The following guidelines are best practices for getting public officials to tune you in if you are involved in a development issue. Each piece of advice is based on interviews with people who used to turn thumbs up — or thumbs down — on development projects and others with experience in the field.
The work was launched in response to Asheville’s passage of a climate emergency resolution in January 2020, which committed the city to “an equitable and just citywide mobilization effort to reverse global warming” and set 2030 as a target for eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions within city limits.
Movers and shakers on progressive issues have had increasing success in Buncombe County politics since the turn of the century. Activists and organizers on the left have carved out a stronghold in Asheville where they keep power by setting the agenda for conversation according to some. Meanwhile a rise in disaffiliation with the traditional two parties leaves openings for candidates that don’t fit traditional molds in Asheville politics.
Asheville City Council passed revisions to the city’s Homestay ordinance for short-term lodging and approved an extension of the management contract for the Asheville bus system at its Nov. 17 meeting. Outgoing Councilmen Jan Davis, Marc Hunt and Chris Pelly were honored for their service.
The Asheville City Council meeting scheduled for Nov. 17 boasts a full agenda featuring two hot topics – utility substations and changes to the city’s Homestay ordinance. Citizens wishing to comment on those issues may want to arrive at the Council chamber on the second floor of City Hall earlier than the 5 p.m. start time, as a full house seems likely.
How does Asheville, one of the busiest tourist hubs in the state — a place where you can’t throw a rock without hitting a chef or a farmer — have so many people lacking access to good food or outright going to bed hungry?
Asheville has constructed about 18 miles of new sidewalks since 2006, but that’s a far cry from what advocates say is needed to improve pedestrian safety in the city’s neighborhoods. A new report released by city government shows that it’s fallen well short of its goal of building 108 miles of sidewalk. A 5-year $132 […]
At a Realtors’ luncheon on Aug. 5, Rep. Tim Moffitt admitted that state legislators changed a recreation-authority bill as retaliation for Asheville’s lawsuit over the forcible transfer of the city’s water system. “Until the lawsuit is settled, we took the authority away from the city,” he told realtors. This contradicts statements Moffitt had previously made that the matters were unrelated.
Asheville City Council member Chris Pelly, a longtime neighborhood activist, has proposed the creation of an advisory committee intended to improve communication between the city of Asheville and neighborhoods. The committee may also play a role in resource allocation and the development process.
In this document, Asheville City Council member Chris Pelly proposes the creation of a Neighborhood Advisory Committee for the city of Asheville.
Live Twitter coverage of Asheville City Council swearing-in Marc Hunt, Chris Pelly and Jan Davis, as well as selecting a Vice Mayor.
Council member Gordon Smith was hit in the head by Lael Gray’s campaign manager, David Roat, at an election-night party, according to reports. Here, Smith describes the fracas. “I went to Lael’s party, I was giving her a hug and I got hit in the back of the head,” Smith says. “I went into a crouch, there were a few more blows, he was pulled off of me, and it was over.” (Photo by Bill Rhodes.)
What great good news to hear that Chris Pelly is running for City Council. I've known Chris a long time and always been impressed with his ability to pull together a diverse coalition of people toward a common end. We need that more than ever now with all the challenges Asheville faces. We need jobs, […]
You hear much about “Asheville, the bastion of the progressive,” as in “making progress toward better conditions; employing or advocating more enlightened or liberal ideas, i.e., a progressive community. “Making,” “employing” and “advocating” are all about action taken to achieve progress. The question then is, where’s all this “action”? Few even voted in the last […]
An experienced neighborhood advocate like Chris in City Council can ensure that our neighborhoods needs and concerns are heard! When residents and homeowners have to react to each issue in their neighborhood — inappropriate development, wrong residual zoning, digital billboards, stalled developments with issues of storm runoffs, no sidewalks, etc. — we expect that our […]
In the latest installment of our ongoing series of interviews with Asheville City Council candidates, David Forbes talks to Chris Pelly about issues ranging from infrastructure to economic development and defending Asheville in Raleigh. Audio from the interview included.
Local grassroots progressive organization, WNC for Change, hosted a forum this week that featured four of the nine Asheville City Council candidates explaining their positions on a variety of issues, from infrastructure improvements to economic development.
I’ve been a Haw Creek Association board member for 10 years with Chris Pelly in the Haw Creek Homeowners Association. Pelly embodies leadership, a must for City Council. He takes on issues and tasks, follows through with discussions and phone calls. He pulls the group together — and not just our neighborhood. Pelly can pull […]
Now we know: The Republican Party and tea party, locally and nationally, have promulgated a draconian agenda of repressive and mean-spirited legislation that must not go unchallenged. Some examples of this agenda include voter ID, overriding Gov. Bev Perdue's veto of HB 854, restricting a woman's right to choose and eliminating numerous programs for the […]
Transformational leadership indicates an actual capability to transform “wicked problems.” I have mostly lived in east Asheville since 1980 and the recent infrastructure improvements, for which Chris Pelly can take a lot of credit, are generating a huge positive effect. Using our public-resource pool in positive, ethical and innovative ways creates possibilities for good that […]
With one day left in the filing period, the Asheville City Council race is heating up, as the field has grown to eight candidates vying for three seats. After remaining publicly noncommittal for months, Council member Jan Davis filed for another run. Haw Creek Community Association President Chris Pelly and activist Lael Gray also officially joined the race.
