Candidate Questionnaire: Sierra Club

** UPDATED **

THE WENOCA GROUP OF THE SIERRA CLUB 2011 ENDORSEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

1) Would you like your candidacy to be endorsed by the Sierra Club and why?

I’m happy to receive endorsements from any group interested in my candidacy.

2) Are you a member of the Sierra Club or any other environmental group?

No, I am not a member of the Sierra Club or any other environmental group.

3) What environmental issues have you been involved with? Did you achieve any success?

I have not been involved with any environmental issues.

4) What do you anticipate will be the most important environmental issues you will face if elected? What actions do you plan to take to address these issues?

The most important environmental issue I anticipate facing if elected is the pervasive but false notion that the city needs to reduce its carbon footprint. I will use facts, evidence and logic to educated the public and my colleagues regarding this falsehood and vote against any measure that seeks to satisfy a purely faith-based interference in the economy.

5) Do you consider urban sprawl to be an issue in Asheville, and if so, what would you do to minimize it? Would you support the continuation of the current “density bonus” for new development in the city?

Yes, suburban sprawl is an issue in Asheville. It is caused by zoning, property taxes, over-regulation and ideological policy-making. I do not support the concept of the density bonus, which entices developers to build larger housing complexes so long as they agree to lose money on 20% of their property. The best way to curtail suburban sprawl is to roll back its causes.

6) How would you protect open space in Asheville & Buncombe County?

The protection of private property is the best way to protect open space. Biltmore Estates, Grove Park Inn and Beaver Lake Park are good examples.

7) Given the rapid rate of development in the Asheville area, how would you deal with the problems of building on steep slopes? Would you support making the city’s steep slope ordinances at least as strong as the county’s?

I would advocate for the repeal of the steep slope ordinance and instead advocate for a differential tax on developing environmentally sensitive areas. I would advocate for increased penalties for fraud and failed slope development. I would demand that state legislators strengthen enforcement of the protection of private property in claims of harm from bad development practices.

8) Asheville City Council has done a great deal regarding public transportation. What do you think we need to do to make it more effective? What are your ideas on alternative transportation, e.g. bike paths?

To make public transportation more effective, we need sell our fleet of busses, outsource transit services to a private company and eliminate taxicab licenses and fare mandates. Bike paths are desirable but unaffordable under our present form of government. We need to convert to a public-private partnership form of government to achieve the kind of efficiency that would allow for the enormous expense a system of bike paths would require.

9) Do you think Asheville's storm water and erosion regulations function well and are adequately enforced? Are there enough personnel to adequately monitor environmental regulations?

Asheville’s storm water and erosion regulations function well and are adequately enforced and there are enough personnel to adequately monitor environmental regulations.

10) Given that Global Climate Change is with us, Asheville City council has adopted a number of energy policies including: Cities for Climate Protection, reduction of Asheville’s carbon emissions by 80%, and adoption of LEED Gold Standard for green building.

-Are you familiar with these programs and what other measures would you proposed to reduce our carbon footprint?

-Do you support the continuation of these programs? Are you willing to reinvest all or part of the savings from these programs to continue to increase energy efficiency?

-Would you support putting Solar Panels on city buildings?

The theory of global warming has been proven to be false and there is no need to reduce our carbon footprint. The only practical reason for converting to solar power is cost saving and this form of power production is not cost effective. The LEED certification is a valuable private-sector set of standards that can be adopted voluntarily as individual property owners so choose and for their own reasons.

11) City Council recently voted to reduce water rates for residential users and increase them over the next 5 years for businesses and other larger users to reduce the amount that residents subsidize business users. Some would like to repeal or delay this effort. Do you support or oppose efforts to change this recent decision?

I oppose efforts to unfairly treat businesses differently and charge them more for water. Charges for water should be based on actual usage and market rates.

12) The Planning and Zoning Commission has increased authority to approve new building construction in Asheville rather than city council. Would you support the appointment of more neighborhood leaders and other citizens who do not have ties to the development industry to this commission?

I support appointing members to the Planning and Zoning Commission who have knowledge, experience and expertise in matters that come before that advisory body, including those with ties to the development industry.

13) Would you be willing to further restrict Electronic Billboards in the city?

I would not be willing to further restrict electronic billboards in the city. Restricting speech is an improper exercise of police power. Citizens can voluntarily choose to patronize businesses who advertise on electronic billboards if they find them unpleasant.

14) Would you be willing to lobby the Tourism Development Authority to help fund Greenways and Parks in Asheville?

I would not be willing to lobby the Tourism Development Authority to help fund greenways and parks in Asheville. Buncombe County government should not be in the business of developing tourism or interfering in the economy in any way and Asheville should fund its own parks and greenways. Under a public-private form of government, Asheville would achieve a substantial savings that would allow for these types of expenditures through a referendum process and only after fundamental core services, such as police and fire, have been adequately addresses.

---

After filling out this questionnaire please return it by email to: Ken Brame kenbrame@sbcglobal.net or mail it to 15 Morning Star Dr., Leicester, NC by August 1, 2011. Interviews will follow.

Thank you for your interest in public service.

Ken Brame
Local Sierra Club Political Chair


** UPDATE - THURSDAY AUGUST 4, 2011 **

Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 11:31 PM, Ken Brame wrote:
Since you were the first person to return your questionnaire, we would like to offer you the first interview slot for our interviews. Would you be available for an interview this Friday afternoon, August 5th, at 4 PM? We would expect the interview to last no more than one hour.
Ken

Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 11:30 PM: Ken Brame of the Sierra Club called to cancel the candidate interview. Why? They just read my answers to their questionnaire.

That's So Asheville

Candidate Questionnaire: Scrutiny Hooligan

How long have you been a ScruHoo reader? Tell us how much you love this blog.

I started reading Scrutiny Hooligan way back when it was just run by Gordon Smith himself and he was making those over-the-top "Chainsaw Charlie" parody videos (now scrubbed from the internet). That must have been around 2006. Three years ago I was banned from the site because I offered challenging opinions which his administrator found irksome. I was banned under the phony pretext of breaking a rule. Now the site is quite awful and the worst example of ideological echo-chamber nonsense in the Asheville cyber-community.

So why are you running for City Council?

Following all the workings of city government is daunting for the ordinary citizen. And that's what I am: an ordinary citizen of Asheville. It's not enough to attend weekly city council meetings. You have to attend regular committee meetings, commission meetings and community meetings. And you have to research and understand the issues and the backgrounds of a wide range of public policy matters. Then comes analysis and policy recommendations to communicate to lawmakers. It's really a full time job. So, I've decided to do just that: to make it my full time job by running for a seat on city council.

What’s your skill set?

I'm trained as a technology consultant, data analyst and project manager, but I also have a background in economic theory and political philosophy. Also, I am the only candidate that understands the proper role of government; which is to protect individual rights, including property rights and economic liberty.

Any recent Council decisions that you’d like to comment about?

I'm happy that city council finally came around to see that URTV was a disaster and had been for years and pulled funding. Although, the RFP for a new venture is so overloaded with requirements, I don't see how anyone could possibly take it up. Also, I'm still curious as to how the new Ingles Super Market on Smoky Park Highway avoided the two-year-long protests, criticisms and resistance that greeted Walmart when they proposed a Super Center on the same site several years ago. The new Ingles will be almost twice as large when finished. (Of course, the woeful trailer park residents are long gone now, and so is the $7,500/per unit displacement money that Walmart offered them.) However, I'm glad that the project was approved with little fanfare, virtually no public outcry and was able to avoid the politicized harassment, over-regulation and extortion that Walmart was subjected to which caused them to relocate just outside the city limits, taking the sales and property taxes with them.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I do research and drink alcohol.

Who’s your favorite Beatle?

George Martin. He took an extraordinary talent set, added his own to it with little credit and multiplied the overall value. I like that. [Real answer: George Harrison]

Challenge: In twenty-five words or less, sum up your goals for a term on City Council.

To move toward the Public/Private Partnership model that has successfully transformed cities like Sandy Springs, Georgia, into an efficient, effective and proper local government.

---

RELATED

Asheville

Radio: Food Truck Regulation

Tim Peck on 880AM Local Edge Radio on July 9, 2011, to talk about the current state of #avlfoodtruck regulation in #Asheville.

Food Truck Regulation

[UPDATED]

For the past twenty-five years, mobile food trucks have been prohibited from operating in the downtown Asheville area (although, they are not prohibited from operating in other areas inside the city). The popularity and prudence of the mobile food truck operation nationwide during tough economic times has prompted the city to reconsider the wisdom of this ban. The City of Asheville is presently considering removing the ban and is drafting new regulations for governing the operation of mobile food trucks in the downtown area on private property. This task has been outsourced to the Downtown Commission which, in turn, has delegated the task to a subcommittee dedicated to this specific issue.

In the course of identifying issues and concerns and developing an initial set of regulatory guidelines, the subcommittee has defined some rules that seem to fit within the proper scope of government oversight and some that seem not to fit within that scope.

The new regulations, if adopted in their present form, would allow the operation of food trucks downtown under certain conditions. They must allow ample space for the ingress and egress of pedestrians, automobiles and emergency vehicles. That is right and proper. It ensures that food trucks do not interfere with the free movement of individuals, police cars, fire trucks and ambulances. This helps to protect the rights of others.

Some rules included in the draft regulation are simply redundant; such as compliance with health and safety laws, noise ordinances and permitting processes. These should be more properly included in a manual for vendors and not a new set of regulations. These types of rules apply to all businesses and do not need to be repeated in regulations only governing food trucks.

Other rules, in fact, the bulk of them, seem to be an attempt to control factors that do not serve the purpose of protecting individual rights, which is government's sole legitimate purpose. For example, there is a rule limiting hours of operation. No explanation is given. Some restaurants are open 24 hours a day or at least late into the night and early morning. Why this limitation on food trucks? If there is no street business at 4:30AM, then business-people will have the sense to determine that it is not profitable to operate at this hour. However, if it is indeed profitable, then by what justification does the city shut them down?

Another rule would restrict the distance of a food truck to a restaurant to no less than 200 feet. Again, no explanation is given. Some restaurants are located side-by-side. Why this proximity restriction on food trucks? If this is for the purpose of protecting restaurants from competition, then I would remind the regulators that it is not the government's proper role to protect businesses from competition, but rather to ensure that the rights of all parties are protected from violation. No business owner has the right to be protected from competition through the use of force.

A rule establishing a limit to the total number of food trucks is included in the draft regulation. The reason given is that this would protect downtown from “too many” vendors. How does a government agent determine what constitutes “too many” over against the consuming marketplace? In a free market, if there is greater supply than demand, that is, if the market is saturated, only then are there objectively “too many” food trucks. By what other criteria can someone conclude that there are either too many or too few food trucks other than the arbitrary opinion of the regulator? The same would apply to any desire on the part of the regulators to limit permits to locals or prohibit permits to chains. These are matters best decided by business-people and the consuming public. If consumers have a distaste for Taco Bell or McDonald's selling street food, they can voluntarily make their displeasure known by avoiding these vendors. If a vendor from another county finds it profitable to drive for miles and set up a food truck every day in downtown Asheville for happy customers, then who is the government functionary to tell them they are not welcome? And by what right do regulators limit my food choices? If I want to eat a falafel downtown, who, at present, stands in my way? Local government.

One rule states that the permitting of a vending site on private property should “take into consideration the availability of sufficient parking for the primary site user.” Once again, how is this the business of government? If the property owner has determined that a food truck operation does not substantially hamper the ability of his primary customers from accessing his business, that should be the property owner's decision.

There is another rule that would mandate food truck vendors only offer recyclable containers, cups and utensils to customers. While this may be a laudable gesture, there is no justification for forcing vendors to make it. Besides increasing the cost of doing business for the vendor and the customer, it is morally repugnant for government to impose a set of values as a requirement for operating. Again, propriety of this measure is best left to the consuming public. If customers value recyclable containers, then they can vote with their dollars. They can also use persuasion to convince others to their point of view rather than use the coercive force of government to do so. If they cannot persuade, then perhaps they have a weak case to make.

Another standard being established is called “no roaming.” Again, I find no legitimate reason for this standard. When asked at a recent presentation on this issue, Warren Hansen, the Street Food Czar of Madison, Wisconsin, stated that disallowing roaming makes it easier for inspectors to find the vendors, it establishes a “sense of order” and helps repeat customers find vendors in fixed locations. On the first point, why can't they pick up a phone? Inspectors should have a list of vendors and their contact numbers. Or why not a GPS tracking system? Inspectors could easily locate all vendors on their iPhones and map an inspection route to satisfy their convenience. Why burden the vendor to satisfy the inspector? On the second point, it is not the government's job to create senses of order. And by whose standard? This is never explained. Third, if a vendor finds it important to stay in one place for the benefit of repeat customers, then they will choose this option. If it is more profitable to roam, then they should be free to do so to their own maximum benefit.

The worst provision in the draft regulation is the explicit requirement that vendors purchase a specific type of technology to mitigate the noise that now comes from conventional gas-powered electric generators. The regulation, as of this writing, would only permit either plug-in power or generators that employ inverter technology. It's true that typical generators make lots of noise. And it's true that inverter generators are whisper-quiet. Thank goodness for innovative technology. But demanding that vendors make use of a prescribed technology to achieve the mitigation of a nuisance is wholly unreasonable. We don't know what technologies will be available next year or what creative solutions vendors can imagine. Inverter generators are so expensive that requiring them on mobile food trucks would be effectively prohibitive. Any regulations allowing food trucks downtown would be completely subverted under this provision, which would price poor entrepreneurs out of the market. For some, a mobile food truck operation is the entry point into the food delivery marketplace. Instead, the regulation should establish a reasonable set of noise standards and let the vendors determine the method of compliance. Some may buy the expensive equipment as the best solution. Others may opt, for example, to build a cheap wooden container lined with sound reduction materials in order to come into compliance with the spirit of the law; which is to mitigate noise.

The bottom line for me is this: When I see mobile food vendors, I see poor people making a living and pleasing the community. I see creative entrepreneurs risking their own capital and precious time fulfilling their dreams in a welcoming marketplace. Reasonable regulation geared toward protecting the public health and safety is the proper purview of local government. But regulation that is redundant, controlling, prescriptive and prohibitive does not serve the interest of protecting rights, but instead serves to violate them. I hope that the city can develop a set of regulations governing mobile food trucks downtown that consciously errs, if at all, on the side of economic freedom, job creation and the pursuit of happiness for all citizens.

The Mobile Food Vending Subcommittee will now submit its findings to the Downtown Commission, who will then submit their recommendations to the city for reviews, a public hearing and, finally, a vote by city council to become law. I wish the City of Asheville godspeed in lifting the ban on mobile food trucks in downtown Asheville.

**UPDATE**

The Mobile Food Truck Subcommittee has sent a revised version of their recommended regulatory language to the Downtown Commission and the commission has voted to approve with modification. The vote was 7-2. The modifications include extending hours of operation to 3:00am, striking the restaurant proximity clause, striking the 50-gallon trash can mandate, striking the inverter technology generator mandate and striking the recyclable container mandate.

Radio: Food Trucks

Tim Peck calls in to Local Edge Radio on 880AM to discuss allowing mobile food vendors in downtown Asheville. 6/21/2011, hour 2.

Coexist?

Food Trucks = Competition

Suzy Salwa Phillips, Gypsy Queen Cuisine Lebanese Street Food Truck

Feels food trucks would be harmful to Asheville
Anne Fitzgerald Smith | Asheville Citizen-Times | June 8, 2011

The Asheville Independent Restaurant Association board of directors, in an AC-T article, said: ‎"Food trucks will threaten the livelihood of some of our already existing 200-plus restaurants"

There you have it. A full admission that the ban of food trucks is solely motivated by an interest in eliminating competition in local food delivery services. The writer seems to ignore that fact that restrictions on food trucks threaten the livelihood of the dozens of entrepreneurs who add value to our community. Who the hell is this writer to tell me what food choices I can have in my own city?

1. Food truck entrepreneurs have a right to earn a living in any way that does not harm others.

2. Asheville consumers have a right to make dining choices without the interference of special interests or government restrictions.

3. Ensuring safety is a proper function of government; however, political interference in the marketplace violates individual rights and mostly hurts poor people.

---

RELATED

On a roll
by Mackensy Lunsford in Vol. 17 / Iss. 14 on 10/26/2010
Food trucks want a piece of the Asheville restaurant pie

Small Bites
by Anonymous in Vol. 17 / Iss. 43 on 05/17/2011
Food trucks abound — and vegetarian food does too

Lebanese Street Food Truck
Suzy Salwa Phillips | Kickstarter.com
My vision is quite simple, I want to serve my Asheville community and folks that come and visit from out of town a true authentic experience of Lebanese street food served from a vintage step up van that would run on spent peanut oil from its fryers and powered by solar panels and biodiesel fuel.

The Cancer of Regulation
John Stossel | 6/8/2011
Politicians care about poor people. I know because they always say that. But then why do they make it so hard for the poor to escape poverty?

Scrutiny Who?

barbieangell: how about some political news with a bit of an edge?....open minds are welcome at http://scrutinyhooligans.us/

Scrutiny Hooligan: Seventh Blogiversary

Happy 7th, Hooligans. I’m grateful that we’ve all come so far together.

MY COMMENT: It's my third anniversary being banned from this website. I'm logged in at Pack's Tavern to make this comment. It will be deleted within the hour.

30 Minutes later:

---

RELATED

Scrutiny Hooligans
Tim Peck | September 25, 2010
I am currently banned from the Scrutiny Hooligans community weblog, created by now-council member Gordon Smith, on the pretext that I violated commenting rules. That ban has been in place for more than a year.