MUMPOWER SERIOUS ABOUT FIGHTING DRUGS

ASHEVILLE -- Asheville's vice mayor's liquid voice, mostly even
temperament, classic blue suit and scholarly glasses may not be the uniform
of a passionate public servant.

Carl Mumpower can be temperamental. The 52-year-old can cajole.

But he's dogged in his devotion to his practice and to the city, a family
member said. He has, to the praise and consternation of voters, made
himself a mediator on council. And he brought what he calls a conservative
voice and balanced approach to a position he called a lot of hard work,
sometimes not fun, but an honor just the same.

"I am burning inside," he said. "There is a lot of energy in there."

Indeed, the Western North Carolina native has made fighting the city's
problems with hard drugs his signature issue. It hasn't been without risk.
Political cartoonists have poked fun at his efforts. People approach him on
the street and criticize his drug-fighting stance.

"I get a good bit of heat for it," he said. "But all you've got to do is go
over to public housing and watch the little old ladies who are afraid and
talk to them, or see the kids playing ball right below a bunch of thugs
dealing drugs. And you can renew yourself with that. I know I'm right.

"I don't know everything about how to fix it, but I know I'm right that it
needs to be fixed."

Indeed, he has earned respect among many Asheville voters, even those who
disagree with him or are lukewarm to his leadership style.

"He's a clever man," said Peter Gentling, one of Mumpower's neighbors who
said he would likely support more pro-neighborhood candidates. "He's picked
up this drug business as an opening to obtain interest in his candidacy."

Others admire Mumpower's stance and personality, including Mumpower's
neighbor Helen Hoehne, who described him as sincere and kind.

"What he says, he means," she said.

But even a week away from the Nov. 8 election, Mumpower said, quoting
President Reagan, that he struggles with a "crisis of confidence" in his
political work, which includes serving as chairman of the Asheville Drug
Commission, For Our Kids and the Memorial Stadium Restoration Committee.

"I don't enjoy the confidence in myself and in my ability to do what I need
to do," he said. "I don't enjoy the confidence that I think a lot of people
do in politics. It's a struggle for me. I keep pushing."

Perhaps it reflects the circuitous way he came to local politics, a move
that surprised his daughter, Kristen Lewis, because he was so involved with
his counseling practice. He started his private practice in 1978.

"He just cares a lot about other people," she said. "I look up to him. I
hope that I can be as good to people as he is."

And the road to his second run for Asheville City Council is a long way
from the boy Mumpower described himself to be -- a "noodlehead 18-year-old"
who, while serving in the Vietnam War, found comfort in alcohol and women
and was moved by the injustice he saw waged against the Montagnards. His
military service ended in 1973.

He said he was, like many Vietnam War veterans, haunted by his experience
there. He returned to the United States confused and uncertain. Those
feelings helped form a foundation in his interest in counseling and
psychology, a background he sometimes shows during contentious debates on
council.

"I have not been a perfect man and never will be," he said, "but it's
important to try to grow."