Six-hour Asheville City Council meetings can be torture. Citizens must uphold the decorum of the chamber and remain silent while elected officials seriously engage in discussions about what colors should be permitted for residential exterior décor, or even lengthy deliberations over how they should plan to consider a vote on an issue. Sometimes the only reward is hearing Dr. Carl Mumpower cast pro-Constitutional votes even if he is defeated all the time.
Last night, Mumpower asked for three items to be pulled from the consent agenda. One got lost in the shuffle, and Mumpower chose not to subject everybody to a bureaucratic rigmarole just to lose on a 6-1 vote. Mumpower wanted to vote against receiving state funds for the Western North Carolina Nature Center and traffic enforcement. He described the grants as what was left after local dollars went to Raleigh for skimming. Mumpower also voted against a $3500 federal CDBG grant for On Track Financial Education and Counseling. It was ironic that government was increasing the federal deficit to teach people how to manage their personal finances.
