Buncombe County Commissioner and incumbent candidate Carol Peterson explains why she strongly supported the Woodfin Diesel Power Plant in this handy video shot about a year ago. The deal, you’ll recall, was made in secret. Progress Energy got to write their own lease. No alternatives were considered. Mrs. Peterson and othes argued “we’d have brownouts, you know, plants would have to close down, people wouldn’t have the power they need. This was not power that we need for any future use. This is power that’s needed for Buncombe County right now.”

Only the wisdom of the Woodfin Planning and Zoning Board prevented this dirty deal from going through. Coupled with the terrifically suspicious City/County Plaza Parkland selloff to legacy private developer Stewart Coleman and his Black Dog Realty, a pattern of secrecy and poor judgment emerges. If you’re looking for alternatives to our incumbents in this year’s County Commission election, try some of the new faces:

Holly Jones

Cecil Bothwell

Keith Thomson

K. Ray Bailey

Bob Hill

Vernon Dover