County, city to hold joint meeting to discuss partnerships, goals

Brownie Newman, Chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, and Esther Manheimer, Mayor of Asheville City Council, will spearhead a meeting between the two governing bodies on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

While they are often at the same events, it’s been more than a year since Buncombe County commissioners and Asheville City Council members held a formal meeting together. However, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, the two governing bodies will hold what’s billed as a special joint meeting.

There are no action items on the agenda, so the meeting will function mostly as a way to present a unified front on collaborative projects and shared goals. There will be speeches and presentations from Commission Chair Brownie Newman and Council Mayor Esther Manheimer; County Manager Wanda Greene and City Manager Gary Jackson; and Assistant County Manager Jon Creighton and Assistant City Manager Cathy Ball.

The meeting will also function to provide updates on the following projects:

  • Energy Innovation Task Force (Newman; Julie Mayfield of Asheville City Council; Jason Walls of Duke Energy)
  • East Asheville Library (Greene)
  • African-American Heritage Commission (Manheimer)

While not on the agenda, the county and city share a newly increased property tax base due to the county’s reappraisal that shows the county is now worth $31.5 billion, up $6.8 billion (28 percent) since the 2013 assessment. Even if the issue is not addressed during the joint meeting, it will likely be discussed when county commissioners and council members hold their separate retreats, both set for Friday, Feb. 17.

The county-city meeting will be held in the first floor conference room at 200 College St. on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.

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About Dan Hesse
I grew up outside of Atlanta and moved to WNC in 2001 to attend Montreat College. After college, I worked at NewsRadio 570 WWNC as an anchor/reporter and covered Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners starting in 2004. During that time I also completed WCU's Master of Public Administration program. You can reach me at dhesse@mountainx.com.

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2 thoughts on “County, city to hold joint meeting to discuss partnerships, goals

  1. Lulz

    LOL, someone investigate Newman for fraud, corruption, and misuse of taxpayer funds.

    If these dimwits aren’t talking about lowering spending, then they’re wasting time.

  2. Mike

    Why not save money and merge the Asheville City Schools into the Buncombe County system? Is it because the educrats that run the city school system are also democrats???

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