Emily Patrick

epatrick@citizen-times.com

Terry Bellamy, who served as mayor of Asheville from 2005 to 2013, announced Wednesday she will seek a vacant seat on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, where she would focus on housing, education, aid for people with disabilities, jobs and transportation, she said.

The Buncombe County Democratic Party must select someone to fill the seat that represents District 1, central Buncombe, because Brownie Newman was elected chairman of the board Tuesday in a countywide election.

For the past year and a half, Bellamy has worked as communications director for the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville. Previously, she was the executive director of The Arc of Buncombe County, a nonprofit serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

She said her approach to policy making will be different than when she was mayor because of her recent professional experiences.

“It’s one thing to have been in the seat and understood how to make policy and formulate it, and I think it’s another to actually work beside individuals who have had my ear and heart and to be able to get things done," she said. "I’m hearing a multitude of stories on day-to-day issues, and at the same time, I’m looking at where’s the accountability from people who receive money to help individuals and organizations. Are they really doing the things that people need to have done?"

Working at the Housing Authority, she's noticed a "disconnect between how public policy is created and how people actually live," she said. She hopes to confront government practices that make it hard for disadvantaged people to succeed, promote equity for minorities and improve access to child care and transit, she said.

To win the seat on the Board of Commissioners, Bellamy will have to be nominated by a member of the Democratic Party's executive committee. That person must also be a resident of District 1. Then, nominees will go to a vote.

Keith Young of Asheville City Council announced in June he will seek the board appointment.

"The quest (is) to break down the racial barrier on our Buncombe County Board of Commissioners," he said in June. "I and many African-Americans see it as a duty to continually break down racial barriers if the opportunity presents. It is something that we owe to both those before and after us."

Bellamy and Young are African-American, and either would be the first black member of the board.

“I think it’s important," Bellamy said. “This is what I’m hearing from African-Americans in the community, saying our kids need to see examples of what they can be."

If a woman is appointed, the board will have three female members, a rare occurrence.

No one else has announced an intention to seek the board appointment. City Council member Gordon Smith, who sought a seat on the board in the March primary but was defeated by Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, said he has no comment at this time.

Kathy Sinclair, chair of the Democratic Party, said there are no immediate plans to fill the seat, and it could be empty briefly after the new board is sworn in Dec. 5.

“We’re just completing our thought about (the election)," she said. "There will be recounts, so we’re not yet focused on calling this meeting. It will be happening within a very timely period.”

Democrats: No immediate plan to fill commissioner seat