Asheville City Council

Tonight on The Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC, Asheville City Councilmen Cecil Bothwell will talk about nearly not being able to hold office in NC, because it is against the law for an atheist to hold office in the state.

The story has seen press from the NY Times (http://bit.ly/82FIcQ) to the Washington Post (http://bit.ly/5wdBaL). Tonight's Rachel Maddow show should be a great show to watch.

A perennial topic that always gets me steamed. Baptist Planet wraps it up.

Perhaps also refugees from the war on Christmas, opponents of Asheville City Councilman Cecil Bothwell argued that he shouldn’t be seated because he’s an atheist. All reported by the Asheville Citizen-Times, which also explains that Article 6, section 8 of the state constitution (a bootless anachronism) says:

The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.

The U.S. Constitution supersedes any and every state constitution where there are conflicts. There’s the First Amendment to consider, as well as Article VI, which says: “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

I can barely express how excited I am to congratulate Asheville and BlueNC blogger, Gordon Smith, who won a seat on the Asheville City Council. Gordon, who blogged as Screwy Hoolie and has been blogging longer than BlueNC has been in existence, beat Republican Carl Mumpower handily. Mumpower ran for congress against Heath Shuler in 2008.

Congratulations Gordon. I'm happy for you and so, so proud of you. I can't wait to follow your career.

This one's just over a minute long - please share it with your Asheville people!

Why do we need to switch to renewable sources of energy in the mountains of western North Carolina? Aside from the obvious, there's also the fact that energy production requires that we deplete our water supply to feed unsustainable production mechanisms. Watch this excellent data visualization from the wizards at Elumenati studios here in Asheville to learn about how our water resources are divvied up:

Gordon Smith announced here on Saturday that he is running for Asheville City Council. Gordon has been a long time and loyal member of the BlueNC community and a front page writer. Over the past year he has become more interested in local politics and how he can help in his own community.

I'm really proud of Gordon. He's a passionate, compassionate man and even though my opinion doesn't matter one iota, I endorse him for Asheville City Council.

Today, I'm asking you to dig shallow and help Gordon serve the people of Asheville. Dig shallow? That's right, you see, Gordon has it all worked out so we can help even if we only have a few dollars to give.

Your small donations can make a big difference.
$10 pays for 55 door knocks.
$15 pays for mobile internet access for campaign staff for a week.
$20 pays for a field organizer training session.

First posted at Scrutiny Hooligans

We may not know whether our municipal elections will be partisan or non-partisan, but that doesn't have to stop us from taking a look at the candidates. Scrutiny Hooligans will be taking a look at (almost) all of them over the next several weeks. The major issues facing our city - Growth and Development, Business, Housing, and Crime are all at critical junctures, and we're going to need real leadership in every area to ensure that Asheville's progress doesn't become its downfall.

Our first stop is with my favorite candidate on the ballot, Elaine Lite. Elaine is a founding member of Mountain Voices Alliance, a member of People Advocating Real Conservancy, a board member of Hope for Horses and of the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe county, and Publisher and Editor of Critter magazine. She's a 20-year resident of Asheville whose leadership has been vital as the tidal wave of overdevelopment hits western North Carolina.

Elaine has managed to leave me with a richer perspective on growth and development every time I've spoken with her. She believes strongly in the right of communities to determine their future. Her campaign platform is here, and here's the condensed bullets for you: