Nathan on:

Taxes

Jobs

Economic Development

Education

Healthcare

Public Safety

The Environment

Affordable Housing

Private Property Rights

District Elections

Parkside

Land Use

Buncombe County government should be for the people, by the people, and, yes, open to the people. As a citizen and taxpayer, you should be aware of all aspects of county government --- and no official action should ever take place behind closed doors.

The county has made several positive steps in this direction. The county's website is one of the best around, and our county staff does an outstanding job of adding new content every day. The Commissioners' agenda is posted on the Wednesday before the next Tuesday's meeting --- and in most cases, our citizens have the same information as the commissioners --- although I do feel it would serve our people better if there were even more in-depth explanation of agenda items with some sort of attached background and context.

The county has expanded programming on the Buncombe County Government Access Channel (Charter Cable Channel 2), and I firmly believe that even more county meetings should be televised so that our citizens can see their county government at work. Our television staff has done an exceptional job with very limited resources. They are to be congratulated.

There are several areas where the county can make significant progress, however. The entire meeting of the Board of Commissioners should be televised, including all periods of public comment.

While the comments directed to us by our citizens may sometimes seem a bit harsh, I feel that it's part of our job description to take public criticism --- and what better forum than at the County Commission meeting during the public comment period? Unfortunately, some of my colleagues, including my opponent, disagree. They don't want your public comments aired on TV. Maybe they're afraid to take the heat, I don't know.

It' s the Chairman’s job to make sure that all comments meet certain standards of decorum, and during my time as Chair, I have tried to be fair to both the commissioners and to the public. There have been occasions when members of the public attack me and I've always tried my best to take it. It's never much fun to be attacked in this way, but it should be your right as a citizen. If factually false statements are directed at any of us, I correct those statements as best I can. Each commissioner has that right too.

In the past, the Board of Commissioners held community meetings in all areas of the county, and I firmly believe the Board should hold a community meeting in each of our seven school districts at least every two years. These meetings should be structured so that members of the community can address the entire Board at the same time, and all of the meetings should be well-publicized (and perhaps televised) to encourage attendance, participation, and more open government.

I also support moving the times of the Board of Commissioners meeting to 6 pm on a Monday or Thursday. This would avoid the conflict with the Asheville City Council, and it would give more of our citizens who work during the day the opportunity to attend. Most of us can't get off from work to attend a 4 pm meeting during the weekday.