Keep Asheville Real!

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Keep Asheville Real!
August 2009
Cecil Bothwell for City Council

5,000 and counting: We need your help!
Help wanted.
We're canvassing every Saturday and we've tagged more than 5,000 homes in all parts of the city. But there's more to do. If you'd like to walk in your neighborhood for a couple of hours any day of the week, any time of day, let us know. (Just hit "reply.")

Wear your campaign tee shirt! (Active volunteers and those who have donated $20 or more qualify for free tees! Active volunteers are people who show up!) (Pictured is campaign communications coordinator Bruce Mulkey, photo by Edwin Shelton.)

More help wanted.

• August 14: volunteer opportunities at the Mid-Summer Soiree at the YMI Cultural Center. Music, food, auction, fun.
• August 21-23: Tabling at the Southern Energy and Envrionment Expo - free admission for tablers to the biggest environmental expo in the Southeast - At the Ag Center near the Airport. Sign up for a short shift!
• August 28-29: Tabling at Goombay, downtown in the Eagle/Market Street district. Sign up for a short shift!
• September 5: Solar-powered Jam and picnic at Carrier Park, on the river. Music by Bill Melanson, John Swann, Roberto Hess, more TBA. Solar power from Sundance Power Systems. We'll need some help with set-up and food.

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A rising tide of support
Why Vote for Cecil?

• Endorsed by former County Commissioner and 2004 Congressional candidate Patsy Keever; Buncombe Democratic Party African-American Caucus Chair Isaac Coleman; former Mayor Leni Sitnick; NC NAMI President Jim Pitts; current and recent WNC ACLU presidents Alex Cury, Bruce Elmore, and Karen VanEman; Tyrone Greenlee, Director of Christians for a United Community; Bob Smith, Director of Asheville/Buncombe Community Relations Council; physician and radio host Errington Thompson; Blue Spiral 1 owner John Cram; Dan Zorn of Families Together; the Wild Gardener, Peter Loewer; Southern Energy and Environment Expo founder Ned Doyle; permaculturist Jim Barton of Smithcreek Mill School; 2002 U.S. Senate candidate Cynthia Brown (pictured) and the Asheville Chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Here's a chronological account of his past community service.
Campaign finance - can you help?
I'm committed to letting the people of Asheville decide if they prefer voter-owned elections. Public financing has been shown to save taxpayers money because special interests no longer fund campaigns ... only to collect later through special favors and contracts. Chapel Hill will run the first city voter-owned election this year and I'll be watching. I think we should take the big bucks out of our municipal races.

But ...
For now a campaign requires fundraising. I can sure use your help. In 2007 one candidate spent more than $60,000 - about half of which came from out-of-state developers. A grassroots campaign doesn't cost as much, but there's no way around it: even this newsletter requires funding. Over 230 people have donated to date. Can you help? Click on this link to learn how you can kick-in.

The Basilica of St. Lawrence
Opposition to the hotel proposed for the site in front of the Basilica has focused on the view of that grand church and how it might be affected by placement of a massive structure in its face. But I've discovered what I consider to be an equally iconic view that will likely be demolished by such a building. From Haywood Street, near the intersection with O'Henry Street, check out the view of Asheville's gorgeous Art Deco City Hall. It's framed by the Vanderbilt Apartments on the left and the BB&T on the right, and is one of the few perspectives on City Hall with a green mountain backdrop. We used to have some of that from Pack Place before the county decided to place its ugly jail high-rise to block that view.

Whether or not you find that view of City Hall to be striking, there's another question raised here. The city government can shape development on private land to a degree and those are the kind of rules we have wrestled with in formation of the Downtown Master Plan and the Unified Development Ordinance. The city is clearly not in the business of dictating whether construction should occur on private property, nor should it be.

But at the same time, it seems very unwise for the city to be in a rush to cash in the property owned by the collective citizenry of Asheville. We bought it. And if we sell it, control of its use passes out of our hands. Once that happens it's too late to say "oops!" Whether one considers it a change for the better or worse, structures on city land are not automatically and always better than creation of a park. And while some think we should cash in the property as quickly as possible to "increase the tax base," this ignores the other side of the coin: the property will be worth more in the future. And "increasing the tax base" is a quixotic adventure that has no provable benefit to current residents.

We have increased the tax base like crazy for almost two decades, and I would defy anyone to say that life in Asheville is demonstrably better for most citizens. (Good, yes. But life was good here in 1998, too, and good in 1980. I was here. I remember. Fewer restaurants and fewer gangs. Less bustle on the streets and less traffic. Fewer downtown condos and more trees. There are losses and wins.)

To read the rest of this post, click here.
More events!

Upcoming events including the end-of-summer, solar-powered concert at picnic on Labor Day weekend are continually updated on our campaign Web site. Remember, the primary is coming up on October 6, and we'll all need to vote for THREE real progressives this year.
Events

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Join the FB campaign page as a fan and get campaign updates on your FB page! The FB Campaign Page
Keep it Real at the Wedge
Every first and third Wednesday, join Cecil for City Council campaign supporters at the Wedge Brewery in the River District. 7-9 p.m. Next one coming up on August 5!
The Wedge

[G_j]

1. Go Cecil!

You have done so much for Asheville, we need you on CC.