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WLOS Candidate Questionnaire

  • Why are you running for office? 
    • I’m a piano teacher, service-industry worker, and community advocate who walks, bikes, and rides the bus here in Asheville. So many of us in Asheville are struggling to make ends meet on stagnant wages and fixed incomes as the cost of living rises, while the tourism industry strains our natural resources and infrastructure. We need a just transition through the emergencies of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, systemic racism, and economic instability. The work we must do to ensure a resilient community includes urgent action to take better care of the planet and each other.
  • What are your goals if you win the election?
    • As a community, we are woven together, and need each other for our shared success. The role of City Council is to guide and approve our budget, planning, and policies. I’m committed to ensuring working class, poor, and compassionate people of all ages and lived experience have a representative to ensure equity in the process. 
  • Why should voters choose you over your opponent?
    • We don’t yet have enough people on Council who will prioritize the people and planet over the profits of developers and the tourism industry, and after following 6 budget cycles, I am certain we need more transparency and a deeper conversation to ensure our tax dollars are funding our community values.
    • I have attended all but 3 meetings of Council since December of 2014, providing public input and reporting back to the community through JMpro, AVL Report Back, and originally through 103.3 AshevilleFM, where I served as the volunteer Station Manager, covered City Council meetings for the AFM News Hour, and oversaw daily operations of more than 100 volunteers. I currently serve on Asheville’s Multimodal Transportation Commission and Transit Committee; and have attended over a dozen board and commission meetings for more than 5 years.
  • What will your priorities be when you take office?
    • The people of Asheville need a cause for hope and celebration, and we have what we need to ensure: 
      • Climate justice including overhaul of our Unified Development Ordinance; statewide coalition for community renewable energy legislation; addressing education equity; securing our food & water systems; reimagining public safety; supporting local, living-wage jobs; partnering for resilient neighborhoods; and restoring our tree canopy.
      • Deeply-affordable housing through cooperative & creative solutions.
      • A fare-free, regional transit network because transit is at the intersection of equitable access, economic mobility, and environmental sustainability. As part of multimodal infrastructure and safer road designs, we can get more cars off the road while getting people safely to their destination. 
      • A participatory budget process that removes barriers while ensuring equity in decision making around our budget, planning, and policies. This is being done with success in Greensboro and Durham, NC. In Asheville, we need this level of public input in our City budget, the Dogwood Health Trust, and in restructuring the Tourism Development Authority so our hotel occupancy taxes are moved from advertising to infrastructure, healing, and structural change.