Oh, those crazy Libertarians

Jason Sandford

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

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Ashvegas’ local Libertarian Party sent out one of those questionnaires to Ashvegas City Council candidates and had the folks seeking office send back their answers. Usually, no big deal. Only these questions were stupid and the cowardly politicians, not wanting to upset any constituency, no matter how marginal, answered.

(Actually, council candidate Keith Thomson earns some brownie points for simply not answering several of the questions. Bryan Freeborn should have done the same. Instead, he haughtily answered several questions by referring readers to his Web site. Hey Bryan, is that what you’re going to do if you’re sitting up on council? “I’m sorry, please visit my web site for my position on this issue.” Give me a break. Either you answer the effing question or you don’t.)

Go to www.LPbuncombe.org to read it all.

So, let us take joy in some of their answers…

Dumb Libertarian Question #1
AVL has a lot of “pot heads” – is this really a problem? (Please explain your answer.)

Joe Dunn
Yes, if they invade the privacy of folks who do not smoke pot!!!! It is a problem if they drive vehicles while under the influence. My safety and that of others makes smoking pot a problem. What a person does to their body is up to them, but do not try to make me understand nor accept this habit if it can have a negative effect on me, my family or my community!

My response: Easy there, “doctor.”

Holly Jones
I do not lay awake at night worrying about it.

Me: Give him hell, Holly. Is it “lay” or “lie”?

Carl Mumpower
For them – yes – for us, probably not. It is hard drugs that make people predatory and that is where we should concentrate our resources and attentions.

Bryan Freeborn
This is a label often misused. When the term is used to refer to residents simply by the way they look or dress, I think it’s misleading, divisive and unproductive. Many of our residents have a real problem with drugs… blah, blah, blah

Me: Bryan, forget trying to be politically correct and just smoke ’em if you got ’em, ok brutha?

Dumb Libertarian Question #2
How would you modify the UDO to better focus on issues of necessity, vs. extraneous nitpicking resulting in less affordable housing?

Holly Jones
You need to be more specific.

Me: Give ’em hell, girl.

Carl Mumpower
The UDO is much like Frankenstein’s experiments with his monster – the more he tried to improve on Mother Nature the more he realized his limitations. I have more faith in market forces and limited regulation than big government and heavy regulation. Simplify the UDO and get out of the way.

Me: Oooh, nice Halloween reference

-On a question about taxes and whether they should be raised or cut and what would you cut or where would you spend the extra money, here are a couple of confounding answers:

Chris Pelly
I would raise the hotel room tax by 1 to 2 percent to help fund renovations of the civic center.

Me: Uh, Chris, if you get on council, you can’t just raise the room tax and decide where to spend it. By state law, that money is already designated. Talk to me when you make it to Raleigh.

Keith Thomson
We must plan to lower the tax rate after revaluation to be as revenue neutral to property owners as possible. Our tax base has grown in recent years to fund services for a growing population. 2 acres of downtown real estate now pays property tax equal to 68 acres at the Asheville Mall.

Me: Huh?

Robin Cape
I have not torn the budget apart to really dig into this question but know that I am interested in growing the tax base from appropriate…

Me: Hate to interrupt, Robin, but just tell me you don’t know and you’ll get back to me.