If you want to attend Asheville City Council’s May 9 meeting, arrive early. Between a response from the Police Department to a recent report on racial disparities in policing to the first presentation of the city manager’s proposed budget for the 2017-18 Fiscal Year, there’s a lot on the agenda that could be of interest to a variety of city residents and advocates.
While last year’s City Council retreat focused on strategy, this year was all about tactics. Council celebrated the successes of 2016 — including passing a $74 million bond referendum, launching an equity initiative and retaining control of the city’s water system — and outlined tweaks to how it will operate in 2017.
Asheville
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and Asheville City Council held their first joint meeting in more than one year on Tuesday, Feb. 7. While it was mostly presentations and information updates, Commissioners Al Whitesides and Mike Fryar used the time to question the African-American Heritage Commission and energy efficiency, respectively.
County commissioners and City Council members will meet up to discuss their common goals and projects. The gathering is the first of its kind in more than a year. Intended to showcase synergies between the two governmental entities, the meeting agenda doesn’t include any official action items.
Asheville begins making plans for spending $74 million in bond funds. One item on the city’s to-do list: hire new staff to manage the volume of projects planned over the next seven years.
City Manager Gary Jackson hosted a Development Forum on Friday, Nov. 18 to provide updates on growth, construction, planning, zoning, utilities and the recently approved $74 million city bond referendum.
The city asked for input on downtown development review standards and, if turnout can be considered an indication, it certainly got it. At least 124 members of the community signed in for an open house-style meeting about development issues in downtown Asheville on March 23.
Amid a range of escalating controversies, an independent audit, and a restructuring of the department, Asheville Police Chief William Anderson announced Nov. 14 that he will retire.
At a special meeting today, Asheville City Council announced that an internal investigation had found no evidence that Asheville Police Department Chief William Anderson engaged in a coverup surrounding a March car crash involving his son, as alleged by an APD lieutenant. However, the inquiry also found that when Anderson ordered the officer to meet with him, he acted inappropriately. Council members promised improvements to the general management of the department.
Asheville City Council will hold a special closed session 9 a.m. Thursday about an undisclosed personnel matter, likely allegations about Asheville Police Department Chief William Anderson. The announcement of the meeting notes that Council may take action under a state law allowing it to announce “disciplinary action, reinstatement, transfer, or termination of a city employee and the reasons for that personnel action.”
Asheville City Manager Gary Jackson has undertaken a major staff reorganization: Three senior staff members will oversee “functional groupings” that put multiple, related departments under one umbrella, and a new “general services” department will oversee building and vehicle maintenance. Jackson claims the changes will make for better coordination and efficiency,
According to the contract for the audit of missing guns, drugs, and money from the Asheville Police Department’s evidence room, the city of Asheville should have received a copy when the audit was completed in January. The city still hasn’t received a copy, and District Attorney Ron Moore has refused to respond to open records requests for the public release of the $175,000 audit. City manager Gary Jackson says he’s satisfied with Moore’s handling of the case, and is not pressing for the release of the audit.
The audit of the Asheville Police Department evidence room was completed Jan. 9, but don’t expect the details to go public soon. While Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore has told some media that the audit showed that around 200 drug parcels might be missing, the Buncombe County District Attorney’s keeping the results secret, even from city government.
Xpress has obtained 270 emails from city of Asheville staff concerning Occupy Asheville. The emails reveal law enforcement considering their approach to (and surveillance of) the protests as well as city staff and Occupy representatives debating freedom of assembly, among other things. These emails are available to the public in a searchable database.
photo by Bill Rhodes
The Occupy Asheville demonstrators are requesting an exemption from city rules to allow them to camp in Pack Square. Meanwhile, Asheville City Council members and city staff are discussing possible ways forward, and the legal ramifications, via email.
On April 18, Asheville Police Department Chief Bill Hogan has announced his retirement, effective May 13. The step comes amid public criticism over his handling of an investigation into missing evidence and the settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit involving a still-employed APD officer.
So how much do the members of Asheville City Council and Mayor Terry Bellamy get paid? What about City Manager Gary Jackson and the other department heads? Xpress has the details, along with a comparison to two other similarly-sized North Carolina cities.
City Council member Cecil Bothwell defended his “Sanctuary City” immigration proposal while city and county officials explained their respective budgets at a Council of Independent Business Owners breakfast this morning. A compilation of live tweets.
In the midst of an ongoing investigation into possible fraud in the the city of Asheville’s flexible-spending program, Assistant City Manager Jeff Richardson is taking over the Human Resources Department, and will audit the program monthly until it can find a third-party administrator.
