With the statistical improbability of the results of an unscientific experiment, the infamous Asheville Petition Drive managed to land squarely on the target 5000 votes needed, plus or minus some number less than ten. While Republicans and Democrats are still scurrying around trying to help the Board of Elections verify about ten more valid signatures, some Unaffiliated voters have abandoned the group effort to start petition drives specifically for certain Unaffiliated candidates.
In spite of the slight to the Herculean team effort to secure justice for any Unaffiliated candidate for office, supporters of candidate Dwight Butner speak of a platform that sounds slightly American. Simply, Butner says he wants Asheville to be somewhere that people can go from place to place and follow their bliss without unwarranted intrusion.
By contrast, Elaine Lite, touted by some as the most conservative electable candidate, has published her platform advocating affordable housing, living wages, land use planning for all of Buncombe County, energy independence, living wages, etc. Incumbent Brownie Newman is pretty much in agreement.
In the Republican corner are an insurance salesman, a relative unknown, and two people who lost in the last election cycle, one running as a Democrat.
If I had to vote today, I would probably pick Chris Chiaromonte. Brother Christopher, as he calls himself, has oft announced his candidacy, but he cannot yet file as he is registered Unaffiliated. Christopher is homeless. He wears a crimson cape with all sorts of buttons. He goes to city council meetings to pronounce curses, perform magic tricks, and give puppet shows.
My reasons for this endorsement are purely selfish. Since I will probably be stuck covering the (seven-hour) city council meetings for the next eighty years, some light-hearted humor would be a refreshing change from all the serious jabberwocky.
