Can a Political Outsider Change City Hall? Jeff Groh Thinks So.

Jeff Groh has never held elected office, yet he believes that's exactly what Hendersonville needs. In this episode of the Kudzu Project, Nick sits down with the City Council candidate to discuss why he's entering local politics after a career in engineering, technology, and small business ownership. Groh shares his thoughts on limited government, fiscal responsibility, local business, public safety, and preserving Hendersonville's character as the community grows.

To learn more about Jeff Groh's campaign, visit https://www.groh4council.com.

The Kudzu Project welcomes candidates from across the political spectrum and provides guests with equal opportunities to discuss their views and priorities. If you'd like to be interviewed, please email podcast@kudzuproject.com. 

Welcome to Rhythm & Brews — held on the 3rd Thursday of each month from June-October, Rhythm & Brews transforms South Main Street in downtown Hendersonville into a community gathering place filled with music, food trucks, local beer, wine, and cider, and thousands of people enjoying a summer evening together. Learn more at https://www.hendersonvillenc.gov/events/rhythm-brews-concert-series.

The Kudzu Project is powered by the Lucey Agency, a full-service marketing firm based in Hendersonville, NC.

The Henderson County Chamber of Commerce is a proud presenting partner of the Apple Festival Races which will be held on Saturday, September 5, 2026. The event is presented by Hunter Subaru, with support from Lassonde Pappas, Cummins, and Mountain Credit Union. This event has something for runners of every level with an 8K, 5K, and Chick-fil-A Mini Moo Mile. To register, visit https://raceroster.com/events/2026/111853/apple-festival-races. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Welcome to the loudest podcast studio in Hendersonville.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

That's good. Loud is good sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Jeff Grow, thank you for coming on the podcast. You have ambitions to be on Hendersonville City Council.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Yes, sir. I do. Appreciate the opportunity to talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Absolutely. I love talking to folks who are in office or seeking office. I think it's a great way of letting the public know what you're all about. And yeah. Will you do something about the sirens if you get elected?

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Well, not sure I can I can uh guarantee you that you will hear no sirens on fifth on 5th street.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Can't guarantee you that now. You know, the podcast has no political affiliation, so we welcome anybody on the on the show. And um, we've had um city council members on before. We've had the mayor, mayor pro tem, city council, sitting congressman, and a congressional primary candidate. And I've invited all kinds of people on, but you accepted, and here you are, and I appreciate that. So why don't we get to know Jeff Grow a little bit better? Okay. Let's start with where you're from originally.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

So I grew up in Cincinnati, okay. Um lived in the same house basically my entire life. Went to college in Indiana, um college uh called Grove's Holman Institute of Technology. So I got a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, got out of school and went to work for DuPont uh based out of Wilmington, Delaware. Moved to Delaware for a couple years and then moved around quite a bit with DuPont and uh Delaware and South Carolina, ultimately went back to Cincinnati when I transferred into a sales organization for an instrument division of DuPont at that time. Uh got married in 89 and my wife at that time. We picked up, left DuPont, moved to Florida, bought my first business down there. I was a small business person, a manufacturer's rep company. We were in Florida for oh gosh, from 89 through 96. My daughter was born down there. We ultimately sold that business and moved to Atlanta. Uh that time I was still in a field sales organization for this instrument company that was part of DuPont. And then moved. Um actually before that, before that move to Georgia, that division of DuPont was sold off and became a private private company still based in Wilmington, Delaware. But anyway, we moved back to Delaware and I went into more management roles uh starting in 2001. Um, a marketing management role, and then a service management role, and then I became VP of development for this $250 million analytical instrument business. So, in that role, which I believe, you know, that's a lot of my industrial business experiences from that role, managing large organizations, large budgets, large uh, you know, personnel issues and so forth. Then in 2013, I decided to get out of corporate America. My wife at that time, we're divorced now, but we had been traveling down here for many years because her family was down here, so we had a connection to Hendersonville. We moved down here in 2015. Ultimately, uh, we divorced, but I love it down here. And um when I left corporate America in 2013, I started another consulting business, and then in the course of several years, next several years, also became a partner in another business um out of South Carolina. So I've got two small businesses that I run or help to run. Um I got remarried in 2024. I met my my wife now, Corrine, in 2022. And uh we got married in 2024. You're newlyweds. We're newlyweds, yeah. So we're still on our honeymoon. Uh and then uh it was it's been since when we first got married, I was going through some medical issues, and we were actually planning on not living in Hendersonville. We had planned on building a house down in Zirconia, but because of health issues, we decided to sell that property and stay here in town. Um last year, decided to um um um start a business for her. And then about the same time as when I started really thinking about this race, variety of reasons why I decided to to run. We can get into some of those if you'd like, but um that's that's that's really over the last year thinking about that. Um, and then we made that decision last fall uh in the run-up to the filing deadline, which is in was in in uh in early mid to mid-December last year.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

And here I am. Yeah. Well, you and your wife, like myself and my wife, we we live in downtown Hendersonville, and you get to see a lot of the mechanics of society in action. Um, and I guess some of that, those observations help motivate you to seek higher office.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah, so I'm a first-time candidate. I've I've never run for office before. I um got more involved in politics, probably starting really starting in 2017, as part of an organization that I still volunteer for here in North Carolina called the Convention of States Project, which is a project focused on the federal government in terms of reigning in and out-of-control federal government. And part of that is was really uh it's a grassroots organization uh and it's a state legislative issue. So I really got involved in uh forming relationships with state legislators across the state, including our our local delegation, um, and understanding the legislative process and working on some campaigns, because we did, as convention states, do some campaigning for candidates that support our cause. So I got introduced not only to the legislative process but to running for office and uh uh you know just getting more educated about constitutional issues and the proper role of government. Um I'm very much uh passionate about the government only getting involved in things that it's supposed to be involved in, limited government. And I feel like whether it's the local government here in Hendersonville or state or federal, we have strayed so far from what our founders intended government to be, that that's a drive, kind of an override, overriding driving force for me is that less government is better. The more government you have, it doesn't solve problems, it creates more problems. And there's there's forces that are working here in Hendersonville, I believe that it's it's the same mentality that's driving cities like Asheville and Charlotte and Raleigh, the more government is better, in many people's opinion. And I just take a completely opposite view. The less government we have, the better off we will be. I mean, for us who live in the city, you know you live in the city, we pay twice the taxes that those who live in the county. And so we pay a big price for living in Hendersonville, uh, and I just don't want to see that government grow. And that's that was one kind of overall motivating factor. We have also, my wife and I have some direct experience with the uh crime associated with growing homelessness problem in the city. You know, enabling behavior is not compassionate. I don't think we're doing enough. And not all of it can be solved in the city. I mean, a lot of these issues with the homeless issue is, you know, as we talked about before, we got on the air here, you know, uh mental health issues, drug addiction, what this country has done decentralizing mental health care in this country has affected local communities. So there are a lot of issues that not necessarily can they all be solved in the city, but that's one of the advantages I believe I have because I have relationships with these legislators across the state. I understand the legislative process. Some of these issues with homelessness are not in the control of the city. They're they're going to be working with partners, whether they're nonprofits or working with the legislature to get legislation passed to help solve some of these longer-term problems. Right. Um, so that's a big factor. And I just believe that I want to bring more diversity to the city council, but not how you think. I want to bring more diversity of opinions because I think the council is dominated by one uh thought process. I don't think there's enough diversity of opinions. Um, I don't think there's enough business experience. I have different kinds of business experience, and I think we need more of that in government to think about things from a business standpoint. You know, I've gotten firsthand knowledge now and working on my wife's business in terms of trying to build a small business in this city and what you have to go through from a regulatory standpoint, both at the city, the county, and the state level. It's a lot, and we need to make it easier for businesses. A lot of the businesses that uh exist here in town, they don't vote in the city. They have to live with the policies of the city, but they don't they don't have a vote. I haven't found one business, business person that likes the fact that we have paid parking in this city. That you know, several years ago we had paid parking, they got rid of it because it was affecting the business, and now we have it back. So I don't know any, and there's no business owner I've talked to that said, yeah, it's a great thing that we have paid parking. It's really helped my business. I haven't found anybody to say that. If there's somebody out there that has a business that they really like the fact that we have paid parking, I'd I'd certainly like to talk to them. I haven't found anybody yet. There's a good chance you could win on that topic alone. Yeah. There's a lot of passion about that. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of goes to the my whole theme is really kind of built around common sense, which my platform should apply to. It should, you know, you talked about the nonpartisan nature of this race, should apply to anybody that lives in the city. Now, my platform is focused on fiscal responsibility, only doing what we're supposed to be doing as far as city government, spending our money wisely. Two is safety and security. That's a fundamental role of the city, of the government, is to protect citizens. And there are things like the homelessness issue and so forth that are affecting safety and security. My wife and I have direct experience with crime associated with homelessness. Third is support of small business. Like I mentioned, you know, most of the business owners don't live in the city, don't vote in the city. So I want to be a voice for those for business people. And I know firsthand what it takes to try to start a business in this city. And then fourth, it's just maintaining our small town values, you know, that mirror the county and mirror Western North Carolina in general. A lot of concern about the growth in the city. Uh that's a complicated issue as well. But, you know, those kind of four things, I don't care who you are, those should resonate with you. And that's what I wouldn't bring to the council. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

You mentioned starting off that you're you're a proponent of small government. Ronald Reagan once said uh the scariest words in the English language are I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Do you do you believe that? And do is it is it classic, you know, conservative values typically gravitate towards smaller government. Liberal values typically gravitate towards larger government. Um do you do you believe that to be a fundamental issue?

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah, I I absolutely do. I mean, um, you know, I'm conservative in my approach to things, but I think it's more based in common sense than anything. But yeah, it goes back to, you know, is government the problem or is it the solution? It's not the solution to every problem in our country. And there are certain things that the government should be involved in, but there are certain things that they should not be involved in. I think the city council has gotten too diverted with getting into the culture wars. That's that they shouldn't be involved in that kind of stuff. It wastes time, it wastes money, it takes away from the focus of the core responsibilities, things like safety and security and managing the growth and all those kind of things. They shouldn't be involved in things that are more partisan. You know, the fact is that you know, they released the budget a couple weeks ago, and I I read through all hundred plus pages of that budget, and um, at the beginning of that, they talk about their core values, and their number one core value is they believe that they should be nonpartisan in how they deal with problems in the city. I don't disagree with that, but their actions tell a different story because the things that they've got involved in, whether it's DEI, whether it's city council members promoting some of the getting involved in some of the culture wars and other things that they've done, I just believe that that is partisan. And so while they propose purport to be nonpartisan in their actions or in their their philosophy, their actions are totally different. So I really don't, you know, I did a post about this and got hammered from from a lot of people, but I really don't care whether you believe in June being gay pride month or not. I really don't. You can do whatever you want, but the city shouldn't be involved in that kind of stuff. They should stay out of it and focus on the core responsibilities because invariably you're gonna upset half the people. Why do that? I mean, there's example after example in industry where companies now are seeing the fact that, yeah, this is worthless getting involved in this because no matter how you cut it, you're gonna upset. Whether it's a conservative cause or a liberal cause, if you take a position on that, you're gonna upset half the population. I mean, we are a divided country when it comes to these cultural issues. Stay out of it. Just focus on the things that are uh important to most people. They want to find a house that's affordable. They want to go walking down the street or go in the parking garage or walk on the greenways and be safe. They want to have a business and be supported and not be overrun by burdensome regulations and so forth. It's pretty simple. Most people, that's what they want. They don't really want to be embroiled in all this kind of stuff. And it's just controversial, and there's no place for it, in my opinion, on the city council.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

So you're sitting you're saying that you're not anti those issues. You're simply the the city, it's it's not the city's place to concern itself.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

I mean, you can do whatever you want. Believe in whatever you want, get involved in whatever organization that you want. That's your right to do that. We all have that right, that freedom to to get involved and petition our government or uh protest or any of that kind of stuff. Um that's that's all of our right to do that. It's just that you know, the perception of taking sides on one side or the other on those kind of issues, that's no place for the city, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

So stay away from the polarizing issues, is what you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Well, it doesn't that's not a core responsibility.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Yeah. I ran for town council. My wife and I moved here from Colorado two and a half years ago, and and I ran for town council in the in the town that we lived in in Colorado, and so I got to see this type of arrangement firsthand. It was also a nonpartisan race. I had only lived there for a couple years when I ran for office, so I was a little bit of a black sheep, but um I I did okay. I I came in second place after a guy who had been there for a long time and was pretty well known in the community. But it did teach me a lot about local politics and the whole partisan angle. And I think that it it seemed to me in many ways that you know people are are red or blue, left or right in many federal issues, state issues. But when you get down to the local level, when you boil it down to the community level, so many things go out the window. And because you have to, you you know, you're you're face to face with your constituents, you're face to face with people who are representing you, and it's it just it takes on a different feel, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Absolutely. I mean, uh, you know, dealing with many of the state legislators that I deal with, they will they will talk about that. The these local races, I mean, it's much different. I mean, even at the state house level, you know, uh, they don't on a regular basis interact as much with their constituents where where a city council person, they're out there. You know, you're out in the community, people know who you are. So again, it goes back to just focus on the core responsibilities. That's what people care about, really.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

So do you feel that you have a thick enough skin to handle handle the folks in the community when you run to them in the grocery store and they start giving you grief about your views? Do you think you can handle it?

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Yeah, it's getting thicker. I mean, you know, uh my experience with this grassroots organization and working with legislators from across the state, some of them are more are more kind to our cause than others. And I had worked on other campaigns with block walking and phone calling, and so I'm I'm I'm used to that kind of stuff, and and I, you know, my wife and I, when we decided to do this, we knew that there were there was a risk because we are because our views and our opinions and our uh worldview, so to speak, is is not the same as the current city council. And from just some other experience that we had when when the city went down this path on DEI several years ago, we were involved in doing a lot of public comment to rail against DEI because, again, it's a partisan issue. The consultant that they hired to implement DEI, you know, on her website, she's a proud daughter of a Black Panther mother and a Nation of Islam father, and they spent $147,000 on this consultant who is arguably a Marxist. And um, so we railed against that. Um, interestingly enough, you know, all of the public comment, all of the outcry from a few of us that were concerned about that did no good in the end. They they went through with It and continue to spend the money on it. I don't know how much money they spent because that was just for the consultant plus all the staff time to implement all this stuff. But it's only been it's it's because what's happened across the country through the judicial system and through the legislative process that the city abandoned their DEI committee about a year ago or so and because the funding was drying up, because now if you implement these policies, a lot of federal grants require that you don't have it. So they eliminated it. Which, in my opinion, if you really uh support DEI, you should be very upset with the city council because that shows you it wasn't a principal decision. As soon as the money dries up, they abandon it. So it was not even based on principle about doing it. Um so, but anyway, through that process, we were called a lot of names. And I've been called a lot of names on some of the Facebook posts that I've had for my campaign, which we expect. We expect there's going to be a lot of people that are going to just because that's what they that's what happens. Yeah. You know, if you disagree on some of these policies, whether it's June is gay pride month or not, I I have some very good gay friends. I'm not I'm not anti-gay, but that I'm labeled that way, right? Because I don't support the city promoting it, basically. Um, like I said, I don't really care what you believe or what you want to do, it's just not the role of the city to get involved. But so I expect a lot of people will will um call me names and they already have you know the typical names, because when you can't, when you when you know you don't disagree, and some for some folks, when they don't disagree, or when they don't agree with your position, rather than arguing the position or the policy, they will just call you names, and I've been called names. I've been called names by the by sitting city council members. You know, that I'm an example of white privilege, for instance. They don't even know me and they're labeling me. I'm never gonna call somebody, I've never called anybody a name, I will never call anybody a name. I might disagree with your policy, but I'm not gonna call you, I'm not gonna attack you personally. I'm gonna attack the policy, and that's what I will do.

SPEAKER_00 25:24

We've become so black and white, and you know, if you have a D in front of your name or an R in front of your name, it it seems like in in many cases the conversation is over at that point for some folks. And that's I mean, that's a big part of why I started this podcast, because you've got to listen to people, you have to listen to their side of the of the story, right? Even if you disagree with some of the fundamental principles, um we we got to talk as a society about this stuff, or we're never gonna get anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Right. I mean, the the fact is that I, you know, we were talking a little bit before about um you know your experience running for local local government. I mean, 10, 10, 15, 20 years ago, most people uh who were voting for city council folks, they they didn't know what their their party affiliation was. It was never an issue. It's become more of an issue, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

But you know, it's it's not that it's right, it's just that's that's the fact. It's everything's partisan. But like I said, my my one answer to that is okay, don't get involved in those partisan issues. Stay focused on fiscal responsibility, safety and security, listening to people about the growth and managing that. You know, those are those are bread and butter issues that that it is nonpartisan. So let's just stick to those kind of things and not go down this path and get everybody all up in arms, one way on one side of the aisle or the other. Just stay away from it.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

But do you think that that some of the voter-based that hears what you're saying and and might might vote for a different president than you would vote for, would would they say I'm listening to what he's saying, and I can clearly tell which side of the aisle he falls on? And do you think that they'll make that sort of knee-jerk decision?

SPEAKER_01 27:33

They may. I mean, that's the reality of the situation. I think if again, I mean, if you are concerned with pocketbook issues, then you're concerned with how our taxes are being spent. You're concerned about being safe out in the streets, you're concerned about the traffic and the parking. Those, those, those issues are what I'm talking about, and that's what we should should focus on. So maybe, you know, I'm I'm not, I don't hide the fact that I'm I am conservative. I don't believe in big government. I I want to see less government. You know, the city council applauded themselves for not raising the the property tax value. Well, I'd only be celebrating and uh and and uh applauding myself, patting myself on the back if I actually lowered taxes, not just kept them the same. But and the fact is your taxes will go up one way or another. I mean, there's you know uh I mean you just look at the budget. I mean, the the the general budget has gone up, uh went up 10.6 percent, I believe, year over year. Well, that's well above inflation. They're hiring more people, well above the average in industry. So a government is getting bigger, regardless of the fact that they kept the tax tax rate the same. So I wouldn't be celebrating that unless I could go to the constituents and say, hey, we're we're lowering taxes, we're lowering your taxes. They talk a lot of the city talks a lot about affordability. That's a direct how we spend our taxes is a direct impact on affordability. That's a direct thing that the city can do to affect everybody's cost of living. Because those taxes, whether you rent or whether you own, renters think they're immune to the to the to this discussion on taxes. Well, they're not, because if they're renting, those taxes are being passed on. The landlords aren't paying for those taxes, they're being passed on to you and your rent. So you are affected by those kind of things. And so, yeah, we need to make sure that we're super focused on those kind of things. Um but yeah, to your to your question, there there will be somebody, some people that I'm sure will look at the fact that I'm a conservative and uh reject reject me out of hand, and that's fine. You know, um I think people that are willing to uh think about the issues and think about the fact that all I'm asking is that there is one viewpoint on this council right now. We need some other viewpoints. There are other viewpoints in the city, it's not all one viewpoint. I bring a different set of skills, a different background, uh, a strong business background that's not on the council now. And so I think we need we need more voices. We need more diversity of opinions on the council to represent uh the whole community.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Do you feel that your business experience makes up for your lack of political experience? Do you think that that's Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 30:48

I mean, I I mean look, the founders, the founders, I I I think a lot about the founders. Of course, last weekend, this past weekend with the 250th, I often think about the founders and what they would think, how they view some of the things that we're doing. But the founders intended a person like me. I only want to run, I I frankly don't want to be in office any more than one term. So the found the founders would, I think, view my candidacy. Yeah, that's what I expect. Somebody to come in off of their farm or out of their business, serve for a limited amount of time, and then go back to their business or their farm. That's what the founders envisioned for this country. They never envisioned career politicians, people that would stay in office for 20 or 30 or 40 years. They never envisioned that. So, yeah, I I'm right, like I said, I'm I've never run for office, but I I have common sense. I've run businesses, I'm an engineer, which is a good thing and a bad thing sometimes, but so I'm data-driven and analytical. I don't know everything. I I mean, like zoning issues, those are very complicated issues, and land use is a very complicated issue balancing out a lot of different needs from private property rights to the need for more housing, supply and demand on housing, cost of housing. Um, so those are complicated issues, and I can't say that I know every issue 100%. And if somebody asks me something and I don't know the answer to the question, I'm not afraid to admit I don't know. And but I will promise you one thing that I will not lie to you. You'll know where I stand, and that I will through the lens of all four of those key campaign tenants, fiscal responsibility, safety, and security, etc., that's the lens that I will view decisions through and make that decision based on what I think is best for the entire community, not just a certain group of it.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

So but you heard it here first, you are only seeking one term. I'm only seeking one term. Well, what if the people like you?

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Uh well, that's great. I might be in Idaho or South Dakota or North Dakota. I don't know. So uh no, we don't. I mean, I don't want any more than one term. Uh I'm hoping that I actually encourage other because many, many conservatives and conservative business owners, they won't run in the city. They're afraid to run in the city. And I'm hoping that maybe, maybe that, maybe I can encourage other people to get involved and and bring other voices into the conversation. Why is that, do you think? Is Hendersonville blue, red, or purple? Actually, Hendersonville is is pretty purple. Um it's it's um, I mean, it's pretty balanced actually in the city between registered Republicans, registered Democrats balance out one another pretty evenly. And then if you look at the unaffiliated, those who vote Republican versus those who vote Democrat, it's pretty balanced as well. So it's actually pretty split. Yeah. A little a little different than what the county is. But um, so there are a lot of more conservative leaning people, but I think there, you know, I think a lot of business owners who might run in the city would be afraid of being canceled and what effect it will have on their businesses. Yeah. That's a risk.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

The the Appalachian culture is very interesting to me politically because at face value it seems, it seems as if people in Western North Carolina, and and they are for the most part, conservative, but then you kind of drill down into the to the actual, you know, the personal dynamics in in this area of the country, and it's it gets blurred, doesn't it, in many ways?

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Well, I mean, I think there's a couple factors there, right? There's certainly there's been a lot of influx of folks from outside of the area that are bringing different different worldviews to the area. I think the traditional blue dog Democrat, you know, it was really more fiscally conservative, maybe more socially moderate. Not very many, that's not really the Democratic Party today, right? It's moved so far to the left that I think that's that's left a lot of those conservative Democrats probably, you know, uh outside of the mainstream in the Democratic Party. So things have changed a lot in the politics. That's why I don't, you know, I think there was there was there was more commonality between Democrats and Republicans 20 years ago here. I don't, I, you know, the the arguments were on the margins, but now there are some pretty major differences, particularly about the role of government. And that's really has been all, you know, I I often think about the, you know, there's a saying about uh think globally and act locally. It's usually in the context of environmental issues and climate change and all that kind of stuff, but I look at it more from the standpoint there are a lot of big issues, a lot of issues that are global in nature, whether it's globalism or you know um those kind of dynamics that are happening that filter down to the local level and you know uh and how what the right role of government should be, how big governments should be, uh all those things, I look at that as you know, I like to read and and understand some of these overarching big issues and how it applies to to the local local government, but in general, you know, uh the since really since the since the early 20s, 1920s, um this concept that government is the solution is completely opposite what the founders intended and what our roots are in classical liberalism, not the liberalism today, but classic liberalism, which is which found uh is is is was so much part of the founding era, is is now out the window. And this big government, the whether it's socialism or the you know, and then you got the influx of socialism and Marxism and communism in this country that I think everybody should be concerned with. Um so there's lots of big issues on a national global scale that are will affect our city. And those are important to me to stand against those things because though, you know, the only thing that's standing between between socialism and communism and Marxism is our constitution, and that's under attack right now. The rule of law is under attack through through those kind of movements. Um lots lots of different things to unpack there, but a lot of a lot of things that go through my mind that influence what what I do on a daily basis and influence why I'm doing what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_00 38:39

Do you think that the a lot of the recent success of democratic socialists lately on in a lot of municipal races, do you think that's an anomaly? Do you think it's a fad? Is it a trend, or is it something longer lasting in this country?

SPEAKER_01 38:54

Aaron Powell So I think I I think it's I mean, you go back to COVID and the dramatic cost of living in this country. So if you go back in history, you know, whenever there are, we we have this big inflection point in the cost of living, everybody's suffering, whether through inflation, uh spending of trillions of our dollars after COVID. I'll make a side comment, I'll come back to that, but it infuriates me when I hear local politicians talk about ARP funding, so the American Recovery Plan funding, which is funding things like Berkeley Park, funded things like the Aquista Trail. And they couched this funding in terms of its free funding that we're not paying local taxes. Well, we are paying for it. It's a direct result why we're $39 trillion in debt in this country. It's a it's a big factor in terms of inflation. So all these things are interconnected. So if I'm on council and we get ARP funding for a park or a greenway or whatever, I'm going to make it very clear we're taking this money, but don't be fooled that this is no cost to you. You are paying for it. You're paying for it in inflation. Inflation is a tax. And the policies that we have at the federal level and the state level, even, that directly influences our cost of living. But I but going back to your point, I think this rise in democratic socialism, whatever the heck that means, I'm not sure anybody can really define what it means, but I think it's driven by pocketbook issues that people are concerned with their cost of living. And number one, and number two, they haven't read history. No one reads history anymore. I mean, you listen to the interviews of some of these folks that are being interviewed about what they stand for with this stuff. Ahead, they have no clue. They have no clue what's been tried in the past, and we're now going down this path. And part of it is the education system. Kids are not, they don't even, they don't get any of this, right? Um, so you know, I think it's lack of education in terms of history, and it's a reflection of pocketbook issues. And I'm hopeful, I don't know, I don't know where this is all going to go because I think we have a lost generation of people that don't understand history and are being sold a bill of goods by like the guy in New York, Mandami, and others that are winning these local elections, they're being sold a bill of goods, and nothing's free. You know, giving away free stuff is a great way to get elected, but you know, that's it's it's a road that uh many countries have gone down and they've failed miserably. The fact is, our system of government, our economic system with capitalism and so forth has lifted more people out of poverty uh than any any uh any other way to manage the economy. And if you think that socialism and Marxism is the answer to your problems, then you are sorely going to be disappointed. And I'm always fascinated by talking to people that have come from other countries. Uh there's a guy here in town that is from Cuba, and you know, they shake their head looking at what we're what we're doing in this country. It's like, what are you doing? Are you crazy? And um so I I don't know. I hope the tide gets turned. And um, but at some point when you get so much of the population that's getting free stuff, well, it's kind of a snowball effect, and you know, the more you give away, the more you get elected, the more you get elected, the more you give away. It's a virtuous cycle that never ends. So I don't know where where it's gonna go. I uh fear that's one of the reasons that I'm involved in what I do with the Convention of States that's focused on the federal government. It's why I'm taking the risk to do this here because I have a 34-year-old daughter, my first grandchild is due in September, and I worry about what uh what this country is going to be for them, you know.

SPEAKER_00 43:41

You mentioned to me earlier that the issue of homelessness was one of the catalysts for why you're running for office. Did you want to talk about that at all?

SPEAKER_01 43:51

Yeah, sure. I mean, so you know, we got a first-hand view of the issues with homelessness probably I think it's been three years now, maybe more, maybe it's four years. I have to go back and look. But uh my wife and I, who live here in town, you know, was woken up at three o'clock in the morning, somebody knocking on a door wanting a lighter. And we told them, no, you need to go away. Well, they tried to open the screen door, which happened to be locked, and I got a little agitated and they they finally left. Called the police, and police came back quickly. Um, they they came very quickly. I love the Hendersonville police, I have to say. I mean, all my interactions with the beat cops, I mean, they're great. And I will be your biggest supporter, let me tell you that. But um, but he came back and said, Yeah, we got him on video cam saying that, yeah, he did knock on your door looking for a lighter. Why are you looking for a lighter at three o'clock in the morning? Obvious question. Um, but no, I didn't try to break into their house. And the police knew this guy, he was in the community, homeless, and they Encouraged us to go ahead and go to the magistrate's office. And we did after about 30 days, after we got some security systems in place, but uh and then we filed um civil complaint against him, and uh we went to court with him five times. We decided to go to court because frankly, we wanted to get the guy help, right? Um and so we went to court five times. Finally, at the end of those five court cases, the the judge found him incompetent to stand trial. He was released back into the community. I went to the DA at that time, who was uh representing the state on the final court date, and said, I'll pay for this guy to get help. Right? That's what we wanted to do. We wanted to get the guy help. And unfortunately, they wouldn't let me do that. And even if I could do it, you know, the judge said, Well, I mean, there's 18-month waiting lists for drug treatment, and frankly, if somebody doesn't want to get treatment, they're not, it's not gonna be successful anyway. But the fact is, that was very eye-opening in terms of this cycle. You know, people commit a crime, they they they go to court, they get released back in the community. We're not dealing with the long-term issues. I mean, my position on the homeless homelessness issue is that um number one, we have to keep the community safe. So there has to be uh ordinances and so forth that the the officers can use to keep the community safe. And I know in talking to officers that some of those things have been taken away from them over the last several years, all in the name of compassion. Well, that's not compassionate, letting people live on the street, in my opinion. Um if you believe it's compassionate to let live people live on the street. I encourage you to let them live in your backyard if that's what you want to do. You do that, and I'm fine with that if you want to pay for that. Don't force the taxpayer to pay for all the services for people living on the street. It's not compassionate. Um, but number one, we have to keep people safe in their homes and on the greenways. I am I'm on the greenway almost every day. I see a lot of stuff. I see a lot of stuff on the on the plaza across by the train station. And um we have to keep the public safe, number one, but then we need to work on, and it's not a I think I mentioned it before, it's not necessarily something the city can solve by itself, but mental health issues, drug addiction, addiction, addiction, there has to be more services. I would rather pay tax money for that kind of stuff, right? To get people off the street and and get them to be productive citizens. Just giving them things and letting them continue to live on the street because somehow they're a quote unquote right to homelessness, that's not compassionate. That's not solving the problem. We need to find better ways to do that. And like I said, that's a that's a bigger issue than just a city council. That means that's a state-level issue, it's a federal issue, it's it's a societal issue with how we deal with mental health and drug addiction, which are the main drivers for homelessness, right? So yeah, I'm pretty passionate about that because I really want if if there was one thing that I would uh I would say that that I would feel vindicated or feel like I was successful if I got on counsel, if there was a few things, one or two or three things that I could do to move the ball forward to solve that problem and to actually solve the problem, not just build homeless housing and not get to the root cause of you know of the problem. I would really, that would be uh I would feel like I was a success and change and if I could change one person's life to get them off the street, that would be awesome. You know, because every life we're all a child of God. We are all made in God's image. And I I don't want to, I hate to see these wasted lives. It's so it's so upsetting to see a person sleeping on the plaza uh by the train station. It's so upsetting seeing somebody walking down the greenway that's clearly high on something and kicking and screaming and being a threat not only to themselves, but it uh it pains me to see somebody bathing in the in the creek on the greenway. That's painful. I I don't want to see that. And I think we all agree to that. The question is, there are different solutions. You can either just continue to say, well, it's their right to do that, we shouldn't impinge on their right to be out on the street. Well, what about my rights? What about the fact that our house was attempted to break into the money that we spent? My wife was still working at a real job at that time, she had to take off work for those five court cases. What about my rights and protecting my rights? And so there needs to be more, you know, so I'm I'm pretty passionate about that particular issue.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

I have the Henderson County Sheriff's Office app on my phone, and I have this thing where I kind of review all the the lineup on almost a daily basis, and I look to see if I can recognize anybody that I've seen around downtown. You know, living downtown, I'm I'm I'm out on Main Street walking at 5 30 a.m. I see a lot of the same characters, unfortunately. And and I feel I I feel the same way. It it's I I feel a deep sadness for for some of these folks, because some of them, you can tell, I mean, many of them are very physically able. You know, they would be physically able to do it, to work a job, to be productive members of society. Exactly. Yet unfortunately, whether it's mental health or drug addiction, they find themselves compelled to sit on a park bench and and um I just I it's it's so sad.

SPEAKER_01 51:27

It is sad because it's it's it's I mean, it's such a waste of of a uh life. And you know, I just don't buy into the argument that that's their right to do that. I mean, I mean, that's just not compassion to my in my way of thinking. And if they're gonna get public assistance in any way, there should be some pathway to solve that problem and get them off of that public assistance. I mean, I all for helping people that are, you know, uh in need of help to bridge from where they are today to becoming self-sustaining citizens and and contributing to society. I'm all I'm all for spending whatever money we have to spend to get people. That's compassion in my mind, is finding ways to get them off that, but not just saying, well, you're fine. You if you want to live on the street, that's your right to do that. I just I don't buy into that because I just don't think that that's compassionate.

SPEAKER_00 52:30

I've interviewed the Reverend Anthony McMinn from the Hendersonville Rescue Mission. I've interviewed Daniel Conway from the Adult Recovery Court, I've interviewed Patrick Davis from the Hope Coalition. There's so many programs locally available to folks to help with with these issues.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

And I I guess it's just a matter of you gotta want to do it and you gotta Yeah, that's the other issue is that um, you know, at the end of the day, no one's gonna force you to get clean. Uh, if and I've we've all have experiences, I've probably most every family has experiences with somebody in their family or extended family suffering with drug addiction and what that does. And under you know, the best intentions, you try to help somebody at the end of the day, if they don't want the help, then they're probably not gonna get the help. Yeah. And um, so well, then you just again you gotta have things in place to make sure that you keep the community safe because it's just we can't we can't allow that to affect public safety.

SPEAKER_00 53:46

So you want to be a one-term council member. Yeah. It's it sounds like you want to create a legacy and and then walk away.

SPEAKER_01 53:55

What would that legacy be if if you well the legacy would be uh you know that there are other opinions that we need other voices in the city, encourage other people to get involved and not be afraid to do that. And like I said, personally, if I could make some impact on the homelessness issue, I mean, maybe I'm naive, okay? Maybe maybe I'm living in a dream world. Um in fact, a county commissioner gave me a book called Dreamland. I think I have to read it about about drug addiction. But um, so maybe I'm just naive, but um, hey, those are those are good problems to work on, and and I just, you know, I want to see more conservative ways to deal with some of these issues rather than just the the same old thing that other cities have tried for dealing with these issues that are failing. I mean, the you know, uh low barrier housing where you just build homeless housing and there's no, you know, you just you can go in, you can, you no questions asked, you can sleep in in these places and then leave and go live on the street. That's just not a solution, in my opinion. And cities that are have done it, even cities like San Francisco that built their homelessness uh you know uh system to try to solve homelessness through things like low barrier housing, it's not working. They're abandoning those efforts. I just don't want to see us. I don't want to I I want to get this problem resolved. We need to get this problem resolved now, because if we don't, at some point it gets so bad that, you know, and you may you may be listening to this and think, oh, I think he's blowing it out of proportion. Well, that's what every city has said, that all of a sudden they wake up one morning and they got hordes of people living on the street, and now what do you do? You you it destroys the city. The business, the business community already here is suffering from that kind of stuff. I I know it for a fact in terms of you know the effect that it's gonna have on my wife's business. So those things are really there is a real cost, and plus the cost in human suffering and dignity dignity. You know.

SPEAKER_00 56:22

Why do you think there is so much of a homeless issue here? Is it proximity to Asheville? Is it I think that that's a big part of it.

SPEAKER_01 56:30

I think it's a lot of it's being pushed out of Asheville down here. And if it's deemed as, you know, it's a it's a welcoming place for homeless, then you're gonna, you know, you build it and they will come type of thing. You make it easy for people to live on the streets, you're gonna get more of it. I mean, the weather's pretty moderate here. So yeah, I think it's being pushed out of you know, places like Asheville. So but I think it's also a reflection of, again, goes back to economic. I'm sure there are a lot of economic factors, but but I think the primary drivers, you know, anybody will tell you it's drug addiction and mental illness, and of course that impacts their ability to keep a job and hold a job and that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 57:16

But so there are four candidates in competition for two spots on council. Correct. Two are incumbents, correct. And then yourself at another you think you have a pretty good chance?

SPEAKER_01 57:29

Uh yeah, I do. Um, I mean, the way this election works is it's a non-party plurality election. So when you go to the polls in November, the city council race, if you vote in the city, it'll be the last race on the ballot, and there'll be four names on that ballot. You get to vote for two names, and the top two vote getters get that uh get that seat. So I didn't you know this this decision to decide to run was not an easy decision because of all the things we already talked about. But now that we made the decision, uh well, I'm a I'm a pretty organized person. So I am serious about this this this uh this race, and um yeah, I think I have a pretty good pretty good chance. I'm gonna do everything I can to to get that seat and um maybe hopefully bring my common sense type of approach to things to the council. Not everybody will like it, but it will um um I think most people when they see what I actually do will accept that yeah, those are those are good ideas and that's that's kind of rational, and let's stick to those kind of core responsibilities rather than getting involved in all these other things.

SPEAKER_00 58:48

Um, Jeff, I wish you the best of luck in November. Thanks for coming on the show. Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity. Yeah, thank you for taking taking the time out of your campaign schedule. Where are you gonna be next? Do you have any events coming up?

SPEAKER_01 58:59

I don't have anything planned. Right now, the the uh you know I'm gearing up now. Um I had a lot of events running up to the Fourth of July parade, which we had a afloat in the Fourth of July parade, but now right I'm going to focus on uh July into August. We'll we'll really uh turn to the actual campaigning. You know, I want to I want to get out there, particularly with what's called block walking. Retail politics is still that's the key. I I'm not as well known, right, because I'm on no boards. Well, I was on the Fletcher uh zoning and planning board for a couple years when I lived up in Fletcher, but you know, I'm not an incumbent, so I don't have the power of incumbency. So I just have to get out there and communicate, and I'm gonna do that in a variety of ways to, and that's really where now is after the 4th of July is now my focus gonna be on that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 59:58

You're gonna knock on doors? I'm gonna knock on doors. I have some great stories of knocking on doors in Colorado when I ran for town council.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:06

It's a very it's an interesting experience.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:07

Yeah, it sure is. But I wish you the best of luck, Jeff. Thank you. Thank you for coming on the guest. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:29

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