I’m a student, I’m politically active, and I’m about as liberal as they come. (Full disclosure: I work with Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell.) I’ve also said a lot about Rep. Tim Moffitt over the last few months, none of it too flattering. I would absolutely forgive you for assuming that my words have been the biased products of a liberal mindset that can’t see past its own value system. That might be true, but this at least is indisputable: Moffitt cares more about his grudges and his party than he does about his district.
Three months ago, Reps. Nathan Ramsey and Moffitt co-sponsored a bill to create a joint city-county parks and recreation authority in Buncombe. This organization would save everyone money, and would streamline the government’s role in managing parks-and-rec resources. There was very little objection to this idea, and it seemed to be one of the few bright spots in this Legislature’s treatment of Buncombe County. That is, until recently.
Once it became clear that the city of Asheville was going to stand firm and protect its water with a lawsuit, Moffitt and Ramsey decided to bar cities from participating in the new authority. Of course, they initially denied that the actions were linked, insisting that the water lawsuit and the parks and rec authority were separate issues.
On Aug. 5, Moffitt slipped. In the course of an Asheville Realtors luncheon attended by Moffitt, Council member Chris Pelly asked him directly if the new version of the bill would allow Asheville to participate. Moffitt said no, that “until the lawsuit is settled, we took the authority away from the city.”
Clearly, Tim Moffitt cares more about his personal vendetta against Asheville and his party’s project to undermine cities than he does about good law or good government.
— Nicholas Campbell Lucas
Asheville
