City of Asheville seeks residents to serve on boards & commissions

Posted on — Jeff Fobes

The City of Asheville announced today opening on four boards and commissions: Planning & Zoning, Hub Community Economic Development Alliance Board, Recreation Board and Tourism Development Authority. Below is the text from the city’s press release:

Be a Local Leader

The City of Asheville has various openings on various committees. Have you ever wanted to make a difference? Have you wondered, “Can the City benefit from my experience and knowledge?” Do you want to have a voice in the City’s growth and future? Do you want to be a part of the body that is responsible for making decisions regarding policy, service and education? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then it’s time to take that initial step forward and put your perspective, leadership and knowledge to task by serving on one of the many committees we have to offer.

Please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 259-5601 or by e-mail at mburleson@ashevillenc.gov for an application form.

PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION – The Commission is an advisory board to City Council and shall (1) review all new text for proposed amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), and proposals to zone or change the zoning of all property regulated under the UDO and to make recommendations to City Council for final action thereon; (2) perform studies and surveys of the present conditions and probable future development of the City and its environs, including, but not limited to, studies and surveys of land uses, population, traffic, parking, and redevelopment needs; (3) formulate and recommend to City Council the adoption or amendment of a comprehensive plan and other plans, as necessary, for the City and its environs ; (4) review the terms of the UDO from time to time, as it deems appropriate, and to recommend to City Council any changes that the Commission considers necessary to regulate properly the development and use of land, buildings and structures; (5) review applications for planned unit development designation and the preliminary plans for such planned unit developments and to make recommendations to City Council for final action thereon; and (6) review and decide on approval of all proposed preliminary plats of major subdivisions.   The deadline for receiving applications for these openings is TUESDAY, AUGUST 25 at 5 p.m.

HUB COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE BOARD – The Hub Project is Asheville and Buncombe County’s collaborative, sustainable, intentional community, cultural and economic development strategy.  The HUB is described as a catalyst for collaboration around a coordinated economic and community development vision of what Asheville and Buncombe County can become.  The Alliance works to stimulate interaction and collaboration within and across clusters identified by the Alliance—Technology, Rejuvenation, Creativity, Land/Ag, Enterprise/ entrepreneurship, and Advanced Manufacturing.  The Alliance will monitor and publicize progress via concrete metrics.  The Alliance will support clusters and projects by raising funds from public and private sources.  The deadline for receiving applications for these openings is Wednesday, September 2 at 5 p.m.

RECREATION BOARD – The Board advises City Council on various matters pertaining to the operation of park facilities and recreation programs within the City of Asheville, to make policy recommendations to City Council, and to carry out duties as may be assigned to them by City Council. The deadline for receiving applications for these openings is Wednesday, September 2 at 5 p.m.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY – This vacancy is for an individual who is an owner or operator of a hotel, motel or other taxable tourist accommodation with more than 100 rental units. The purpose of the Authority is to further the development of travel, tourism, and conventions in the county through state, national and international advertising and promotion. The deadline for receiving applications for this opening is Wednesday, September 2 at 5 p.m.

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About Jeff Fobes
As a long-time proponent of media for social change, my early activities included coordinating the creation of a small community FM radio station to serve a poor section of St. Louis, Mo. In the 1980s I served as the editor of the "futurist" newsletter of the U.S. Association for the Club of Rome, a professional/academic group with a global focus and a mandate to act locally. During that time, I was impressed by a journalism experiment in Mississippi, in which a newspaper reporter spent a year in a small town covering how global activities impacted local events (e.g., literacy programs in Asia drove up the price of pulpwood; soybean demand in China impacted local soybean prices). Taking a cue from the Mississippi journalism experiment, I offered to help the local Green Party in western North Carolina start its own newspaper, which published under the name Green Line. Eventually the local party turned Green Line over to me, giving Asheville-area readers an independent, locally focused news source that was driven by global concerns. Over the years the monthly grew, until it morphed into the weekly Mountain Xpress in 1994. I've been its publisher since the beginning. Mountain Xpress' mission is to promote grassroots democracy (of any political persuasion) by serving the area's most active, thoughtful readers. Consider Xpress as an experiment to see if such a media operation can promote a healthy, democratic and wise community. In addition to print, today's rapidly evolving Web technosphere offers a grand opportunity to see how an interactive global information network impacts a local community when the network includes a locally focused media outlet whose aim is promote thoughtful citizen activism. Follow me @fobes
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