Gordon Smith: "Whether it was unilaterally changing the way we vote and restricting our choices on County Commission, disallowing a vote of the people on the district proposal, forcefully taking the airport, or seeking to seize the water system, Rep. Moffitt hasn’t chosen a path of good governance."
Tim Peck: As some of us may know, it is Buncombe County Chairman David Gantt who refused to allow the people a vote on district elections, knowing, of course, what the outcome would be. It is also Chairman Gantt who ignored an actual referendum held on county-wide zoning that showed overwhelming majority opposition. Gantt and the board went ahead with zoning anyway against the wishes of the actual voting public.
Some of us know who the bullies are. And some others have it all wrong.
Asheville is like the teenager living in his parent’s house. The parents acquire a house and give the teenager a room of his own where he can keep all of his stuff. The teenager slowly becomes arrogant and pushy. He puts up a sign that reads “Keep Out.” He become possessive and demanding. He takes the car keys whenever he wants to joyride with his buddies and turns his room into a virtual frat house. At some point, the teenager pushes too far and the parent is compelled to remind him that he is living his lifestyle through the benevolence of the parent and shouts things like, “As long as you’re living under my roof, you’ll obey my rules” and “I brought you into this world and I can damn sure take you out of it.”
By reorganizing county elections and regional water and airport management, Rep. Moffitt is properly decentralizing and distributing political power. These and other steps are intended to broaden the democratic process contrary to a concentration of power in the hands of an ideological partisan cabal. Rep. Moffitt is bringing government to the people. And for that we should be thankful. Instead, some of us choose to demonize, personalize, insult, ridicule and generally operate in bad faith.
Rep. Moffitt is doing a great service to our community. He is standing between the petulant and capricious little Asheville and an increasingly dismayed and hostile General Assembly. He is protecting our community from the smoldering wrath of the legislature. In fact, the election of Jane Whilden could quite possibly enrage the stink-eyed General Assembly to the point of the shouting parent who, by then, would be quite happy to see the teenager hit the road and wander in the wilderness.
From: "Often Disappointed," Scrutiny Hooligan
