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Politics

TIMELINE: Meadows and West

Henderson County Politics

LIGHTNING EDITORIAL: GOP aims to win control of School Board

Rick Wood made a small bit of history a couple of weeks ago when he switched from the Democratic Party to unaffiliated.   Read Story »

Henderson County Politics

Democrats add School Board candidates to forum

Organizers of a Democratic Party forum have added Henderson County School Board candidates to the event in reaction to a Republican Party forum that snubbed half the field.   Read Story »

Henderson County Politics

GOP forum signals bid to control School Board

Voters get the opportunity this week to hear how a Henderson County School Board under Republican control would run the schools.   Read Story »

Henderson County Politics

Split board again declines to commit to tax rollback

A divided Board of Commissioners on Monday again declined to make a formal commitment to roll back property taxes if Henderson County voters OK a local-option sales tax, defeating by the same 3-2 margin the effort by commissioners Bill Lapsley and Grady Hawkins to pass a binding pledge.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Politics

Candidate may become Sen. Edwards before Nov. 8

Local Republicans are expected to take up the job of appointing a replacement for state Sen. Tom Apodaca now that the Republican National Convention has ended. Under state law, Gov. Pat McCrory will appoint a replacement recommended by a district committee made up of Republican leaders from the 48th Senate District, which covers three counties.“That’s what complicates things,” said Henderson County Republican Party chair Glen Englram. “If this were a seat exclusive to one county, it would be a lot simpler.”The 48th Senate District is made up of Henderson and Transylvania counties and southern Buncombe. The state statute governing the appointment of a person to a vacant seat requires that the formation of a district executive committee made up of members appointed by Republican executive committees from the three counties.In the case of Buncombe County, only executive committee members who live in the 48th district are eligible to serve on the district committee. District committee members have one vote for each 300 persons in their county that are in the 48th District. Because the Senate district has 191,000 residents, Henderson County, with a population of 110,000 people, would control a majority of the votes on the district committee.The makeup of the committee is a bigger mystery than its outcome.“I’m not sure it requires a lot of thought,” Englram said of the nominating committee’s work. “Chuck Edwards is our candidate on the ballot in November. I cannot imagine a scenario where someone else would be put ahead of him. He’s the guy we want to win in November. We agree with Tom and Tom agrees that voters expressed their opinion in March” on the Republican nominee. In an interview, Edwards declined to endorse himself for the job, urging voters to take time to thank Sen. Apodaca for his work in the Legislature on behalf of Hendersonville and the 48th District. He said he would want to speak with his family, campaign team and party officials before committing to the appointment.Edwards, a Hendersonville businessman, and school principal Norm Bossert, the Democratic nominee, face off in on Nov. 8.Henderson County clearly will miss Apodaca’s power, Englram said.“One thing I’ve found interesting is that people here, regardless of party, are really at least thankful that we’ve had someone like Tom who received such influence in Raleigh, given that he comes from little old Hendersonville.”   Read Story »

Henderson County Politics

Board balks at property tax rollback

When they passed a 5-cent tax increase in June, Henderson County commissioners said they’d be willing to look at a rollback of the tax rate if county voters approve a quarter-cent sales tax in November.Given the chance to make that a commitment in writing, three commissioners said no — at least for now.Despite the strong urging from commissioners Bill Lapsley and Grady Hawkins — the same two no votes on the 2016-17 budget and 5-cent tax hike that funded it — commissioners Tommy Thompson, Charlie Messer and Michael Edney voted no. The three opponents of Lapsley’s motion said they wanted to take a closer look at Lapsley’s proposed 3-cent rollback and vote on it later.Lapsley produced an accounting that showed that the county’s new budget had added $2.5 million in new spending while passing a tax increase that would raise a projected $6.6 million. That leaves a $4 million surplus that he said should go back to taxpayers. The quarter-cent sales tax would raise an estimated $2.5 million.“It will be extremely difficult if not impossible for this board or the staff to go before the public and ask them to approve a sales tax of $2.5 million to add on top of more than $4 this county is going to receive because of property tax,” Lapsley said. “We would have over $6 million of new revenue that is not earmarked and in my view is not needed. … “I think the tax increase this board voted for is raising substantially more funds than those items (cost).”His motion would have committed the board to reduce the property tax rate by at least 3 cents next spring when it adopts the 2017-18 budget.“I totally agree we need to lower it if we possibly can but I also agree we need to do more study before we totally commit ourselves,” Edney said.County Manager Steve Wyatt pointed out that Lapsley’s chart omitted $1.28 million worth of annual debt service for a new law enforcement training center that could cost up to $15 million.“That’s the concern I would have because the discussion was to head in that direction and the planning is under way for that,” Wyatt said.Lapsley responded that even if $1.3 million is subtracted from the surplus, that leaves plenty of cash to cover obligations.“Unless we tell the voters a specific number then the voters I believe will perceive it’s a false number,” he said. “They’re going to think we’re going to lower it by one tenth of one percent. I just think if we have any hope of that sales tax being approved, we’ve got to put a number in there.”   Read Story »

Henderson County Politics

Commissioners urge ban on refugees

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday approved a resolution urging a ban on refugee resettlement in the county a couple of hours after speakers condemned the resettlement program as a threat to security.   Read Story »

Henderson County Politics

In exit interview, Apodaca recounts wins, losses

State Sen. Tom Apodaca says he had never before seen a controversy the magnitude of the Duke Energy plan last summer to run high-tension lines through Henderson County as part of its Lake Julian power plant upgrade. The ultimate outcome — Duke's decision to abandon the connection from Asheville to the South Carolina Upstate — was a victory for Apodaca, a strong advocate of the natural conversion who became an opponent of the widely panned transmission lines. That was one of the political challenges Apodaca described on Friday, the day he resigned from the Senate. Having reached the highest pinnacles of legislative power in the state, the seven-term veteran said that after the General Assembly adjourned for the year last week, he had no more to do. The executive committees of Henderson, Buncombe and Transylvania counties are expected to appoint his replacement, most likely Chuck Edwards, the Republican nominee for the seat. Edwards, a Hendersonville businessman, and school principal Norm Bossert, the Democratic nominee, face off in on Nov. 8. "I can't say exactly what I'm going to do yet but I still have time to look at," Apodaca said in an interview from his Lake Keowee, where he was taking time off with his wife, Lisa, and looking ahead for the first time 14 years with no legislative session on the horizon. As a former legislator, he's subject to a six-month quarantine during which he is not permitted to lobby the Legislature, which is one of the options he's considering. "I have had a couple of job offers already," he said. Some are in government relations and others "not even quasi-government relations but that have had dealings with the Legislature and have an interest in my working for them. It's nice to have options." Apodaca endorsed Edwards as his replacement. "I think it will be good for Chuck Edwards. I hope the executive committee appoints him," he said. "He'll be able to get to know the Legislature. The way he studies and the questions he asks he'll keep the staff very busy." Among the top achievements he cites is his work to create a medical campus at MAHEC (Mountain Area Health Education Center) in Asheville, the science building at his alma mater, Western Carolina University, coal ash legislation after a major ash spill fouled the Dan River in the home district of the Senate's leader and efforts that led to Duke Energy Co. dropping a high-powered transmission line through Henderson County. "That turned out to be the most controversial thing that I had ever seen during my term," he said, "followed closely by the building heights" in Hendersonville, when he pushed through a local bill requiring a binding referendum on high-rises in downtown Hendersonville. Other achievements he cited were his role in recruiting Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and the behind-the-scenes efforts that resulted in the Pardee Hospital merger with UNC Health Care, repelling an effort by two county commissioners to put the county-owned hospital on the auction block. His wife, Lisa, hollers out that he's forgetting perhaps his proudest moment — guiding a bill to passage that was named the Raleigh Apodaca Service Dog bill, in honoring of his bulldog, Raleigh, who died last year. Married to a teacher, Apodaca aspired to make a fundamental change that he thinks would significantly improve the K-12 education system. "I wanted to do something about our testing system in schools," he said, "and I don't know that I made much of a difference." He favors a national testing standard that tests "how the kids are doing compared to other kids in the U.S. The education bureacracy is a tough bureacracy to pierce." One his bigger regret was actually his last stand, when House members from Asheville attacked Apodaca's motives and methods in pushing a bill that require district representation in the city dominated by liberal Democrats. Twenty-two Republicans joined House Democrats in defeating Apodaca's bill. "If you go down the list every one of them had a bone to pick because I said no to them on legislation" as the traffic cop for the flow of bills in the Senate, he said. "I don't necessarily think it's totally dead," he said of the district elections bill. And he clearly retains animosity for the legislators who helped sink it. "Asheville has the weakest delegation in the state for a metropolitan area." A back bencher with no experience in elective office, Apodaca nevertheless rose quickly in the Republican caucus. Soon after his election in 2002, he joined the Republican leadership team that worked on raising money and recruiting Republican candidates around the state. In November 2010, voters in North Carolina and around the country pushed a huge tidal wave that gave the GOP supermajority control of both houses of the General Assembly. Two years later, the Republicans took control of both chambers plus the governor's mansion for the first time in 150 years. "Globally, what we've done has been amazing," Apodaca said, giving Republican fiscal policies credit for a half a billion dollar surplus the state just announced this week and for tax cut and jobs growth. "It's a lot better than the way I found it, let's put it that way."     Read Story »

Henderson County Politics

Bulldog's bulldog honored with service animal law

Raleigh, the English bulldog who sat loyally at the feet of Tom Apodaca as he rose from backbench obscurity to the second highest ranking post in the North Carolina Senate, is now memorialized in the state’s lawbooks.   Read Story »

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