Activists dominated the May 23 public hearing on Asheville’s proposed 2017-18 fiscal year budget. The group $1 Million for the People opposes Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper’s request for $1 million in additional funding to hire 15 new officers for a new downtown policing unit.
Asheville City Council will hold a budget worksession at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23. Immediately after the worksession, Council will hold its regular meeting at 5 p.m. During the regular meeting, Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed city budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year.
“In addition to pushing to lower APD’s racial disparity in police stops, Dee Williams on City Council will bring sanity to local politics and make racial and economic justice some of her top priorities.”
“Indeed, policies are still in place actively working against the formation of new communities — zoning rules that forbid local shops that could serve as neighborhood hubs, lot size restrictions that might work for the suburbs, but which result in a farcically low population density in a city; a lack of sidewalks that means you may have to take your life in your hands just to go check up on a neighbor.”
At its May 9 meeting, Asheville City Council grappled with the challenge of creating a city budget in a time of plenty. “Oddly,” said Mayor Esther Manheimer, this year’s budgeting process has been more difficult than during the recession. Council asked City Manager Gary Jackson to tweak his proposal to achieve a property tax rate that reflects a revenue-neutral rate plus 3.5 cents to pay for interest on the city’s $74 million bond program.
‘I wish Asheville would make providing recycling for renters mandatory. … I’m sure many of the thousands of renters who do not now recycle would if it were convenient.”
If you want to attend Asheville City Council’s May 9 meeting, arrive early. Between a response from the Police Department to a recent report on racial disparities in policing to the first presentation of the city manager’s proposed budget for the 2017-18 Fiscal Year, there’s a lot on the agenda that could be of interest to a variety of city residents and advocates.
Sen. Chuck Edwards of Hendersonville explains some of the considerations that led him to introduce a bill that would compel Asheville to institute district elections for seats on its City Council. And Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer lays out the reasons the city plans to follow a “parallel process” that may include a referendum on the issue, despite Raleigh’s insistence that the city knuckle under by Nov. 1.
“City Council members Brian Haynes and Cecil Bothwell have the right idea — turn the vacant, city-owned parcel fronting St. Lawrence Basilica and the U.S. Cellular Center entirely into a park.”
Data reported to the State Bureau of Investigation by the Asheville Police Department reveal significant racial disparities in traffic stops, an attorney for the Southern Coalition of Social Justice told Asheville City Council on April 24. And even though the data are disturbing, they may not tell the full story: An analysis revealed an apparent failure to report data for 58 percent of audited traffic stops, despite a state law requires police departments to provide demographic data for all stops.
Asheville voters may face an up or down vote on the city district elections plan making its way through the N.C. General Assembly. City Council accepted the advice of City Attorney Robin Currin to hold a referendum on establishing six districts for seats on the council versus the city’s current at-large election system in November.
Discussions on whether and how Asheville should regulate short-term lodging in residential neighborhoods will return to City Council on Tuesday, April 25.
“People contacted [former Sen. Tom] Apodaca initially, and now Mr. Edwards, because they no longer expect those who destroy their quality of life to have any interest in restoring it. We’ve seen this before during City Council’s forced annexation crusade.”
“The ‘citizen’ task force process was a farce. Council did not need this task force. There are 12 years of documented public support for green space, not more commercial development.”
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners may be in for a long night when it confronts a full agenda at its Tuesday, April 18, meeting. Commissioners will hear presentations for two grant requests totaling $6.2 million, and consider approval of an economic development incentive package worth $881,960. Commissioners will also hold public hearings on two […]
Despite confusing and contradictory results from a poll designed to measure voter preferences on how Ashevillians elect their representatives to City Council, Council decided on April 11 to take steps toward placing a referendum on instituting district elections on November’s ballots.
Asheville City Council will consider the results of a poll that show 54 percent of city voters support keeping elections for the Council as they are now — and the same percentage would vote yes to change them if asked by a referendum. Council meets at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11 at 5 p.m. At 3 p.m., Council will hold its final work session dedicated to the 2017-18 fiscal year budget.
“I am still stunned that Council has selected the highway with the largest footprint that will take the most land away from residential and business neighborhoods.”
In honor of this year’s Sunshine Week Xpress looked at publicly subsidized travel by elected officials and employees of Buncombe County and the city of Asheville.
Plans for expanding the Jewish Community Center in its long-time location at 236 Charlotte St. got the nod from Asheville City Council on March 28.
Asheville City Council voted unanimously to accept the recommendations presented by a volunteer citizen panel as the basis for soliciting design services on on Tuesday, March 28. But the community vision presented by the Haywood Street Advisory Team leaves a lot of room for interpretation — and possibly for future controversy about the long-debated best uses for the site.
