No additional changes made their way into this year’s budget as Council decided to adopt the ordinance in a 4-3 vote. Mayor Esther Manheimer, Vice-Mayor Gwen Wisler, and Council members Vijay Kapoor and Julie Mayfield all voted in support of the budget. Members Brian Haynes, Sheneika Smith and Keith Young voted against the plan; all three had shown hesitation about a police funding increase during previous work sessions.
As laid out by a special Council-appointed Blue Ribbon Committee, the HRCA will serve as a bridge between the community and city leadership, as well as recommend policies for Council to adopt. The group will meet on the third Thursday of every month at a location yet to be determined.
Two weeks before the Fourth of July, the meeting’s agenda promises a grand finale of rhetorical explosions over two matters of unfinished business. The first is the Asheville city budget, which Council member Brian Haynes has said he will not support as long as it contains funding for additional officers to staff the Asheville Police Department’s downtown district. The second is a series of resolutions to rescind and replace the three motions on police policy previously proposed by Young and passed by Council on May 22.
While the flood’s immediate aftermath may negatively impact water quality and populations of aquatic life, research suggests that WNC’s watersheds readily recover from similar events over the long term. But area experts emphasize that humans do play a role in maintaining the resilience of the region’s streams, rivers and lakes as development continues along their banks.
On Tuesday, June 19, Council will put the result of its planning process to the test as its members vote to adopt the proposed budget. The document must account for $180,388,554 in spending, enough to fund the current work of over 1,200 employees and invest millions in the city’s future.
Established based on recommendations from a special Council-appointed Blue Ribbon Committee, the new group will be charged with improving human relations and equity throughout Asheville’s government — including the Asheville Police Department, which has drawn fierce criticism in recent months from Council and the public over its response to the beating of a black Asheville resident by a white former APD officer last year.
HCA’s purchase price for the system, plus Mission’s remaining net cash and investments, would fund a nonprofit foundation specifically devoted to boosting public health in the region. At a meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners, President and CEO Ron Paulus claimed that the new organization’s assets, which could range from $1 billion to $2 billion depending on the final sale price, would make it one of the three largest foundations in North Carolina and the richest foundation per capita anywhere on the planet.
The Asheville City Council will make one of its most consequential decisions when it hires its next city manager, a powerful administrator with broad authority for most aspects of city government. To inform its search, the Council is gathering input from residents.
In the letter, Kapoor writes that he will ask Council to “reconsider” its actions at the upcoming meeting on Tuesday, June 19. Speaking with Xpress, he clarified that he’ll be calling for the motions to be rescinded and their substance explored through the normal committee process.
The words City Council adopted on May 22 could land the five members who supported them in hot water, according to lawyers from the N.C. Police Benevolent Association. Language in the city’s charter suggests that the consequences could be serious, possibly even including loss of office if convicted of giving an order to a city […]
By the end of a six-hour session, Council had approved multiple items showing an unprecedented level of urgency for policing reform. Multiple split votes, however, showed the concern of some members over the process of making those changes.
City residents will comment on Asheville’s $180 million spending plan at Council’s regular meeting in council Chambers at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22. Police equity concerns and Strategic Partnership Fund grants are also on the agenda.
Roughly 80 attendees had lunch on the city while hearing updates related to development, design and construction at the May 17 city manager’s development forum. City officials said permitting activity is significantly lower in the current fiscal year than last year.
Amid calls for increased public access to policing data, Asheville City Council left the city’s volunteer board dedicated to hearing residents’ concerns about law enforcement in place for now. At the same time, the elected officials noted many vacancies on the Citizens Police Advisory Committee and signaled their longterm intent to dissolve the body once the newly forming Human Relations Commission has gotten up and running.
For now, the work sessions and haggling are over. Interim City Manager Cathy Ball will present the city’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018-19 to Asheville City Council and the public at Council’s regular meeting in Council Chambers at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15. The document reflects Council’s consensus on issues such as parking […]
Nonprofits are often judged by their overhead ratio, the percentage of their total expenses made up by administrative and fundraising costs. But as Jeanette Butterworth with WNC Nonprofit Pathways, is quick to point out, organizations need funding to spend their funds well.
Funded by a $10,000 grant from Mountain Area Workforce Development, a $5,000 grant from New Belgium Brewing Co. and $2,400 from the city Transportation Department, the project established a 6-foot-wide trail on the Town Branch Greenway surfaced with fine gravel. The trail will serve pedestrians and cyclists until its planned removal in 2020 to make way for the greenway’s permanent path.
Mission Health President and CEO Dr. Ron Paulus sees system expansion through mergers as a nearly inevitable survival tactic in the current healthcare environment. “There are many leaders — not me, but Mayo Clinic and others — that believe within 25 years, there will be maybe four or five health systems in the U.S.,” he said.
In a move estimated to yield an additional $800,000 of annual revenue, Council unanimously decided to provide free parking at city parking decks only for vehicles that exit within one hour.
“In the words of Bernie Mac, bust a move.” Asheville City Council member Keith Young summarized the sentiments of many in attendance at Council’s April 24 meeting as he encouraged interim City Manager Cathy Ball and other city staff to speed up their work on promoting data transparency for the Asheville Police Department. Council considered […]
Asheville City Council will pull a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 24, as it grapples with how to address a projected deficit of $2.2 million for the budget for fiscal year 2018-19, which begins on July 1. The Council begins at 3 p.m. with a budget work session in the First Floor North Conference Room of […]