In my 6.5 years as an Waynesville alderman, I have come to appreciate that one of the best things about local governance is how close we are to the people we represent. Our kids go to school together. We shop in the same stores and eat at the same restaurants. If you have questions or problems, you call my personal cellphone, not a toll-free number that connects you to a nameless, faceless somebody in an office somewhere. We should steer clear of anything that increases the distance between us and passage of this bill will undoubtedly turn inches into miles. 

It’s not an exaggeration to say that we as a nation are more divided today than at any time since the Civil War, and at a time when solving the ocean of problems we face demands we work together, more partisanship all but guarantees we won’t do that. 

Instead of asking voters to evaluate the people that seek to represent them based on the letter that’s displayed after their names, wouldn’t it be better to judge them on their character and the strength of their ideas? Is the toxicity and gridlock that results from extreme partisanship, played out every day in Raleigh and Washington, D.C., really what we want at the local level in Haywood County? 

We need far less partisanship, not more. Count me as strongly opposed. 

Jon Feichter, Alderman 

Waynesville