Bellamy to give “State of Downtown” address

The Asheville Downtown Association will host an annual “State of Downtown” luncheon with keynote speaker Mayor Terry Bellamy on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at noon. The event is co-sponsored by the city of Asheville and will take place in the Civic Center’s banquet room.

Other speakers include Downtown Association Board Secretary Joe Minicozzi, who will give an update on the Asheville Design Center’s I-26 Connector iniative, and Asheville Downtown Association President Dwight Butner, who will address issues facing downtown businesses and residents.

To purchase tickets and reserve a seat, contact Jennifer Taylor at the Asheville Downtown Association, 251-9973 or jt@ashevilledowntown.org. A $10 donation includes a boxed lunch and beverage.

— Hal L. Millard, staff writer

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14 thoughts on “Bellamy to give “State of Downtown” address

  1. lokel

    A donation!

    Purchase tickets to hear the Mayor speak!

    Now I am convinced that this Mayor and the Council surrounding her are so out of touch it isn’t even funny.

  2. mike.lloyd

    How about the state of all of Asheville???

    This &^%$#@! city just annexes anyone close by to fund the %$#@! downtown money machine. $14M to redo the lawn in front of the city building? Give me a break if $200K worth of work has really been done. Walk by it everyday. All they do is re-route traffic every 2 weeks tear up the sod and replant it with a little gratuitous curb work. Somebody is pocketing some serious $$$$. Terry?? Brownie??

  3. Gordon Smith

    Mike,

    Don’t worry. I’ve called the WAAAAAAHmbulance for you.

    The Pack Square deal has been funded through a combination of federal and private monies. It’s gone on too long and overbudget (as all construction projects seem to do – remember this when considering the Ellington), and the Conservancy may soon come begging to the City Council for money to finish the job, but there’s no money from this going through Council.

    Saying that Council members are stealing is a serious accusation. One that you appear to toss around very lightly.

    Further, annexation happens when an area is utilizing city resources without paying city taxes. Unless you believe that you ought to be able to freely take the resources that my tax dollars pay for, then you’ll have to deal with annexation.

    Lastly, if you want to know who’s being supported by whom, check out this piece at Scrutiny Hooligans:

    http://www.scrutinyhooligans.us/?p=4208

  4. PaulRevere

    EZ to see where Gordo gets his brown nose buttered. Anyone who sticks up for the current city council is a hooligan themself. The state of the city can be summed up in one word “embarrassment”.

  5. Gordon, let’s look at the annexation issue a bit more fairly … Asheville is the commercial hub for Buncombe and surrounding counties… rather than using resources, we are contributing hugely (and in the majority) to the city’s economy. You would not survive long without us.

    Now, as to annexation, what do we get for it? We already have fire, sheriff protection, garbage pickup, etc. The only thing we get if you annex us is double property taxes for no extra benefit. Since annexation is involuntary in North Carolina, this may be properly characterized as taxation without representation. What’s fair about that, eh?

  6. Gordon Smith

    Ralph,

    If folks are using city services without paying city taxes, then we have a problem. Otherwise, we don’t.

  7. Aliasjoe

    Lokel:
    The $10 was to cover the cost of providing lunch and to pay for getting the space at the civic center. As they say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Nor is there free rent!
    Cheers
    Joe Minicozzi

    PS: Tomorrow night, the Downtown Association is co-sponsoring a presentation on ‘Strengthening Local Businesses’ at Jubilee from 5:30-7pm. The speaker is Jeff Milchen from AMIBA (www.amiba.net). The event is free to the general public. See you all there.

  8. I have no problem, Gordon… yes, we use city services — the streets you build to entice us to your stores, the police protection you provide while we are shopping to shield us from your more criminally-minded citizens, etc. … but ALL of that is extended to the surrounding populace for the city’s economic benefit. So, no, there is no reason for us to pay city taxes. Withdraw those services and see how quick Asheville folds and dust blows through the empty streets. ;-)

    This stuff, by the way, is called ‘reality.’ It’s pretty good stuff most of the time and ‘progressives’ need to partake of it in limited but refreshing dosages. Permit me to pour you another cup.

  9. bob

    Ralph,

    Can you explain to me how it is you are able to speak for massive demographics? You apparently represent everybody who lives outside the city limits of Asheville. I find this astounding Was there a vote I missed?

    Perhaps you could express Your Own Opinion, without claiming to speak for others?

    Just a suggestion.

  10. gee, Bob, I could be wrong… go ask the approximately 150,000 people who live in the county (i.e. outside the Asheville city limits) and see how many want to pay city taxes.

    I think you’ll quickly find my opinion to be the consensus. So, yes, I CAN speak for massive demographics when stating the obvious.

    Cool, huh?

  11. Gordon Smith

    If the city is using city resources outside the city limits to provide things for folks (water, fire, police, sewer, etc.), then they ought to be paying in.

    It’s absurd to say that folks ought to pay city taxes for visiting. I wonder how obtuse you can get.

  12. Gordon Smith

    Oh – the exception, I believe, is that we could use a hotel tax to further support our affordable housing trust.

  13. Aliasjoe

    How about putting toll gates up at the edges of Woodfin, Fariview, Arden, the Airport, and West Asheville and making people pay their fair share for coming into Asheville? People in the County shouldn’t have a problem with that, should they? They can stay out in the County and do their thing and we won’t bother them. They can pay their lower County taxes and they should be able to pay for their own services. While we’re at it, we should stop the cash flow that comes out of the City and pays for the County. Afterall, part of the reason City taxes are so high is that half our taxes go to the County. For what? All the County roads the County builds? Oh! I forgot, the County doesn’t build roads. The State does. So our state taxes subsidizes the County’s inefficeient development patterns. We should remove that too. I’ll gladly pay a fee every time I leave the City to drive out in the County so long as I can stop paying their welfare program for poor development.

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