According to a spreadsheet showing annual leave payments to county employees from the beginning of fiscal year 2007 through March 31, 2018, former County Manager Wanda Greene benefited more than any other employee from the county’s annual leave sale policy. Commissioners will consider setting a yearly limit on the number of sellable hours during their meeting on Oct. 16.
Book lover? The Friends of the Polk County Public Library will hold its fall book sale Thursday, Oct. 11, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 12, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Saturday, Oct. 13, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., with a $5 bag sale running 9 a.m.-noon that day.
The Asheville city budget for fiscal year 2018-19 includes contains money to hire two new staffers, a security coordinator and technical support technician. Jonathan Feldman, city chief information officer, says Asheville’s IT department finds itself squeezed between increasing internal demand for digital work and “mushrooming” external security threats.
Reid Thompson has lost the most recent battle in his 13-plus-year fight with the city of Asheville. But the war, suggested Thompson’s representative and urban planner Joe Minicozzi, is far from over. “He’s got to file a civil suit to get his civil rights upheld,” Minicozzi said. “You can’t enforce the law on one side of the street and not enforce it on the other.”
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Reid Thompson, the owner of 28 and 32 Maxwell St., seeks to rezone those properties from residential to lodging expansion, thereby allowing their short-term vacation rental use — because the activity of Greenlife Grocery, he says, has made it impossible for him to keep long-term tenants.
Duke Energy has installed smart meters for a significant number of customers in North Carolina, but the rollout has experienced some pushback from consumers who have expressed concerns about the impact of RF emissions on the human body.
During a debate organized by the Council of Independent Business Owners on Oct. 5, candidates vying for seats on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners talked school safety, affordable housing and how the county should respond to the fallout from the Wanda Greene investigation.
Offered in response to public demand for greater transparency in the city’s finances, the work sessions allow each governmental department to explain how it uses its portion of more than $180 million in spending. The sessions also provide a forum for Council members to seek information on specific budget items, such as Pack Square Park maintenance.
Commissioners quibbled over extra money for early voting sites in Buncombe County during their meeting on Oct. 2. They also delayed a decision on cuts to certain employee benefits.
As part of an effort to bridge a possible budget gap in FY 2020, commissioners could decide Tuesday, Oct. 2, to replace the three health care plans it offers to employees with two new options.
Earlier this summer, Kenilworth residents followed up on a complaint first sent to the city of Asheville in September 2017. They allege that changes Mission has made to address their noise concerns haven’t eliminated the problem — and that the health system wasn’t acting in good faith when it entered into discussions with the community.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
In this week’s news in brief, read about the Sunday, Sept. 30, event that promises to help you get more engaged in shaping city government. Learn which Buncombe County teachers won top honors, and check out the initial results of Warren Wilson College’s initiative to offer all eligible incoming North Carolina students four years of tuition-free education.
The effort was sparked by the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization, of which Asheville is a dues-paying member. Last fall, the MPO offered the city $157,500 (to be matched with $25,593 in local funds) for a corridor study of its choosing, with the goal of reducing automobile congestion and creating “an alternative to the auto-oriented cycle.”
Xpress takes a look at some of the steps elected officials and top staff have taken to guard against future corruption and what policies the Board of Commissioners plans to address in the immediate future.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Although Chicago-based 21CP Solutions finished its report on Asheville’s response to a police beating scandal in August, the city isn’t done hiring consultants to assess its policing approach. That’s one of the key takeaways from interim City Manager Cathy Ball’s memo discussing action items from the report, to be presented at Asheville City Council’s upcoming regular meeting.
Firestorm Books & Coffee and The Steady Collective announced that they had formally appealed their notices of violation on Sept. 17. The appeals will likely be considered at the next meeting of the city’s Board of Adjustment, which takes place on Monday, Oct. 22. If the board rejects the appeals, the groups face civil penalties of $100 for every day they remain out of zoning compliance.
A handful of former Buncombe County employees had a message for commissioners during their regular meeting on Sept. 18: “Please consider the retirees.”
Interim County Manager George Wood said in a Sept. 11 memo to commissioners that, taking into account increases in automatic employee raises, a projected bump in health insurance claims and the potential for larger funding requests from local school systems, the county could see an approximately $1.7 million deficit in FY 2020.
