+ Education

Our wellbeing depends on the right to a quality education in a safe, gun-free environment. We must fully invest in Yancey County’s public education system to provide superior educational and vocational training opportunities that encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, through the following recommendations:

• Support the full education of those with disabilities and celebrate their value to family and community.
• Increase financial support for teachers through pay increases and increased stipends for items many teachers now pay for themselves.
• Push for equity across all public schools in services and facilities.
• Promote greater spending on technology for the classroom.
• Support the teaching of civics and history to encourage critical thinking and awareness of social issues.
• Emphasize training in verbal communication and writing skills to prepare our students for the future.
• Support the arts in schools to encourage self-expression and self-awareness.
• Encourage more technical and mechanical training partnership with industry at the high school or community college level (Mayland) to better prepare students for the future.

+ Healthcare

We believe in expanding access for physical and mental healthcare to all while lowering the cost for everyone through the following recommendations:

• Support Medicaid and Medicare expansion.
• Encourage substance abuse prevention and treatment through greater emphasis on rehab programs, pain management programs and eliminating an environment that encourages substance abuse.
• Support access to mental health care and community support programs with payment for mental health services at the same level as all other healthcare needs.
• Acknowledging the changing health care landscape in our county, we strongly support the development of a federally qualified health clinic in Burnsville in conjunction with the Mountain Community Health Partnership.
• Search for viable local solutions to meet urgent need of emergency services and insurance that will include helicopter service as needed.
• Promote law enforcement practices that lessen the availability of illegal and other addictive substances.

+ Economic Opportunities

We endorse an economy that provides a growth environment and opportunities for both businesses and workers. We recommend the following:

• Protect and promote family farms with business development training, farmland preservation, improving crop production and other initiatives directed at agro-businesses.
• Provide a livable wage and minimum wage to all levels of employment.
• Expand efforts to attract new and startup businesses, particularly those in green and technology to come to Yancey County through the offering of training programs for employees.
• Push for net neutrality to allow fair and equal competition in the marketplace.

+ Social Justice

The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and the right of every American. We strongly support the right to vote without intimidation or discrimination. We also support the implementation of programs to provide protection and justice for all Yancey County residents by recommending:

• Working for non-partisan redistricting and to make voter registration and voting easier and more accessible.
• Support developing innovative jail diversion programs available to substance abuse courts for treatment and rehabilitation.
• Support funding and training in nonviolent crisis intervention for all law enforcement and emergency services.
• Advocate for sensible gun laws that protect the rights of gun owners and reduce the availability of assault type weapons.
• Improve and expand background checks that will keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and convicted felons.
• Support the development of a veterans’ court to adjudicate offenses committed by veterans in Yancey County.

+ Environment

We believe in protecting the environment through green initiatives that will reduce carbon emissions and increase the use of new sources of green energy. We support projects that encourage the use of green energy and renewable materials that protect our clean water, wild lands, wildlife, and other natural resources. We encourage the following efforts to preserve our planet for future generations:

• Encourage the use of green energy produced through solar panels and other developing technologies that are locally sourced and serviced.
• Provide incentives for businesses to go green and create green jobs.
• Promote the use of green or renewable materials in building or everyday uses, providing incentives to citizens or businesses.
• Stand together as stewards to protect our natural resources for outdoor recreation, encouraging travel and tourism, preserving our cultural resources and quality of life.