Name: Jasmine Beach-Ferrara
Profession: Founding Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality.
In up to two words, describe your political affiliation: Progressive Democrat.
In one brief sentence, describe yourself and why you’re running: As a mom and a minister, I know Buncombe County families face childhood poverty, struggling schools, and soaring housing costs and that we need new voices in our local politics, a commitment to empathy and finding common ground, and a County Commission that better reflects the diversity of our community.
General questions
These questions are about problems, challenges or topics facing county government and how you would try to deal with them if elected.
1) Should the county work with the city of Asheville to extend transit service into more areas of the county? If so, what should be the priorities for this expansion?
Transit service is essential to connecting working people and families to living wage jobs, affordable housing and vital, public services. Buncombe County must collaborate with the City of Asheville and federal transportation partners to expand transit throughout the county. Extending service won’t be easy or it would already have been accomplished, but providing a way for people to get from home to work and school is important. County leaders can also communicate and be in dialogue with organizations doing the policy work on this issue.
Extending service isn’t just a transportation policy, it’s a jobs issue, it’s an affordable housing issue, and a quality of life issue. Priority should be given to areas of higher residential density along with industrial and commercial hubs throughout the County. However, increased transit service cannot be a justification for pushing affordable housing efforts into the county exclusively and not working on increasing the amount of housing stock that is affordable with city limits and our downtown core. (More on this in response to question #4.)
2) North Carolina has an increasing problem with teacher retention. If elected, what specific steps would you deal with this situation and improve the county’s education system?
Teacher retention matters for a lot of reasons – especially ensuring high quality education for our kids. Teacher retention has become an acute problem in our schools because of funding cuts and a failure to increase teacher pay by the Republican-led legislature. As a result, our children suffer because they do not have experienced educators to learn from and second, many teachers who have invested in undergraduate and advanced degrees are forced to the leave the education field in order to support themselves or their families in other higher paying career paths.
Many counties, including Buncombe, provide supplemental pay to teachers and should continue to allocate that each year. Even if total teacher pays still lags behind other states, this makes a difference. The county has supported a model of teacher-workforce housing and I support this. I also want to explore grants and other funding sources that provide teachers with advanced degrees the ability to offset part of their student loan debt.
According to Census Bureau data from 2013 (the most recent year available) North Carolina ranked 43rd in per student spending on education out of 50 states and the District of Columbia. Four states spend more than double per student than North Carolina.
Simply put, we must invest in our schools. North Carolina’s failure to do so is putting our state at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to recruiting employers that will pay living wage jobs, and most importantly puts our children in public schools at a disadvantage relative to kids growing up in those better funded school systems.
3) The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office began using body cameras for its patrol and corrections officers last year. What policies do you believe should be in place to ensure transparency and protect the rights of the public in this matter?
First, I want to acknowledge something that must be talked about: young men of color face an elevated risk of violent encounters with policy and, far too often, are killed by law enforcement. This is a national crisis and a source of incredible grief and worry — especially for families raising young men of color. Let’s start there — and pause there for a moment — before we dive into a policy debate. I know that our local community leaders and our law enforcement community, under the leadership of Sheriff Van Duncan, are working hard to ensure that we do not face this tragedy here.
Body cameras can protect citizens and law enforcement officers and bring more transparency and accountability. Buncombe County has spent significant resources and time in outfitting officers with these devices. But with any new technology, there are policy considerations to be determined in both ensuring transparency to the public — for example in a situation where a civilian is injured or killed — and protecting the privacy rights of those in the videos – for example, a domestic situation that involves children.
Some possible policies include allowing members of the public involved in particular videos to view the footage and be part of the decision of who else can view it. Also, when a video comes under scrutiny for excessive use of force or for a personnel matter, it may be appropriate to create an impartial citizen board to view the materials and determine whether it is appropriate to make it publicly available, analogous to a grand jury in the court system.
4) As Buncombe County’s seen growth it’s also seen more questions about rules on development and an affordable housing crisis that extends well outside of city limits. What policies should the county pursue on land use and dealing with the housing crunch?
When addressing issues such as affordable housing, we must use a holistic approach to address the needs of working people and families. Too often, building affordable housing means building where land is the cheapest – that also means building away from transit services, libraries, groceries stores, jobs and schools. It’s essential that affordable housing be located near these services so that working people and families and single parents can access these things without being entirely dependent on a car. Land use policies can promote these goals and prevent sprawl development of our open spaces, farmland and conservation areas.
As Commissioner, I would provide density bonuses to promote such responsible developments. It is crucial that we develop enough affordable housing stock so that people are not displaced as a result of our region’s housing boom. I support requiring that developments above a certain number of units include a percentage of affordable housing, especially for developments being proposed near the city center. We can also incentivize developments outside the city to be located near public transportation.
5) What’s your position on the county’s greenways and trails master plan? What should be the priorities for funding greenways and multimodal infrastructure at the countywide level?
Buncombe County’s master plan for building greenways and trails is ambitious and that’s a good thing. We need dedicated spaces where people and families can walk, bike and exercise without worrying about car traffic and the safety of young kids running a bit wild. (And, yes, we need safer streets for walking and biking within our city as well.)
Greenways also serve to connect parts of the county and actually connect Buncombe to adjacent counties as well.
Why is this important and worth spending taxpayer money on?
Greenways are an economic development tool and a quality of life issue for everyone living in Buncombe County. Any afternoon from March to November you can visit Carrier Park and see hundreds of folks running, biking and playing with their kids or just sitting by the French Broad River – it’s an incredible portrait of the diversity of our community and an inspiring reminder of why parks and green spaces are so important.
I also know that they are an important tool as we recruit employers and living wage jobs. Quality of life measures like parks and greenways are important tools in our economic development toolbox along with good public schools and infrastructure (roads, airport, rail) that are essential to recruiting large employers to Buncombe County. As we compete with Raleigh and Greenville and other cities across the region for those living wage jobs, we benefit greatly from this investment in quality of life for everyone.
On a personal note, I love to run outside with my 1-year-old son, my wife Meghann enjoys biking at Bent Creek, and as it starts to warm up, one of our favorite family activities is getting outside on the trails.
Yes/No
These questions are about specific proposals the commissioners have or may consider, and how you would vote on them. The first word of each answer must be Yes or No. An explanation of one’s position — or an alternative proposal — may follow.
6) The area has seen a sharp increase in short-term rentals — the practice of renting out homes on sites like Airbnb — spurring a major controversy involving the housing shortage, property rights and the changing nature of the area. Would you support restrictions on short-term rentals similar to those Asheville City Council reinforced last year?
No. I do not support restrictions on short-term rentals similar to those adopted by the City of Asheville. By its very nature, municipalities are more dense and have different needs than counties as a whole. Asheville and Buncombe County must work to address our crisis in affordable housing, but I think the city has overreached with its restrictions.
7) Do you support the county’s recent move to raise the local hotel room tax to provide more funds for marketing the hospitality industry?
No. This answer requires a good bit of nuance because it brings together many of the most complex issues before the county commission – economic development, the role of the Tourism Development Authority (TDA), and lack of local control in regards to taxation and wages.
I’m not opposed to the rate increase itself (previously 6 percent, now 8 percent), which remains below most other cities’ hotel tax rate. It’s important to understand that our county commission and city council did not draft this legislation; it was drafted by the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) and then passed by the Buncombe County Commission. Both commissioner Holly Jones (please vote for her for Lt. Governor!) and Brownie Newman, who currently represent District 1, voted against this measure.
It is no secret that the North Carolina General Assembly has been pursuing policies that aim to starve municipalities of revenue. In that context, it is hard to refuse additional tax money, especially since it will be coming from the pockets of out of the county/state/country. The TDA is being more responsive to local funding requests and infrastructure needs than in the past, but without a fixed amount dedicated by law to local projects, I cannot support the increase.
8) Will you approve county funds to support the proposal, backed by the city-county African-American Heritage Commission, for a monument on Pack Square marking the contributions and history of local black citizens?
Yes. Monuments and symbols matter because they give form to the past and they serve as a visual reminder of our history. I unequivocally support the creation of a monument in Pack Square recognizing the significant contributions and history of the AfricanAmerican community. Pack Square is an important site for such a monument because of its history as “the[e] site where enslaved people were sold and had the bills of sale recorded,” according to the Commission report. Against this historical backdrop, a new monument would stand as a way to honor the strength, resilience, and leadership of the African-American community. But we cannot make the mistake of thinking that a new monument fixes issues of racial injustice that we face in 2016.
The African American Heritage Commission should not be asked to privately fundraise for the monument. I believe it would be fitting for the Tourism Development Authority (TDA_ to step up and provide funding for a monument, but, if they do not, I would vote for the county to do so.
9) Charlotte’s City Council recently passed increased protections for their LGBT citizens’ access to facilities and public accommodations, including private businesses. Do you favor Buncombe County passing a similar measure?
Yes. 17 states and 225 cities and counties have already similar measures in place that offer dignity, respect and safety to our LGB and especially our Transgender community. As Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality I have fought for equality for the LGBT community and as part of my campaign for County Commission, I have already advocated for Buncombe County to adopt an ordinance similar to Charlotte.
Asheville is a welcoming place for our LGBT community. But discrimination and harassment also happen here – I hear about it from community members with some frequency. This ordinance helps address that problem in public accommodations.
I also want to keep working with local businesses and organization to take pro-active steps to communicate that people will be treated with dignity and respect – such as putting up an All-Gender restroom sign, which many businesses already do.
With my work at CSE I have found that many people are willing to sit-down and have a good faith conversation about LGBT issues, to help understand why a sign, why language matters. If we can start with respectful dialogue between elected officials and key stakeholders in the community, we can often find a path forward that helps to create a community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
10) Until 2009, Buncombe County provided a free wireless network that covered much of downtown. The FCC ruled last year that Wilson had the right to operate a similar network. Do you support using county funds to restore that service?
Yes. The Internet isn’t a luxury item; it is now a basic need to function as a student, citizen and worker in our modern world.
Regulating Internet access as a public utility was an important move by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and I believe the correct one. Far too many people lack reliable and affordable Internet access at home. Our county libraries do provide stop-gap use for many county residents, but we must do more. To pay bills, apply for employment and access government services individuals and families need Internet in the home. Increasingly, students need the Internet to research and complete school projects and keep up with assignments. We are beginning to see studies that show educational disparities are amplified by low-income households when school-age children don’t have access to computers and Internets access. Too many of our seniors on fixed incomes also face tough financial choices between paying a monthly bill of $60 for Internet or other basic needs. This service would also allow our elderly to remain connected to family and friends even when physical limitations make it difficult for them to leave the house.