The Smoky Mountain News ran an article on how local governments in the region control public comment. The article was written in response to the conservative element that has been clamoring for property rights and limited government on a consistent basis. Author Bibeka Shrestha concluded televising the comments serves as an inducement.
In Asheville, those regularly commenting over the last five years or so include a man from Leicester who wants city council to support birth control and gay rights (representation without taxation), a homeless drug dealer/preacher who pronounces curses on city council (Last time, Mayor Terry Bellamy sweetly replied, “We’re not going to do that tonight.”), and a man who gives report card grades from a group he created several years ago and may have only one member.
