Join us at 6:30 pm, Tuesday, July 21st at the Woodfin Town Hall.
Please show up wearing red to show that we are united in our efforts to fight off Woodfin’s Forced Annexation. This is a money grab, pure and simple. They are trying to steal around $1.5 million in tax revenue and offering less than $75,000 in services.
This is not the time to be raising taxes. Nor should Woodfin’s jurisdiction apply West of the French Broad River. They want our money to build up the land over by Reynolds Mountain. That is not us and we should not be burdened by the expense.
Forced Annexation will hurt the citizenry in these depressed economic times. We must not allow this bullying and extortion to continue. Please mark the date and bring your friends dressed in red.
Forced Annexation can only be halted by loud outraged citizens demanding to be heard!
In 1959, NC passed a law designed to bring basic services to rural areas of NC. Today, that law is archaic and our legislators are currently looking at changing that law…unfortunately, that will be too late for those of us in the proposed forced annexation area.
The town of Woodfin is attempting to act quickly so they can greatly expand their taxbase. The area they are forcibly annexing already has water, sewer, electric, police, animal control, trash, etc. They see an area that if they can claim, will provide them millions in capital, but they will spend pennies on the dollar to maintain. All they are really offering us is additional police officers. I feel that the county does a wonderful job protecting us and I really fear the aggression the Woodfin PD has exhibited over the past 15 years that I have lived in the area.
Our main argument is that we should be allowed a voice in what happens to our county land as the urban population expands. We should be allowed to vote for incorporation, be it from Woodfin, Asheville, Leicester, or a new area. Our tax revenue should improve our quality of life…not improve the roads around a gated community several miles away. This is taxation without representation and we need to be vocal to stop these bullying tactics.
This is actually an issue for proponents of private citizen rights everywhere.
Check out http://www.stopncannexation.com for more of the big picture view.
Steve: The exact argument is an increase in taxes without being able to vote on it. Plus in my case, my taxes will increase over $600 a year and the only BENEFIT I will get is trash pickup which now only cost $176 for that same year. I already have a street light. So, I will pay about $400 more a year for a WPD car to drive thru my neighborhood instead of a BCSD car.
What part of the benefits are you missing. If you are a rentor, you probably don’t see the point at all. But, trust me my renter will, if I have to pay an additional $400 a year for no additional services then his rent is going up $35/month.
Let me know if I’ve missed something here
PS to Steve: Unless you have a dog in our fight, send you opinions to the Spartanburg paper or maybe call someone who cares what you think. I have the number of a Chaplin at Ft. Bragg that might listen.
PS to Steve: Unless you have a dog in our fight, send you opinions to the Spartanburg paper or maybe call someone who cares what you think. I have the number of a Chaplin at Ft. Bragg that might listen.
First, I used to live in Woodfin, so I’m legitimately interested in the question.
Second, even if I wasn’t interested, this is a user forum, and anyone can comment and ask questions of any other poster. By posting the topic here, that’s exactly what will happen. The forums aren’t intended to be free advertising for groups with a political agenda.
Third, read the forum rules before you get snippy with me for asking a question and stating a view.
5. Respect the Admins and Mods: The forum administrators and moderators are here to keep the forums safe, sane and secure. Do not harass or intentionally annoy them, and if they ask you to do something, please do it. Likewise, please do not “backseat mod,” as we know our own rules and are more than capable of enforcing them. If you do not like the mods or the moderation, feel free to not post here.
Me asking why this is a big deal is perfectly legit. Tone it down.
Steve, your request is more than fair. But, I do have a couple of quick observations:
1. I “used” to live in several different areas around our country, but I DON’T anymore. Thus I don’t really care what happens in Granada Hills, CA.
2. You no longer have a dog in our fight, and you really would not if you still lived in Woodfin. If you lived used to live in Woodfin, you made the choice, just like you made a choice to live where you do now. I choose NOT to live in Woodfin. That is why I bought a house in West Buncombe. My family has lived in West Buncombe since 1964. All I stand to gain is paying Woodfin $600+ /year in additional taxes for services I already have.
3. Tone it down? How would you feel if it was you being annexed?
4. You asked and answered your own question. How much research have you done on the subject? Did you rent or own property when you lived in Woodfin?
Steve, your request is more than fair. But, I do have a couple of quick observations:
1. I “used” to live in several different areas around our country, but I DON’T anymore. Thus I don’t really care what happens in Granada Hills, CA.
Yet I do care what happens in and around Asheville, because I’m from Asheville, as is almost everyone I know. You can be as apathetic as you like about places you used to live, but please don’t try to discourage me from asking questions about events in places that I do care about.
2. You no longer have a dog in our fight, and you really would not if you still lived in Woodfin.
And yet I’m personally curious about why this is such a big deal, hence my asking a question about it and saying I don’t understand what the problem is. Why are you so riled over me asking a question?
3. Tone it down? How would you feel if it was you being annexed?
I certainly wouldn’t walk into your place of employment and tell you to shut your face with your opinions and questions because you don’t live there. And I’d like to think I’d act civilly when I was asked why it was such a big deal that it was being annexed.
4. You asked and answered your own question. How much research have you done on the subject? Did you rent or own property when you lived in Woodfin?
I’m asking why this is a big deal, and saying it seems that the benefits of annexation are many. Someone else posted this thread, I’m merely asking for more information. You’re spoiling for a fight over a topic you care about, I’m sure, but I’m not the guy to do that with. I’m just looking for more information, and instead I’m met with a personal attack for asking a question.
5. Please respond to my original post.
I don’t have any response to it. Anti-Forced already answered my question, and had you not called me out personally for asking it, I probably wouldn’t have even revisited the thread again. It’s not my hobby horse of an issue—I’m merely curious about the annexation, and only because someone posted a thread about it—and the only person spoiling for a fight over it here is you.
I live in Asheville can I comment? This is an Asheville based paper and forum, so maybe you should post it somewhere else. I didn’t see a sign anywhere in this thread that said Woodfin only.
We are actually being forced to attend the meeting at the date, time and location that the Woodfin Board of Alderman set…or pay their taxes and suffer their restrictions on what we can do with our property. I’m not happy about it…I was planning to be on vacation next week instead of crossing my fingers that people in this area care about forced annexation.
For the record, this is happening all over NC, not just in Woodfin. However, we would love some support at the meeting on July 21st.
It’s not just about taxes. Woodfin has demonstrated some questionable morals in the past and I’m not excited about raising my kids in that town. Google Woodfin and the News of the Weird if you don’t know what I am referring to.
So what one person, long since dismissed from their job does in their spare time (remember, he wasn’t fired for it, he was let go after he exposed a local ticket fixing scandal) means you can’t live in an area?
Wow, imagine if your sheriff had gotten a blowie out of wedlock or had started a war with a county in Mississippi for no reason. I bet you’d be in Canada by now, huh?
It’s more than one person and it’s worse than just wearing diapers. The following comes from http://www.theglobalreport.org/issues/82/commentary.html and doesn’t even mention Pete Bradley and the alleged murder of his wife or his fascination with paraphilic infantilism.
The town of Woodfin has what one might call a tradition of police misconduct, at the highest level. In June of 1994, E.F. Rice resigned as Woodfin Police Chief following his suspension from the force months earlier. Rice was charged with misdemeanor assault for firing a gun at an occupied vehicle while off-duty. Rice was followed in his post by Darrell Rathburn, a man who was not qualified to be a police officer at all, due to his earlier misdemeanor assault conviction for beating his wife – the charge barred him from ever carrying a gun again. Rathburn resigned as Woodfin Police Chief in November of 1998, and on May 10 of this year, he was found guilty of seven counts of violating citizens’ civil rights against unreasonable search and seizure. Woodfin residents and fellow police officers testified that Rathburn regularly beat and harassed many people during his tenure.
I would really prefer this thread remain on topic…recruiting citizens against taxation without representation to wear red to the meeting on July 21st. However, this thread is alive because those of us in the proposed forced annexation area feel that a government shouldn’t be allowed to tax folks without a fair return of services. Again, I do not live on Reynolds Mountain and don’t feel I should be responsible for someone else’s debt. Woodfin is not proposing to improve the river road or give us bike lanes. They are offering us an overzealous police force and a more expensive trash service. We already have all the services we need thanks to the competency of Buncombe County.
So wait, you are saying that the Woodfin police force is corrupt, and you’d rather be patrolled by the Buncombe County Sheriff? No history of corruption there?
Just say you don’t want to pay extra tax dollars. You might sound selfish, but at least you’re being honest.
