Warren Daniel and Dudley Greene address concerns and share information at Avery County event
On Friday, July 23, residents of Avery County had the chance to hear directly from their local representatives on issues of workforce housing, addiction and drug abuse, broadband connectivity, vaccination, law enforcement, and more at “A Conversation with Warren Daniel and Dudley Greene.”
The event was held on the Lees-91探花 campus and organized by community members and Banner Elk town officials. Leading up to the conversation, residents were encouraged to submit questions for Daniel and Greene to discuss. Banner Elk resident Jim Swinkola, who helped plan the event, was the moderator.
President Lee King started the event by introducing himself and the college to the crowd of around 50 attendees.
“I think the college has one of the best mottoes in all of American higher education,” King said. “It is ‘In the Mountains, Of the Mountains, For the Mountains.’ When Jim Swinkola asked me if the college would be willing to help sponsor this event tonight, I said ‘absolutely,’ because it fulfilled that motto. We are one hundred percent for this community, seeing this community thrive, and seeing this community reach its full potential.”
King thanked Daniel and Greene for their service and for taking time to meet with their constituents before turning the microphone over to Swinkola and the two officials.
Daniel, who represents Avery, Burke, and Caldwell Counties, called Avery County “the gem of my district in terms of its beauty, elevation, and the things that it offers.” He acknowledged that this meeting would be only the beginning of the conversation about the issues discussed, since the solutions would require collaboration between many individuals and groups.
In his opening remarks, Greene discussed the experience of being elected to office during a pandemic and the work he was able to accomplish during his first session. “It was a challenging yet exciting time to get involved,” he said. “Some 1,000 bills were filed in this session in the house alone.”
Swinkola structured the discussion around the submitted questions, and the issues that had received the most comments from residents were addressed first. The first two questions addressed the topic of workforce housing, specifically the critical shortage of affordable homes for rent or sale in the area.
Daniel recommended several possible solutions, including working with an economic developer to determine if there is room in the county for new housing developments and reaching out to nearby counties that have recently dealt with similar issues. He and Greene both recommended federal programs that can help home buyers alleviate costs, such as USDA loans. Greene also suggested that the problem could only be addressed through a public-private partnership.
The second topic of concern was the rising rates of drug addiction and abuse. The submitted question pointed out that if companies are unable to maintain drug-free workplaces, they will be unwilling to do business in the area, and asked what resources are available at the state level. Greene responded that there are three components to battling drug abuse: prevention, treatment, and enforcement.
“In my opinion, treatment is one area that we should devote more resources to,” he said. “Our state is woefully short in mental health resources and the ability to help people who are seeking to get off their addiction.”
Daniel said that the state is getting money from a large settlement with opioid manufacturers that will be put toward drug abatement, but he doesn’t know how it will be distributed.
For the third topic broadband connectivity, Daniel shared information about actions already being taken by the state government to assist with broadband expansion. Through the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Program, broadband service providers received grants to allay the costs of deploying broadband into underserved areas.
“Avery County is unfortunately not one of the counties that has been granted a grant,” Daniel said, “but this year we have unique opportunities to do that on a much larger scale because of the American Rescue Plan dollars the state was given from the federal government.”
Despite the influx of federal money, the project would still be hindered by a shortage of labor and parts and competing priorities from the big broadband companies, so Daniel and Greene both speculate that full broadband coverage in Avery County is likely still several years away.
The other topics discussed included the possibility that pandemic-driven changes to public education would remain in place, how the state can boost the number of people employed in blue-collar trades, and if parks and recreation spending will return to previous levels after large cuts. The elected officials said in-person education was still best and would be the priority moving forward, and that public education and community college are key for developing the skills needed by local contractors. For the parks question, Daniel replied that the funding cuts were the answer to past spending, but that there was private money available if someone had a particular project in mind.
For the last portion of the event, Swinkola invited Daniel and Greene to choose several questions to answer from the pool of submissions. Daniel chose to answer a question about vaccines, which asked what else could be done to convince residents in Avery County that vaccines are safe, since only 42% of residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“First of all, I want to say that there shouldn’t be vaccine mandates or vaccine passports,” he responded. “I think this is a personal freedom issue. But this community has done a lot to promote vaccine availability—the health department has, the county has, the hospital has provided facilities and personnel to make the vaccine available to anybody who wanted it. The governor is even offering million-dollar lottery prizes. I’m not sure that much more can be done to encourage folks.”
Greene, who served for many years as the McDowell County Sheriff, said he would address the topic of law enforcement. In response to a question about the impact of recent national news coverage of issues related to law enforcement, he said, “I think law enforcement in Avery County and in other areas have suffered as a result of a lot of these movements. I think the city of Asheville has lost 60 officers in the last few months, and it’s getting harder to recruit new officers. It’s a problem now, and if we can’t get a handle on it, it’s going to be a crisis.”
He said that there are bills under discussion in the state legislature to improve transparency and professionalism, but that ultimately law enforcement officers need to be supported.
Regarding unemployment, Daniel reported that the state legislature had decided to turn down additional funds from the federal government but were vetoed by the governor. Greene’s final two questions addressed the issue of litter on the roadways and municipal authority.
In their closing remarks, Greene and Daniel expressed their thanks to the organizers and the college for facilitating the conversation. The attendees were then directed to speak individually with the officials in the lobby about any other concerns.
