City Council appointed Franzi Charen to the Downtown Commission and Barry Bialik and Laura Collins to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee at its Jan. 26 meeting. Council also passed a “Ban the Box” measure, meaning that applicants for most city positions will no longer be required to answer questions about past criminal convictions on their initial job applications.
Tag: just economics
Showing 22-41 of 41 results
Affordable housing essay: Consider the bigger picture
“Basically, it’s going to take all hands on deck to change this dangerous trajectory of unaffordability and extreme gentrification.”
Asheville-Buncombe Food Policy Council takes aim at local food security with metrics project
A new initiative of the Asheville-Buncombe Food Policy Council enlists the help of UNC Asheville students to track regional data and lay the groundwork for developing appropriate food policy for Asheville and surrounding communities.
Beer Scout: Green Man’s Mike Karnowski to open brewery
Karnowski is leaving the red-hot Slope to build a brewery of his own with his wife, Gabe, in Weaverville. “My brewery will be in a cool old firehouse right behind Main Street [at 8 Merchant Alley],” says Karnowski. “It will be fun to bring it back to life.”
A seat at the table: Alia Todd and Asheville Sustainable Restaurant Workforce
From the Get It! Guide: While the national attention and popularity of Asheville’s restaurants has meant economic prosperity for some, the Asheville Sustainble Restaurant Workers say it often comes at the cost of inequality, low pay and unfair working conditions for the approximately 11,600 restaurant employees in the city.
Durham Living Wage Project uses Asheville’s Just Economics as program model
On Monday, March 9, The News & Observer posted a story on Durham’s new living wage certification program — titled the Durham Living Wage Project, citing Asheville’s Just Economics as its model.
Just Economics changes the definition of success
From the Get It! Guide: How do we define a successful business? According to Just Economics, it’s about more than dollars and cents.
Together and equal: Supporting diversity for a sustainable, healthy city
From the Get It! Guide: What are we talking about when we talk about sustainability in Asheville? Cleaner air environmental preservation, more city parks, better education, access to good food and quality housing? But what if all these things are not shared equally with all residents of the city?
Bus riders push agenda for ‘transportation with representation’ at rally, meeting
A group, People’s Voice for Transportation Equality, presented an agenda for an overhaul of the Asheville Transit System to make it more responsive to its ridership at a rally this afternoon. The group is calling for late-night and Sunday service, more representation in the decision-making process and more accountability, among other changes. Photo by Michael Carlebach
Group to rally for ‘transportation with representation,’ unveil plan on Jan. 14
This coming Tuesday, Jan. 14, a group of transit riders and citizens will assemble in Pack Square to call for an overhaul of the city’s system that “prioritizes the needs of the people who use public transit out of necessity.” The group has a 19-point plan to improve transit services and make the management of the system more representative of its ridership.
No place like home: Child Watch Tour emphasizes need for affordable housing
Where a child or adult lives in Buncombe County may tell more about their location in life than a physical address ever could, according to locals who shared their experiences at Asheville’s May 10 Child Watch Tour. (Graphic by Nathanael Roney)
Buncombe County commissioners value workers
It is fitting that the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution that values workers during a week that began with a holiday honoring labor. As part of the Sept. 4 consent agenda, the the commissioners passed a living-wage resolution ensuring that their regular employees are making a living wage. A living wage is […]
Buncombe commissioners preview: Greenways and greenbacks
The Buncombe County commissioners will consider a greenways plan and a living wage resolution at their Sept. 4 meeting.
Just Brew It! *UPDATED with winners
It was a sweltering Saturday; music was thumping, people were drinking beer out of tiny plastic cups and the fire marshal came. Frat-house keg party? Hardly. The Just Economics Just Brew It Homebrew Fest was a smashing — or smashed — success.
Living-wage “offsets” are questionable
I was deeply disappointed to read Jake Frankel's Aug. 24 Xpress article “Working It: Living Wages are Good for Business” which states “living wage — currently $11.35 per hour without health insurance or $9.85 per hour with it.” This statement ignores the fine print in Just Economics' Living Wage Certification Program, which can be found […]
Just Economics responds
Just Economics is proud to inform your reader that we closely reviewed the criteria with which we certify a business at great length, with a special focus on “offsets” earlier this year. We eliminated any offsets not related to the basic needs of a single individual. We do, however, recognize that if an employer offers […]
Asheville Just Economics is just not economical
Just Economics has been campaigning for an increase in minimum wage. Just Ecomics calls this increase a living wage. They have successfully pushed their policy into local law. Now contractors for our city must also pay their employees a living wage of $11.35 an hour (without benefits). The policy advocacy on their website states, “It […]
V for Values, not Vendetta
I offer this in response to Josh Yazell's Jan. 5 letter, “Buchi Story More Vendetta than Journalism,” a response to David Forbes' article “Bottled in Bond” [Dec. 22 Xpress]. As Forbes responded to Yazell, claims presented to them by me were investigated and documented. In interviews with Xpress, the Asheville Citizen-Times and [the radio program] […]
Local capitalism is still capitalism
Over the course of the 100 bloody years that it took the U.S. labor movement to win the eight-hour workday, labor militants struck, rioted and were executed for what was then seen as an overly radical demand that would destabilize industry and ruin the economy. Capitalism has undergone massive restructuring on a global scale, including […]
Living wage issue picking up steam
Living-wage proponents have long maintained that paying workers enough to meet their basic expenses in the local economy is ultimately good for businesses as well. Now, with the issue gaining traction here, a small but growing number of employers are taking the pledge and getting certified by Just Economics, a local nonprofit, says staffer Sarah […]