ASHEVILLE – Voters in different parts of the city — north, south, east and west — sounded similar themes when it came to what they thought were the most important issues facing Asheville, but their candidate picks were all across the board, according to interviews with people casting ballots on Election Day.
Concerns about the pace and scale of development, the need for racial diversity in government and a sense that a booming tourism economy wasn’t spreading the wealth to locals were themes quick off the lips of voters. But they often didn’t agree about who best could deal with the issues.
“I just want to see a smarter approach toward development and not giving carte blanche to the developers,” said Marc Harkness who lives in the Southside neighborhood next to downtown. Harkness voted for Keith Young, Brian Haynes and Rich Lee.
In South Asheville, Sarah Lesesne grew up in Asheville, then moved away to South Carolina before coming back.
“Traffic is my biggest issue since coming back, and the amount of development,” she said. “We’ve got people coming from out of state and building giant structures. It’s all being done by people who are from out of town and don’t have to live here once it’s built.”
Lesesne voted for Young, Julie Mayfield and Marc Hunt.
Young, a deputy clerk of Buncombe County Superior Court; Haynes, a Habitat for Humanity assistant manager; and Mayfield, the co-director a regional environmental nonprofit won three available council seats. Lee, a financial advisor; Hunt, the current vice mayor; and LGBT advocacy group campaign manager Lindsey Simerly lost in the six-candidate race. The Rev. Spencer Hardaway attempted an unsuccessful write-in campaign.
Citizen-Times reporters conducted interviews Tuesday at eight of the city’s 40 precincts. They were the polling sites that produced the most votes during the Oct. 6 primary: St. Eugene’s Catholic Church, Jones Elementary and Dickson Elementary in the north; Vance Elementary in the west; and Roberson High School in the south.
Reporters also went to the east’s most active precinct, Haw Creek Elementary; Kenilworth, a political hotbed southeast of downtown; and the Southside neighborhood, home to the highest number of registered African-American voters.
Those not interviewed were the 3,845 people who went to polls during early voting and produced 10,359 votes. That’s nearly one-third of the total 34,537 votes made during early voting and the day of the election combined.
Each voter got to select up to three candidates. On Wednesday, Buncombe County Election Services did not yet know how many individual voters participated in the election. It was also not clear yet which parts of the city produced the most votes, since the residences of early voters had not yet been matched back to their home precincts.
Growing, growing
The perceived rapid pace of construction and population rise was at the top of the minds of those interviewed.
“Growth, definitely,” said Beth Weegar, who voted at Jones Elementary in North Asheville. Weegar picked Mayfield, Simerly and Young and said the field of candidates were well qualified. “It was hard to choose.”
At Dickson Elementary in Montford, Rhonda Reed voted for Young, Haynes and Lee.
“Conservation issues, the preservation of green spaces in town are really important,” Reed said. “I feel like City Council lately has been voting in favor of development, which I don’t feel is harmonious with the opinions of Asheville in general.”
Despair and a park
Reed’s three choices were candidates who supported the conversion of a downtown city lot derided by some as “The Pit of Despair” into a park. They were endorsed by two local groups supporting the park and by City Councilman Cecil Bothwell, who is running for a seat on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners.
The other three candidates: Mayfield, Hunt and Simerly said a privately owned building probably made more sense on the site. They suggested any development include a public green space. The three were endorsed by the Sierra Club whose local members said the candidates were environmentalists being unfairly cast as against green space.
Following Tuesday’s results Mayfield lamented Hunt’s loss, calling him one of the most dedicated public servants the city has had and saying the St. Lawrence Green park issue — so called because of the land’s proximity to the landmark Basilica of St. Lawrence — appeared to have played a major role.
“I think you could easily read the results that way,” Mayfield said.
Simerly said she felt “a level of divisiveness and negativity we don’t normally see in Asheville City Council elections” because of the park issue. “I think that’s why you see the results the way you do tonight, which I think is unfortunate. I think it turned off a lot of people from participating in the process.”
Some voters though said the idea of a park was a motivating factor. Michael Parry of the Southside neighborhood, said he purposefully voted against the Sierra Club candidates. He came from Denver, Colorado, he said, “and it had a huge number of parks, and that was one of the reasons why it was so great to live there.”
Others said the park issue was overblown.
“I wish we would just get off this park thing,” said the Rev. Joe David Fore of Haw Creek, who voted for Hunt and Young. “I would prefer (the property) to be something of a money-making thing,” Fore said. “Our taxes are already high enough.”
Tony Beurskens, a North Asheville resident who voted at St. Eugene’s, supported the park and said it was about more than that particular piece of land near the basilica and the U.S. Cellular Center.
“It’s representing development as a whole. Are we valuing development or a livable city?” Beurskens said.
Diversity
One candidate who voters did agree on was Young when it came to the issue of diversity. The first African-American elected to the council since 2009, many said the council needed to better reflect minorities in the city. Young, who also campaigned on the theme off increasing residents’ influence over development, got the most votes of the six candidates.
Mary Miller, who moved to South Asheville from California with her husband Larry, voted for Haynes, Simerly and Young.
“As a black American, it bothers me that I don’t see that many black kids working in the beer industry and in some restaurants. “I think they’re underserved,” Miller said.
Robert Butler, a Southside resident, voted for Young, Hunt and Mayfield.
“Asheville’s pretty diverse, and I feel like the people who represent Asheville should also be diverse,” Butler said.
Bringing tourism home
Affordability and the ability for locals to share the wealth being generated by some tourism-related businesses, such as hotels, was also a main theme.
“I know the tourist industry is supposed to be bringing money and jobs, but it seems like the jobs they’re bringing are not high quality,” said Katie Doan of West Asheville, who voted at Vance Elementary. “The quality of life, the quality of the experience of being here is why we live here.”
Doan voted for Lee, Hunt and Mayfield.
But others said the way to increase locals’ share of the tourism economy was to loosen rules on short-term rentals and homestays, different forms of rental arrangements homeowners often make with tourists, often through websites such as Airbnb.com.
The city has banned short-term rentals in most of Asheville and the council recently stepped up enforcement against the practice saying it could hollow-out neighborhoods, turning them into defacto hotel districts. The practice also cuts the supply of potential long-term rental properties at a time the city is facing an affordable housing crisis, the majority of council members said.
Hunt attributed his support of stepped-enforcement in part to his loss.
Some voters, such as, Elzy Lindsey, who voted at Dickson Elementary in Montford, said that was true.
“I’m mainly supporting anyone who supports Airbnb, the anti-hotel lobby,” said Lindsey who voted for Lee, Haynes and Young.
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