According to the results of an open records request from Xpress, Marsha Stickford, the city of Asheville’s neighborhood coordinator, only received one email about the state of newspaper boxes during the past year, and that wasn’t a complaint. At a Feb. 2 meeting with newspaper publishers discussing possible restrictions on the boxes, Stickford claimed that she received numerous complaints, but couldn’t produce them because she deleted the emails.
(photo by Bill Rhodes)
At a sometimes tense meeting this afternoon, representatives from local publications — including Xpress — met with city staff, who broached possible restrictions on newspaper boxes in downtown Asheville. Also: A city staffer’s deletion of citizen complaints about the boxes may have violated open-records law.
(Photo by Bill Rhodes)
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
Sandra Travis, program director for Asheville’s festivals, has denied consulting with the Asheville Police Department before deciding not to book a hip-hop act for the Bele Chere festival. However, a new email reveals that one of Travis’ staff believed otherwise, asserting her boss would consult with the APD “about community temperament.” The city omitted the email from an earlier release to Xpress.
