For the first time in ten years, government in Asheville/Buncombe County has been responsive to a plea from fiscal conservatives. But first, a word on misattributions. Mike Fryar was the first person I heard championing the cause. He claimed Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan put him up to it, but his claim sounded like a divide-and-conquer tactic. Therefore, I will credit Fryar. However, the Asheville Citizen-Times is capturing credit. This is not entirely unreasonable. After all, the Buncombe County Commissioners don’t televise public comment at the end of their meetings. Had it not been for the Citizen-Times, Fryar would have only been preaching to the choir of eight requisite for him to talk up to ten minutes.
Regardless, after Fryar spoke, county management got turned on to some fat that had somehow been overlooked in their vicious trimmings of a budget already lean beyond measure. This leaves the public wondering what else may have been similarly overlooked.
Back to the point, next Tuesday, the commissioners will consider voting to reduce their travel and technology allowances, which are way out of alignment with private-sector and other NC government allotments. Of course, one needs an inside track to find this out, as the discussion is not stated anywhere explicitly on the commissioners’ agenda. What’s more, the meeting is scheduled to start at the usual time, 4:30, instead of the time posted in the local daily.
