Name: Brownie Newman
Profession: Partner, Headwaters Solar
In up to two words, describe your political affiliation: Democrat
In one brief sentence, describe yourself and why you’re running: I am running to support our public schools and teachers, protect our mountain communities and to make sure Buncombe County remains a great place for regular people to live and work, not just a nice place for tourists to visit.
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) Housing costs have steadily risen in the area, outside the city of Asheville as well as within. What steps should the county take to deal with the affordable housing crisis?
The county should continue to invest in the creation of new permanently affordable housing. We should create stronger policies within our land use ordinances and permitting processes to strongly encourage the inclusion of affordable housing in all new developments.
2) The State of Black Asheville report reveals multiple inequities — in fields like education, housing, health and more — affecting the African-American community in both Asheville and Buncombe County. What steps would you support to address these issues?
For education, the most important thing we can do is to invest in pre-K education. When kids show up for primary school and they are behind their peers, it’s hard to catch up. I want to work with our DA and judges to identify more opportunities for implementing criminal justice reform at the local level. I was proud to vote to “ban the box” from the county’s hiring policies. We should explore how we can help people who have some past criminal records secure jobs in our community. For many people, having a record is a barrier to employment. I support what the City Council initiative to replace the old model of public housing, which concentrates poverty. I want the County to be a partner in transforming our older public housing into a more economically integrated community, while creating a net increase in the overall amount of affordable homes.
3) What do you see as the appropriate circumstances for a commissioner to question or criticize appointed staff? What is your overall assessment of the current performance of the county manager and top county staff?
The county is fortunate to have talented and innovative public employees throughout our organization. It is our job to ask hard questions of our staff and one another. It should be done in a constructive and professional manner. I would like to create an annual review process for all the of the key staff who report directly to the County Commission. We have done this in every organization I have worked at in the past and leads to better working relationships and better outcomes.
4) According to the N.C. Department of Education, Buncombe County Schools have $10,225 in revenue per student, as compared to $13,125 for Asheville City Schools. What steps should the county take to ensure that this revenue gap doesn’t result in services for students in county schools falling behind?
The city school district benefits from the supplemental school tax paid by property owners within the city district. That creates the funding differential. As long as the city district continues with that supplemental tax, it will have greater revenue on a per pupil basis compared with the rest of the county. The commission’s job is to make sure we fund the key public school needs on a county-wide basis. I am proud of my record in supporting teacher pay-raises, providing additional funds to assure all non-certified school employees are paid a living wage, and investing to build new schools.
5) Buncombe County’s seen more development as population and tourism in the area increases. Do you believe the county’s current development rules are adequate to deal with this situation? If not, how would you change them?
No, they are not. We have some very good regulations, such as our steep slope ordinance, which protects many of the most environmentally sensitive areas in our county from over-development. We need stronger policies to steer future growth towards the areas in our county that have the infrastructure to accommodate more growth and density, as well as to preserve rural character, watersheds and ecologically important lands. The county needs to work more closely with our municipalities on a more coordinated county-wide growth management and infrastructure strategy.
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) Do you support the current distribution of hotel tax revenue to the Tourism Development Authority?
No. I voted against the proposal when it came to the Commission because I wanted to see a greater percentage of the additional revenue dedicated to infrastructure projects rather than advertising.
7) Would you endorse the repeal of the provision of HB2 prohibiting local governments from passing nondiscrimination ordinances?
Yes. I also voted to create the county’s Domestic Partnership policy.
8) Do you support the $34,359 bonus allocated to County Manager Wanda Greene as part of this year’s budget?
Yes. I voted for the budget and this was part of the budget.
9) Durham County recently changed its living wage rates so that all county workers make at least $15 an hour. Do you support a similar step in Buncombe, setting a base wage of $15 an hour for all county employees?
Yes. The county pays all our full-time public employees a wage that meets the Just Economics Living Wage standard. The $15 goal can be achieved over time.
10) 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.