Those investigative reporters at the local daily have learned what the Buncombe County Commissioners could not tell us before the public hearing. Deschutes, the nation’s seventh largest craft brewer, was indeed the unknowable company for which city and county leaders emerged from closed session with an emergency runaround real estate deal. Saith the daily:
The company also visited a 137-acre site that Buncombe County recently purchased from Henderson County to draw an undisclosed economic prospect. Buncombe officials are not discussing any names or dealings for the site.
In a related crony matter, Asheville City Council Tuesday approved setting dates for public hearings on two companies that want gummint money, but don’t mind going through the front door. Councilperson Gwen Wisler pulled consideration of the items from the consent agenda. It was not to challenge the redistribution, but to make sure employees would be paid living wages.
