Updated: Newman announce run for Buncombe County Board of Commissioners chairmanship

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Buncombe County Commissioner Brownie Newman, left, chats with Board of Commissioners Chairman David Gantt last week following Gantt's press conference to announced he would fill out his term but not seek re-election next year.

Buncombe County Commissioner Brownie Newman, left, chats with Board of Commissioners Chairman David Gantt last week following Gantt’s press conference to announced he would fill out his term but not seek re-election next year.

Update Aug. 10: Brownie Newman, a sitting Buncombe County commissioner, has announced that he’s running for chairman of the county board. Here’s his announcement via Facebook:

Two weeks ago our County Commission Chairman David Gantt announced he would not seek re-election next year. David is serving his 5th term on the Commission and has done a great job. I want to let my friends and community know that I plan to run for County Commission Chair in 2016.
I truly enjoy serving on the Commission and have found it to be a place where we can make a difference. During the time I have served, we have made major new investments to rebuild our public schools. We are creating a Family Justice Center to confront domestic violence.
We have committed to reduce the County’s carbon footprint and are taking immediate steps to move down that path. We re-wrote our personnel policies to assure all our public employees are treated equally, regardless of who they love. Our land conservation initiative has permanently protected thousands of acres of family farmland and natural areas.
I want to build on these successful initiatives and take on the big challenges facing our community. Are people who work full-time (along with senior citizens and people with disabilities) going to be able to afford to live here? Are we going to protect the natural beauty and ecological integrity of our mountains even as the community grows? These are the questions that motivate me.
As a person who grew up on a farm here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I am excited about the opportunity to represent all of Buncombe County.
I want to thank my friends and family for their encouragement and support. I am thankful for Ellen Frost, Holly Jones, Esther Elizabeth Manheimer and the other local elected officials who support my candidacy for Chair.
I also want to ask for your support. I need your help in both the campaign that is to come and in the doing of this work. The myriad issues that come before us every month is daunting and no one can be an expert on all of them. If you have ideas or concerns about Buncombe’s future, let’s talk. You can message me, email me or go to my website brownienewman.com. Or just give me a call.

Original post July 27: Buncombe County Commissioner Brownie Newman is gearing up to run for chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners in 2016. That’s the word on the street in the wake of last week’s announcement by sitting Chairman David Gantt, who announced last week that he would fill out his current term but not seek re-election next year. Gantt was elected to the county board in 1996, and to the chairman’s seat in 2008.

Newman attended Gantt’s goodbye, and after the ceremony I asked him if he was planning to run for the chairman’s seat. He declined to answer, saying that the day was for the spotlight to be centered on Gantt. Newman said he’d be happy to talk to me in coming weeks about his plans. (Both are Democrats on a seven-member board with a Democratic majority.)

A couple of weeks ago, Newman was spotted in West Asheville having lunch with Randy Flack, the former field representative for U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler. Flack ran for Buncombe County commissioner, District 3, in 2012 and didn’t make it out of the primary. (Commissioner Republican Joe Belcher holds that seat now and will likely face a vigorous challenge if he decides to run again.) That 2012 election was also Newman’s first run for the county board, and he won a spot to represent District 1.

If Newman wins, it’s my understanding that there would be a special election of Democratic Party officials and precinct chairs to pick a successor. Again, the scenario I’ve heard is that current Asheville City Councilman Gordon Smith would be considered a prime candidate for that District 1 county commissioner seat.

Before being elected a county commissioner, Newman won a seat on Asheville City Council in 2003 and again in 2007. (Council picked him to serve as vice mayor in 2009.)

Newman is an environmentalist by vocation. He’s a former executive director of the Western North Carolina Alliance environmental nonprofit, now known as MountainTrue. In 2008, he helped establish FLS Energy, a local solar energy company.

Got an early line for who else is preparing a run for commissioner? Let me know!

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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19 Comments

  1. Tim Peck August 13, 2015

    Good Moulton cartoon. LOL.
    on.fb.me/1DPy7Sh

    Reply
  2. Unaffiliated Voter July 30, 2015

    Gordondumb Smith is not to be considered for anything else as he has flunked his council position with ZERO representation for West Asheville !!!

    Reply
  3. Unaffiliated Voter July 30, 2015

    what is brownie’s day job? fleecing NC taxpayers for solar subsidies so he can live in grand style…

    Reply
  4. Former Reporter at WYPN July 28, 2015

    What is Brownie’s current day job?

    Reply
    1. Barry Summers July 29, 2015

      “Vice-President of Business Development, FLS Energy”.

      Reply
      1. Tim Peck July 30, 2015

        “What is Brownie’s current day job?”

        Self-Dealing Grafter.

        Reply
    2. Unaffiliated Voter July 30, 2015

      fleecing citizens for solar subsidies across the state…

      Reply
      1. smytty August 11, 2015

        Yeah, how dare he put his money where his mouth is an work hard at developing the same alternative energy sources that he advocates for?

        Reply
        1. Tim Peck August 12, 2015

          Yeah. And use government force and taxpayer money to steer business to his friends and industry interests for personal gain. Yeah.

          Reply
          1. Barry Summers August 12, 2015

            I thought you liked ALEC.

            Reply
          2. Tim Peck August 12, 2015

            “I thought you liked ALEC.”

            THUD. Not even a good deflection.

            Do you study at being a dunce or does it come naturally?

            Reply
          3. Barry Summers August 12, 2015

            Straight to ad hominem. I accept your surrender.

            Reply
          4. smytty August 12, 2015

            The subsidies were there long before FLS.

            Reply
  5. NFB July 28, 2015

    “For that, you can thank Little Timmy Moffitt and his former colleagues in the NCGA. Tinkering with the electoral system was meant to put the GOP in charge of the county, but it hasn’t worked like that so far. It does, however, lock District 1 to the same electorate and electoral politics as City Council.”

    Agreed. Completely. Moffit’s power grab has opened up a whole other can of worms. It seems pretty unlikely that the Repugs will be able to win control in 2016 either. To do that they need to hold the Belcher seat (very doable), the Fryar seat (doable, but much dicier) while winner either the chair (pretty uphill) or the Jones seat and that is such a safe D seat that whoever the nominee is can probably even survive the “dead girl/live boy” syndrome.

    “I don’t see why serving on City Council rules someone out from becoming a commissioner afterwards, but I do think certain council members are a better fit for county government than others.”

    I don’t think it should rule somebody out either, I just don’t want to limit choices to past or current Council members, particularly in a scenario such as the one described here which just them means there is another appointment to be made to fill the seat vacated by appointing a Council member to Commission.

    Reply
  6. NFB July 28, 2015

    Meh.

    How about this? Holly Jones runs for chair, and since her seat is up this year we won’t have to go through all this rigor morale of appointing people to fill vacant seats created by appointing people to fill vacant seats?

    If Newman become chair before his term is up let’s cast the net to appoint his replacement in such a way that doesn’t simply make Asheville City Council a farm team for County Commission District 1 seats. Given that both of those seats are currently held by former City Council members, and this suggested scenario would appoint a current one that’s the precedent that seems to be being set.

    Reply
    1. luther blissett July 28, 2015

      “in such a way that doesn’t simply make Asheville City Council a farm team for County Commission District 1 seats”

      For that, you can thank Little Timmy Moffitt and his former colleagues in the NCGA. Tinkering with the electoral system was meant to put the GOP in charge of the county, but it hasn’t worked like that so far. It does, however, lock District 1 to the same electorate and electoral politics as City Council.

      I don’t see why serving on City Council rules someone out from becoming a commissioner afterwards, but I do think certain council members are a better fit for county government than others.

      Reply
      1. Tim Peck July 29, 2015

        “Tinkering with the electoral system was meant to put the GOP in charge of the county”

        I think the District Elections initiative was meant to bring more democracy to county elections. It certainly has succeeded in that. And it has been demanded from county residents for a long time (goo.gl/XfFfWY). The Democrat-majority county board at the time simply would not do it. I can’t think why they were opposed for so long. But, thankfully, it got done despite their resistance.
        …………………….

        Reply
        1. luther blissett July 29, 2015

          “I think the District Elections initiative was meant to bring more democracy to county elections. It certainly has succeeded in that.”

          Well, we already know how Mouthpiece defines “democracy” based on his past association with Hilariously Defeated Ex-Representative Moffitt.

          It was pretty clear during the District 2 recount saga that BCGOP considered some voters less legitimate than others. It was also clear from District 3 last year that district-based primaries give disproportionate power to relatively small groups of activists, while District 1 is likely to be treated by the county Dems as an extension of City Council.

          What it’s actually done is entrenched the notion that Asheville and the rest of the county have clearly-defined and opposing interests that need to be pitted against each other, which was what guided Moffy’s Raleigh-based tinkering. Consider the way in which he spat out his pacifier over the Culture and Recreation Authority.

          To the credit of all the commissioners, they’ve focused on collaboration over conflict so far: it always helps to have a common opponent. Question is how long that lasts.

          Reply
          1. Tim Peck July 31, 2015

            They seem pretty conflicted over simple things like government transparency. It’s ashamed that the Democrats can’t play nice. No. It’s sickening.

            Resolution Establishing a Policy for the Recording of Closed Session Minutes
            goo.gl/Q2YMe7

            Video:
            goo.gl/ui5381

            Reply

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