New think tank in town
I’m part of a new think tank called the Vance Policy Institute. We’ve just released our first White Paper and I pitched it before the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, Dec. 4. Chairman Nathan Ramsey was the only commissioner to respond to my presentation, and expressed doubt that Buncombe County could adopt our proposal for openness in government—a proposal based on Florida’s “Sunshine Law” which is considered the best such ordinance in the country by government experts.
We say that Asheville and Buncombe certainly deserve a government as good as folks in Florida!
For a look at the paper and an ongoing discussion, check out this pdf.
Vance Policy Institute Transparency White Paper
We believe this idea is one that many people can get behind: open government is good for everyone.
[...] has a new think tank. Writer extraordinaire Cecil Bothwell announced its formation with the following: A few of us have [...]
The Wild West » Blog Archive » http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberty said this on December 8, 2007 at 5:10 pm |
Cecil,
I don’t think choosing Z. Vance, of KKK fame, as the namesake for this new “think tank” is very thoughtful. Clare
Hmmm. I hadn’t heard of Vance’s connection to the KKK. But your comment is very timely, as we have a meeting tomorrow which will include discussion of the name.
We picked Vance as iconic of Asheville and Buncombe County, in the same way that Washington or Jefferson are iconic national figures, despite their slave ownership. Vance is encumbered by some warts (slavery and support for the confederacy) and was, at the same time, a very progressive thinker on other issues. He was a steadfast defender of Jews in an era when the Christian churches were teaching that all Jews had horns, etc. He maintained the right of habeas corpus throughout the civil war, when every other confederate governor and Lincoln, terminated it.
We’ll be discussing the name, given the criticism it has engendered from three people, but I’m not yet convinced it is a bad choice. I know we would all like to hear suggestions of other names that have a long-term relevance to local government here. Having styled ourselves as a “think tank” I’d like to think that we are open to changing our minds on anything, based on new information.