So, who’s running for mayor?
ByThis week marks the one-year anniversary of the filing deadline for the 2007 city council election. So even with the new face in the county commission field, I figured this would be as good a time as any (before November, that is) to take a moment and think about next year’s city council race.
One question in my mind is who’s going to challenge Terry Bellamy. One answer in my mind – and I have no idea where I heard this – is that former mayor Leni Sitnick is thinking about running again for gavel-banger-in-chief.
So this is a thread for rumors, truthinesses, and even a few facts. What do you think is going to happen? What issues are going to shape the race? Who’s running?
And will the next council be able to wave at Parkside residents from city hall?
Twitter: gordondsmith
says:
I imagine Terry Bellamy will stand for re-election and that David Young, current County Commissioner, might have a go at it.
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Wow. So – another question is, “who’s running for council?” My impression is that we’re likely to see at least a couple of vacancies, so who’s on the bench for Asheville’s progressives?
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It is too early to speculate. This race will not even hint towards serious contenders until the first of the year. The appointment to fill Jones’ seat will set that race in motion.
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Twitter: anonymousmarsh
says:
I have been weighing a run.
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Twitter: gordondsmith
says:
I’d like to see Cecil Bothwell make a run for Council. Errington Thompson would also be a strong candidate.
I’d heard a rumor that Robin Cape was considering a mayoral run as well. That’d make the office politics a little awkward, I’d imagine.
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Twitter: gordondsmith
says:
Shad,
You definitely ought to make a run, too. You wouldn’t be the first Asheville blogger to have a look at running for office. An unanticipated attack of ohellno derailed mygothlaundry’s run for Sheriff two years ago.
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If he runs, it will be interesting to hear David Young explain to city residences just why they should subsidize water for county residences given his stance in favor of the Sullivan Act.
There are always rumors that Leni Sitnick is going to run again.
Terry Bellamy said in an inteview with Mountain Xpress last fall that she intended to run for a second term.
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Brother Christopher!
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Anyone new I hope. If you do hear of someone good thinking about running help them raise money. Minimum cost for a seat on Council is $30k and if i remember correctly when it was all said and done Terry spent close to $75K for her seat.
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Still too early, but I’m 100% behind Bellamy. She’s a great Mayor.
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Bryan,
I gotta disagree with you on the minimum cost for a seat on council. $30K should be enough to put one solidly in second place if you are a progressive Democrat.
You only missed the third slot by small margins. Wouldn’t it be reasonable to project that an energized campaign could beat a flush-with-cash-repugnican with say %25 more than you raised?
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Dave,
You are crazy. That has never happened to date.
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It’s all such a waste of money and all BS! I love it when the environmental/green candidates print all of those flashy post cards and other junk mail that all end up in the landfill. What a crock of shit!
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I guess that time will tell. But I’m confident that a progressive candidate with an energized team can still win with $20K, maybe even $15K if our votes aren’t splintered among four or more candidates.
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Dave,
in the last two elections the progressive votes were splintered which does not help to energize a team. I had over 100 volunteers both times i ran and less than $15k. I hope that i am proven wrong, but I doubt I will be. I tried to build a slate in 05 only to have Brownie and Pelly ruin it at the last minute. Chris could have had it, however when i asked him if he was going to run he said no. Then after I filed, he jumped back in. That was a case of greed, thinking we could pick up four council seats in one cycle, then came the stupid partisan elections, which backfired. Oh well…There will always be that sort of flakey BS among the progressives. Take GreenAsheville’s consistent hostile comments towards the people that best represent her issues. The republicans will always beat progressives over the long run. They are willing to put their money in the game. I have no regrets and I am not bitter, just passing on my experience. Good luck fielding only three progressives.
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nobody has mentioned that Mumpower will likely run for mayor? i’m astonished. i have no doubt he’ll run.
Brother Christopher did indeed announced his intention to run for mayor during a magnolia tree rally.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cecil run, either for council or mayor. Jen Bowen is setting up a run for council.
Back to Bryan’s point on how council will handle picking the replacement for Holly Jones, when she wins in November and takes her seat on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners in December. The precedent that council has set is that it has chosen the the person from the last election that finished just out of the money. That would give us Brayn Freeborn.
So Brian — you interested? Would you serve if appointed? Go ahead and make some news here on Hooligans.
If not Brian, the council could look back to Dwight Butner or Elaine Lite. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dwight Butner launch a run for mayor.
There’s plenty more to come, no doubt.
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it’s all bullshit – and it’s bad for ya!
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i am still interested in spreading the rumor that gordon is running.
Jenny Bowen I am super excited about. All around badass who knows her stuff.
Greenasheville-I agree with your points completely, but understand Brian’s point about how elections are totally about the money. How do we combat that? How do you get a person elected who spends little money? I mean, Brian still spent alot (not in comparison to others that ran, but $15k is still alot), had tons of volunteers, had massive name recognition, and still didn’t get elected. Is that completely where politics are now?
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Twitter: anonymousmarsh
says:
You can expect my formal announcement (one way or another) in the coming weeks. If I do run, I pledge not spend more than $100.
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Another wrinkle for next year’s race is that the Match Our Mountains PAC, which endorsed center-left slates in 2003 and 2005, officially closed up shop last month (pdf).
DFA-Asheville will probably endorse candidates for city council using a process similar to the one we used to make endorsements this year and last year. We’d like to raise enough money for our PAC to publicize a progressive slate next year.
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The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. The “progressive slate” of candidates split the vote last time around and the result was another Republican elected to Council. Not good.
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Ashvages,
When first asked if I would take Holy’s vacated seat my reaction was, “absolutely not.†My family and I are very comfortable with me not being on council. I have a lot more freedom to advocate for and work with staff on issues that I care about. I have time for my wife, kids, and work. I am very focused on creating online platforms for quality community collaboration and direct democracy. This work I see as far more import and worthwhile than the political game of missed opportunity that is our city council and county commission.
As time away from council passes, the idea of running for council again has come and gone. I do not see Bryan Freeborn as a candidate for any office on the horizon. I have thought about the vacancy though, only because precedent has moved the fourth highest from the previous ballot in to that vacant seat. To date, I only know of that happening when a council member with an unexpired term wins the mayor’s seat.
In this case it will have been about a year since the last election and there will only be a year left on the term. The fourth highest candidate was me. For many people that would suggest that I would be the logical fill in. The other reason that I would make an appropriate choice is that I have also served on council before and know the budget, the issues, and the processes of the organization. And for this reason alone, I would take the appointment if offered. I do not think that council should appoint someone for one year that has never served in this seat before. There is too much of a learning curve. There are also all of the boards and commissions this appointed member has to be a liaison for.
Jan Davis and other members of council made it clear at this last work session, they are not interested in returning to the ballot for the replacement and appointing the fourth highest vote getter. Jan went as far as saying that being the 4th does not constitute a mandate. To me this is another signal of his idea of democracy is to follow the democratic process when it is convenient and serves his politics. He did not vote for the 4th in 05 and I do not see him doing that this time around either. Same for Carl. These are the same to members of council that supported “Let Asheville Vote.†They want wanted the voters to choose for or against partisan election, but not a vacancy on council.
That being said, I find it hard to believe that the six remaining members of council will be able to find a replacement that can get enough votes to get the appointment. I could be wrong. They may have already made up their mind. If they are not going to go back the ballot or a previous council member/mayor I would advise them to leave it vacant. It is just for one year and it will force them to build stronger consensus on issues.
I will not actively lobby for this appointment. Playing the political game did not suit me well and provided undo stress in my life. I will only offer council and the community advice and perspective on this issue. To me the choice is very clear. However, looking back on the few decisions I made on council that I now regret and think the obvious choice should have been so clear, it did not seem so at the time. I do not envy the position council is in now. It must be uncomfortable to even have to think about this knowing that the clear choice is to appoint someone they do not want to serve with them. I wish them and the community the best of luck with this. I hope that council does not go down the same path we did with partisan elections. The ultimate decision is up to council.
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I heard Kwame Kilpatrick is available!
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I’m not as forlorn as some of my progressive friends. A progressive candidate that has some roots here, has served on a board or two and has a little campaign experience is very electable.
Yeah, is sucks that Bryan lost. But the republicans had to throw the most moderate repug they could find and a gazillion dollars to eek out a sub 100 vote third place finish. This is not bad news.
This election cycle is going to at least double the number of experienced young campaign organizers in the area. If we build upon that, repugs will have a difficult time getting anyone elected for any amount of money.
But yes Lindsey, a candidate is probably going to need more than $15,000 – but not $30,000 as Bryan claims.
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Sage,
It was 2005 when a progressive “slate” split the vote – which was because there were two slates.
Match Our Mountains endorsed Jones, Cape, and Thompson while DFA-Asheville endorsed Jones, Cape, and Freeborn. To add to the confusion, Chris Pelly, who had made a strong run for council (and received MOM’s endorsement) in 2003, entered the race after sending mixed signals about his intention to run.
Had progressives (and their fellow travelers) united behind a single slate of three candidates, Carl Mumpower – who received a couple hundred votes more than Bryan Freeborn – would not be on council today, though I imagine he’d still be doing his level best to get people deported.
Last year, some people who might otherwise have voted for Newman and Freeborn were probably persuaded by the partisan elections controversy not to vote for any incumbents. In a similar vein, I know at least one voter who got snowed by the Citizen-Times election coverage into voting for Bill Russell (he thought, based on AC-T’s “sliding scale” diagrams, that Russell would be less pro-development than Brownie Newman).
Had DFA-Asheville been more effective in our outreach, we might have convinced this voter, and others like him, that there were in fact three better choices and three worse choices in the six-person field, and that if he had any solid reasons for voting for one of the better choices, he would probably be best served by voting for all three.
Bottom line – having a slate doesn’t guarantee success, by any means. But it really hasn’t been tried, so it wouldn’t be crazy to try it in 2009.
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Someone told me there was some minor speak about me over here —
I figure it is about time to set forth some sort of statement as to what I do or do not plan to do -
Yes, quite a few folks have asked me if I would consider running for City Council. The Faces of Asheville project I am working on allows me a lot of insight & knowledge through connecting with people and conducting in-depth research into current and historical aspects of our community. By understanding our past & observing our present, we might be able to get a grasp on what sort of future we have the opportunity to create as Asheville continues to grow. We are in the process of completing several master plans for the city, but those mostly deal with development and urban planning. While those things are without question important, my goal is to explore the community’s potential growth and preservation.
When folks suggested I should run I became undoubtedly intrigued with the idea. Nevertheless, I have not acknowledged a definite answer one-way or another as to if I would take on a campaign. I have worked on the Hill in Washington DC and I know what a disheartening mess politics can be, and that campaigning can consume your soul if you are not careful (just ask old Chainsaw Charley Taylor). I have no desire to move up any political ladder, but serving the greater community of this region with the knowledge I have obtained would be an honor. I have always aspired to be a servant of the public, in whatever form that may take.
However, while I am completing the Faces of Asheville project I must be clear that this documentary nor it’s process are intended to have any political agenda guiding or forcing it to completion. It is meant to document as accurately and fairly as possible our community while capturing, exhibiting, and displaying what makes our city so beloved by so many. I have found that our city allows the ability for individuals to be themselves, exhibiting their liberty of personal choice and freedom of self-identification, without fear of judgment or recoil from our general culture or society. Our active and thriving community attempts to be inclusive of all individuals, which is just one of the vital aspects that stand us apart from other cities and regions.
This is not to say we do not have many challenges facing our community as well. There are some heavy issues that need to be addressed in delicate and thoughtful manners in order for our city to thrive, as she should.
My goal is to complete FOA and to do my best in doing so. I believe the work I am doing is something that is truly meaningful, and I fear a campaign would quite possibly distract and dilute my focus. The next step of the project is to develop & host some very essential and key community forums based on the topics of: Diversity in Asheville, Green/Ecological Sustainability, Alternative & Traditional Health & Human Services, Artist Resources, Economic Sustainability through Local Business & Currency Options, and Interfaith Spirituality within our region. Not until after these forums have been completed in Spring 2009 can I dedicate any substantial time to thinking about acting on the notion of mounting a run for City Council.
Thank you to all who have talked to me about the possibility of running – and it may yet be a strong possibility. For the moment however – I am the avant-garde patriot & artist, doing her duty to express her self & her thoughts fairly while helping the greater whole as best she can.
-JBo
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Jenny Bowen’s statement concerning her priorities with completing her Faces of Asheville project demonstrates clearly why so many of us have been cheering her on. Go ahead…read her statement again. Now, isn’t that what we are after?
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