Asheville City Councilman Dr. Carl Mumpower and Councilwoman Holly Jones are campaigning for higher office midterm. Mumpower has a way of ruffling Jones’ feathers by calling proposals “socialist.”

This evening’s discussion pertained to expanding the city’s Living Wage program to apply to personnel hired under city contracts. Mumpower said America didn’t have a truly free market, but what gave this country the competitive edge over other nations was its better-than-average economic freedom. Governments only make things worse each time they try to control one aspect or another of the economy.

Jones replied that it wasn’t a free market that made America unique. It was its democracy, investment in infrastructure, and an entrepreneurial workforce. “Our democracy is as vital as anything. I don’t buy that argument at all. When we talk that way, we lose our soul.”

When it was Mumpower’s turn to talk again, he reminded Jones that the Republic to which she had just pledged allegiance wasn’t a democracy. This elicited scoffs and jeers from several Living Wage Campaign advocates in the room.