ASHEVILLE – In the race for chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, two candidates are seeking to replace current Board Chairman Brownie Newman, who is not seeking re-election.
Amanda Edwards, a Democrat elected to the committee in 2018, faces From Duncanthe former elected sheriff of Buncombe County. Duncan was elected to three terms, from 2006 to 2018. A former Democrat, he is running as an unaffiliated candidate and collected more than 8,000 signatures of registered voters in Buncombe County to get on the ballot.
A few weeks after Tropical Storm Helene tore through Western North Carolina, killing 43 people in the county and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses on Oct. 29, the Citizen Times asked Edwards and Duncan questions about response and recovery, and the future of Buncombe County. .
The candidates
From Duncan, works for Biltmore Co., as an investigator/police officer. Age: 60. Lives in Leicester. Party: Not affiliated.
Amanda Edwards, Executive Director of the AB Tech Foundation. Age: 47. Lives in North Buncombe County. Party: Democrat
If you were elected, how would Tropical Storm Helene reshape your priorities and goals?
Duncan: I think what (Tropical Storm) Helene taught us is that we should hope for the best, but always plan for the worst. This was a historic storm and I don’t think anyone anticipated the devastation it caused. That said, as we look to the future, our provincial planning should be more inclusive in how we organize and work with our community resources, including including our faith-based organizations. It should also include maintaining a more robust fund balance so that more resources are available to help individuals and businesses if something like this were to happen in the future. The county must assess where our critical infrastructure is located (i.e. the county garage) and ensure vehicles and other emergency equipment are removed from the floodplain before an impending storm arrives. I understand the county has lost dozens of vehicles from the county garage. The relocation of critical equipment should be a priority in future disaster planning.
According to provincial spokesperson Lillian Govus, Helene damaged 70 provincial vehicles, some of which were beyond saving.
Edwards: I remain focused on kitchen table issues and the four E’s: Emergency Services, Economy, Environment and Education. These are the issues we will need to focus on Helene’s recovery and building Buncombe County back better.
Above all, we must support our public schools now as they reopen and for the long term: at their best, public schools provide equal educational opportunities to all children to prepare them for their best lives and to be good citizens who move our society forward, but more than ever, our Buncombe County Public Schools are helping to meet the daily needs of our families, including meals for children, social support for students and their families, access to emergency supplies and other services for all our residents, and a safe, hospitable environment. environment for children.
Our community is traumatized and overwhelmed by our individual and shared experiences as survivors of the storm. Some mourn the loss of loved ones, while others mourn the loss of their home, business or job. We are all in shock. We need even more compassion and understanding for each other as we process the trauma and grief.
Do you think the government response (city, county, state, federal) has been adequate? What did you think was done well? What should have been done differently?
Duncan: I think the storm response from our frontline responders was excellent. Many of them had to leave their homes and families to help others. I think the response from the community has been excellent. Many churches and volunteer groups sprang into action to immediately help neighbors get them to safety and provide them with much-needed resources. No one could have seen the extent of this storm’s destruction. I believe that the provincial government could be better organized and do a better job with the resources I mentioned earlier to get help to the hard-hit areas more quickly. To be honest, I think there was a lack of communication from the province. Without local radio, many county residents, including myself, would have been in the dark. When I talk to emergency responders and community resource organizers, I get both positive and negative responses about the state and federal government’s response. The work that the state and federal governments are currently doing in clearing and reopening roads appears to be very good.
Edwards: I appreciate that FEMA and the National Guard stood ready to respond to a storm in our region, and that the county and municipalities activated emergency preparedness plans. I hope we can agree that Helene has caused damage to our province and WNC that was previously unimaginable. To me, this puts into perspective the speed of resource deployment and the focus on helicopter rescues and air transport for stranded communities.
Locally, our municipalities and province could have communicated better with each other in the immediate aftermath of the storm. We will never know to what extent the historic telecommunications disruption and impassable roads have hindered this work.
County briefings could have been better organized to provide needed information in a shorter, easy-to-understand format. The public would have benefited from hearing from commissioners because we are the people residents look to and expect to hear. Again, I must acknowledge that the complete telecommunications blackout and road damage have hampered this. Thank you, local and state election officials, for making quick decisions and implementing a plan to open early voting locations seven days a week, with standardized hours, and for finding alternate voting locations for Election Day.
What issues/problems do you think Helene has brought to light in our community?
Duncan: 1. That the provincial government is working on a partnership plan with local faith-based organizations, non-profit organizations and volunteer group organizations to respond to these types of disasters. To pre-determine distribution points for resources and meeting locations for volunteer groups. The county must also develop plans for emergency communications if they cannot use existing systems. This should involve the integration of local radio, as it was largely available during this storm.
2. Critical infrastructure, such as our water system, must be addressed. Something must also be done about the enormous disruption in mobile telephony. I think Duke Energy, along with the thousands of resources they brought to restore our power grid, was extraordinary. Looking ahead, we need to do more work on hardening that infrastructure through continued tree removal and assessment of transfer stations located in a floodplain.
Edwards: Helene emphasizes the need for universal accessibility to telecommunications, just as people need access to water and shelter. Everyone deserves the comfort of knowing that their loved ones are doing well and access to the ability to reach out for help. This was an eye-opener for me personally because I couldn’t communicate with my own son to find out if he was okay and let him know I was okay.
The lack of universal access to telecommunications also increased anxiety and overloaded our first responders. The sheriff was repeatedly asked to name the number of missing and deceased residents. This was a mass casualty event. The catastrophic failure of the communications system made it difficult to provide figures accurately. Authorities were hampered in their efforts to notify relatives of deaths. At the same time, many residents were reported missing (eventually located, safely) because a loved one could not reach them by cell phone, inflating the actual missing number.
This storm convinces me that as a nation we must create equality in access to telecommunications. The ability to communicate and access information should not only be available to those who can pay exorbitant sums of money for access.
What do you think, specifically regarding reconstruction and recovery, should be the first priority for the county commission?
Duncan: The county’s focus on rebuilding and recovery should be on those individuals who lost their homes, vehicles, etc. during this storm. Much of that could get in the way of them accessing federal aid (i.e. FEMA funds). Businesses should be similarly considered when accessing the resources needed to rebuild. The province must also focus on restoring core services to the citizens of this province. Much of this would involve replacing critical equipment and ensuring we can resume normal services. I don’t think the province has the luxury of being able to focus on 1 top priority. This disaster will require the county’s leadership to effectively address many issues at the same time to ensure Buncombe County recovers as quickly as possible.
Edwards: The provincial commission must focus on the myriad aspects of recovery. This includes keeping disaster relief available and as convenient and comfortable as possible for as long as it is needed, and planning and implementing infrastructure for basic services, including transportation and utilities. We must also support health and social service needs. I know from my experience leading the WNC Red Cross and from my six years as a District Commissioner that we will be called upon to work together and implement at a level that exceeds anything we previously envisioned. This will be a long process with many milestones in progress.
The first priority must be safe, affordable housing. The biggest boost to our recovery and our ability to meet the housing needs of our residents would be federal and state recovery funding – which has not yet been authorized or offered. I hope that everyone who survived Helene at home can remember the feeling of being safe in their own home after the storm passed and again after the water stopped rising. Even without power, water, telephone and internet, many of us were able to experience gratitude for having a basic level of shelter to call home.
Jacob Biba is the provincial watchdog reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times. Reach him out [email protected].