Asheville Democracy for America endorses Jones and Bothwell for county commission

Written by: Doug Gibson on Mar 26, 2008 1:30 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

The members of Asheville Democracy for America have voted to endorse Holly Jones and Cecil Bothwell in the race for Buncombe County Commission.

In the end, the two candidates were endorsed in a near-unanimous vote by DFA-Asheville members, far surpassing the 60% threshold the group had set to ensure that they would focus their efforts only on the candidates who had the members' most enthusiastic support.

The vote came after an open process that began in December, when members were polled about how they wanted to go about endorsing candidates. In February, members were solicited for questions to ask candidates. Then in March the candidates' responses to the group's questionnaire were posted on the DFA-Asheville blog, and members got to talk directly to the candidates in a public meeting.

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County Commission Candidate Questionnaire: Holly Jones

Written by: Doug Gibson on Mar 8, 2008 8:06 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

Holly Jones has applied for DFA-Asheville's endorsement for county commission. Here is her response to our questionnaire. (Our questions are in bold.)

For more on Holly's candidacy, visit her website.

1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?

I am proud of the work I have done as a member of the Asheville City Council to establish our community as a leader for clean, renewable energy. Asheville has committed to future city facilities to achieve the LEED Gold Standard, which only a handful of other cities in the country have committed to do. We also committed to reduce our cities global warming emissions by 80%, the level which the best science tells us is necessary to avoid the most harmful impacts of global warming on future generations. We have followed up on these good policies with strong actions, such as converting our city’s transit fleet to clean hybrid technologies and inventorying city facilities for energy efficiency opportunities. I want to see Buncombe County become a leader for clean, renewable energy as well.

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County Commission Candidate Questionnaire: Cecil Bothwell

Written by: Doug Gibson on Mar 8, 2008 2:29 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

Cecil Bothwell has applied for DFA-Asheville's endorsement for county commission. Here is his response to our questionnaire. (Our questions are in bold.)

For more on Cecil's candidacy, visit his website.

1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?

I believe that we should become leaders in planning and implementation of sustainable resource-use practices and a sustainable economy. I use “sustainable” in its ecological sense, the no-net-growth model embodied in a forest. Kerala, India, for example, is on track to becoming a zero-waste state where everything is recycled. There's no reason we can't aim for that in Buncombe.

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County Commission Candidate Questionnaire: Holly Jones

Written by: Doug Gibson on Mar 3, 2008 3:05 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

Holly Jones has applied for DFA-Asheville's endorsement for county commission. Here is her response to our questionnaire. (Our questions are in bold.)

For more on Holly's candidacy, visit her website.

1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?

I am proud of the work I have done as a member of the Asheville City Council to establish our community as a leader for clean, renewable energy. Asheville has committed to future city facilities to achieve the LEED Gold Standard, which only a handful of other cities in the country have committed to do. We also committed to reduce our cities global warming emissions by 80%, the level which the best science tells us is necessary to avoid the most harmful impacts of global warming on future generations. We have followed up on these good policies with strong actions, such as converting our city’s transit fleet to clean hybrid technologies and inventorying city facilities for energy efficiency opportunities. I want to see Buncombe County become a leader for clean, renewable energy as well.

Read more

County Commission Candidate Questionnaire: Cecil Bothwell

Written by: Doug Gibson on Mar 3, 2008 2:53 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

Cecil Bothwell has applied for DFA-Asheville's endorsement for county commission. Here is his response to our questionnaire. (Our questions are in bold.)

For more on Cecil's candidacy, visit his website.

1. In what areas do you think Buncombe could be leading the rest of the country?

I believe that we should become leaders in planning and implementation of sustainable resource-use practices and a sustainable economy. I use “sustainable” in its ecological sense, the no-net-growth model embodied in a forest. Kerala, India, for example, is on track to becoming a zero-waste state where everything is recycled. There's no reason we can't aim for that in Buncombe.

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Endorsement questionnaire - Buncombe County Commission candidates

Written by: Doug Gibson on Feb 19, 2008 12:56 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

Below are eleven questions for candidates running in the Democratic primary for Buncombe County Commission. If you're a candidate who's interested in our endorsement, please e-mail Doug Gibson immediately so we know to expect a filled-out questionnaire from you. (If it's more convenient, you can also download the questionnaire as a Word document, or we can send you a copy via e-mail.)

Completed questionnaires are due by midnight Sunday, March 2. (For a full outline of our endorsement process, go here.)

DFA-Asheville members: feel free to post comments with other questions you'd like candidates to answer!

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DFA Asheville Endorsement Process for Candidates for Buncombe County Commission

Written by: Doug Gibson on Feb 18, 2008 6:28 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

Starting today, Asheville Democracy for America invites candidates running in the Democratic primary for the Buncombe County Commission to apply for our endorsement. Our endorsement process will follow these steps:

1. DFA Asheville will not formally invite anyone to apply for an endorsement. Instead, candidates must seek our endorsement, though individual members may encourage their preferred candidates to apply. Candidates seeking our endorsement should contact Doug Gibson as soon as possible.

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FISA letter to Representative Heath Shuler (NC-11)

Written by: Doug Gibson on Feb 12, 2008 10:08 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

The following is the text of a group letter that DFA-Asheville will fax to Heath Shuler's office on Thursday morning, after our February meeting:

Febuary 13, 2008

Representative Heath Shuler
512 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515

Dear Representative Shuler:

We the undersigned citizens of Buncombe County are writing to ask you to vote against Senate Bill 2248, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007, if the bill reaches the floor of the House. This is a deeply flawed bill that grants the President sweeping new powers and effectively circumvents any judicial oversight of surveillance of phone calls and other electronic communication by U.S. citizens

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Introducing "Souper Tuesday"

Written by: Doug Gibson on Feb 9, 2008 12:40 AM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

DFA-Asheville is teaming up with Drinking LIberally and the WNC Obama group to sponsor "Souper Tuesday," a food drive for MANNA FoodBank. Our goal is, of course, to raise awareness of hunger in western North Carolina and donate to a good cause, but we're also aiming for something else.

North Carolina has one of the last primaries in the nation. This means that progressives and Democrats (and progressive Democrats) in North Carolina have no way of showing their enthusiasm for the two candidates still in the running for the Democratic nomination. This is unfortunate particularly because in states that have held primaries so far, all the signs - turnout totals, exit polling, etc. - point to an enthusiasm on the Democratic side that's off the charts, and which stands in marked contrast to the dismay spreading among Republicans and conservatives.

So we're sponsoring Souper Tuesday as a way to allow Democratic-leaning folks in western North Carolina to show their enthusiasm and excitement along with the rest of the country. From Tuesday, February 12 through Tuesday, March 11, DFA-Asheville will be collecting food at various gatherings - including the WNC Obama Pizza, Beer, Obama meetings, Drinking Liberally, the Buncombe Young Democrats meetup, and the Democratic Party's own vounteer luncheon - as well as our monthly meetings in February and March.

Here's some info provided by MANNA FoodBank about food drives and hunger in WNC.

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Our final endorsement questions

Written by: Doug Gibson on Dec 21, 2007 6:29 PM EST

Linked to groups: Asheville Democracy for America

Please use this thread to comment on why you voted the way you did in our two latest online polls - "Should we require a supermajority?" and "Should we endorse outside of Buncombe?"

And here's a little background on the supermajority question: when the national DFA organization set up its grassroots pulse poll, it made it clear from the outset that a candidate would need 60% of the vote in order to receive an endorsement. One can only speculate, but it's likely they did this for two reasons, first to avoid disappointing members who backed another candidate who lost a close race, and second to avoid any one candidate mobilizing his or her supporters to hijack the poll. As we consider whether or not to require a supermajority, we're thinking very much along those lines as well.

And if you're joining us from Blog for America, please note that we're discussing the policies of Asheville Democracy for America here, not the policies of the national organization. Thanks!