*The following answers are in response to the Sunrise Movement WNC Questionnaire. Sunrise is a movement of young people fighting to stop the climate crisis and win a Green New Deal.
As our community works to recover from climate disaster, what are specific ways we can build climate change mitigation into Helene recovery efforts?
I’ve been advocating for and advancing climate change mitigation throughout my years of service, pre-Helene, and leading on ensuring mitigation is woven into our recovery efforts. It is anticipated that Asheville will receive approximately one billion dollars in federal funding related to Helene recovery and much of this funding is required to be spent on mitigation projects. This includes investment in the City’s water infrastructure, funding a water filtration system for Northfork costing more than 100 million. This includes rebuilding the Swannanoa River parks and the French Broad River parks, utilizing hazard mitigation funds that incorporate mitigation and build resiliency. This means creating resilience centers in partnership with the community to build on the strength of our neighborhood and communities and support and formalize the grassroots response that neighbors provided for one another in a time of crisis, to better prepare us for future climate disasters, which we know will happen. To make all of this a reality will require continuous advocacy in Washington to force the Department of Homeland Security to release the funding that has already been allocated by the Congress specifically for the recovery of WNC. This is an ongoing battle and one that I am laser focused on, working with our Congressional delegation and our Governor to hammer home. My continued work as Co-Chair of the Governor’s WNC Recovery Committee gives me a unique position to advocate for our community’s needs.
Would you support a system to evaluate climate change mitigation in recovery projects and overall development moving forward?
Yes, so long as it does not create a bigger bureaucratic burden and expense for Asheville residents, delaying effective action and wasting resources.
The City of Asheville and Buncombe County have set the goal to reach 100% renewable energy for government operations by 2030 and for community-wide use by 2042. We are not on track to meet these goals. What specific policies, programs, or spending would you champion to make real progress and overcome existing regulatory barriers and funding constraints?
This is disappointing given that we have invested and elevated in the city’s sustainability office since 2008, and adopted cutting-edge policies intended to make us nationwide leaders on sustainability (including renewable energy use). I’m not one to micromanage staff, and that is not the role of the Mayor or City Council, but what I am doing is leveraging my leadership with Climate Mayors and United States Conference of Mayors to bring learning to Asheville that will get us back on track with real progress and overcome existing regulatory barriers and funding constraints.
What are your budget priorities?
State law requires a balanced budget; we can’t adopt a budget that includes shortfalls. My priority is to combine practicality with vision in service to our residents.
Which departments or programs would you seek to fund more, and which do you think could be subject to cuts?
I don’t seek to cut anything. As a body, City Council will revisit our priorities (people, infrastructure and environment, housing, economy) as we enter the budgeting process. I continue to be a vocal advocate for our priorities.
If your jurisdiction comes into more revenue due to the recent property tax reassessments or other means, what would you do with that additional funding?
All current members of council received our initial budget information earlier this month and we are assured that is not the situation. It would be misleading to our residents to theorize in response to that question—people are living and seeing the practical impacts of rising healthcare costs, inflation, and the costs and timeline for recovery from Helene.
Transportation is one of the largest modifiable contributors to greenhouse gas pollution. Would you fight for more funding for public transit to cut emissions and alleviate traffic congestion?
After decades of implementing various marketing strategies (the app, the new wraps, hybrid and electric buses) and route changes/improvements, the vast majority of our bus riders continue to be people who rely on it as an essential service (out of need). This indicates that the majority of city residents who are potential riders actively choose other forms of transportation that are available to them, and it is likely that they are choosing transportation that contributes to emissions and/or congestion. That is a choice they are making. I am willing to put it to the voters to ask them if they want to invest in a sales tax for public transit (which North Carolina allows as a county-wide referendum), which could be a wonderful thing to improve services for our necessity riders, and which could reduce emissions and congestion if more residents would choose to ride the bus.
What ideas do you have for alternative funding sources?
I am willing to ask voters to vote in a referendum for a sales tax for public transit.
The Sunrise Movement is committed to a Green New Deal that eliminates the greenhouse gas pollution causing climate chaos and builds an economy that lifts up working people. What policies would you implement to move us closer to this goal?
I remain 100% supportive of a Green New Deal and the four pillars, which are reflected in our city’s priorities, policies, and sustainability plans. Follow-through is what’s needed.
In 2024, the town of Carrboro sued Duke Energy for its role in causing climate change and investing in decades of deception to discount the role of fossil fuels in causing climate change. Would you support a similar lawsuit following the worst climate disaster in NC history?
I’d seek qualified legal counsel on potential lawsuits that would prioritize benefits to our community; with the opioid settlement, for instance, Asheville received funds from the national class-action lawsuits and settlements negotiated by the North Carolina Attorney General’s office. Care is necessary because, sometimes, lawsuits of that nature can eat up hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax-payer money with no guarantee of payback.
About 40% of solid waste produced locally is either divertable or compostable organics, yet neither Asheville nor Buncombe County offer a commercial composting service. If (re)elected, what steps would you take to provide municipal composting services to local businesses to reduce landfill usage and methane emissions?
Our city has a food waste reduction program and it includes a pilot project we are running to test the public’s interest in composting, which I support. Like most city services, we need to offer what residents need and want and find a balance between what we may wish they would do and what they choose to do. Residents have used this project to divert one million pounds of food waste from landfills, and I support analysis of the data and further public engagement to find out whether municipal composting services is a priority for our residents.
If you are elected, do you pledge to use your office to raise and maintain the starting salaries of all public employees to a living wage?
Yes, I will continue to be a staunch advocate for living wages, continue to support living wage and robust benefits for our employees, and continue to support our community’s voluntary living wage certification programs.
Do you pledge to advance and support a resolution establishing a living wage ordinance for all public employees in local government?
Yes.
For reference, living wage is a defined salary level at which a full-time employee spends no more than 30% of their gross annual income on their housing costs. Housing prices are determined by averaging the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s four most recently published years’ one-bedroom Fair Market Rents for the relevant metro area.
Yes.
Many young people are scared for our future both environmentally and economically and don’t think our political system is working for us. What message do you have for young people and what would you do to ensure we all have access to a livable future?
I reflect on this all the time with my three sons, with whom I am close and who are living this reality, who have grown up during these times of environmental, economic, and political turmoil and, dare I say, fatalism. I spend most of the time listening. My message is that this is part of my lived experience, being a human being, a spiritual person, and a parent through these times, and my concern for our future will remain front and center and my leadership and public service will continue to reflect my responsibility to effectively care for and heal our planet, our people, and our politics.