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House Elections Committee: Asheville District Elections

The House Elections Committee approved Senate Bill 897 to elect Asheville City Council by districts on a 17-9 vote Thursday, clearing the way for likely passage by the full House, the last step needed for the bill to become law.



Apodaca: "Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here this morning as we come to the end of this wonderful session. And I'd like to say up front at the beginning of my remarks that the local delegation, other than myself, is not in favor of this bill. So, I want that out front. OK. The reason this bill is before us today is because of the concerns raised by citizens, mainly in south Asheville, that people in south Asheville can't remember a time when they had a representative on city council...If you look at the maps, you'll see clearly that every member of the current council lives in central or north Asheville. The best way to remedy the situation was to create a districting system for the Asheville city council.

Eight of the 10 most populous cities in North Carolina use some type of districting system to elect their city councils. Asheville would become the 9th. This method is not new or novel. It is commonplace and considered a best practice across the state for ensuring geographic diversity of representation throughout a city. This map was not drawn on creating political advantage. If you survey the political statistics associated with the map, you will see that every district has elected more Democrats than Republicans. The map was drawn to create geographic diversity, to balance population according to the legal requirements, and to keep precincts together when possible.

I have been asked to consider allowing a referendum on the plan. I will not and there is a simple reason why: If Asheville were allowed a referendum, I have no doubt that the current council would work to defeat it. The current council is satisfied by a system that suits their political interest while denying people who don't live in central Asheville a voice on the council.

This is merely a test run. In 2019, a new plan will go completely into effect for one election cycle. If the council and the people of Asheville decide that they prefer to return to the old system, they may do so after the return of the 2020 census.

The system is also not unique. Six counties, including Buncombe, are currently under a moratorium on changing their form of government that will expire upon the return of the next census.

This bill is an attempt to ensure that all people of Asheville have representation on city council. It adds Asheville to the overwhelming majority of cities its size who already use a similar system of elections. It applies to one election cycle. After that, the people of Asheville are free to remake their form of government.

I hope those future choices will be made by all people and not a select few who live in favored parts of town. This bill will make that possible and I ask for your support."

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RELATED

Asheville District Elections Map (showing current council members)
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/asheville-district-elections-map.html

Asheville District Elections Timeline
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-timeline.html

Asheville District Elections in Redistricting Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-in-committee.html

Pete Kaliner on Asheville District Elections
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/pete-kaliner-on-district-elections.html

Asheville City Council Spanked in Raleigh, Voter Integrity Project
http://voterintegrityproject.com/asheville-spanked/

LTE: Asheville District Elections

Letter: District elections offer chance to spread leadership

Dear Editor,

A common complaint from the establishment left is that district elections is a matter that should be left to the people of Asheville to decide in a referendum. (Although this could have been done before under §160A, Article 5.)

But it seems the progressive ruling elite has only lately come to the idea of popular consent prior to taking actions. This was certainly the case in its attempt to annex Biltmore Lake to the benefit of its General Fund.

The self-sufficient residents of Biltmore Lake were resolutely opposed being forcibly annexed. They needed none of the city's services. Asheville took no vote on the matter yet the annexation proceeded—against the wishes of "the people". The residents then sued Asheville, at their own expense, and it took legislation from Raleigh to de-annex the properties of Biltmore Lake.

With district elections, we have an opportunity to spread leadership across the expanding reaches of a growing city. Asheville has exhibited a recalcitrant frame of mind in sharing power and this is offensive to justice. It will once again take legislation from Raleigh to give "the people" what they deserve. This time in the form of greater representative democracy in electing its leaders.


Tim Peck, Asheville

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RELATED

Asheville District Elections Map (showing current council members)
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/asheville-district-elections-map.html

Asheville District Elections Timeline
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-timeline.html

Asheville District Elections in Redistricting Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-in-committee.html

Asheville District Elections in Elections Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/house-elections-committee-asheville.html

Pete Kaliner on Asheville District Elections
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/pete-kaliner-on-district-elections.html

Honorable Mention

District Elections Timeline

Timeline for Senate Bill 897: Asheville City Council Districts

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RELATED

Asheville District Elections Map (showing current council members)
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/asheville-district-elections-map.html

Asheville District Elections in Redistricting Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-in-committee.html

Asheville District Elections in Elections Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/house-elections-committee-asheville.html

Pete Kaliner on Asheville District Elections
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/pete-kaliner-on-district-elections.html

Asheville District Elections Map

Asheville Districts Map - Council Members by Tim Peck

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RELATED

Asheville District Elections Timeline
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-timeline.html

Asheville District Elections in Redistricting Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-in-committee.html

Asheville District Elections in Elections Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/house-elections-committee-asheville.html

Pete Kaliner on Asheville District Elections
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/pete-kaliner-on-district-elections.html

Asheville District Elections in Redistricting Committee

Senate Redistricting Committee
June 24, 2016
SB897: Asheville District Elections

Audio: Sen. Ralph Hise on Asheville District Elections.



Senator Hise: "I thank the chairman. Just a quick comment. I thank Senator Apodaca on his work on this. Being near the area, I also heard a lot of complaints about the Asheville council and its failure to represent many of the people that live in that community...and I just wanted comment on the fact that when individuals are currently serving and have a tremendous advantage in being elected, as is obvious in this case, I hate to make them the arbiters of whether or not we should make any changes when they've developed a system that obviously benefits them in that process, so...I thank Senator Apodaca all these years, and I will tell you that it is your voice that I trust [regarding] the city of Asheville."

Full audio: http://cpa.ds.npr.org/wcqs/audio/2016/06/hearingrawaudio.mp3

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RELATED

Asheville District Elections Map (showing current council members)
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/asheville-district-elections-map.html

Asheville District Elections Timeline
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-timeline.html

Asheville District Elections in Elections Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/house-elections-committee-asheville.html

Pete Kaliner on Asheville District Elections
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/pete-kaliner-on-district-elections.html

Pete Kaliner on District Elections

The Pete Kaliner Show
6/15/2016
Asheville District Elections

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RELATED

Senate Bill 897: Asheville City Council Districts
http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015&BillID=s897&submitButton=Go

City Council Discusses District Elections:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NV0zo1V0-E&t=25m55s

Asheville District Elections Map (showing current council members)
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/asheville-district-elections-map.html

Asheville District Elections Timeline
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-timeline.html

Asheville District Elections in Redistricting Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/district-elections-in-committee.html

Asheville District Elections in Elections Committee
http://timpeck.blogspot.com/2016/06/house-elections-committee-asheville.html

Pete Kaliner Interviews Governor McCrory

The Pete Kaliner Show, 6/9/2016

Pat McCrory Joined Pete Kaliner to discuss campaign, economy, teacher pay, Cooper's boycotts & more.

Return Justice Edmunds to the State Supreme Court

[UPDATED]

The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the highest court in the state. Disputes that cannot be resolved in lower courts are settled here. The primary function of our Supreme Court is to consider possible errors in legal procedures or judicial interpretations of the law coming from lower courts. It has no jury and makes no determination of fact.

One seat on the court will come open this year and must be filled through an election in November. But first, a primary election is required to select two candidates for the general election. The voters in the state will then determine which of the two remaining candidates will fill take a seat on the court for the next eight years.

The primary election is scheduled for June 7, 2016. On the primary ballot will be four candidates. One of them is the conservative incumbent: Justice Robert H. (Bob) Edmunds, Jr.

Justice Edmunds was first elected to the high court in 2000 and is now serving his second term on the bench as a Senior Associate Justice. He is widely regarded as a sharp lawyer who is well-versed in the law and who brings with him a strong resume. Edmunds began his service to his country as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy. Besides his distinguished career of 16 years on the state Supreme Court, he has also served on the Court of Appeals; he has had the honor of being appointed U.S. Attorney in 1986 by President Reagan; and in his early career, he worked as a district attorney.

His continued presence on the court will be important in protecting our rights, our values, and our freedoms. His vote as a Supreme Court justice could well mean the deciding factor on many important issues facing the state in the coming years, from school vouchers to voter ID to redistricting and others.

What sets Edmunds apart from the other candidates is not only his experience. He also has a solid reputation as a man of superior character. In a recent decision from which he could potentially have benefited, Justice Edmunds chose to recuse himself from the controversial retention elections issue.

Edmunds has expressed his support for retention elections saying, “across the country, retention election systems have been enacted in many states as a means of insulating judicial officials from political pressures that can distract them from their duties.”

Under retention elections—a method used by many states—the incumbent justice appears alone on a ballot for an up-or-down approval vote by the people to determine whether he will retain his seat. A low approval vote would require the governor to appoint a replacement until the next election cycle.

A recusal by Justice Edmunds from the seven-member court would leave an even number of justices to decide whether Edmunds, and other justices in the future, would run unopposed in a retention election or face challengers for the incumbency.

This could mean a possible stalemate with no ruling being handed down one way or another. And that’s exactly what happened. The remaining six-justice panel rendered a split decision which left a lower court decision in place that had previously struck down a law allowing retention elections. The lower court’s ruling said that Supreme Court justices must continue to undergo the contested election process competing directly with other candidates running for the seat.

The decision by Edmunds to stay out of a case from which he could have benefited in his re-election bid was the right decision, even though he would be the loser for it. His was the ethical decision and I think it is one factor demonstrating his fitness for the job.

I feel that Justice Edmunds compares favorably the other candidates and in fact is the superior candidate in this race. Justice Edmunds has the knowledge, experience and personal integrity that makes him the best choice to sit on our state’s highest court.

I am not the only one. If it’s any indication, Justice Edmunds has received overwhelming bipartisan endorsements from 95 of 100 county Sheriffs from around the state, including Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan, Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood, and Henderson County Sheriff Charles McDonald.

I leave you with Justice Edmunds’ own perspective on the contest to fill ‘the Edmunds Seat’: “Most folks naturally understand that being a justice is not an entry level position. We need justices who have established records demonstrating that they respect the Constitution and understand the limited role of the court. North Carolina deserves justices who have never distorted the law to satisfy their own prejudices. At the same time, we want justices who understand the real world outside the courthouse and the law books.”

God bless you, Justice Edmunds—and may you continue to serve the great state of North Carolina with distinction.

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Campaign Web Site:
www.justiceedmunds.com

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UPDATE: 6/7/2016