, for the North Carolina state legislature, and for statewide offices to apply for our endorsement. The process will follow these steps:

1. DFA Asheville will not formally invite anyone to start the endorsement process. Instead, candidates must seek our endorsement, though individual members may encourage their preferred candidates to apply. Candidates seeking our endorsement should contact Doug Gibson as soon as possible.

2. All candidates seeking our endorsement must a) contact Doug Gibson by midnight on Monday, August 25, b) complete and return a brief questionnaire by midnight on Monday, September 1, and c) attend, or send a representative to, our September 9th meeting (meeting details to come). Due to the variety of offices under consideration, questionnaires will be tailored to each applicant, and will be sent via e-mail to candidates expressing interest.

3. We also encourage candidates to prepare a brief (2-3 minute) video appeal for those members who can't make the September meeting and wish to participate online. We ask candidates to make them available as YouTube videos (and send us a link) several days before September 9th so we can post them on our group blog.

4. A separate vote will be taken for each candidate seeking our endorsement. Only DFA-Link members who joined by August 25, 2008 will be able to vote. Members will be able to vote at the meeting and then via e-mail for a week afterward.

5. To receive our endorsement, a candidate must receive at least 3/5 of the total votes cast at the meeting and via e-mail.

What Local Elections?

When you see this picture, and then read this -

Two field workers who gave birth to deformed babies were illegally exposed to pesticides more than 20 times each while they picked tomatoes in Eastern North Carolina, N.C. Department of Agriculture data show.

A third worker, who spent most of her pregnancy working in Florida, was exposed four times during the less than six weeks she worked in North Carolina, the data show.

All worked for Ag-Mart, a Florida-based tomato grower, and they were illegally exposed to a host of chemicals as often as three times a week, the documents show. Three of the 15 chemicals are linked to birth defects in lab animals.

The agriculture records show that Herrera, whose boy was born in December 2004 with no arms and legs, started working in North Carolina in mid-April. During her first trimester, when a baby's limbs form, she was illegally exposed on 11 different days, the Agriculture Department data shows.

Then read this (about Governor Easley's task force on pesticide exposure) -

"Only one of the recommendations brought by farmworker advocates, a provision that would outlaw retaliation against workers who report workplace safety problems, was adopted by the Task Force."

"One Task Force member in particular, Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, was extremely effective in preventing the Task Force from taking up several of the reform measures they discussed." [emphasis added]

It's hard to believe this -

In the month leading up to Election Day 2004, viewers of local news in 11 media markets saw nearly four and a half times more stories about the presidential campaign than they did stories about all other political races combined, a new Lear Center study has found.

Only one-third of all campaign stories focused on issues.

Ninety-two percent of the 4,333 regularly scheduled half-hour news broadcasts studied contained no stories at all about local candidate races, which include campaigns for the U.S. House, state senate or assembly, mayor or city council, law enforcement posts, judgeships, education-related offices and regional and county offices.

But I'm sure this year will be different, right?

(Cross-posted at Scrutiny Hooligans)

A month? Really?

It's hard to believe, but it has been a month since our last post. The primary season kept us very busy, and so it has taken a toll on producing new content. We'll be back very soon!

Candidate Questionnaire: Wayne Goodwin, candidate for North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance

Assistant Commissioner of Insurance and former state representative Wayne Goodwin is seeking our endorsement in the Democratic primary for Commissioner of Insurance. Below are his answers to our candidate questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

For more about Wayne's campaign, visit his website.

1. Why are you running?

In short, I am running to continue the consumer advocacy that has been the hallmark of Insurance Commissioner Jim Long’s 24 years in this position.

When I learned on very short notice that Commissioner Long had chosen not to run for re-election after all, I decided that it was vital that someone with my background, qualifications, and personal philosophy sought to succeed him. (See my answer to Question 5, below.) Also, just as many others have expressed since February 29th (the date that Commissioner Long decided not to run), there are grave concerns that the insurance industry is salivating over the prospect of taking the post of Insurance Commissioner this election. In fact, the insurance industry has two candidates running against me in this race: First, the other Democrat is a long-time employee of and attorney for the health insurance industry (he’s now the President-elect of the Health Insurance Underwriters Association of NC), while the Republican is taking marching orders from a perennial opponent of Jim Long’s. I am running because of my being the only person presently able to fend off those two candidates and stand up for keeping the Insurance Commissioner’s post one that is principally about consumer protection. I’m running to keep it the Department of Insurance, and not make it the Department for Insurance.

As for specific goals, I have pledged the following to North Carolina citizens:

I pledge to keep forever focused on the dual commitment of a Commissioner of Insurance: recognizing the need for low, fair and reasonable insurance rates for consumers and businesses alike, and the necessity of a competitive insurance market in North Carolina;

I pledge to be an impartial and hard-working member of the Council of State, fully committed to the duties of Insurance Commissioner and State Fire Marshal;

I pledge to continue giving firefighters and all first responders a stronger voice in State government;

I pledge to strongly support the mission of the Safe Kids program, promoting safety in the home, on the road, at school, and in the community at large;

I pledge to continue to support the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program’s (SHIIP) mission to provide Medicare education in all 100 counties; and,

I pledge to protect the public and businesses by fighting insurance fraud, and including cracking down on unlawful harassment by collection agencies (another group the Insurance Commissioner regulates) of folks harmed by the home mortgage insurance crisis, etc.

2. What are the three most significant ways you would use the office of Insurance Commissioner to improve the lives of the people of North Carolina?

• To always strive for low, reasonable and fair insurance rates – and keeping a strong check and balance on the regular attempts by the insurance industry to raise rates unnecessarily, an act by the insurance industry which hurts working families and average North Carolinians rather harshly in the pocketbook. This mission has a corollary: It also helps the consumer for the Insurance Commissioner to strive for a competitive insurance market in North Carolina. A competitive market gives consumers a choice, and that often translates into discounts on insurance rates. (By the way, in the last 2 years I have already helped beat back attempts by the insurance industry and a couple of legislators to strip the Insurance Commissioner of his authority to be a strong consumer advocate in regulation of insurance rates. As the only candidate who can continue to do so, it would certainly improve the lives of North Carolinians to fend off future attempts to weaken the office.) This goal affects the lives of every person in North Carolina.
  
  
• To promote further expansion and scope of the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) that is within the Department of Insurance. SHIIP relies on a small staff of State employees and 900+ volunteers across North Carolina, touching every county. As more and more Tar Heels must navigate the maze that is the federal government’s Medicare Part D, it is vital that SHIIP be there to provide expert guidance on how to choose the very best prescription drug plan for each senior citizen. This goal affects the lives of every senior citizen (and his or her adult children) in North Carolina.
  
  
• To advocate every day – as State Fire Marshal, a role the Insurance Commissioner also has – for ways to protect, promote, and sustain our volunteer fire departments and rescue/EMS services in the State. Work of the Insurance Commissioner ensures grant funds annually to most of the 1,500 departments; these grant funds help pay for costly rescue equipment and supplies. Because departments are rated according to their equipment and response times, etc., the continued provision of these grants from the Insurance Commissioner ensures both that the departments are rated well and – to the surprise of most people – a connection to keeping homeowners’ insurance rates low! (The insurance industry determines the homeowners’ insurance rates for a community based, in part, on the fire district within which a person lives.) This goal affects the lives of every person in North Carolina because every community relies upon first responders and public emergency services workers.

3. Why should voters in western North Carolina support your candidacy?

There are several reasons why voters in western NC should support my candidacy.

First, as Assistant Commissioner of Insurance over the last three years, I have supervised the Western Regional Office (WRO) of the Department of Insurance, located in Asheville. That means I had a direct role in the provision of services to approximately 31 counties in western NC. I am the only Insurance Commissioner candidate who has that credential.

Second, for many years – as Assistant Commissioner of Insurance, as Chairman of the Platform and Resolutions Committee of the NC Democratic Party, as State Representative in the North Carolina General Assembly, et al. – I have regularly worked with and spent time with voters in western North Carolina. I assure you that I am the only candidate who has visited every county in western North Carolina and do so regularly. Just recently I met with voters west of Murphy, North Carolina (yes, to the surprise of folks in eastern NC there is a small area actually west of Murphy) immediately adjacent to the NC-TN state line in Cherokee County. We need an Insurance Commissioner who, like me, recognizes and respects the fact that western NC extends well beyond Hickory and Asheville, and has a track record of working with western North Carolina leaders in solving problems. (I have done so as Assistant Insurance Commissioner and as a state legislator.)

Third, legislators and leading local officials in western North Carolina have endorsed my campaign for Insurance Commissioner. They include Sen. Martin Nesbitt, Rep. Bobby England, Register of Deeds Otto DeBruhl, et al. Those endorsements and relationships will prove vital to western NC if I am elected Insurance Commissioner because they will help me best represent you.

Fourth, though all three candidates for Insurance Commissioner originally hailed from a small town, I am the only candidate who still lives in a small town in rural North Carolina. (Go to www.waynegoodwin.org for details.) The other candidates live in Durham and Raleigh, respectively. With much of western NC considered rural in nature, I am the only candidate who best understands your concerns.

4. Often members of the council of state can exert their influence to pass legislation affecting their office or the areas they regulate. What legislation would you most like to see passed regarding insurance in this state? What would you like to see the Insurance Commissioner be able to do that he can't do now?

I would support legislation that makes health insurance more accessible and more affordable for North Carolinians. We’ve made some strides in the State already (most recently with our work on the High Risk Insurance Pool in 2006-2007), but we obviously need to do more.

As for doing something that he cannot do now, the Insurance Commissioner already has rather broad authority. I will need to continue my conversations with the citizens of North Carolina and with my current colleagues in the Department of Insurance to determine what new duties I would propose, if any.

5. What about your background and experience makes you qualified to be a candidate and to serve?

First of all, unlike anyone else in the race for Insurance Commissioner, I have already been a regulator of the insurance industry for North Carolina: I have served as Assistant Commissioner of Insurance for the State for the last 3 years. In that position I have held hearings, written administrative orders, handled complaints against both insurance companies and agents, and resolved a multitude of matters for consumers in most counties. Working alongside long-time Insurance Commissioner Jim Long – one of the strongest consumer advocates that Tar Heels have ever seen – I have learned firsthand what a regulator is to do.

My other duties as Assistant Insurance Commissioner have been to advise and counsel the Commissioner on legislative, political and administrative matters; draft legislation; consult with technical experts regarding insurance matters; negotiate agreements; manage 40% of the Department myself with approximately 125 of 405 Dept of Insurance employees reporting directly to me; and overseeing the Office of State Fire Marshal, the DOI Eastern Regional Office in New Bern, and the DOI Western Regional Office in Asheville.

Additional primary qualifications include: My eight years of elected service as State Representative, where I regularly worked on insurance-related legislation and stood up for consumers and a competitive insurance market; as well as my 13+ years working as an attorney in private practice representing individuals, working families, and small businesses who had been erroneously denied service or coverage by insurance companies. Furthermore, I also worked for a time as the Assistant General Counsel for the Department of Insurance. (Coincidentally, in that role several years ago I issued a seminal order against a client of one of my primary opponent.)

In sum, I am the only candidate in this race to have experience as an insurance regulator, and certainly the only one to have qualifications that are tempered by having served in State public office and in private legal practice. Unlike others in this race, I have not and do not work for the insurance industry but have a balanced view that more than anything will always defer to the public interest and the consumer.

6. Would you call yourself a progressive?

I call myself a progressive because of certain vibrant areas within my own personal political canon. Among them are: electoral reform, campaign finance reform, environmental conservation, pollution control, universal health care, social justice, affordable housing, a viable Social Security system, renewable energy, “smart growth” urban development, a living wage, safe workplaces, and pro-union policies. I also believe that there should be effective regulation of certain types of corporations, especially those that have almost a monopolistic stranglehold over citizens. My legislative record over eight years and the product of my chairing the Platform and Resolutions Committee of the NC Democratic Party strongly underscore my identification as a progressive.

Candidate Questionnaire: Dan Besse, candidate for Lieutenant Governor

Environmental champion Dan Besse is seeking our endorsement in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. Below are his responses to our questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

For more about Dan's campaign, visit his website.

1. Why are you running?

I'm involved in politics, and have served in appointed or elected office since 1985, because I am passionate about using public service and the democratic process to work for environmental stewardship, and for equal opportunity for all.

I'm running now for Lieutenant Governor because we have the opportunity this year to bring a major shift toward progressive policies and vision for our state. For the first time, a majority of North Carolina voters clearly understand the urgent necessity of implementing wise long-term management of our limited natural resources (water, air, forests, land) and managing our growth in a sustainable manner.

North Carolina voters are also anxious for us to address the persistent gaps in equal opportunity in our society. These include equity in educational opportunity, economic development which meets the needs of lower-income families and communities, and action to deal with the crisis in health care costs and coverage.

I have the experience and commitment to use the office of Lieutenant Governor effectively to pursue these goals.

2. What are the three biggest challenges facing North Carolina, and, briefly, how would you use your position as lieutenant governor to address them?

a) Twin challenges of booming growth in our urban regions, and continuing economic decline in many rural areas. I will use the "bully pulpit" independent voice of Lieutenant Governor to inject into state policy debate that critical understanding of how these challenges intertwine, yet require different tools and approaches. Areas stressed by rapid growth must have stronger growth management tools, from better stormwater management to transit/land use planning, and the means to require new development to pay for itself. Areas in continuing economic decline must receive focused efforts to help them share in the economic benefits of our booming regions. Statewide, we require better planning for our stressed water resources, improved conservation of our forests and farmland, protection of clean air, an energy policy which relies on efficiency and renewables, and reform of our transportation system.

b) Health care. Skyrocketing costs of coverage for everyone, and the complete lack of coverage for over 1.4 million of our people, have created a crisis in both economic and human terms. I will use the Lieutenant Governor's roles as presiding officer of the State Senate, and as a working member of the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission, to press for affordable health care coverage for all. There are immediate steps which our state can take to guarantee affordable coverage for all children, bring the costs of coverage down for high-risk adults, and assist small employers in obtaining affordable group coverage. In the medium run, we should commit to a system of universal coverage. This can be achieved best through participation in a national program. However, if that is not under implementation within two years, we should develop and implement our own state-level program.

c) Educational equity. I will use the Lieutenant Governor's position as a working member of both the State Board of Education and the State Board of Community Colleges to press for equal educational opportunity for all. In particular, we must address the resource gaps that keep too many of our poorer school systems and communities from meeting their students' needs. We must also move away from the disastrous over-emphasis on standardized testing, which drains resources, strangles creativity, and further disadvantages children from minority communities.

3. Why should voters in western North Carolina support your candidacy?

You'll get a working Lieutenant Governor who grew up in western North Carolina, still has family there, and has a strong feel for the needs of the people of our foothills and mountains. I know the region and understand both its environmental and economic challenges.

When I was a young child, my family lived on the edge of a mill village in Hickory. I went to sleep listening to the hum of the hosiery mill on the next block. Most of my family worked at the furniture plant down the street. One of my earliest memories of my father was of watching him head off to his second-shift job at the transformer plant, where he worked while he and my mother were putting themselves through school. The problem is that none of those plants is still operating today. I understand that we have to do a better job of meeting the challenges of our changing economy, because I grew up in a working family. I won't forget that.

Today, I serve in elected office in a growing urban region that (like much of western North Carolina) is still facing the loss of traditional industrial jobs, but is simultaneously wrestling with the stresses of booming population growth. I understand how we must deal with both sets of stresses and demands simultaneously.

4. Would you support public campaign financing in the lieutenant governor race?

Absolutely. I wish it were available this year. The endless money hunt by candidates permits big-money special interests to distort the democratic process far away from service to the public's interests.

5. What about your background and experience makes you qualified to be a candidate and to serve as lieutenant governor?

I have the combination of public service and practical experience required to understand the role of Lieutenant Governor and fully use its potential as an agent for positive change. I also know our state from the mountains to the sea.

I have hands-on experience in meeting the challenges of growth in one of our largest urban regions—Winston-Salem and the Piedmont Triad. At the same time, I have the practical experience of living and working in our small towns and rural areas. I grew up in Hickory and our foothills, and later spent a decade working as a Legal Aid attorney for poor families in rural counties of eastern North Carolina.

I have both local elected experience, and extensive public service in policy-making roles at the state level. These have been publicly accountable roles, not mere advisory positions.

I have been elected and re-elected to local office as a progressive Democrat in a Republican-leaning district of our state's fourth-largest city, Winston-Salem. I have also acted as my city's representative in effective regional efforts for both economic and environmental quality. I represent my city on the board of directors of one of our nation's ten most effective regional economic development organizations. I also led our effective regional effort to meet federal clean air standards for ground-level ozone.

At the state level, I have over 20 years of experience working on state policy-making boards (including the Environmental Management Commission). I have helped craft and implement state programs on air and water resources, land conservation, and emergency response. I understand in depth the workings of both the executive and legislative branches of our state government.

6. Would you call yourself a progressive?

Yes—in fact, I present myself in this race as "the progressive Democrat with the record to prove it".

Buncombe by the numbers: some good news, some bad news.

These figures are from the NC Budget and Tax Center, part of the NC Justice Center. They recently put out a series of fact sheets on employment, income, and poverty, and here are some interesting figures about our beloved Buncombe:

1. I don't know what to make of this, but median household income in Buncombe equaled $41,735 in 2006, slightly less than the statewide mhi (approx. $42,630). At the same time, though, per-capita income in Buncombe came in at $24,155, which is $1210 more than the statewide per-capita figure (or, for those of you who prefer percentages, about 5% over the figure statewide). I'm not sure what to make of those two bits of data, especially since we're talking household vs. individual income. It could mean that we have a higher than average number of single-earner households in Buncombe (which would depress our median household income), or it could mean that there's some sort of income inequality, i.e., that there are some very wealthy people at the top of the range who are pushing the average up some. And there could be any number of other things going on. I'd love to know more. On the whole, though, things could be worse. And I'm surprised to see that the "Asheville Tax" isn't bigger.

2. The report says that the average working family with children needs to earn $15.99/hour to cover basic living expenses in Buncombe. $16/hour sounds like a great job for Asheville. I'm guessing that if there were two wage-earners in the family, they could earn less per hour, but that doesn't mean that life would be easy: fully a third of Buncombe residents had incomes less than twice the federal poverty level.

3. Moreover, it's not a safe assumption that there would be two wage-earners in the family, and certainly not two full-time workers. In 2006, our unemployment rate was 3.8% (below the state average of 4.8%), but that was up from 2000. That's not a surprise, given that the county labor force had grown by 10% in that time.

4. From 2004 to 2014, we're supposed to see about a 50% increase in the number of jobs available (which is good news, given that our population is unlikely to grow proportionately). However, most of the jobs created, as you might expect, will be in service fields, and will offer low wages and few benefits.

So overall kind of a mixed bag. And of course, if you're coming here from somewhere out of state, you might get a shock when things here are just about as good as they are elsewhere in North Carolina.

Candidate Questionnaire: Avram Friedman, State House District 119

Avram Friedman, executive director of the Canary Coalition, is seeking our endorsement in the Democratic primary for state house district 119, which includes Haywood, Macon, Jackson, and Swain counties. Below are his responses to our candidate questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

For more about Avram's campaign, visit his website.

1. Why are you running for the General Assembly?

I'm running for General Assembly because the incumbent Representative in District 119, Phil Haire, is supporting Duke Energy's plan to build a new 800 megawatt coal-burning power plant at its Cliffside facility in Rutherford County. Haire also voted for Senate Bill 3 in the last legislative session. This bill contains several provisions with profoundly bad implications for public health and the environment, principle among which is the provision that ends a 25-year ban on the practice of the utility industry charging ratepayers for construction-work-in-progress on new polluting coal and nuclear power plants. This has the effect of removing risk from corporate shareholders and placing it on the back of ratepayers. This practice was banned in 1982 by the General Assembly when Carolina Power and Light (now Progress Energy) planned to build 6 nuclear plants at its Shearon Harris site in Wake County, but only completed one because of massive cost over-runs and the realization that they had vastly over-estimated energy demand in their projections. Ratepayers were charged tens of millions of dollars in planning and preliminary construction costs for the other five power plants, even though they were never completed.

Senate Bill 3 is a prescription for business-as-usual energy consumption and production at a time when we need to drastically cut back on energy consumption and greenhouse gas production. If elected I'll be a strong voice in the General Assembly calling for rate-restructuring and other measures to provide steep economic incentive for ratepayer investment in efficiency, conservation and independent renewable energy systems by residents, businesses and industry. My candidacy, win or lose, will send a message to Phil Haire that from now on there will be political consequences for voting against the environment in North Carolina. If I win the Primary on May 6, it will send that message to every legislator in the state.

2. What are the three biggest challenges facing North Carolina, and, briefly, how would you work to address them?

1. Meeting future energy demand in an environmentally responsible manner while maintaining a sustainable economy.
I would address this problem by nurturing industries that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy technology. I would work to remove the considerable legal obstacles to large-scale wind development. I would promote a new generation of recycling programs throughout the state that create small-scale industries that use recycled materials locally, increasing the value of recycled materials and saving energy in the process. I would de-emphasize dependence on large corporate industry and promote small, homegrown "green" industry.

2. Improving the quality of basic education in North Carolina.
We need to pay teachers competitive salaries so the best educators don't continue to move to other states.
We need more teachers and more classrooms to reduce the student/teacher ratio in NC classes.
All students should be thoroughly educated in the system of government we live under, and should learn their rights and responsibilities under this system.

3. Election reform
I would work to ban electronic voting machines.
I would work to limit or eliminate corporate PAC money from the electoral process.
I would work to provide a public financing option for all legislative races.

3. Do you have any differences with the House Democratic caucus and leadership? In what areas or issues would you seek to move your fellow Democrats in a different direction?

Energy issues are the biggest difference. The 2007 Senate Bill 3 needs to be reversed. The utility industry has a disproportionate and inappropriate influence in both political parties. I will fight to change this.

4. What's your campaign plan? Do you have a campaign manager? What are your fundraising goals?

I am holding a series of public forums on my candidacy and the issues that are important to me. I am doing a series of interviews with local newspapers and radio stations. If I have enough money, I'll do cable TV spots. I am using the internet for email communication and blogging with voters in my district. My webpage is www.friedmanfornchouse.com I am seeking public endorsement from NC Conservation Council, NC State Employees Association, Sierra Club's PAC and others.

Susan Anspacher is my campaign manager, Friedman4NCHouse@aol.com .

$20,000 is my goal for the Primary election.

5. What about your background and experience makes you qualified to be a candidate and a legislator?

I'm a 58 year-old resident and voter in North Carolina. I'm the Executive Director of a large regional organization. I have much experience in public speaking, the public hearing process, facilitation, studying legislative materials, working with government agencies. I studied political science at Hunter College in the Bronx, NYC, for two years. I am not intimidated by the political process. I've run for office twice before. In 1994, I ran for county commission in Jackson County. In 1988, I ran for Governor of North Carolina in the Democratic Primary. Lost, but learned.

6. Would you call yourself a progressive?

Yes, I believe most people who consider themselves progressives would consider me a progressive, as well.

Duke Power has discovered a "fifth fuel." And they want to pass one tenth of the savings on to you!

This happened about a year ago. But with Cliffside in the news, I think this deserves some attention. Last May, around the time that the Progress Energy plant was a hot topic in Asheville, Duke Energy floated a fascinating proposal to the NC Utilities Commission. In it, they suggested that they would promote energy efficiency as a "fifth fuel" by sponsoring education programs and providing subsidies for the purchase of more energy-efficient appliances and devices.

So far, so good. Where it gets weird is in the reward Duke sought for being virtuous: a new fee (starting at $15 per customer per year) that would compensate the utility for the electricity it didn't sell because of decreased demand. That fee was based not only on program costs or unsold wattage, but also on the cost of the power plants the utility would have had to build if customers didn't conserve.

That's not how they phrased it, of course: Duke Energy's spin was that they would be generously allowing consumers to save 10% of the cost of producing and supplying the energy they didn't use. But turn that around, and you see what's really going on: Duke essentially wanted to sell this "fifth fuel" - ghost power produced by ghost plants - for almost as much as they sold real power produced by real plants that they themselves built. That's a neat trick!

I'd imagine that Duke Energy was trying to head off any attempt by the Utility Commission or the General Assembly to "decouple" electricity rates - that is, to set in place a system whereby utilities receive a set revenue even if demand decreases. This is usually done by promising to increase the profit the utility receives for each unit sold - provided that the utility actively promotes conservation and efficiency. Such increases almost never include the costs of building new plants, however, so you've got to hand it to Duke Energy for trying to widen the range of the debate.

Asheville Democracy for America endorses Jones and Bothwell for county commission

The members of Asheville Democracy for America have voted to endorse Holly Jones and Cecil Bothwell in the race for Buncombe County Commission.

In the end, the two candidates were endorsed in a near-unanimous vote by DFA-Asheville members, far surpassing the 60% threshold the group had set to ensure that they would focus their efforts only on the candidates who had the members' most enthusiastic support.

The vote came after an open process that began in December, when members were polled about how they wanted to go about endorsing candidates. In February, members were solicited for questions to ask candidates. Then in March the candidates' responses to the group's questionnaire were posted on the DFA-Asheville blog, and members got to talk directly to the candidates in a public meeting.

"We strive to be a member-driven organization," said Doug Gibson, one of DFA-Asheville's volunteer organizers. "And throughout this process we took pains to make sure our members had a say in how we did things as well as an opportunity to weigh in on the endorsements themselves."

The group plans to support Bothwell and Jones through independent advertising and grassroots efforts. They see their independent role as especially crucial this year, when many acknowledge that Buncombe County is at a crossroads with regards to development, and after recent controversies like the Progress Energy power plant have brought attention to open government and energy issues.

Says Gibson, "pro-development groups poured more than $40,000 into last year's Asheville elections, and more than half of it came from organizations based outside Buncombe County. The same forces will be in play in this year's county commission race, and we want to be a voice for people living here who are concerned about out future."

DFA Asheville is a local group associated with Democracy for America, a national organization dedicated to electing socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates at all levels of government. To find out more about DFA Asheville, visit www.ashevilledemocracyforamerica.org

Endorsement process for statewide and state legislative candidates

In January, our members voted to support candidates running for state offices outside of Buncombe who sought our help. So starting today, Asheville Democracy for America invites candidates running in Democratic primaries for statewide and state legislative offices to apply for our endorsement. The process will follow these steps:

1. DFA Asheville will not formally invite anyone to start the endorsement process. Instead, candidates must seek our endorsement, though individual members may encourage their preferred candidates to apply. Candidates seeking our endorsement should contact Doug Gibson as soon as possible.

2. All Democratic candidates for Buncombe county commission seeking our endorsement must a) contact Doug Gibson by midnight on April 2, b) complete and return a brief questionnaire by midnight on Sunday, April 6, and b) attend, or send a representative to, our April meeting - 7pm, April 9, at the North Asheville Public Library. (Due to the variety of offices under consideration, questionnaires will be tailored to each applicant, and will be sent via e-mail to candidates expressing interest.)

3. We also encourage candidates to prepare a brief (2-3 minute) video appeal for those members who can't make the April meeting and wish to participate online. We ask candidates to make them available as YouTube videos (and send us a link) several days before April 9 so we can post them on our group blog.

4. A separate vote will be taken for each candidate seeking our endorsement. Only DFA-Link members who joined before March 5, 2008 will be able to vote. Members will be able to vote at the April meeting and then via e-mail for a week afterward.

5. To receive our endorsement, a candidate must receive at least 3/5 of the total votes cast at the meeting and via e-mail.

Please note that until May 6, we will only endorse candidates running in contested primaries. At that point we will provide information on our process for endorsing candidates in the general election.

Why state government matters. Part one . . .

. . . of what is likely to be an extremely long series.

After the disaster that was the 2000 election and its sequels in Florida and at the Supreme Court, some of us still held out hope that things were not going to be quite as bad as we feared. But one of the first signs that things were actually going to be worse came just after Congress convened.

One of the first acts of the all-new, all-Republican Congress (this was in the pre-Jim Jeffords days) was to repeal regulations put in place the previous year by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that would have required employers to take account of ergonomics when setting up their workplaces. We're not talking about wrist pads and seat height here (though those sorts of items would have been covered): we're talking about, for example, not requiring poultry workers to repeatedly reach into awkward positions in near-freezing temperatures to clean up meat for packaging. In other words, the regulations sought to mitigate problems that can permanently disable people and set the stage for even more horrific accidents and injuries.

So the Republican Congress, as expected, took those new protections away from American workers before they even had a chance to enjoy them. Before there could be any accurate accounting of how much the new rules might cost employers, and before there could be any accurate accounting of how much the new rules might save the public - how many fewer lives might be ruined, how many more able-bodied people could stay in their jobs, how much less money communities paid in medical costs and disability programs.

Here in North Carolina, fortunately, we had our own ergonomics rules. But of course in the 2000 elections Democrats lost one seat on the council of state - Cherie Berry, a Republican, had eked out a victory over Democrat Doug Berger after taking 62% of her campaign donations from the very industries she would be regulating - including $10,000 from the House of Raeford, a poultry processor and one of the worst violators of workplace standards in the state. So it should also come as no surprise that within months of taking office, Berry threw out North Carolina's ergonomics standards. And so one election wiped out protections for millions of workers and gave special interests a victory at both the state and national level.

Absent some historic shift in voting patterns, Berry is likely to win reelection this year. But in 2012 reformers hope to include the Commissioner of Labor race in the state's public financing program, which might make Berry more vulnerable. Which is a good thing. Because whatever happens in DC, state labor departments are largely responsible for the enforcement of federal labor standards. And that means 2008 could be a banner year for Democrats nationally without improving the fortunes of North Carolina workers.

On the board at last.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post detailing the extreme difficulty I had had in finding grassroots Hillary supporters. Now it turns out that Clinton folks will have their first meetup in Buncombe County this coming Thursday at 7pm, at the Atlanta Bread Company on Merrimon Ave. Checking on the Hillary '08 site, I see that groups are up and - well - starting to run across the state. North Carolina's primary could get contentious, apparently.

Now, the fact that Obama folks have been meeting for months doesn't mean that they're better organized, or will be by the time the primary rolls around. And better organization doesn't always translate into victory, anyway. But Hillary supporters will have a lot of ground to make up, and a lot of hard work to pack into six weeks. Good luck, guys, and welcome to the grassroots!

What the media can do to a candidate.

There's a great post right now on Daily Kos pointing out that, for whatever reason, the media has gone in search of a controversy to feed their audiences and found Reverend Wright.

The poster, TocqueDeville, illustrates what's happening now to Barack Obama with a compelling parallel: what happened to Howard Dean after Iowa. This is old history, of course, and I'm only posting because I hadn't seen this clip before. But if you'll listen carefully about 1:13 in, you'll hear what eyewitnesses would have told you they heard on the night of the infamous "Dean Scream." The difference between what you hear on this recording and what was played everywhere in the news - well, it's just symbolic of the difference between the substance of the Wright controversy and the way the media has played it up.

What's ironic to me is the way Democrats at the time mocked Dean and questioned his judgement, his media savvy. And the most common retort of those of us supporting the governor was, "just you wait. Whoever gets nominated - no matter how savvy they are - the media will do exactly the same to them." We were right. And it's happening again to the party's presumptive nominee. I don't know what to do about it. But there it is.

This way we could insure some parents, maybe.

Forgive the snark - after all, it's wonderful that we're doing so much to fund children's health care. But good as SCHIP is, there are plenty of adults who need health care, too. Over the past couple of years, North Carolina has taken some steps to provide more adults with health insurance: in 2006, the state passed a tax credit which allowed employers to take a deduction of $250 for every employee enrolled in a company health plan. Of course there were conditions - the employee couldn't make more than $40,000, the company had to be paying 50 percent of the employee's insurance costs, and the law only covered employers with 25 or fewer employees. But hey - a step forward is a step forward.

Then last year, North Carolina became the 35th (35th? Why does that sound familiar?) state to find the money to pay for a high risk insurance pool - subsidizing insurance premiums for North Carolinians whose medical conditions made it difficult to find affordable plans. There was a catch here, too: even with the subsidy, people who got this coverage were expected to pay 2/3 of a premium that could be 50% or 100% more than what a healthy person might pay. But it was another step forward.

So when I received my most recent Statside Dispatch from the folks at the Progressive States Network, I found what they had to say very interesting. Apparently some states are using Medicaid and SCHIP funds to pay some or all of the premiums of employed workers on Medicaid. In other words, some state governments are paying private premiums for the working poor.

This has a number of benefits: It provides the kind of positive employment incentive our welfare system has had less and less of since welfare "reform." It can increase the number of employees that a company insures, possibly allowing the employer to purchase insurance less expensively. It subsidizes private insurance, which can lower everyone's insurance costs. And it's another opportunity to work toward the main goal - insuring everyone, including adults - without a frontal assault on private insurors (though that's going to have to happen sometime).

It's not a foolproof system - there's always a chance that these kinds of policy initiatives will get twisted away from their original lofty goals, and some states are seeing low levels of participation. And of course it means that taxpayers are continuing to subsidize the inefficient private health insurance companies when they'd be better off just paying directly for medical care. But when you're in a state like North Carolina, where only incremental change seems possible, and social policies apparently have to allow the wealthy to feel good about themselves, it's good to have another piece of the puzzle handy in case there's an opportunity to put it in.

The Flat Tax: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

No, really.

Rob Schofield at NC Policy Watch has a weekly briefing up on a new report from the NC Budget and Tax Center. In 2007, as it turns out, the lowest 20% of households in North Carolina - with an average income of $10,000 - paid about 11% of their income in state and local taxes. The top 1% of households - with an average income of $970,000 a year - paid about 7% of their income in state and local taxes.

That discrepancy says a lot about North Carolina tax policy. Schofield, for some reason, takes pains to point out taxes aren't as regressive here as they are in other states - which is true, especially when you consider states that don't have income taxes at all, but rather rely entirely on property and sales taxes to raise revenue.

But our state tax system is still regressive - it still relies too heavily on the sales tax, for example, and the sales tax is in turn made even more regressive by the fact that the state doesn't impose it on a number of personal services. And as we're beginning to see in Buncombe County, the property taxes that local governments rely on don't take account of the fact that many of us are "land poor," that is, in possession of land that's valued much more highly than it's worth to the owners - and that imposes a crushing tax burden on the elderly and others with fixed incomes.

The report suggests a number of remedies: making the income tax system more progressive, putting a sales tax on services, and providing tax credits for property taxes paid by those with low incomes. And if we took these steps, we could even up the score, creating a system whereby the poorest and the richest paid an equal portion of their income in taxes. The state would also begin collecting more revenue - enough to start making progress on other pockets of injustice, like our mental health system, or the shortfalls in the affordable housing fund, or the skyrocketing tuitions at our state universities - just to name a very few of the challenges we face.

That would be something, wouldn't it? So let's have that flat tax - as long as the goal is "justice," and not "helping the rich avoid paying their share by ignoring property and sales taxes," who could say no?

Hillary supporters are hard to find.

As part of our "Souper Tuesday" food drive, I attended the Buncombe County Democratic Party's volunteer luncheon last Wednesday. (And collected heaps of food - thanks BCDP!)

Out of all the things that got discussed at the luncheon - including short stump speeches by four candidates for county commission, and an impromptu forum on the state's mental health crisis - one thing struck me in particular, because it jibes with my experience.

Kate Swafford of WNC for Change, the local Obama group, introduced herself at that meeting, and encouraged anyone there who supported Obama to come to their weekly meeting (Thursdays at 6:30 at Hill Street Baptist Church in Asheville). County chair Kathy Sinclair thanked Kate for coming, and mentioned that she didn't know if there was any similar group of Hillary supporters, but that she'd love to hear from them. A silence fell as a roomful of Buncombe County's most experienced and connected grassroots Democrats looked around at each other shrugging. Nobody else there knew of any local Hillary group. And as you might expect, nobody stood up to express support for Hillary and invite others there to form a local group.

That struck me because twice in the past year DFA-Asheville has organized forums for local supporters of Democratic presidential contenders. Last spring I found it very easy to get in touch with people backing Obama, Edwards, and Kucinich, and once the meeting was announced a Gore supporter contacted me on his own initiative. Obama and Edwards even had tools on their websites to facilitate exactly this kind of grassroots networking. At the time, however, Hillary did not, and appeals to our DFA list didn't bring anyone forward. I found a volunteer website dedicated to Hillary's campaign, and for a while the person running that site toyed with traveling to Asheville from Florida to represent his candidate. That didn't pan out, however, and by the time the meeting came around, he hadn't managed to recruit any local supporters to show up.

Fast forward to February '08, when we wanted to do another Presidential candidate forum. Again, Obama supporters were easy to find - after having signed up through the Obama grassroots tools in the spring, I had gotten onto a local Obama mailing list, and I just replied to one of those e-mails to recruit someone to appear for the senator from Illinois. I visited Hillary's site and was pleasantly surprised to see that she now had a place where volunteers could network; I signed onto the local list, sent several e-mails, and waited. No response. I tried the local contact the fellow from Florida had finally provided last spring. No response.

Not to labor the point any further, but I'm frankly shocked at Clinton's neglect of the grassroots - and equally shocked at her supporters' apparent antipathy to the sort of grassroots initiative that we've seen with Obama's campaign this year, and saw with Dean's campaign in 2004. I'm not saying that it should have been a top priority for anyone to send a rep to a small DFA meeting in western North Carolina, but the almost complete lack of response is jarring - especially compared with the enthusiastic response I met with from the Obama people.

I don't want to read too much into it, but I think this just highlights something a lot of other observers have noticed - the culture of the Clinton campaign seems unable to grasp the importance of grassroots organizing. But I suspect there's something deeper at play here as well - that Clinton's supporters just aren't themselves all that interested in grassroots politics. That's fine - I'd like to give it less time, too - but I'm not alone in thinking that for us on the left, our disengagement from electoral politics is part of what caused the disasters of 1994 and 2000. And to the extent that the Democratic Party has revived, it's been largely the result of people becoming engaged again - and especially people learning to use the new tools that the Internet offers anyone who wants to organize people locally or nationally. These tools are amazing, but you don't become proficient with them overnight.

More to the point, though, the tools have been used by people who were motivated to make a difference, and who felt the responsibility to act. I don't know for sure - after all, it's been hard to meet Clinton supporters face-to-face - but I suspect that even at the grassroots the people driving her campaign want to put the right set of professionals back in charge, and then go back to doing other things. Up until quite recently, that's all Democratic campaigns have ever been about. And given that mindset, why spend much time or energy on the grassroots - even if you're a grassroots supporter? On Obama's side, however, one gets the sense that his volunteers are aiming to put together a movement - and that after our experience with this Congress, a few even see as one of the aims of that movement holding Obama and his party accountable if he wins. At the very least, his campaign will have created a new group of experienced, motivated, and networked people capable of doing so.

Candidate Questionnaire: Cecil Bothwell

Cecil Bothwell is seeking our endorsement for the Buncombe county commission. His response to our questionnaire is below, with our questions in bold.

For more on Cecil's campaign, visit his website.

1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?

I believe that we should become leaders in planning and implementation of sustainable resource-use practices and a sustainable economy. I use “sustainable” in it's ecological sense, the no-net-growth model embodied in a forest. Kerala, India, for example, is on track to becoming a zero-waste state where everything is recycled. There's no reason we can't aim for that in Buncombe.

2. What is your number one priority with regard to development and land use?

We need to aim for hub-and-spoke development, in which homes and businesses are situated in walkable clusters along transit and utility corridors. I would advocate true-cost accounting for utilities and infrastructure and openly debate the question of whether new septic tanks should be prohibited, or at least prohibited in multi-family developments in order to cluster development along sewer lines.

3. Growth projections for Buncombe are continually revised upward. Have previous approaches to development become obsolete? Would you support a temporary moratorium on development while the county works with municipal governments to prepare for these new projections?

Yes. And yes.

4. How can the county practice environmental stewardship and promote broad-based economic growth at the same time?

This may seem contrarian, but I take exception to the economic theory implicit in this question. Economic growth as usually defined is a fraud because it requires externalization of environmental and resource costs. A more meaningful way to frame the question is, “Can we promote broad-based social benefits without practicing environmental stewardship?” The answer to that question is “no.” Viewed globally, water shortages are already constricting grain supplies and we are near if not past the peak on oil production. To ignore those twin crises and their near- and long-term implications in our community is to imperil our citizenry. Food security, for example, is a very real looming threat.

5. Many of our members want their local governments to lead the way in promoting energy independence and combating global warming. In what ways should the county work towards these goals?

We should build a peaking power plant in Woodfin. (joking folks)

I believe we should follow Asheville's lead in energy efficiency planning, and upgrade the building code to require lower-impact construction. One problem faced at the household level is that photovoltaic and active solar heating systems have relatively high upfront costs. Other municipalities have used their borrowing power to offer low-interest, long-term loans to homeowners and commercial property owners which are billed with property taxes. That way, the cost is apportioned to current and future owners, each of whom gain immediate reduction in energy costs and pollution. We should back up CEAC's recent suggestion to Progress Energy that it encourage people to switch to gas-fired hot water whenever a water heater needs to be replaced. Better still, switch to solar.

6. Do you see a role for the county in promoting energy efficiency in transportation and residential and business use?

Absolutely. I would support changes to the property tax code that gradually impose differential vehicle valuations based on efficiency. My answer to the previous question is just one way the county could promote energy efficiency, and I think my answers to most of the questions so far relate to this question as well.

7. The county government plays a central role in providing social services. Where has it been most successful? Where does it most need improvement?

The county has done a pretty good job overall in the areas of education and public health. However, the drop-out rate, particularly among black male students, remains far too high both here and across the country. There is some suggestion that there is even collusion involved, permitting drop-outs to stay out in order to raise the system's subsequent test score averages. I'd investigate that and I would seek improvements, but anyone who claims to have a sure cure is hallucinating.

I think the county dealt remarkably well with the mental health care crisis dumped on us by misguided legislators in Raleigh, but the crisis isn't over and the county has a major role in improving availability and continuity of mental health services. Treatment is cheaper than jail cells.

One hears many stories about problems in the Division of Social Services, some of which are undoubtedly true. As a commissioner I would do what I could to pierce the veil at DSS. The difficulty there is intrinsic to that department's function, dealing with highly personal and often highly charged interpersonal issues.

8. Do you think that the current commission has carried out its work in a manner that is sufficiently transparent? If not, how would you change things?

Based on my years covering the commission as a reporter, I believe that most decisions are made in secret, based on conversations and consultations that violate either the spirit or the letter of the state's open government laws. I would not be party to back-room discussions and I would publicly expose any such discussions of which I had knowledge. I would keep constituents informed of pending development matters and vote to televise the public comment section of commish meetings.

9. Has the current commission made decisions that you strongly disagree with? If so, what will you do to remedy those decisions if you are elected?

The incumbent commissioners are either incompetent or corrupt.

The Woodfin lease to Progress Energy is, perhaps, the most glaring example I can offer. All five voted to affirm a contract discussed in secret and written by Progress which granted an 80-year lease to a wide swath of pristine river frontage for one dollar per year, with no restrictions on use. They lied to us about it: said it was “former landfill” when, in fact, it was land approved for a landfill but never used (which the state government told me could easily be legally removed from the landfill designation for development purposes); and commissioners said the lease was only valid for construction of a power plant, when it explicitly permitted “any use.”

Selling of the downtown park property to developer Stewart Coleman is another example of either incompetence or corruption. On that latter case, I would vote to take back the land via declaration of eminent domain and buy him out. The deal is rife with insider dealing and idiocy. It's my impression that Coleman has no intention to build on that property but is using it as a pawn to force the city to trade more valuable property for that parcel. Coleman said as much at a Pack Square Conservancy meeting I attended, and that he'd cooked up the deal with former City Planning Director Scott Shuford in a private meeting in 2005. We shouldn't permit insider dealing to be rewarded, but the cost of condemnation and buy-back will be worth it to preserve the park.

10. Do you have a plan for how you will win this election? If so, could you briefly describe the elements of your plan?

Between now and May 6 I'll be putting in an appearance at every community group meeting or public event where talking to voters seems promising. Because I have a strong base in the progressive community in Asheville, much of that effort will involve reaching out to people beyond the city limits.

I intend to raise at least $20,000 for the primary race in order to do cable TV ads ($12,000), direct mail ($4,000) and 1,000 yard signs ($3,500). (These numbers are quick estimates based on previous experience.) Given the size of the county and the likely high turn-out due to interest in the presidential contest, I believe TV may be the only way to reach a wide swath of people.

My web site is already up and generating donations, though I know from past experience as a Web marketer that generating fresh hits is a tough sell. My e-list runs to about 5,000 people now, and if I could garner average donations of just $5 per person, I would exceed my immediate goal.

If I raise much money, I will divert a significant portion of it to a meaningful gesture such as Brownie Newman's distribution of compact fluorescent bulbs during the recent city council race—to campaign by making a difference instead of printing vast amounts of literature full of empty promises. One possibility for the general election is to run a series of free greening classes in conjunction with other environmentalists, to make a political pitch but also offer practical advice for individual action.

11. Would you call yourself a political progressive? Why or why not?

Utterly. One of my cats is named Chomsky, for Noam. Another is named Clare, for Hanrahan. Havoc is just Havoc.

• I'm a member of the ACLU, the Unitarian Universalist Church, the American Humanist Society and DFA.
• I ran Cynthia Brown's pro-union/anti-war/environmentalist bid for the U.S. Senate in WNC in 2002.
• I co-founded Sparechange? a group which successfully challenged Asheville's unconstitutional panhandling law in 2002 and went on to organize Support Our Soldiers: Bring Them Home! and other peace demonstrations starting in 2003.
• I attended the School of the America's protest in 2003.
• I created and became chief organizer of the Asheville Rolling Thunder Down Home Democracy Tour event in 2003.
• I was co-coordinator of Dean For America in Asheville in 2004.
• I co-founded the Asheville Coalition in 2005 which evolved into the Robin Cape and Brian Freeborn campaigns.
• I attended the anti-war rally in DC in September 2006.
• I created a jail ministry at the Buncombe County Detention Center and have been an active participant since 2006.
• I attended Building Bridges in 2003 and 2006 and helped facilitate another session in 2007.
• I have been a volunteer client escort at Femcare, for three years in the 90s, and am currently, since 2006. (We help fend-off the shouting, aggressive protesters.)
• I created the Asheville-Buncombe Policy Institute in 2007, a progressive think-tank which began its work with a white paper on transparency in local government.
• I am on the Board of Directors of two nonprofits doing educational projects in Bolivia and Guatemala.
• I am a tutor at the Reid Center under the auspices of Partners Unlimited.
• I am chair of the Human Rights Team at the Unitarian Univeralist Church of Asheville, attend meetings of WNC Amnesty International and organized the annual UUCA Human Rights Fair in 2007 and 2008.

Candidate Questionnaire: Holly Jones

Holly Jones is seeking our endorsement for county commission. Below are her responses to our candidate questionnaire, with our questions in bold.

For more about Holly's campaign, visit her website.

1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?

I am proud of the work I have done as a member of the Asheville City Council to establish our community as a leader for clean, renewable energy. Asheville has committed to future city facilities to achieve the LEED Gold Standard, which only a handful of other cities in the country have committed to do. We also committed to reduce our cities global warming emissions by 80%, the level which the best science tells us is necessary to avoid the most harmful impacts of global warming on future generations. We have followed up on these good policies with strong actions, such as converting our city’s transit fleet to clean hybrid technologies and inventorying city facilities for energy efficiency opportunities. I want to see Buncombe County become a leader for clean, renewable energy as well.

2. What is your number one priority with regard to development and land use?

It’s clear the piecemeal approach that we have taken to land use and community planning is inadequate to address the challenges of growth. We need a shared vision for how our community and region will grow and develop. The County Commission is the logical body to lead a community-wide process for creating a shared vision and plan for our future. I will make creating a regional plan a top priority on the County Commission. While I believe the specifics of that plan must be based on input from the whole community, core concerns that are important to me include:
· Fostering walkable, bikeable and transit friendly neighborhoods throughout the county.
· Strong incentives for green building.
· Provisions to assure creation of affordable housing.
· Creation of a county-wide network of protected natural areas and greenways.
· Preservation of working family farms.
· Strengthening the economic vibrancy of the downtown areas of all our municipalities.

3. Growth projections for Buncombe are continually revised upward. Have previous approaches to development become obsolete? Would you support a temporary moratorium on development while the county works with municipal governments to prepare for these new projections?

I have seen examples of communities that have relatively low levels of growth that still have major problems with sprawl development, as well as examples of communities that have experienced major growth but who were effective in addressing these challenges. I am concerned that a blanket moratorium would amount to “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” I see many exciting positive community developments going forward in Asheville that I would not want to see blocked through a moratorium. One example would be projects like the Glenrock Hotel, which will be a major factor in revitalization of our riverfront and will create much needed affordable housing near our key employment centers. I don’t think it will be possible to resolve all the important planning challenges facing Buncombe County in a short period of time and I would have real concerns about the impacts of an open-ended moratorium on any new economic development and affordable housing in our community.

4. How can the county practice environmental stewardship and promote broad-based economic growth at the same time?

I do not support growth for the sake of growth, but I think it’s unrealistic to think that people are going to stop moving to Asheville in the near future. Our goal must be to assure that we shape a pattern of development that reflects our community goals and values. By insisting that new development be as green and energy efficient as possible, improving the energy efficiency of the existing built environment and creating new sources of clean energy, we can place our community on the path of sustainability. Similarly, we should focus new growth in areas within our existing developed landscape, rather than on our best remaining farmland and natural areas. Furthermore, the pursuit of such development is a great forward step in green job creation.

In terms of job creation, the Buncombe County Commission should take a leadership role in our community and I would pursue this avenue of green job creation aggressively. One final concrete example of the marriage of environmental stewardship and economic growth is the promotion of local farmers. Growth of this local food industry is a winner environmentally and economically (not to mention promoting healthier eating habits) and I would advocate Buncombe County pursuing policies that support it.

5. Many of our members want their local governments to lead the way in promoting energy independence and combating global warming. In what ways should the county work towards these goals?

First, we must lead by example. The County should make a commitment to reduce our global warming emissions by 80% by the year 2050. This can be achieved by making more energy efficient building and vehicle fleets and gradually switching out our energy and fuel use to clean, renewable sources. We should also provide strong incentives for all new development in Buncombe County to utilize the highest standards for green building. Furthermore, Buncombe County should lead by example. We should hold ourselves to high energy efficient standards as new county buildings are developed. Finally, the County should strongly work to bring new green collar jobs to Buncombe County so that our citizens can participate fully in the new emerging clean energy economy. To that end, I support the climate services initiative of the Asheville-Buncombe HUB project,, a collaborative regional economic development model. The HUB is a visionary, yet well-grounded, effort to bring green jobs to our community.

6. Do you see a role for the county in promoting energy efficiency in transportation and residential and business use?

Yes. I promoted a policy on City Council to provide a 100% fee permit rebate for new developments that achieve a high standard for green building. I will support this same policy at the County level. I am proud of the role the city has taken to create a more sustainable transportation network, including the implementation of a 90 day ride-for-free transit promotional campaign, new evening transit service, converting our transit fleet to low-emission hybrid vehicles, and supporting the Asheville Design Center’s plans for the I-26 Connector. I believe the County should take a stronger leadership role in transportation planning, including development of an effective park and ride network linked to high-quality transit services for commuters.

7. The county government plays a central role in providing social services. Where has it been most successful? Where does it most need improvement?

Health and human services make up the largest percentage of the Buncombe County budget and thus requires leadership in touch with the needs and priorities being addressed with these dollars. Furthermore, the services delivered in this arena have huge impacts on the daily lives of working families in Buncombe County. I am the candidate who is in touch daily with the real world issues being addressed by this sector. In terms of success, over the last decade, strong and visionary leadership at the Department of Social Services (DSS) resulted in effective partnerships to deliver much needed aid to our most vulnerable. The community partnerships established by DSS with entities such as AB Tech, Mission Hospital, ABCCM, demonstrate a deep commitment by the department to address the root causes of poverty and joblessness and not simply deliver federally mandated services.

The area for improvement I would highlight has to do with the issue of the consolidation of social services and health services. While a valid idea in theory, its ultimate effectiveness is dependent on broad community buy-in. I am concerned this has not happened sufficiently and the consolidation effort has been driven primarily by short-term cost savings. Given that the consolidation is a done deal, I would like to champion its true effectiveness with the community in terms of service delivery and cost efficiencies.

8. Do you think that the current commission has carried out its work in a manner that is sufficiently transparent? If not, how would you change things?

I do not agree with the manner in which the proposal for citing a new Progress Energy power plant on publicly owned land was withheld from public notice for a very long period of time. As a member of the Asheville City Council. I have been diligent in following the open meetings laws of North Carolina. I think such adherence is vital to achieving the public trust. The City Council has often been criticized for the length of our meetings, but I believe it is worth a more extended public meeting if that is what it takes to carry out the people’s business in a fully transparent manner.

9. Has the current commission made decisions that you strongly disagree with? If so, what will you do to remedy those decisions if you are elected?

I have great respect for the citizens who serve on the Buncombe County Commission. I do not agree with all the decisions they make, just as I am sure they do not agree with all the decisions I have made. One issue I particularly did not agree with was with the decision to sell public land in Pack Square Park to a developer.

10. Do you have a plan for how you will win this election? If so, could you briefly describe the elements of your plan?

Yes. I have worked with my team of supporters to create a plan for our campaign that I believe will carry us to victory in the Primary and General Election. I am fortunate to have a great group of dedicated volunteers and supporters. We plan to run a positive, issue oriented campaign. We have set ambitious goals for directly engaging the voters throughout the County through grassroots outreach as well as paid media. We have already achieved many of the key benchmarks we set for our campaign.

11. Would you call yourself a political progressive? Why or why not?

I am proud to count myself as a participant in our country’s long tradition of progressive change. I am proud to live in a community that elected the first female candidate, Lillian Exum Clement, to a state legislature in the Southeastern United States. For the past twelve years I have worked for the YWCA, whose mission is the empowerment of women and the elimination of racism. I bring those same core values to my work as a public official. I also identify with the mission and core values of DFA, which is to support fiscal accountability and socially progressive policies at all levels of government.