The war of the words continues. A columnist from the local daily is taking sides with the mayor and vice mayor of Asheville for apologizing to the legislators for their colleague Carl Mumpower’s harsh words leveled against them for enacting the Sullivan acts. For those who don’t know, the Sullivan acts are special legislation passed lightning speed minutes before the termination of the regional water agreement. The regional authority was criticized by many for being too political, too ungainly, and not taking care of the water system. By terminating the agreement, Asheville gained total control and responsibility for the system, but the midnight-hour legislation left the city unable to charge differential rates, unable to use water as an incentive for voluntary annexation, and unable to use water system revenues for general fund purposes including road repairs associated with fixing waterlines.
There were many reasons to believe the legislators had been lobbied. Warren Wilson College admitted to it. Buncombe County Schools publicly stated their desire to prevent the city from doubling their water rates. Off the record, persons who could lose their job for doing so made disparaging remarks about developers lobbying to keep costs of development low. One billboard even advertised luxury housing with city amenities and county costs.
One problem is, government used its power to grant a privileged situation to one group of people (out-county developers) at a price to be paid by another group (the citizens of Asheville). Another problem is that everything they did was legal. It is legal to hire lobbyists. It is legal for a general contractor to serve on the legislature and approve legislation that helps general contractors in general. It would only be a conflict of interest if the law helped only his contracts. The situation was unjust, but the city had to split hairs with case law to try to prove it was so. In the end, the courts decided that the acts posed no threats to health and sanitation, and that no special privileges were being bestowed.
Meanwhile, Asheville is seeking to close a $750,000 budget gap for this year and a $5 million plus gap for next.
