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From YouTube: City Council Meeting
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A
Good
evening
and
welcome
to
the
asheville
city
council,
I'm
esther
manheimer,
mayor
of
the
city
of
asheville,
and
I'd
like
to
welcome
you
to
this
march
9
meeting,
I'm
going
to
read
a
few
things
to
you.
So
I
get
all
this
information
out
at
the
beginning
of
the
meeting.
All
council
members
and
staff
are
participating
virtually.
We
appreciate
your
patience
as
we
work
through
holding
these
council
meetings
virtually
to
help
our
audience
follow
along
I'll
state.
Each
section
of
the
agenda
aloud.
A
A
855-925-2801
and
entering
the
code
7728,
we
are
also
broadcasting
live
on
the
city's
youtube
channel
charter,
cable,
channel
193
and
on
att
uber's
channel
99.
For
those
of
you
out
there
with
us
tonight.
Welcome
we'll
take
one
short
recess
tonight
and
council,
please
remind
me,
I
think
I
forgot
last
time
sorry
about
that
for
public
comment.
We
asked
callers
to
sign
up
in
advance
to
join
the
live
speaker
queue.
We.
B
A
Only
be
taking
live
comments
from
those
who
signed
up
prior
to
tonight's
meeting.
Those
callers
have
been
provided
instructions
on
how
to
participate.
Each
caller
is
allotted
three
minutes
to
speak
for
each
agenda
item.
We
will
hear
live
comments
for
up
to
one
hour
for
each
agenda
item
a
reminder
to
callers.
You
will
first
hear
staff
inform
counsel
that
you
are
next
to
speak.
Then
you
will
hear
an
automated
message,
letting
you
know
you're
unmuted
and
live
in
the
meeting.
A
You
may
begin
speaking
after
the
automated
message
to
best
ensure
staff
can
support
you
in
the
case
of
technical
difficulties,
we
ask
that
you
join
the
queue
no
later
than
the
beginning
of
the
agenda
item
before
the
agenda
item
on
which
you
have
signed
up
to
speak.
Additionally,
if
you
have
joined
the
speaker
queue
and
need
to
disconnect
before
your
time
to
speak,
please
hit
star
4
before
hanging
up.
You
can
then
call
back
using
the
same
directions.
I
just
shared
and
staff
will
enter
you
back
in
the
speaker
queue
of
your
agenda
item.
A
I
would
like
to
ask
all
those
participating
in
tonight's
public
comment
to
follow.
Council's
rules
of
decorum,
the
rules
include
the
following
speakers
are
only
allowed
to
speak
one
time
during
the
public
comment
period
for
each
agenda
item
a
person
may
speak
only
if
they
have
signed
up
to
speak
in
accordance
with
the
city's
procedures.
A
Speaker
substitutions
at
the
meeting
are
not
allowed.
Each
speaker
is
allotted
three
minutes
to
speak
on
an
agenda
item
in
general.
Each
agenda
item
will
have
up
to
a
total
of
one
hour
for
public
comment.
A
speaker
may
not
share
or
relinquish
any
remaining
time.
They
have
not
used
to
another
speaker.
A
C
D
A
Okay,
we're
gonna
now
stand.
You
can't
see
my
flags
but
they're
in
here
to
recite
the
pledge
of
allegiance.
A
E
A
A
A
A
So
I
will
do
a
roll
call
vote
for
the
motion
to
approve
the
consent
agenda
and
again
we're
trying
to
rotate
these
so
be
ready.
Councilwoman
turner,
hi,
councilwoman,
whistler
aye
vice
mayor
smith,
hi
myself,
I
councilwoman
kilgore
aye
councilwoman
mosley
aye,
councilwoman,
roni
aye.
A
I
I
Good
evening,
madam
mayor,
am
I
coming
through
loud
clear.
You
are
thanks
to
you
and
members
of
council
for
this
opportunity.
I'm
grateful
to
be
with
you
tonight,
and
I
also
want
to
offer
my
special
thanks
to
yourself
and
city
manager,
deborah
campbell
for
your
service
as
edc
board
members,
and
to
our
long-time
staff
partners,
sam
powers
and
nikki
reed
for
your
service
and
your
partnership
for
over
a
quarter
century.
I
I
Opportunity
for
area
residents
I'd
add
with
your
support.
The
edc
remains
one
of
only
62
economic
development
organizations
in
all
of
north
america
to
have
earned
the
accreditation
of
the
international
economic
development
council
next
slide.
I
And
yet,
despite
these
gains,
our
poverty
rate
remains
a
stubborn
12
percent.
Our
average
wages
continue
to
lag
those
of
our
state
and
nation,
and,
moreover,
we
know
that
disparity
in
educational
and
economic
opportunity
are
among
the
greatest
contributing
factors
to
this
concerning
gap
in
relative
income
and
cost
of
living.
The
pandemic
is
certainly
laid
bare.
The
urgent
economic
challenges
that
will
remain
long
after
the
return
of
public
health
and
those
challenges
are
especially
acute
in
our
long
under-resourced
communities.
I
So
as
regional
leaders
in
the
public
and
private
sector,
the
disciplined
work
of
responding
to
these
challenges
remains
our
common
ground
next
slide,
while
our
work
is
rooted
in
growing
wages
and
jobs
and
capital
investment
in
the
tax
base.
We
also
know
it's
about
a
lot
more.
A
better
job
leads
to
improved
outcomes
and
safety
in
health
care
and
education,
and
upward
mobility
for
the
household,
supported
by
that
job
and
for
the
neighborhoods
supported
by
those
families.
I
I
So
where
do
we
begin?
Our
program
of
work
is
informed
by
best-in-class
data
to
steer
our
limited
budgetary
resources
for
greatest
impact.
In
short,
we
have
to
fish
in
the
right
ponds
and
every
five
years
we
evaluate
high
value
target
industries
by
studying
the
growth
of
businesses,
jobs
and
wages
in
asheville
over
the
past
five
years,
as
well
as
specialization
and
competency
of
our
workforce
to
support
that
job
growth
on
the
next
slide.
I
I
Sorry,
for
that
locals,
for
example,
are
often
surprised
to
learn
that
advanced
manufacturing
has
grown
by
some
25
percent
in
these
recent
five
years
and
wages
top
most
every
other
employment
sector
in
our
in
our
region
and
in
many
of
these
jobs
we're
up
to
38
times
more
specialized
than
the
average
u.s
community
think
about,
for
example,
precision
machining
our
goal
of
growing
the
climate
technology
sector.
I
I
I
Excuse
me,
the
avo
5x5
plan
is
that
roadmap
for
us
advancing
these
five
strategies
over
the
next
five
years
and
I'll
briefly
walk
you
through
each
strategy
and
recent
outcomes
strategy
one
begins
at
home
with
local
industry,
supporting
workforce
skills,
enterprise
sustainability,
business
development
and,
ultimately,
expansion
and
job
creation.
Here
in
our
community,
in
the
trailing
five
years
to
date,
staff
has
supported
these
ten
bunking
county
industries,
as
they
announced
over
a
thousand
new
jobs
and
a
quarter
of
a
billion
dollars
invested
in
new
taxable
buildings,
technology
and
equipment.
I
These
employers
also
represent
our
diverse
strengths
in
life
sciences
and
automotive,
aerospace,
technology,
craft
products
and,
yes,
still
craft
beverage.
Four
out
of
ten
of
these
are
locally
headquartered
on
the
next
slide.
Over
the
same
five
years,
these
four
new
companies
were
recruited
to
town
with
commitments
totaling
another
1060
jobs
and
nearly
three-quarters
of
a
billion
dollars.
I
With
the
help
of
our
canadian
friends,
the
manufacturer
hawkon,
or
by
advancing
corporate
leadership
and
economic
mobility
and
workplace
equity
like
the
aviation
giant
pratt
whitney
who
funds
the
upfront
cost
of
tuition
fees
and
books
for
any
employee
seeking
a
degree,
they
were
recognized
recently
by
the
human
rights
campaign
as
a
top
place
for
our
lg
lb
gtq
neighbors
and
by
the
naacp
for
a
25
million
investment
in
their
educational
fund.
These
are
the
kind
of
private
sector
partners
that
we
want
investing
in
our
future.
I
On
strategy,
three
we'll
recognize
the
power
of
growing
our
own
through
the
programs
of
venture
asheville,
our
commitment
to
grow
the
next
generation
of
asheville
entrepreneurs
and
headquartered
businesses,
and
over
the
past
five
years,
we've
supported
the
launch
of
over
100
startups,
helped
attract
over
14
million
dollars
in
equity
and
angel
funding
to
scale
their
businesses
and
we've
recruited
and
trained
over
55
professional
mentors
in
the
elite.
Mit
team
mentoring
service
that
we
call
elevate,
and
two
years
ago
our
team
launched
the
venture
asheville
micro
grant
program
on
the
next
slide.
I
This
innovative
program
has
granted
fifty
thousand
dollars
in
privately
raised
funds
on
a
competitive
basis
to
early
stage
ideas
and
bootstrapping
founders,
where
it's
most
needed
in
our
community.
Investing
in
those
without
the
foundation
of
friends
and
family
wealth.
That's
most
often
required
to
take
an
idea
from
concept
market
analysis
to
successful
launch.
I
I
Strategy
four
focuses
on
building
talent,
pipelines
that
create
pathways
to
high-wage
careers
for
our
high
school,
our
regional
college
students,
as
well
as
adult
job
seekers,
with
specific
strategies
to
lift
those
living
and
under-resourced
communities
of
color,
and
I
want
to
share
two
quick
programs,
starting
with
next
avl
for
13
summers.
Now
there
we
go
for
13
summers.
I
The
next
program,
I'd
like
to
update
john
this
evening
is
there
the
other
one
more
slide
is
the
inclusive
hiring
partners
program
with
goals
to
increase,
workforce
participation
and
job
retention
for
under-resourced
populations,
who've
been
socially
or
economically
disconnected
from
generational
prosperity.
I
The
partners
featured
here
on
this
slide,
including
our
grant
partners
at
the
city,
housing
authority,
drive
the
collaborative
success
of
this
model
connecting
people
and
families
facing
employment,
barriers
with
career
opportunities
and
high-wage
industries
of
healthcare,
construction
and
manufacturing
and
through
relationships
with
our
community
partners.
A
I
On
the
next
slide,
I
would
share
we've
recruited
over
17
employment
partners
and
our
program
funds,
best-in-class
dei
training
from
from
the
lenoir-rhyne
equity
and
diversity
institute
for
all
frontline
supervisors,
creating
a
better
informed
and
supported
interview
process
and
place
of
work
for
our
job
seekers.
My
thanks
to
council
and
the
city
as
well
as
each
of
these
purpose-driven
businesses
for
participating
with
us
strategy.
Five
I'll
wrap
it
up
is
really
looking
at
the
capacity
of
our
our
sense
of
place
right
to
accommodate
our
economic
development
goals
and
with
supportive
funding
from
buncombe
county.
I
Last
summer
we
launched
this
fifth
strategy,
which
is
a
county-wide
lands
analysis
that
will
align
needs
of
business,
our
residents
and
our
government
partners
to
bring
new
sites
and
buildings
to
market
very
simply
to
accommodate
the
ambitious
goals
for
a
more
diversified
employment
base
and
opportunities
for
for
our
residents.
I
So
with
that,
madam
mayor,
I
will
conclude:
apologies
for
running
over
our
timer
and
my
really
great
gratitude
to
members
of
council
for
your
many
years
of
support
and
the
opportunity
to
work
with
you
for
the
next
five
years.
F
Do
you
have
any
strategies
that
will
support
citizens
who
may
be
returning
from
the
criminal
justice
system.
I
We
work
closely
with
philip
cooper
and
the
ymi
center
for
as
partners
in
the
inclusive
hiring
program.
So
I
think
the
targeted
populations
that
we're
working
with
in
the
ihp
program
really
include
residents
in
asheville
public
housing,
those
re-entering
from
justice
involvement
or
coming
re-entering
the
workforce
from
addiction.
Those
are
kind
of
the
three
primary
buckets.
A
Clark,
I
I
think
you
know
one
question.
We
we
hear.
One
comment
we
hear
is
the
city
council,
you
know
folks
will
say
you
know
what.
Why
does
the
city
spend
money
on
recruiting
the
tourism
industry
to
asheville
and
and
that's
sort
of
a
complex
comment
because,
of
course,
the
city
cities
work
to
recruit
and
grow
employers
in
asheville
is
done
through
the
economic
development
commission,
in
collaboration
with
buncombe
county
and
the
state
and
other
partners.
A
I
Our
goals
as
a
coalition,
ours,
city,
county
and
chamber,
are
really
focused
on
wage
growth
by
target
investment
in
industries
that
will
help
us
raise
the
overall
standards
of
living
in
our
community
and
that
I
walked
you
through
sort
of
that
that
spectrum
there
to
qualify
for
incentive
support
either
from
our
city
or
our
county.
I
I
A
I'm
you
know,
I'm
not
trying
to
make
a
judgment
call
here
on
one
industry
versus
another,
but
it's
a
common
comment
we
hear
and,
of
course,
a
lot
of
people
are
employed
in
the
tourism
economy
that
exists
in
asheville,
but,
as
you
highlight,
we
have
a
lot
of
other
robust
sectors
and
that's
where
the
focus
is
and
the
and
a
lot
of
what
drives.
That
is,
the
the
the
payment,
the
job
pay
and
the
investment
level.
So
thank
you
for
that.
K
I
That's
a
great
question:
I
think
our
barriers
in
terms
of
quality
job
growth
are
going
to
be
tied
one
to
investing
in
the
resiliency
of
our
workforce.
I
think
we
face
a
very
different
environment
in
terms
of
one
where
I
launched
my
career
right.
I
I
think
we,
our
rising
generation,
will
need
to
reinvest
in
themselves
and
their
skills
every
five
to
ten
years
for
continuity
of
their
you
know
of
their
career,
and
so
I
think,
investing
in
partners
not
only
at
the
earliest
stages
of
our
public
schools,
but
in
a
b
tech,
specifically
that
I'm
particularly
proud
to
partner
with
is
going
to
be
key
for
for
future
success,
and
I
realize
I
rush
through
our
site
strategy,
but
I
would
say
our
businesses
are
facing
the
same
challenges
that
our
residents
are
in
terms
of
being
priced
out
of
appropriate
physical
infrastructure
where
they
can
live,
and
if
we
want
to
champion
the
kinds
of
growth
that
I
think
we
all
do
in
terms
of
jobs,
then
I'm
hoping
we
can
think
more
strategically
about.
I
And
I
know
we've
worked
for
years
with
the
city
on
thinking
very
strategically
about
what
we
want
our
river
district
to
be
in
terms
of
commerce
and
residents
and
arts
and
culture,
and
I
think
we
need
to
have
that
conversation
broadly
across
the
city
and
across
the
county,
so
we're
laying
the
foundation
for
the
kind
of
economy.
We
want
the
next
generation
to
have
access
to.
I
I
We
lost
very
real
opportunities
at
hand
and
here
in
asheville
specifically,
so
I
think,
the
more
welcoming
and
hospitable
an
environment
we
can
create
for
all
residents
and
all
businesses.
I
think
yeah,
that's
a
that's
a
pathway
to
success,
particularly
for
the
kind
of
businesses
that
want
to
invest
in
our
community.
G
Clark,
this
is
sage.
Thank
you
for
your
presentation.
Did
I
I
want
to
try
and
ask
you
a
more
detailed
question
when
you're
recruiting
these
companies
to
potentially
relocate
here.
Do
you
hear
that
housing
lack
thereof
or
housing
costs
is
in
fact
an
issue?
They
consider.
I
Sure
yeah
we
look,
you
know
we
provide
housing
data
on
a
regular
basis,
and
I
think
that
to
councilwoman
rony's
question
is
is
also
a
real
constraint
or
potential
constraint
on
continued
growth,
because
we
want
to
create
opportunities
at
all
rungs
of
the
economic
ladder
right
with
the
idea
that
an
entry-level
job
can
progress
to
the
next
job.
A
Okay,
we
we
have
one
other
presentation
tonight
and
that
is
the
manager's
report,
and
so
I
will
turn
it
over
to
deborah
campbell.
L
You
can
go
to
the
next
slide,
please
so
this
evening.
No
first
one
can
you
go
back,
please
the
presentation
is
going
to
be,
hopefully
relatively
brief.
We
only
have
two
items
that
we
want
to
present
to
you
this
evening
as
part
of
the
manager's
presentation.
L
L
The
bulk
of
the
presentation,
though,
will
be
around
an
important
report,
and
this
will
obviously
just
be
a
summary
of
the
report
there
patricia
will
provide
for
you
more
detailed
source
for
this
information.
If
you
want
to
read
the
entire
report,
but
we
were
asked
to
do
a
an
assessment
of
the
work
of
our
equity
and
inclusion
department
and
so
patricia
rosenberg,
who
serves,
as
our
city
auditor,
we'll
be
providing
you
with
a
relatively
detailed
presentation
on
on
that
department's
or
office
of
equity.
L
Inclusions
work
now
next
slide,
so
starting
out
with
employee
recognitions,
you
know,
there's
a
saying
sometimes
that
sometimes
public
employees
only
do
their
job.
Well,
this
particular
public
employee,
a
city
of
asheville
water
department,
employee
anthony
buzz
brown.
He
saw
an
individual
on
I-40
bridge.
L
There
had
been
a
call
to
apd
about
potentially
a
suicidal
subject
that
was
on
the
bridge.
Well,
anthony
took
the
time
while
he
was
driving.
He
noticed
the
man
on
the
bridge
and
he
stopped
to
help
by
the
time
that
apd
arrived
anthony,
had
gotten
the
man
away
from
the
bridge
and
to
the
back
of
his
car.
When
officer
vincent
guerrero
sent
in
information
about
what
had
happened,
he
suggested
that
anthony
needed
some
type
of
recognition.
L
His
quote
specifically
was
anthony,
tried
to
leave
and
not
make
a
big
deal
of
this,
but
I
had
to
get
his
name
because
I'm
confident
without
anthony
stopping
and
talking
with
the
man
he
may
have
possibly
jumped
before
officers
arrived
on
scene,
anthony
very
well
saved
the
life
today
and
should
be
recognized
for
his
actions,
and
so,
if
you
all
don't
mind
if
we
could
recognize
mr
anthony
buzz
brown
for
the
remarkable
intervention
that
he
made
next
slide,
please
also.
This
is
a
very
large
team
of
people.
L
L
No
one
was
injured
during
the
incident
and
the
response
required
a
substantial
amount
of
police
resources,
patrol
officers,
emergency
response,
team
crisis,
negotiation,
team,
public
information
officer,
patrol
officer,
patrol
captain,
detectives,
criminal
investigations,
captains,
so
it
took
a
village,
but
we
are
so
pleased
that
this
event
happened
without
incident
and
that
the
person
is
is
safe.
Everyone
around
that
area
was
safe
and
that
our
officers
were
able
to
address
this
issue
and
go
home
safely
as
well
so
to
our
apd
offices.
Thank
you
very
much
next
slide.
Please.
L
I
also
wanted
to
recognize
and
welcome
back
engine
11
crew.
You
all
may
have
recalled
that
there
was
a
pretty
serious
accident
in
january
where
the
fire
truck
actually
turned
over,
and
I
wanted
to
just
say,
welcome
back.
They
came
back.
I
believe
yesterday
to
work
captain
angie
bell,
engineer,
ricky,
hasson
senior,
firefighter
elaine
thomas
senior,
firefighter
jonathan
hefflinker,
so
we
are
so
so
happy
to
have
them
back
at
work.
So
welcome
back
next
slide.
L
Please
I'd
also
like
to-
and
I
don't
normally
do
this
for
a
lot
of
new
employees,
because
luckily
we
we
do
have
lots
of
new
employees
coming
to
our
organization,
but
I'm
highlighting
these
two
of
three
because
of
their
relationship
to
our
reimagining
public
safety
and
how
a
reallocation
of
resources
from
the
asheville
police
department
enabled
us
to
create
these
positions
for
these
new
employees.
So,
jeremy
lett
he
steps
in
to
his
new
role
as
asheville
neighborhood
services
specialist.
L
M
M
L
M
Okay,
so
my
name
is
patricia
rosenberg,
I'm
the
internal
auditor
for
the
city,
and
I
have
been
responsible
for
an
assessment
of
our
office
of
equity,
inclusion
and
the
office
and
the
equity
and
inclusion
works
that
have
been
happening
around
the
city.
So
the
key
takeaways
that
I
would
like
for
everyone
to
get
from
this
presentation
and
from
the
report
that
was
also
issued
in
conjunction
with
that
today,
there's
been
a
substantial
amount
of
work
around
equity
inclusion,
a
network
has
spanned
across
every
city
department.
M
I
will
say
when
I
started
this
assessment,
I
expected
to
produce
a
report
that
was
about
10
pages
and,
as
you
all
can
see,
it
ended
up
being
32..
So
so
there
there's
there's
more
work
than
I
think.
A
lot
of
us
realized
and
that's
something
that
the
city
should
be
really
proud
of.
M
A
second
takeaway
is
that
our
equity
and
inclusion
goal
setting
has
been
a
collaborative
effort.
This
also
included
all
city
departments
on
one
of
the
the
first
initiatives
and
the
office
of
equity
and
inclusion,
took
on
and
was
building
equity,
core
teams
and
they
used
the
core
teams
for
capacity
building
and
to
serve
as
equity
and
ambassadors
back
to
city
departments
and
the
first
equity
core
team
created
the
equity
action
plan,
which
you'll
be
hearing
a
lot
about
tonight,
and
the
second
second
equity
core
team,
created
the
equity
budget
tool.
M
Third
takeaway
is
that
the
city
has
tools
that
are
effective
in
incorporating
equity
into
decision
making.
So
some
of
those
tools
that
you
hear
about
are
racial
equity
toolkit
and
that
toolkit
has
really
changed.
How
citi
implements
new
initiatives,
and
I
want
to
emphasize
really
the
effort
that
it
takes.
The
the
entire
racial
equity
toolkit
is
is
part
of
the
is
included
in
the
appendix
of
and
this
report.
M
And,
if
you
look
through
it,
you
can
see
that
it
is
not
something
that
employees
work
through
in
an
afternoon.
It
takes
a
tremendous
time
and
space
to
successfully
implement
the
racial
equity
toolkit,
but
for
the
initiatives
that
have
used
it,
employees
are
reporting
back
saying
that
it
is
incredibly
effective
in
implementing
change.
M
It
isn't
fully
implemented
yet,
but
we
are
working
towards
that-
and
I
know
you
all
heard
earlier
this
afternoon
from
the
budget
work
session
a
lot
of
the
work
that
is
happening
around
incorporating
an
equity
lens
into
the
entire
budget
process,
and
so
this
is
just
this
will
be.
The
equity
budget
tool
is
the
next
step
in
that
process.
M
We
have
the
equity
action
plan,
which
is
really
a
blueprint
for
the
work
of
the
office
of
equity
and
inclusion.
We
have
lots
of
training,
that's
happening,
that's
been
driven
by
the
office
of
equity
and
inclusion.
There's
also
training
that's
happening
through
our
hr
department.
That's
helping
employees
get
educated
and
learn
how
to
better
implement
equity
and
inclusion
in
everyday
work
and
the
last
major
tool
the
city
has
been
using
is
gis
mapping,
and
I
will
talk
about
more
about
that
later
in
this
presentation.
M
But
it's
been
a
really
effective
tool
in
implementing
the
initiatives
that
have
geographic
impacts
in
the
city
and
then
the
last
takeaway
is
that
the
city
needs
to
continue
building
capacity
through
training
and
practice.
So
again,
using
an
equity
lens
takes
time
and
space
and
employees
need
to
be
able
to
learn
more
about
how
to
implement
it
in
their
daily
work
and
practice.
That
next
slide
so
an
overview
of
the
presentation.
M
This
evening,
I'm
going
to
go
through
the
process
that
I
undertook
for
the
equity
assessment
and
give
a
background
on
the
office
of
equity
and
inclusion,
then
I'm
going
to
go
through
an
internal
assessment
and
that's
using
the
basis
of
the
equity
action
plan
and
it'll
provide
progress
on
equity
and
inclusion
initiatives
across
the
department
or
across
all
the
departments,
and
then
lastly,
I
want
to
identify
areas
for
improvement
and
give
recommendations
for
next
steps.
M
The
assessment
is
here
to
provide
transparency
around
the
equity
and
inclusion
work
at
the
city,
and
it's
also
to
identify
areas
for
improvement
and
plan
next
steps
in
this
process.
I
started
by
doing
a
and
throughout
the
process
and
throughout
the
assessment
conducted
numerous
in-depth
interviews
with
the
office
of
equity
and
inclusion
employees,
and
I
want
to
stress
that
that
really
includes
all
employees,
including
the
ones
who
are
no
longer
with
the
city.
M
Those
interviews
were
were
conducted
collaboratively
with
the
entire
office
of
equity,
inclusion
and
individually,
which,
with
each
employee
separately
from
the
office
of
equity
inclusion.
I
interviewed
an
additional
42
city,
employees
about
equity
initiatives
and
several
of
those
employees
were
interviewed
multiple
times
for
different
initiatives.
J
M
M
M
M
The
major
recommendation
that
came
from
the
blue
ridge
and
committee
created
the
the
human
relations
commission
and
another
major
major
recommendation
was
that
they,
the
city,
expand
the
office
of
an
equity
inclusion
to
hire
three
additional
employees.
That
recommendation
was
accepted
and
all
three
employees
were
hired
in
fiscal
year.
2019.
M
That
plan
became
the
equity
action
plan.
An
equity
action
plan
is
the
guiding
document
for
the
office
of
equity
inclusion
and
the
equity
action
plan
was
presented
to
and
adopted
by
city
council
in
june
of
2018,
and
because
the
equity
action
plan
has
been
adopted
by
the
city
and
serves
as
the
guiding
document
for
the
office
of
equity
and
inclusion.
M
M
So
the
first
objective
centers
around
workforce
equity-
and
there
are
a
lot
of
department
initiatives
around
improving
workforce
diversity
through
recruitment
efforts.
So
some
of
those
recruitment
efforts
include
better
outreach
and
advertising
of
available
positions,
specifically
the
target
to
target
bipac
candidates
and
and
then,
as
positions
are
become
available.
M
There
we're
looking
closely
at
the
job
descriptions
and
they're
being
written
looking
at
minimum
requirements
and
then
also
to
make
sure
that
our
job
descriptions
are
including
more
inclusive
language
and
then
as
we
as
we
as
we
work
through
our
recruitment
efforts,
we're
also
using
our
employee
demographic
data
to
help
track
the
effectiveness
of
these
initiatives.
M
At
the
when
the
equity
action
plan
was
adopted,
there
was
no
initial
baseline
data,
and
our
hr
department
worked
through
through
how
our
data,
how
our
demographic
information
is
managed
and
made
it
more
consistent.
It
took
two
years
to
clean
all
of
our
data
trackers
to
have
information
to
report,
so
there
was
no
baseline
data
at
the
beginning
of
our
equity
action
plan.
We
have
a
starting
port
as
of
fiscal
year
2020.
M
and
the
last
major
initiative
out
of
the
workforce.
Equity
is
around
our
implicit
bias,
training
and
the
office
of
equity
and
inclusion
is
working
with
the
hr
department
to
offer
implicit
bias
training
to
all
employees,
but
it's
also
working
to
make
it
mandatory
for
all
hiring
managers
in
particular
next
slide.
M
The
next
objective
is
around
contracting
and
procurement
equity.
The
city
recently
adopted
the
business
inclusion
policy
and
I'm
sure
that's
something.
Y'all
are
all
familiar
with
the
business
in
order
to
launch
the
business
inclusion
policy.
This
really
was
a
collaborative
effort
across
many
city
departments
and
it's
changed.
The
city's
contracting
and
procurement
from
a
race
in
general,
neutral
perspective
to
race
and
gender
conscious.
M
M
The
vendor
self
service
allows
vendors
to
input
their
own
information
and
it
helps
the
city
identify
businesses
that
are
interested
in
working
with
this
city,
so,
instead
of
individual
employees
having
knowledge
of
vendors
who
do
service
who
do
who
provide
certain
types
of
services,
this
is
in
one
central
database
that
any
city
employee
can
access
next
slide.
M
The
second
initiative
is
around
our
interdepartmental
action
teams,
those
are
created
and
they
assemble
key
decision
makers
in
the
city
to
collaborate
on
goals
in
the
equity
action
plan.
So,
for
example,
we
have
an
interdepartmental
action
team
on
contracting
and
procurement,
so
it
takes
the
key
decision
makers
in
the
city
who
work
in
contracting
and
procurement
and
make
sure
that
they're
all
working
towards
the
same
goals
in
the
equity
action
plan
next
slide.
Please.
M
The
next
objective
is
around
community
outreach
and
public
engagement
for
accessibility
to
public
meetings.
The
city
has
recently
done
a
survey,
and
one
of
the
things
that
came
out
of
that
survey
was
that
low-income
citizens
often
have
barriers
that
prevented
access
to
public
meetings.
Those
barriers
are
things
like
transportation,
child
care
and
the
timing
of
public
meetings,
and
so
the
city
launched
an
initiative
to
allow
remote
viewing
through
a
platform.
We
call
public
input,
helps
eliminate
those
barriers.
M
It
might
surprise
some
people
to
know
that
the
remote
access
for
public
meetings
was
in
the
works
before
the
kova
19
pandemic,
although
it
certainly
expedited
the
process
that
said
when
this
pandemic
and
when
we
start
having
we're
able
to
have
mass
gatherings
that
you
can
expect
the
city
to
continue
to
use
public
input
and
have
remote
access.
So
this
is
something
that
probably
will
not
disappear
for
the
city
and
then
another
form
of
outreach
and
public
engagement
is
through
the
city's
boards
and
commissions,
and
the
city
has
recently
started.
M
Collecting
and
reporting
data
about
boards
and
commissions,
demographics
and
we're
working
to
better
attract
a
more
diverse
representation
on
our
boards
and
commissions,
and
part
of
that
is
through
changing
how
we
advertise
openings
on
boards
and
commissions,
for
example.
M
Next
slide,
please,
the
next
objective
and
the
equity
action
plan
is
centered
around
using
racial
equity,
best
practices
criteria,
and
there
are
two
major
tools
and
I've
already
mentioned
earlier.
So
the
first
one
is
the
equity
budget
tool
and
again
that
was
created
by
our
equity
core
team
too.
So
that
was
created
by
city
employees
and
it's
a
set
of
questions
that
are
designed
to
incorporate
equity
into
the
entire
budget
process.
M
M
And
it's
really
it's
it's
a
set
of
questions
that
are
it's
to
help
incorporate
equity
into
decision
making
and
again.
The
racial
equity
toolkit
is
incredibly
effective
in
incorporating
equity.
But
it
is
something
that
needs
a
lot
of
time
and
space
for
employees
that
have
worked
through
our
racial
equity
toolkit.
M
It's
it's
a
it's
a
several
month,
long
process,
and
so
it's
just
something
to
keep
in
mind
that
as
we
try
to
use
more
and
more
and
initiatives
as
we
encourage
employees
to
use
the
racial
equity
toolkit,
we
need
to
make
sure
that
we're
giving
them
the
space
to
be
able
to
do
that
effectively
and
then
some
of
the
specific
initiatives
that
I
want
to
point
out.
One
is
the
noise
ordinance
and
that
the
noise
ordinance
used
the
racial
equity
toolkit
and
it
went
before
it
before
it
worked
through
the
toolkit.
M
Removing
the
noise
ordinance
from
the
police
department
to
the
development
services
department
and
our
development
services
department
worked
to
work,
use
the
racial
equity
toolkit
for
these
recommendations.
M
Another
initiative
was
launched
in
the
parks
and
recreation
department
and
they
use
an
inventor
an
investments
matrix
that
tracks
how
parks
and
recreation
budget
is
being
spent
throughout
the
city.
The
matrix
was
designed
to
use
census
information
and
it
gives
parks
and
rec
recreation
center
locations.
Weighted
ratio
ratings
to
make
sure
spending,
improvements
and
upgrades
are
being
distributed
equitably.
M
So-
and
this
has
an
added
added
bonus
of
when
citizens
have
questions
around
improvements
in
parks
and
rec
center
locations
there,
where
the
city
is
able
to
respond
with
a
list
of
priorities
and
where
a
certain
request
is
on
the
list
of
priorities
and
why
and
then
the
last
initiative
that
I
want
to
point
out
is
our
gis
mapping
of
racial
equity-
and
this
is
our
its
department
used
geographic
information
system
technology
to
map
racial
equity
in
asheville,
and
I
really
want
to
call
attention
to
this.
M
M
So
that's
something
that
I
think
the
city
really
should
be
proud
of,
and
then
the
racial
equity
gis
mapping
is
being
used
to
assist
geographic-based
city
initiatives
and
that's
such
as
streets,
repaving,
neighborhood,
sidewalks,
prioritization
and
the
city's
climate
justice
initiative
are
all
using
are
incorporating
gis
mapping
in
their
initiatives.
M
Next
slide,
please
the
last
objective:
an
equity
action
plan
is
around
race-based
disparities
in
our
community
and
trying
to
decrease
those
and
some
of
the
initiatives
around
that
are
our
disposition
policy
on
affordable
housing.
The
disposition
policy
also
used
the
the
city
also
used
the
racial
equity
toolkit
to
form
this.
This
policy
and
the
toolkit
really
helped
to
identify
the
root
causes
of
local
housing
disparities
and
to
increase
community
outreach.
M
At
the
same
time,
the
city
struggles
with
the
challenge
of
offering
an
area
medium
income
income
requirement
that
will
attract
developers
to
actually
build
housing
units,
and
the
other
major
thing
that
that
was
incorporated
in
the
disposition
policy
that
came
out
of
the
racial
equity
toolkit
was
the
requirement
of
accepting
housing
choice
vouchers.
M
M
The
county
received
an
initial
grant
of
1.75
million
and
they
just
announced
last
month
that
they
received
an
additional
award
of
1.7
million.
So
at
this
point,
the
the
safety
and
justice
challenge
has
received
a
total
of
over
three
and
a
half
million
dollars,
and
the
city
continues
to
help
support
those
efforts.
M
And
then
the
last
initiative
I
want
to
highlight
tonight
is
the
city's
racial
healing
mini
grants,
and
this
was
done
in
coordination
with
the
office
of
equity
inclusion.
They
received
the
north
carolina
innovation
and
inflammation
implementation
grant
from
the
government
alliance
on
race
and
equity
to
help
fund
this
city
initiative.
M
At
this
point,
the
city
has
awarded
two
rounds
of
these
grants.
Each
round
has
been
forty
thousand
dollars
total
and
it
provides
financial
support
to
community
members
and
groups
who
are
already
working
towards
racial
holding
towards
racial
healing,
and
it
helps
build
a
more
trusting
relationship
between
city
government
and
those
who
have
been
disenfranchised
and
underinvested
by
in
by
local
government
next
slide.
M
I
want
to
go
into
probably
some
pretty
significant
detail
on
the
recommendations
to
come
out
of
this
assessment.
The
first
major
recommendation
is
to
develop
an
updated
equity
action
plan.
As
I
walk
through
the
objectives
tonight
and
as
you
can
see
in
more
detail
in
the
report,
the
city
has
implemented
many
of
the
original
initiatives
in
the
equity
action
plan,
and
now
the
city
needs
to
outline
next
steps
so,
and
I
think
for
the
office
of
equity,
inclusion
is
already
in
development
of
the
a
new
equity
action
plan.
M
They
need
to
make
sure
that
they
utilize
our
office
of
data
and
performance
for
measuring
outcomes,
and
that
was
something
that
was
a
challenge
at
the
beginning
of
equity
action
plan.
I
talked
about
that,
especially
around
workforce
equity,
but
it's
really
been
echoed
throughout
the
throughout
the
objectives
and
the
action
plan
of
getting
baseline
data.
Now
that
we
have
achieved
some
baseline
data,
we
need
to
start
measuring
better
outcomes
and
then
being
able
to
prioritize
short,
medium
and
long-term
goals
in
the
equity
action
plan.
M
The
next
recommendation
is
to
formally
incorporate
equity
inclusion
in
the
entire
budget
process,
and
I
know
early
church
today
at
the
budget
work
session
you
heard
about
city
is
the
city
is
using
equity
as
a
central
lens
for
budget
discussions
this
year.
M
This
recommendation,
in
particular,
is
intended
to
build
accountability
through
the
entire
budget
procter
process,
and
that
includes
at
the
council
level
so,
and
that
involves
a
level
of
trust
between
the
the
work
that
city
staff
is
doing
to
incorporate.
The
equity
lens
into
the
budget
process
and
making
sure
that
that's
carried
up
to
the
council
level.
M
The
third
recommendation
is
to
conduct
centralized
collaborative
community
outreach.
The
city
has
also
already
begun
this
effort
and
really
the
goal
around
this
initia.
This
recommendation
is
trying
to
avoid
community
fatigue,
as
the
city
incorporates
the
racial
equity
toolkit
into
more
decision
making.
There's
an
increased
need
for
community
input.
So,
instead
of
continually
asking
about
in
individual
initiatives,
it
makes
sense
to
conduct
one
big
collaborative
community
outreach
and
have
a
database
of
needs
and
wants
in
the
community.
M
The
fourth
recommendation
is
to
build
equity
work
into
employee
job
responsibilities,
and
this
really
centers
around
adjusting
workloads
to
incorporate
equity
inclusion
throughout
this
assessment,
something
that
I
heard
repeatedly
so
for
employees
who
served
on
equity,
core
teams,
employees
who
serve
on
interdepartmental
action
teams,
employees
who
have
worked
through
the
racial
equity
toolkit,
incorporating
the
equity
lens
and
the
current
pro
projects,
programs
and
initiatives.
M
In
fiscal
year,
20
each
individual
department
put
together
a
work
plan
and
most
departments
had
elements
of
equity
inclusion
in
them.
This
recommendation
started
to
to
make
sure
that
all
all
departments
are
incorporating
that
into
their
work
plans.
At
this
point,
in
this
year,
work
plans
have
shifted
to
become
one
central
document
and
that's
really
to
to
help
collaboration
a
lot
amongst
departments
so
because
it
is
one
central
document.
M
It
is
more
summarized
so
it's
it's
easier,
it's
more
difficult
to
call
out
the
specific
elements
of
equity
inclusion,
but
it's
something
that
every
department
needs
to
make
sure
that
they're
incorporated
in
their
work
plans.
M
L
Before
we
mayor,
if
I
could
before
we
take
questions,
I
hope
that
you
saw
and
see
that
there
is
a
lot
of
work
going
on
around
equity
and
inclusion.
But
I
I
want
to
name
some
people
who
are
principally
responsible
for
this,
and
a
lot
of
these
people
are
not
here
any
longer
kimberly,
archie
who's,
the
former
manager
of
equity
and
inclusion,
nia,
davis,
paulina,
mendes
and
yashika
smith.
L
I
just
wanted
to
make
sure
that
we
we
named
principally
who
was
leading
or
who
has
led
these
initiatives,
and
I
want
to
also
commit
specifically
to
these
individuals,
to
this
organization
and
to
this
community
that
we
are
committed
to
continuing
the
incredible
work
that
has
gone
on
particularly
led
by
these
these
employees.
I
also
want
to
thank
richard
white,
who
is
the
interim
manager
right
now
of
equity
and
inclusion,
but
his
real
job
is
an
assistant
city
manager
and
he's
doing
dual
worlds.
L
So,
thank
you
all
staff
for
all
that
you've
done
and
the
distance
that
you
have
brought
us
thus
far,
and
we
know
that
we've
got
a
long
way
to
go,
but
I
think
we're
making
progress
I'll
stop
there.
Thank
you.
A
There's
hands
up
and
I
didn't
see
who
was
up
first
but
kim.
You
have
some
questions.
K
K
K
L
L
I
have
met
with
each
one
of
those
staff
members
individually
and
collectively,
and
in
fact,
when
kimberly
first
left,
I
had
a
meeting
to
again
reassure
them
that
we
supported
them,
that
we
were
signing
support
from
richard
white
from
the
city
manager's
office
to
continue
supporting
them
a
lot
of
my
individual
one-on-one
meetings.
Were
you
know?
What
do
you
need?
Is
there
something
that
you
need
from
me
individually
and
personally,
as
as
support
for
your
work,
but
you
know
when
I
first
met
with
them.
I
actually
the
first
meeting
was
more.
L
Let
me
get
to
know
you
I
I
don't.
You
know
we're
we're
distant,
I'm
at
a
level
and
and-
and
I
just
had
not
had
the
opportunity
to
work
with
them.
So
our
first
meeting
was
just
getting
to
know
one
another
better.
K
Thank
you.
I
had
a
insightful
conversation
that
was
meant
to
be
just
about
multimodal
transportation
with
maggie
ullman
who's,
a
new
advisor
on
our
multimodal
transportation
commission,
and
from
that
conversation
I
took
two
ideas
that
I
think
we
might
be
able
to
look
at
and
kind
of
operationalizing
an
equity
lens,
and
it's
just
a
small
change.
K
But
whenever
we're
making
decisions
that
include
a
staff
report,
staff
reports
normally
include
like
pros
and
cons
the
fiscal
impact,
and
I
think,
in
order
to
look
at
where
we
could
pause
potential
harm
being
done
and
also
move
in
a
more
positive,
proactive
direction.
We
could
maybe
just
include
an
equity
impact
and
a
sustainability
impact
and
start
to,
like
think
about
those
in
every
decision
that
we
make,
and
it
would
help
us
to
be
able
to
see
if
there
are
recommendations.
L
K
A
This
is,
I
would
just
point
out,
you
know
this
is
difficult,
because
deborah
takes
her
direction
for
a
majority
of
counsel,
and
so
we
have
to
have
consensus
around
some
of
this
direction,
while
not
micromanaging
her
management,
I
mean
she
is
hired
as
the
city
manager.
She
runs
the
day-to-day
operations
of
the
city
and
we're
a
policy-making
body.
So
I
I
you
know.
I
just
want
to
try
to
remind
everyone
that
that
you
know
we.
K
I
have
brought
this
up
before
and
it
feels
like
the
right
time
to
say
that
in
this
moment
I
think
we
have
an
opportunity
with
the
office
of
equity
inclusion
and
this
new
audit
that
I
think
we
need
to
address
this
department
with
the
authority
that
matches
the
responsibility
that
we've
assigned
to
it
and
in
order
for
our
budget
plans
and
policies
to
truly
have
that
ongoing
audit
of
what
equity
means.
K
I
think
we
could
do
something
similar
to
what
the
county
has
done
with
addressing
the
charter
to
bring
the
office
of
equity
inclusion
to
to
report
directly
to
council,
and
I
think
it's
a
it-
could
be
a
really
positive
opportunity,
while
we're
in
this
moment
of
revisioning
and
hiring,
and
all
of
that.
So
I
hope
that
we
can
look
at
that
together.
Very
soon.
L
Yeah,
I
think
that
it
may
be
sorry
mayor.
K
Sorry,
I
should
clarify
they.
What
they
did
is,
after
some
turmoil
changed
the
charter
to
my
understanding
to
have
their
cfo
report
directly
to
the
commission.
So
I
left
out
that
detail.
Apologies
so
because
it
became
aware
to
me
that
you
could
have
more
than
just
your
manager
attorney
and
clerk
report
to
the
elected
body
that
we
might
want
to
consider
something
similar
to
that
as
well.
A
A
K
Yes,
thank
you
for
hearing
me
out.
I
am
looking
forward
to
having
a
deeper
discussion
at
our
retreat,
because
this
is
important
and
we're
you
know
down
75
in
this
department,
but
saying
that
we're
doing
the
work
so
we're
going
to
need
help
and
experts,
and
we,
you
know,
have
a
great
opportunity
here
to
fill
those
seats,
I'm
looking
forward
to
supporting
deborah
and
the
ways
that
we
can.
A
Okay,
so
anybody
else
have
any
questions
or
comments
under
this
presentation's
portions.
If
not,
we
will
move
on
to
the
next
part
of
our.
A
A
Okay,
we're
the
next
part
of
our
agenda
is
the
public
hearings
portion
of
our
agenda
public
hearing
item
a
is
the
first
public
hearing
to
consider
an
amendment
to
the
unified
development,
ordinance
articles,
5,
8,
11
and
12
related
to
discretionary
decisions
in
order
to
bring
the
city's
development
code
into
alignment
with
recent
state
legislation
and
principal
planner?
Shannon
tuck
is
here
to
present
this
item.
N
N
One
fit
160a
and
153a
are
substantially
similar.
They
have
a
lot
of
overlap,
so
one
of
the
main
goals
of
160d
was
to
consolidate
those
two
chapters
and
in
the
process
a
collaborative
group,
including
land
use,
attorneys.
The
school
of
government
and
north
carolina
legislators
also
made
a
number
of
clarifications
and
reorganization
of
those
laws.
Next
slide,
please
so
the
timing
of
160d,
as
I
mentioned
it,
was
the
session
law
was
2019.
N
It
became
effective
in
2020,
but
we
have,
until
the
summer
of
2021
to
actually
make
all
of
the
changes
to
our
code
to
be
in
alignment
with
160d
and
staff
has
been
bringing
forward
a
series
of
amendments
for
council's
consideration.
That
is,
updating
our
codes,
kind
of
in
sections
or
based
on
topics,
and
we
will
have.
This
is
the
third
in
a
series
we
will
have
at
least
one
more
possibly
two,
depending
on
how
we
decide
to
to
organize
those
remaining
changes
next
slide.
N
N
N
The
other
option
is
to
develop
clear
and
objective
criteria
where
we
can
evaluate
certain
requests
for
certain
conditions
and-
and
this
amendment
actually
does
a
combination
of
both
so
next
slide.
Please
so
a
couple
examples
related
to
removing
that
discretionary
language.
Here's
one
related
to
permit
validity
and
you'll
see
the
portion
of
the
text
that
strike
struck
out.
N
So
this
is
something
that
160d
is
is
emphasizing
that
staff
should
not
be
doing
so.
If
you
had
very
specific
criteria
that
you
could
consider,
then
that's
a
little
bit
different
now.
This
is
a
particular
topic
where
it
might
be
difficult
to
develop
that
criteria,
but
the
large
majority
of
the
sections
where
we're
proposing
to
just
remove
the
language
is
because
it's
it's
if
ever
used,
it's
very
rarely
used
or
it
offers
very
little
benefit.
So
in
my
18,
almost
19
years
with
the
city,
I
think
we've
granted
two
extensions
that
I
can
recall.
N
N
Another
example
related
to
sidewalk
standards
again
that
strikethrough
language,
which
is
indicating
that
this
is
the
language
that
we
intend
to
remove.
It
says
that
sidewalk
shall
be
10
feet.
I
believe
this
came
from
the
downtown
development
code.
Section
shall
be
a
minimum
of
10
feet,
but
the
city
engineer
may
prove
an
alternative
width
based
on
context
of
the
street
and
block
where
there
is
insufficient
space.
So
again,
here
we're
asking
a
city
staff
person
to
use
their
judgment
to
determine
if
there's
insufficient
space
next
slide.
N
N
So
you
recall
the
last
example
where
we
are
proposing
to
remove
the
sidewalk
or
the
ability
for
the
city
engineer
to
just
grant
relief
to
the
sidewalk
requirements
and
and
just
at
his
discretion
or
her
discretion.
Here's
where
we
propose
to
kind
of
offset
that
so
here
we
are
saying
under
fee
and
lieu
of
construction.
N
This
is
fee
in
lieu
of
construction
of
sidewalks
that
here's
a
very
specific
objective
criteria,
where
we
say
essentially
that
if
you
have
a
building-
and
you
have
a
road
and
the
only
space
in
between
you
know,
this
is
the
only
space
that
you
have
for
a
sidewalk
and
that
doesn't
allow
you
to
do
the
10
feet
that
you
can
pay
a
fee
in
lieu.
So
we're
very
specific.
N
We
say
that
you
have
to
have
you're
adaptively
reusing,
an
existing
building
or
renovating
an
existing
building,
so
you
have
an
existing
building
face
and
you
have
existing
transportation
facilities
and
you
just
don't
simply
have
the
room.
So
here
we
have
in
these
conditions,
we
can
grant
relief
and
you
don't
have
to
do
the
10
foot
wide
sidewalk,
but
you
do
have
to
pay
a
fee
in
lieu
of
the
balance
of
the
portion
of
the
sidewalk
that
you're
not
constructing.
N
We
have
some
other
instances
where
we
have
other
criteria
under
which
we
can
grant
this
kind
of
flexibility
or
where
an
individual
can
pay
a
fee
instead
of
actually
constructing
the
sidewalk.
I
want
to
emphasize
that
this
is
not
new.
We
already
have
standards
for
fee
in
lieu
of
constructing
sidewalks,
we're
proposing
to
update
and
clarify
and
remove
any
kind
of
anything
that
kind
of
suggests
that
staff
has
some
authority
to
kind
of
subjectively
or
discretionarily
like
determine
whether
or
not
these
conditions
apply
next
slide.
N
Please
another
example:
we
have
a
section
of
our
code
called
flexible
development
standards
that
allows
staff
to
grant
a
little
bit
of
administrative
relief
to
development
requirements.
In
this
particular
case,
we're
very
specific.
We
say
how
much
relief
you
get
10
percent
or
24
inches
as
it
relates
to
setbacks,
as
in
this
example,
and
then
we
identify
the
conditions
under
which
this
might
be
warranted
so
again
just
trying
to
make
it
more
objective
and
again
these
are
existing
standards
that
we're
just
trying
to
improve
and
make
more
clear
and
objective
next
slide.
Please.
N
N
So
we
all
know
that
the
city
has
a
number
of
different
zoning
districts
where
we
determine
what
kind
of
land
use
activities
can
occur
within,
and
we
have
just
this
large
table
that
kind
of
identifies
the
most
common
land
uses,
and
then
it
has
all
of
the
different
zoning
districts
in
it,
and
you
can
kind
of
follow
the
cells
to
determine
whether
or
not
it's
permitted
within
each
zoning
district.
It
will
refer
to
the
table
of
uses,
it
will
say
permitted
uses
are
those
that
are
identified
in
the
table.
N
That
legal
decision
that
we're
using
to
evaluate
those
new
land
uses
that
are
not
identified
in
our
table
and
those
are
the
three
areas
where
we
are
having
the
objective
criteria.
Again,
I
will
just
emphasize
that
the
majority
of
the
changes
are
just
to
remove
the
authority
of
staff
to
make
any
kind
of
discretionary
decisions.
N
There
was
a
surprisingly
large
number
of
those
changes.
If
you
look
through
the
draft
ordinance,
there's
there's
quite
a
few,
and
but
that
was
that
concludes
my
summary.
That's
all
I
was
going
to
cover
in
this
introduction,
but
I'd
be
happy
to
answer
any
questions
or
go
over
any
of
those
changes
in
more
detail.
If
the
council
would
like.
J
D
It
seems
like
a
really
big
job
to
highlight
all
these
areas
where
there
was
discretion
and
not
fitting
it.
What
happens
if
you
didn't
find
them
all.
N
N
So
and
and
in
most
instances
I
think
we
would
be
safe
in
not.
You
know,
running
any
risk
because
it
usually
says
most
of
the
in
most
of
these
instances
it
says
you
know
the
planning
director
or
the
city
engineer
may
offer,
so
we
don't
have
to
exercise
that
authority,
even
if
it's
given
to
us
lawfully,
but
in
this
particular
case
it
would
be
in
conflict
with
160d.
N
D
Yeah,
I
was
just
wondering
if
the
state
legislature,
you
know,
has
put
some
penalties
in.
If,
if
you
don't
do
this-
and
I
was
just
like
I-
I
assume
that
not
just
one
person
went
through-
I
mean
that
several
people
went
through,
so
you
tried
to
do
a
comprehensive.
I
I'm
sure
you
did
a
comprehensive
job.
I
was
just
wondering
like
if
there
were
penalties
in
the
event
that
you
didn't
find
everything,
because
it
just
seems
like
there
was
a
lot.
O
Councilwoman
whistler,
I
may
be
able
to
add
some
additional
context
to
that.
The
new
160d
changes,
as
mentioned
by
shannon,
go
into
effect
this
summer
and
at
that
point
essentially,
if
you
have
not
made
the
changes,
the
state
law
controls,
regardless
of
what
your
local
ordinances
may
say.
So
if
we
did
miss
something
which
at
full
faith
and
confidence
in
the
team,
putting
all
this
together
that
they've
caught
all
of
these,
but
if,
for
some
reason,
if
something
was
omitted,
essentially
the
state
law
is
going
to
control.
N
G
Well,
thank
you
shannon.
This
is
sage
I
attempted
to
read
the
88
pages
and
just
don't
know
how
you
do
it
sometimes,
but
now
you
already
have
a
lot
on
your
plate.
So
thanks
for
making
this
squeeze
in
somehow.
A
Any
other
questions
for
miss
tuck
before
we
open
up
the
public
hearing.
A
A
Okay,
thank
you.
I
will
close
the
public
comment.
Do
I
have
a
motion
and
second
to
recess
the
public
hearing
to
consider
an
amendment
to
the
unified
development,
ordinance
articles,
5,
8,
11
and
12
related
to
discretionary
decisions
in
order
to
bring
the
city's
development
code
into
alignment
with
recent
state
legislation
until
march
23
2021.
G
A
D
A
Vice
mayor
smith,
I
myself,
I
councilwoman
kilgore
aye
councilwoman
mosley
aye
councilwoman
rooney
aye,
councilwoman
turner,
hi.
Okay,
thank
you.
So
next
up
is
a
public
hearing
to
permanently
okay.
So
that's
the
misstep's
leaving
us
we're
going
to
hear
from
chad
vandy.
This
is
a
public
hearing
to
permanently
close
an
unopened,
right-of-way
known
as
trade
street
and
streets
division
manager.
Chad
bandy
will
present
this
item.
Q
Thank
you
mayor.
Thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
present
this.
I
do
want
to
clarify
before
we
start
that
if
this
one
looks
familiar
it
should
it
came
before
you
a
couple
months
ago
after
the
public
hearing,
we
realized
that
the
description
of
the
closure
that
was
presented
to
council
was
incorrect.
Q
So
therefore
we
needed
to
come
back
before
council
again
with
the
corrected
description
and
map
of
the
the
closure.
So
with
that
said,
the
map
before
you
is
a
portion
of
an
unopened
right-of-way
known
as
trade
street.
Q
This
petition
has
been
has
been
brought
to
us
by
mitch
construction
and
benjamin
butler.
They,
benjamin
butler,
joined
that
petition
with
mint
construction.
Q
A
Comments:
okay,
we
have
one
person
signed
up
under
public
comment,
I'll
open
the
public
comments
staff.
Do
we
have
anyone
in
the
caller
queue.
A
We
had
one
person
signed
up
for
all
of
these
and
apparently
we're
not
gonna
hear
from
them.
So
I
will
close
the
public
comments.
So
do
I
have
a
motion
and
second
to
recess
the
public
hearing
to
permanently
close
an
unopened,
right-of-way
known
as
trade
street
until
march
23
2021.
A
All
right,
we
have
a
motion
in
a
second
I'll.
Do
a
roll
call
vote
vice
mayor
smith,
I
myself,
I
councilwoman
kilgore
aye
councilwoman
moseley
aye
councilwoman
roni
aye,
councilwoman
turner,
councilwoman,
whistler
hi.
Okay,
thank
you.
Next
is
a
public
public
hearing
item
c,
a
public
hearing
to
consider
adoption
of
2021
limited
obligation,
refunding
bonds
interim
finance
director
tony
mcdowell
will
present
this
item.
R
Good
evening,
mayor
council,
I'll
just
briefly
introduce
the
item
and
turn
it
back
over
to
you
all
for
the
for
the
public
hearing
as
a
part
of
the
city's
ongoing
capital
improvement
program.
We
issue
typically
two
types
of
debt
to
fund
that
program,
limited
obligation
and
special
obligation,
bonds
and
typically,
we
issue,
what's
called
bond
anticipation
notes
as
we
get
projects
started
and
essentially
a
bond
anticipation.
Note
is
a
bank
loan
and
so
on
that
initial
bond
anticipation
that
we
pay
just
interest
and
then.
R
Spent
a
certain
amount
of
money,
we
usually
go
back
and
do
what's
called
the
final
takeout
of
that
loan
and
begin
paying
both
principal
and
interest
on
the
debt
and
that's
what
we're
getting
ready
to
do
in
april.
We're
going
to
go
to
the
local
government
commission
and
issue
that
debt,
but
there's
a
couple
of
statutory
steps
we
have
to
go
through
before
we
can
go
to
the
local
government
commission.
R
So
just
a
quick
reminder:
the
debt
that
you
all
are
going
to
be
holding
the
public
hearing
on
tonight
has
been
used
to
fund
a
number
of
projects
around
the
city
over
the
last
couple
of
years.
R
A
A
All
right,
we
have
a
motion
in
a
second
and
I'll.
Do
a
roll
call
that
myself,
I
councilwoman
kilgore
aye
councilwoman
mosley,
aye,
councilwoman,
roney,
aye,
councilwoman
turner,.
D
D
A
And
vice
mayor
smith,
hi
all
right.
Thank
you
all
right
we're
going
to
move
on
to
unfinished
business.
We
have
four
items
of
unfinished
business
tonight
unfinished
so
again,
just
this
is
our
coveted
virtual
meeting
format
where
we
have
the
have
to
have
the
public
hearing,
and
then
we
don't
get
to
vote
on
the
item
until
the
next
meeting.
So
then,
the
next
next
items
are
all
items
that
we
held
the
public
hearing
on
at
the
last
meeting,
and
so
we
don't
take
additional
public
comment
tonight,
but
we
do
vote
on
them.
A
A
A
Roney
aye
councilwoman
turner,
hi,
councilwoman,
whistler
aye,
vice
mayor
smith,
I
and
myself
I
okay,
we
just
got
a
couple
more
of
these.
The
second
is
a
vote
to
permanently
close
an
unopened
right
of
way
connecting
bill
maher
avenue,
directly
south
of
white
fond
drive.
Can
I
get
a
motion
and
second,
to
permanently
close
an
unopened
right
of
way
connecting
to
bill
maher
avenue,
directly
south
of
white
fawn
drive.
A
J
D
A
Vice
mayor
smith,
hi
myself,
I
and
councilwoman
kilgore
hi,
okay,
next
unfinished
business
item
c
is
a
vote
to
consider
the
voluntary
annexation
of
0.47
acres
off
of
oak
hill
circle
and
moore
crest
road.
Can
I
get
a
motion
and
a
second
to
consider
the
voluntary
annexation
of
0.47
acres
off
of
oak
hill
circle
and
moore
crest,
road.
A
D
A
Myself,
I
councilwoman
kilgore
aye
councilwoman
mosley
aye
all
right.
Thank
you
unfinished
business
item
d:
this
is
our
last
item
of
unfinished
business
and
it
is
a
vote
to
consider
the
initial
zoning
of
0.747
acres,
which
we
just
annexed:
a
property
located
off
of
oak
hill
circle
and
moore
crest,
road
to
rm16
residential
multifamily
high
density
district.
A
A
T
A
We
have
an
opportunity
for
a
short
break.
Does
anyone
want
a
short
break?
Because
our
next
item
will
take
a
long
time?
Yes,
short.
A
Welcome
back
from
the
break
for
city
council,
we've
now
reached
the
new
business
portion
of
our
agenda.
The
what
we're
going
to
do
tonight
is
talk
about
school
board.
So
recently
we
adopted
a
legislative
agenda
for
the
city
council
adopted
a
legislative
agenda
and
we
did
so
unanimously
and
what
was
not
on
that
agenda
was
the
issue
of
whether
or
not
the
council
supports
moving
to
an
elected
school
board.
Currently
in
for
asheville
city
schools,
the
school
board
is
appointed
by
the
city
council,
and
that
is
because
of
state
legislation.
A
There
are
two
two
school
boards
left
in
the
state
of
north
carolina
that
are
appointed
the
rest
are
elected,
so
this
issue
has
come
up
periodically
in
our
community
and
it
has
come
up
again
recently.
So
we,
I
ask
that
this
item
be
placed
on
the
agenda
for
discussion.
A
We
do
have
a
number
of
people
that
have
signed
up
to
speak
on
this
item,
but
but
let
me
just
say
this
in
terms
of
the
process
for
this
evening.
City
council
cannot
make
a
binding
decision
about
whether
or
not
we
move
to
an
elected
school
board
or
not.
It.
E
A
The
legislature
just
went
into
session
and
the
bill
filing
deadlines
are
now.
The
legislature
will
likely
adjourn
before
june
because
they
too
are
also
working
on
their
budget
that
usually
drives
how
long
their
session
is.
They
will
not,
then,
probably
go
back
into
session
where
they
will
consider
legislation
like
this
again
until
the
short
session,
which
would
probably
be
april
and
may
of
next
year.
So
so
from
a
timing
standpoint,
if
this
council
were
to
support
legislation
that
would
move
to
an
elected
school
board,
we
are
in
a
bit
of
a
time
crunch.
A
Otherwise
we
would
miss
the
2022
election
cycle,
so
just
for
some
context.
You
know
why.
Now
you
know
why
can't
we
wait?
You
know
how
how
you
know
how
much
time
is
there
just
sort
of
those
are
the
moving
parts
for
consideration
this
evening
are
two
options
and
if
anyone
has
any
other
suggestions
about
options,
one
is
a
hybrid
option
which
would
move
us
to
a
elected
and
appointed
school
board.
So
some
seats
would
be
elected
and
some
would
be
appointed.
A
The
other
option
would
be
to
a
fully
elected
school
board,
and
I
would
I
would
ask
that
we
vote
on
both
options
simply
because
we're
not
completely
sure
that
the
hybrid
model
is
legally
allowed.
It
does
not
exist
in
north
carolina,
so
we're
just
not
sure-
and
I
personally
have
some
concerns
that
if,
if
that's
all
we
voted
on-
and
it
went
down
to
the
legislature
and
the
legislative
staff
for
some
reason-
thought
it
wasn't
an
option.
A
We
need
to
indicate
to
the
legislative
delegation
where
we,
where
we
fall
on
the
other
option
and
that
being
the
fully
elected
school
board.
So
I
guess
what
I'm
just
saying
is:
give
some
options
to
the
legislative
delegation
and
let
them
know
where
we
stand
on
these
options.
A
So
we
so
the
format
for
new
business
is
that
we
do
need
a
motion
and
a
second
for
one
of
these
options
to
get
us
started
so
that
we
can
hear
public
comment.
A
But
but
I
don't
want
to
rush
you
if
you
have
something
you
would
like
to
say,
or
if
you're
already
ready
for
emotion,
that
you
know
that
that
would
be
fine
too.
So
you
you
tell
me,
but
if,
if,
if
and
when
you're
ready
for
a
motion,
you
might
begin
with
the
hybrid
model
and
then
that
would
allow
us
to
hear
the
public
comment
on
the
school
board
concept
in
general.
Yes,.
S
Madam
mayor,
I
have
a
question:
if
it's
okay,
I
just
wanted
to
sort
of
confirm
what
you
said
a
minute
ago.
You
said
that
there
are
only
two
school
boards
that
are
not
elected
in
north
carolina.
Was
that
correct?
That's
correct?
Okay,
and
you
said
that
we
cannot
change
it
without
the
legislation.
A
S
A
Yes
well
or
they
were
established
as
elected
school
boards
from
the
get-go,
and
they
were
never
appointed
so,
but
they
are
all
created
by.
As
far
as
I
understand,
maybe
brad
can
weigh.
J
O
Mayor,
I
think
you've
mucked
it
up
almost
zero
on
this
point
that
that's
exactly
right.
Councilwoman
kilgore,
the
state
statutes
are
set
up
to
have
a
little
bit
of
a
different
procedure
for
a
city
school
board,
as
opposed
to
a
county
school
board.
But
although
county
school
boards
are
actually
required
to
be
elected
city,
school
boards
are
given
the
option
to
be
appointed
or
elected.
As
the
mayor
said,
we
currently
are
down
to
only
ourselves
and
one
other
small
municipality
in
the
state
which
appoints
our
board
members.
O
So
we
are
in
the
minority
of
that
class.
Now
all
of
the
authority
in
order
to
have
one
or
the
other
derives
from
the
state
legislation
which
establishes
the
school
board
and
therefore
only
the
state
can
make
the
change
if
you're
going
to
switch
between
them
or
create,
as
we
propose
tonight,
some
hybrid
model
of
the
two.
F
O
Yes,
madam
vice
mayor
there,
there
currently
is
no
other
model
existing
in
the
state
which
is
functioning
under
a
hybrid
half
elected
or
partially
elected
and
partially
appointed
model
for
a
school
board.
However,
there
is
some
limited
precedent
in
the
state
for
this.
If
you
go
back
to
the
late
70s,
the
city
of
whiteville,
which
is
fairly
small
out
by
the
coast
on
the
east
coast,
actually
had
a
school
board
which
had
some
appointed
members,
oddly
enough
appointed
by
the
general
assembly
and
not
by
the
local
government,
but
they
had
also
elected
members
as
well.
O
So
there
is
some
precedent
in
this.
There
is
no
specific
authority
granted
in
the
state
statute,
which
is
north
carolina
general
statute
115c-37,
which
establishes
how
school
boards,
via
either
election
or
appointment,
are
supposed
to
be
set
up.
However,
what
we
do
know
is
that
there's
no
prohibition
against
having
a
joint
model
like
this,
so
we
I
I
believe
there
is
a
good
chance,
given
the
precedent
out
there
and
the
lack
of
prohibition
against
doing
it,
that
this
is
a
viable
model
for
the
city.
A
Any
other
any
other
questions,
or
do
I
have
a
motion
so
so
we
can
hear
some
hear
the
public
comment
on
this.
You.
F
I
do
have
a
motion,
but
I
need
some
clarity
from
brad
really
quick,
okay,
so
I'm
fully
in
favor
of
a
hybrid
board.
But
I
wanted
to
know
if
there's
any
way
that
we
can
alter
the
motion
just
a
little
bit
concerning
the
membership
to
allow
for
three
elected
board
members,
one
elected
chair
and
then
three
appointees-
and
that
will
give
us
an
even
balance
of
elected
board
members
appointed
board
members
and
then
an
elected
chair.
Who
will
then
have
some
type
of
tie-breaking
voting
power.
O
Yes,
madam
vice
mayor,
I
I
believe
that
that
is
doable
again.
The
actual
number
of
the
board
and
the
makeup
of
whether
or
not
it
would
be
a
certain
number
of
appointed
versus
a
certain
number
of
elected
and
whether
or
not
a
chair
is
separately
elected,
can
all
be
done
via
the
local
legislation
again
right
now,
the
state
statute
does
not
prescribe
a
specific
number
limit
of
how
many
board
members
actually
are
included
in
the
board.
That's
taken
care
of
via
the
local
acts
which
set
those
up.
F
So
so
today
we
would
have
to
suggest
that
we
have
four
board
members
elected
by
the
residents
of
the
asheville
city
school
district,
and
then
I
think,
that's
all
we
we
need
to
add
in
order
to
make
that
that
change,
correct.
D
I
I
think
the
the
the
proposed
ordinance
only
says
two
appointments
and
weren't.
You
saying
you
wanted
three
appointed
and
four
four
elected,
so
that
would
be
just
a
little
change.
F
A
No,
no,
no
you're
just
trying
to
clarify
the
motion.
It
would
have
to
be
in
the
legislation,
so
your
motion
would
be
to
to
to
make
a
motion
for
a
seven
member
board,
four
of
which
are
elected
and
three
are
appointed.
One
question
I
would
have
is:
do
you
want
the
chair
to
be
a
separately
elected
position
like
a
mayor?
Is
a
separate
candidate
on
a
ballot
or
do
you
want
the
body
to
select
the
chair?
That
would
mean
that
the
chair
would
could
end
up
being
an
appointed
person
or
an
elected
person.
O
Yeah
right
now
they
well
it's
appointed
right
now,
so
so
it
doesn't
line
up
in
terms
of
lining
up
with
the
municipal
election
as
part
of
the
details
of
making
any
kind
of
transition
to
a
different
form.
We
would
also
have
to
then
figure
out
as
part
of
the
local
legislation
what
the
methodology
for
election
would
be
and
there's
a
few
models
out
there,
which
are
probably
most
applicable
to
us.
O
We
could
follow
the
asheville
city
municipal
elections,
which
is
a
non-partisan
primary
taking
place
in
you
know
over
sort
of
march
into
november,
and
then
with
seats
actually
taking
in
december.
That's
not
currently
when
they
take
their
seats.
You
could
also
follow
the
county
model,
buncombe
county's
model,
which
has
no
primary,
but
is
a
plurality
method
of
election
also,
I
believe
they
take
their
seats
generally,
it's
done
at
the
same
schedule
as
the
county
elections,
which
the
city
is
also
on
now
as
well.
O
So
that's
something
that
would
have
to
be
thought
out
as
part
of
any
local
bill
about
the
election
methodology,
including
when
those
people
would
take
their
seats.
I
think
the
first
available
option
for
us,
economically
speaking,
because
it
does
cost
money
to
hold
these
elections,
would
be
to
have
it
run
concurrently
with
the
next
municipal
and
county
election
in
2022,
okay,.
O
It
does
not.
The
only
time
that
we
would
have
to
take
population
into
consideration
is
if
we
decided
to
go
to
some
sort
of
a
district
model
and
then
you've
got
to
ensure
that
there
is
evenly
divided
representation
amongst
the
districts.
In
other
words,
you
couldn't
have
someone
representing
a
very
small
district
population
wise
and
someone
else
representing
a
very
large
district
with
the
same
voting
power,
but
because
I
don't
hear
anyone
proposing
a
district
model
for
this.
It's
a
plurality
method
very
similar.
O
There
is
most,
are
the
vast
majority
are
elected
and
again
there
is
no
other
current
hybrid
model
that
I'm
aware
of
in
the
state.
Some
do
districts
and
some
do
a
plurality
method.
So
you
get
a
little
bit
of
both.
F
A
O
I
think
that's
right
mayor
and
let
me
add
that
the
statute
is
going
to
be
fairly
consistent
with
regard
to
the
term
limits.
This
is
similar
to
what
we
have
right
now,
which
is
four
year
staggered
terms,
so
we
don't
have
to
work
this
out
now,
but
we
would
essentially
have
to
make
determinations
once
the
if
a
local
bill
was
beginning
to
be
drafted,
how
you
would
stagger
the
electeds
and
appointeds
so
that
everyone
is
not
coming
off
at
once,
but
you
do
not
have
to
include
that
in
your
motion.
Right
now,.
A
Okay,
we
have
a
motion
in
a
second
we,
so
what
I'm
thinking
is
well
unless
anyone
else
has
any
questions
or
comments,
we'll
open
up
the
well
the
speaker,
queue
and
allow
and
hear
speakers.
A
So
just
a
couple
of
things
is
that
all
right-
everybody,
yeah
okay,
the
and,
as
the
vice
mayor
stated
in
her
motion,
just
note
for
folks
that
are
on
the
line.
Interestingly,
the
city
school
district
only
has
about
40
000
people
in
it
versus
the
entire
city,
which
is
you
know
approximately
93
000.
So.
U
A
Smaller
and
roughly
does
not
include
a
lot
of
south
asheville
below
shiloh
and
east
asheville.
So
just
keep
that
in
mind
and
then
north
asheville
is
like
swiss
cheese
and
has
you
know,
houses
next
to
other
houses
that
aren't
in
it
and
some
are
in
it?
Some
are
out.
A
So
the
other
thing
to
keep
in
mind
is
that
after
this,
we
will
have
an
opportunity
to
vote
on
the
other
option
of
an
all-elected
school
board,
but
we
will
not
take
more
public
comment
at
that
point.
So
we'll
try
to
just
do
all
of
it
now
and
I
do
have
a
number
of
people
that
are
signed
up
to
speak
under
this
item.
V
My
name
is
honor
moore
and
I
live
in
asheville.
I
grew
up
in
asheville
and
I
attended
claxton
and
newton
elementary.
My
very
first
teachers
who
taught
me
to
read
were
miss
cunningham
and
miss
avery.
I
grew
up
during
a
very
exciting
time
in
a
new
progressive
new
education
period
in
our
district
first
off.
Thank
you
to
all
of
city
council
for
your
service.
Thank
you
to
esther
mannheimer,
sandra
kilgore
and
kim
rohney,
for
engaging
with
your
constituents
and
being
incredibly
responsive
to
parents
and
stakeholders.
V
V
I
am
not
for
continuing
on
with
the
current
status
quo
of
a
fully
appointed
system,
asheville
and
chapel
hill.
Have
the
highest
per
pupil
spending
in
the
state
money
is
not
our
problem,
but
management
of
our
budget
is
questionable
at
times.
Why
does
a
tiny
district
like
ours
have
four
superintendents?
V
Why
are
we
shutting
down
a
perfectly
amazing
five-star
primary
school
that
works
and
took
years
of
money
and
development
to
become
what
it
is
today?
Asheville
primary
school
is
within
three
miles
of
ninety
percent
of
our
public
housing.
How
does
breaking
up
this
preschool
and
putting
it
back
into
public
housing
help
close
the
achievement
gap?
V
Why
does
our
district
seem
to
get
rid
of
our
best
programs?
How
much
of
our
local
money
is
diverted
to
salaries
in
central
offices?
We
need
an
elected
or
blended
board
so
that
there
is
more
community
engagement
and
accountability
in
the
14
years.
Since
my
son
started
kindergarten,
there
have
been
no
significant
gains
in
the
achievement
gap.
We
flip
through
superintendents
and
principles
like
drinking
water
in
a
hot
desert.
V
Parents
want
consistency,
and
we
are
tired
of
paying
for
golden
parachutes
and
expensive
consultants.
If
I
felt
our
schools
were
better
or
stronger,
I
would
not
be
here
advocating
for
an
elected
school
board.
We
have
gotten
worse,
not
better.
Our
central
offices
needs
both
an
equity
and
a
financial
audit.
V
W
P
I
have
three
kids
at
asheville
city
schools,
one
at
the
high
school
and
two
at
asheville
primary
this
year
I
learned
a
bit
about
the
school
board
as
they
approved
the
new
superintendent's
recommendation
to
empty
asheville
primary
school,
retire,
the
school
number
and
evict
two
fully
enrolled
programs
that
are
both
proven
to
create
equitable
outcomes
for
students,
public
montessori
and
five-star
pre-k
classrooms.
P
P
P
X
Asheville
hi
everyone
good
evening.
I
guess
I
will
follow
my
peers
there
are
you
able
to
hear
me.
X
Hello:
okay,
great,
my
name
is
tigeth
ruffin.
I
live
in
north
asheville,
28804
reside
in
the
town
of
woodson.
I've
been
in
asheville
since
2010.
Both
of
my
boys
began
their
formal
education
in
asheville
city
schools,
beginning
in
kindergarten.
They
both
attended
rb
jones
elementary
for
their
elementary
education.
X
J
X
Know
that
nationwide
95
of
school
boards
are
elected,
we
also
know
that
there
are
other
models.
Appointed
and
hybrid
research
from
kenneth
wong
brown
university
says
that
appointed
boards
improve
academic
performance
and
district
management
with
better
performance
and
closing
opportunity
and
achievement
gaps
plus
increasing
graduation
rates.
However,
we
know
that
is
not
the
case
of
an
appointed
school
board
for
asheville
city
schools.
X
We
have
not
seen
those
outcomes,
we
have
the
largest
racial
achievement
gap
in
the
state
of
north
carolina,
typically
appointed
boards
were
implemented
for
failing
districts
and
appointed
boards
usually
implied
that
the
community
was
incapable
of
running
their
own
district.
However,
we
know
that
our
community
is
capable,
therefore,
I'm
in
support
of
a
hybrid
school
board
or
an
elected
school
board.
X
J
X
Move
beyond
the
status
quo,
with
a
dramatic
change
something
revolutionary.
I
don't
suspect
that
this
change
is
a
panacea
for
all
of
the
challenges
of
asheville
city
schools.
However,
now
is
the
time
it
is
imperative
to
flip
the
script.
Reverse
the
status
quo
in
typical
norms
and
be
revolutionary
in
school
governance,
for
better
outcomes
for
all
of
our
children,
where
all
kids
experience,
academic
success
and
proficiencies
in
math
reading
and
so
forth.
Yes,
hybrid
is
a
new
model
within
the
past
decade.
X
It
is
considered
one
of
the
newest
forms
of
school
governance
and
not
many
districts
engage
in
the
hybrid
model.
However,
I
did
find
that
pg
county
schools
in
maryland,
outside
of
washington
dc,
has
a
hybrid
school
board
model.
The
state
of
maryland
actually
has
three
counties
that
use
a
hybrid
model
as
well
as
hybrid
is
used
in
the
state
of
connecticut.
C
P
T
H
T
Okay,
well,
my
name
is
valeria
wyda,
I'm
the
mom
of
a
first
grader
at
isaac,
dixon
and
a
seventh
grader
at
asheville
middle
school,
and
the
reason
why
I
wanted
to
show
up
today
and
support
was
because,
as
a
mom
and
as
a
member
of
the
community,
I
have
been
watching
and
listening
and
appreciating
so
much
the
work
really
selfless
and
dedicated
of
our
teachers
and
parents
like
pepe
and
libby
giles.
I
know
them
both
personally
because
of
our
kids
being
in
their
school
being
really
students
and
knowing
them
as
parents.
T
So
I
just
wanted
to
make
sure
that
you
guys
heard
from
us
from
just
the
people
of
the
community
and
how
much
we
do
need
our
voices
heard
in
the
conversations
regarding
our
schools
for
as
long
as
I've
been
part
of
the
school
community
as
a
mom,
I
feel
like
that
has
been
consistently
missing
the
voice
of
the
parents
and
as
parents
we
are
also
the
voice
of
the
teachers.
T
So
anyways.
That's
why
I
was
here
to
show
my
support
for
these
two
individuals
that
I
have
seen
working
so
so
dedicated
and
selfless
for
for
all
of
us.
Thank
you
so
much.
Z
Hey
hi,
this
is
jonathan
wayne
scott
and
I
just
want
to
thank
the
mayor
for
starting
the
conversation.
I
think
it's
a
little
bit
hasty
to
put
this
in
motion.
As
miss
mosley
said
in
the
asheville
citizen
times
on
friday,
when
this
just
dropped
that
we
need
to
make
sure
that
we're
doing
everything
that
we
can
to
take
into
consideration
the
voice
of
minorities.
Z
As
it
pertains
to
this
issue-
and
I
couldn't
agree,
more
establishing
an
election
is
pretty
much
one
of
the
most
important
things
we
can
do,
especially
when
it
involves
the
election
of
our
school
board
and
our
children.
So
I
definitely
think
that
we
should
be
using
the
department
of
equity
and
inclusion
in
this.
I
don't
see
how
they
possibly
could
have
been
involved
with
this
short
notice.
I
just
wanted
to
chime
in
on
some
things
about
the
chapel
hill
cargo
city
school
system,
which
seems
to
be
quite
similar
to
asheville's.
Z
Although
it
is
two
cities,
it's
12
000
students
compared
to
asheville
cities,
4400
and
their
per-pupil
spending.
According
to
carolina,
public
press
is
2.75
times
the
state
average
and
they
are
the
considered
the
best
school
district
overall
by
niche
rankings
and
the
five
best
school
district
in
the
state
were
hiring
qualified
teachers
and
they
are
the
second
worst
in
the
nation
for
their
achievement.
Z
Gap
between
blacks
and
whites
and
the
asheville
city
school
system
spends
more
than
double
the
average,
the
state
average
for
per
pupil
spending,
and
we
have
ranked
the
sixth
best
overall
by
niche
rankings
for
in
north
carolina
we're
21
best
for
best
teachers
and
we're
the
fifth
largest
achievement
gap
in
the
nation.
I
think
that
the
conversation
that
we
need
to
be
having
is
about
the
consolidation
of
the
asheville
city
school
system,
the
buncombe
county
school
system,
wake
county
school
systems
operates
as
one
system
that
manages
162
thousand
students.
Z
Charlotte
mecklenburg
is
148,
000
students
and
that's
one
district
guilford
county
is
73
000
students
and
that's
all
handled
by
one
district.
Oh
and
miss
turner,
the
carr
borough,
the
chapel
hill
carrboro
school
district
is
voted
at
large.
If
you're
wondering
about
that,
buncombe
county
is
the
number
14
largest
school
district
in
the
state
and
if
it
absorbed
the
asheville
city
school
system,
it
would
only
jump
to
number
11
with
28
000
students.
Z
It
seems
as
though
we
are
paying
a
premium
in
asheville
for
the
dividend
so
that
the
haves
can
have
better
and
haves
have
not
can
get
a
vote
or
a
task
force,
and
I
think
it's
just
time
to
end
this
experiment
with
the
asheville
city
schools
entirely.
Thank
you
very
much
appreciate
it.
H
P
P
It's
my
opinion
that
our
community
should
be
regularly
wrestling
with
the
performance
of
our
schools
and
city
council
has
a
special
opportunity
and
responsibility
to
draw
the
community's
attention
to
the
performance
and
needs
of
our
schools.
Earlier
tonight.
I
listened
as
the
equity
and
inclusion
report,
and
I
thought
it
is
perfect
that
this
report
and
this
topic
are
presented
at
the
same
meeting.
We
will
not
become
a
more
equitable
city
until
we
achieve
greater
equity
in
the
success
of
our
children
and
in
our
schools.
P
I
will
read
tonight
from
a
petition
which
gathered
more
than
400
signatures
in
three
days.
This
petition
has
the
signatures
of
former
members
of
the
board
of
education,
current
and
retired,
educators
of
the
asheville
city,
schools,
parents,
grandparents,
school
volunteers
and
community
champions
from
across
the
city.
You'll
get
a
pdf
of
the
signatures
in
the
city
council,
email
box.
Tonight,
from
the
petition,
families,
educators
and
community
members
formally
call
for
a
resolution
that
the
asheville
city
schools,
board
of
education
be
elected
by
the
citizens
of
our
city.
P
We
also
recommend
that
city
council
pursue
options
to
expand
the
board
of
education
by
two
additional
seats
through
appointments.
A
hybrid
board
composed
of
elected
and
appointed
members
would
balance
the
need
for
accountability
with
the
need
for
unity
and
full
representation
of
our
children.
We
believe
that
an
expanded
board
would
be
able
to
develop
a
committee
structure
that
could
learn
from
and
with
our
community
and
address
persistent
challenges.
P
We
wrote
this
petition
before
seeing
the
resolutions
on
the
agenda
tonight,
so
it
does
not
fit
perfectly
into
the
choices
you
have
before
you,
but
it
is
very
close
to
the
resolution
just
made
by
councilwoman
smith.
What
is
very
clear
is
that
the
community
is
calling
for
change
right
away.
We
know
that
children's
lives
in
school
are
very
short
and
they
need
change
now.
There
is
broad
agreement
that
the
majority
of
the
board
should
be
elected
and
that
there
be
a
mechanism
to
appoint
members
so
that
underrepresented
voices
are
not
silenced.
AA
Yes,
can
you
hear
me?
Yes,
we
can
hear
you.
Thank
you.
Yes,
my
name
is
jensen
gelfan.
I
live
in
west
asheville.
I
am
the
husband
of
a
teacher,
and
I
am
calling
you
tonight
to
advocate
for
a
move
to
an
elected
school
board.
Part
of
being
a
president
of
a
teacher
is
just
being
able
to
kind
of
see
behind
the
scenes
what's
going
on
what
kind
of
decisions
are
being
made
and
how
that
affects.
AA
Children
and
families
and
I've
started
following
over,
especially
the
last
few
months
how
the
school
board
has
been
operating,
and
I
was
just
really
shocked
and
disappointed
when
I
actually
started
attending
meetings,
especially
most
recently
how
families
and
staff
were
not
meaningfully
involved
and
when
it
came
to
the
safe
reopening
of
the
schools,
there
was
no
dialogue
between
the
school
board
or
the
asheville
city,
school
system
and
families.
AA
It
was
a
broken
process
and
I'm
very
concerned
that
there
will
be
consequences
over
the
next
few
weeks
and
months
as
people
come
back
to
school
without
any
kind
of
true
community
effort.
We
just
need
better
leadership.
I
also
concerned
that
there's
a
suppression
of
public
comment
by
the
school
board.
I
went
to
the
last
school
board
meeting
and
the
only
way
to
give
public
comment
was
at
that
meeting.
I
did
not
want
to
go
to
that
meeting
and
expose
myself
to
kovid.
AA
There
were
people
in
that
room
on
the
board
or
leading
the
board,
who
were
recently
covered
positive.
It
didn't
feel
like
a
safe
space,
but
I
nonetheless
went
to
make
my
voice
heard,
but
I
can't
imagine
how
many
people
wanted
to
speak
to
the
school
board
and
did
not
because
they
suppressed
the
ability
to
give
a
public
comment
remotely.
AA
H
AB
I
was
left
after
that
meeting
with
the
sense
that
our
system
is
broken
since
that
time,
I
have
attended
a
variety
of
board
meetings,
written
countless
emails
engaged
in
district-wide
pto
and
the
sense
that
our
system
is
broken
has
only
been
reinforced.
There
appears
to
be
no
avenue
for
interactive
dialogue.
Emails
are
generally
met
with
no
response.
Current
board
members
have
publicly
stated
that
they
don't
read
their
emails.
AB
When
the
superintendent
was
appointed
by
the
school
board.
There
was
a
lot
of
fanfare,
collecting
data
and
feedback
from
parents
and
teachers,
but
it's
not
clear
exactly
how
this
data
informed.
The
decision
to
choose
the
superintendent,
who
has
been
known
to
have
a
lack
of
transparency
and
clearly
appears
to
be
continuing
this
trend.
AB
One
of
the
major
stakeholders
that
board
are
here
to
represent
and
the
board's
job
is
to
help
build
bridges
among
parents,
school
leadership
and
other
sectors
of
the
community.
So
if
parents
are
not
guiding
in
part
to
board
of
ed
decisions,
what
stakeholders
are
being
heard,
as
you
know,
the
asheville
city,
association
of
educators
and
the
buncombe
county
association
of
educators,
educators
endorsed
three
applicants
to
the
city
school
board.
All
these
applicants
have
been
ignored
by
the
city
council.
AB
AC
Great
thank
you.
Thank
you
so
much
for
taking
the
time
to
consider
this
very
important
issue.
I
applaud
you
for
taking
up
the
issue
and
also
for
proposing
two
solutions.
I
strongly
encourage
you
to
adopt
either
solution,
either
resolution
for
an
elected
school
board
for
asheville
city
schools
as
the
father
of
a
preschool
student
in
the
district
and
a
graduate
of
public
school,
I'm
a
staunch
proponent,
not
only
of
public
education,
but
also
of
strong
community
involvement
in
our
schools,
as
one
of
only
two
districts
in
north
carolina
and
just
one.
AC
A
part
of
six
percent
of
the
districts
across
the
nation
to
have
an
appointed
school
board.
Asheville
continues
to
silence
the
voices
of
its
residents
when
it
comes
to
public
education,
while
the
vast
majority
of
school
districts
empower
their
residents
to
select
board
members,
our
patronizing
system
is
stuck
in
an
era
now
over
a
century
old.
AC
AC
Having
spent
a
fun
balance
in
excess
of
13.5
million
dollars
and
now
facing
a
potential
multi-million
dollar
deficit
throughout
this
time,
national
city
school
board
members
have
failed
to
implement
any
meaningful
measures
to
change
course
presented
with
a
measure
to
install
solar
energy
on
numerous
school
buildings.
In
order
to
save
over
six
million
dollars
over
the
course
of
30
years,
the
school
board
bought
and
nearly
turned
down
the
plan
presented
with
years
of
maintenance
neglect
at
the
asheville
primary
school.
The
board
approved
a
measure
to
investigate
the
sale
of
the
building.
AC
At
its
december
14th
meeting
a
motion,
the
superintendent
now
says
quote:
nobody
is
talking
about
unquote
and
the
list
of
questionable
decisions,
head-scratching
misinformation
and
trust-breaking
efforts
to
exclude
the
voices
of
our
most
informed
citizens
is
beyond
alarming.
So,
let's
face
it,
our
board
is
dysfunctional.
Our
school
system
needs
new
leadership
and
I
encourage
you
to
approve
a
resolution
for
an
elected
school
board
and
also
to
consider
for
appointments
in
this
current
appointment
cycle,
those
candidates
that
were
endorsed
by
the
asheville
city
association
of
educators,
who
are
broadly
supported
by
our
communities,
teachers
and
families.
B
It's
it's
not
about
one
of
the
others
about
all
of
our
kids
getting
education,
and
I
do
feel
that
the
process
and
the
move
to
a
hybrid
board
will
be
in
the
best
interest
of
our
kids,
and
thank
you
all
for
the
consideration
and
doing
the
research
behind
it
to
see
what
the
structure
will
look
like
here.
Happy.
AD
AD
AD
AD
So
I
feel,
like
I'm
obligated
to
listen
to
children.
Listen
to
parents,
help
school
staff.
You
know
I
had
a
wonderful
meeting
with
staff
at
asheville
middle
school
today.
You
know,
and
these
people
are
committed
to
doing
good
things
for
our
children,
and
I
am
so
grateful
to
all
of
you
for
all
the
hard
work
that
you've
done,
and
I
I
like
the
hybrid
model
because
it
allows
people
to
have
a
voice
in
what
happens
in
their
schools
and
in
their
children's
lives.
AD
P
Hi,
my
name
is
shifra
ollars,
my
husband,
jordan,
is
a
fourth
generation.
Ashvilian
we've
lived
in
the
city
of
asheville
for
over
20
years
and
we
have
six
children.
The
asheville
city
school
board
has
failed.
My
family
and
we've
made
the
difficult
decision
to
send
our
oldest
children
to
a
charter
school.
Our
youngest
is
currently
enrolled
at
asheville
primary.
We
believe
that
is
the
best
school
in
the
district
and
we're
devastated
that
the
school
board
has
determined.
That
aps
is
expendable
and
is
moving
to
a
program
within
hall.
Fletcher,
limiting
enrollment
and
closing
classrooms.
P
City
councils
should
be
alarmed
by
these
events.
We
keep
hearing
about
improving
racial
equity.
Asheville
primary
has
a
long-standing
anti-bias
anti-racism
statement
that
is
promoted
in
the
daily
learning
at
the
school
aps
is
actively
teaching
children
and
families
how
to
live
in
a
peaceful
and
unifying
world
where
differences
are
celebrated.
P
The
asheville
city
school
board
needs
to
be
changed
in
its
current
configuration.
The
school
board
is
cloaked
in
secrecy,
the
teachers
and
parents.
Don't
know
what
is
going
on
much
of
the
time,
there's
no
response
to
emails
and
sadly,
they
often
misrepresent
the
facts.
These
are
not
the
people
we
want
setting
the
example
for
our
community
and
certainly
not
for
our
children
spending.
Ninety
thousand
dollars
on
a
pr
firm
to
label
the
desegregation
order,
as
antiquated
racial
quotas
that
were
put
into
place
30
years
ago,
is
offensive
to
white
families
and
families
of
color.
P
We
also
have
more
administrative
positions
than
we
need,
but
we
know
the
district
is
not
spending
money
on
the
things
that
matter
the
teachers
that
create
the
quality
education
that
our
children
deserve.
This
demonstrates
a
lack
of
fiduciary
responsibility,
teachers
and
students
were
sent
back
to
school
without
a
plan
without
having
teachers
vaccinated,
demonstrating
a
lack
of
concern
and
a
lack
of
care
for
the
well-being
of
our
entire
community.
P
Many
teachers
are
now
forced
into
the
classroom
in
spite
of
their
pre-existing
conditions
if
they
want
to
keep
their
jobs.
Why
can't
those
teachers
teach
the
virtual
kids
from
home?
The
inhabitants
of
the
city
of
asheville
have
entrusted
you
with
the
welfare
of
our
children
and
families
and
we're
looking
to
you
for
direction.
I
urge
you,
on
behalf
of
all
the
families
of
asheville
primary
school,
our
entire
community,
to
continue
to
consider
an
elected
or
a
hybrid
school
board
that
fairly
represents
the
stakeholders.
P
We
expect
to
have
open
communication
with
the
people
who
lead
and
we
request
honesty
and
all
interactions.
Please
recognize
that
the
families
of
the
asheville
city
school
district
are
deeply
displeased
with
the
current
school
board.
There's
a
reason
why
we
have
lost
nearly
10
of
our
students.
We
require
change.
If
you
want
us
to
trust
the
process,
we
require
change.
If
you
want
us
to
trust,
you,
please
amend
the
school
board.
AE
Thank
you
good
evening,
council.
My
name
is
kate
fisher.
Thank
you
so
much
for
considering
adding
this
process
to
the
legislative
agenda.
I
know
that
it's
complicated,
especially
trying
to
do
what
is
my
preferred
option,
which
would
be
a
partially
elected
and
partially
appointed
board.
AE
The
one
thing
I
would
like
to
suggest
that
council
look
into
is
the
number
that
we're
asking
for,
because
the
last
time
I
looked
into
it,
the
unc
school
of
government
was
very
clear
that
we
would
not
be
allowed
to
have
a
board
that
was
bigger
than
five
because
we're
a
city
district
within
a
county.
So
I
encourage
the
council
to
look
into
that
to
make
sure
that
we
don't
accidentally
ask
for
something
that
we
can't
have
so
just
be
careful
with
that
number
thing.
AE
I
spent
some
time
today
reading
over
general
statute,
115c
article
5,
which
governs
over
and
outlines
how
boards
of
education
are
supposed
to
function
in
north
carolina
schools
in
asheville.
We
have
a
board
that
does
not
use
the
power
granted
to
it
and
it
is
vast.
AE
AE
If
parents,
teachers
and
staff
have
concerns-
and
you
call,
for
example,
the
north
carolina
to
public
instruction
department,
they
will
refer
you
to
your
local
school
board,
they
don't
say,
call
the
superintendent,
they
say
talk
to
your
school
board,
that's
how
it's
supposed
to
work.
That's
who's
supposed
to
hold
the
district
and
the
schools
accountable
to
the
children
they're
supposed
to
educate
gs115c
article
5
gives
the
board
64
specific
responsibilities.
AE
School
boards
are
not
rubber
stamp
organizations
who
just
hire
and
fire
superintendents
they're
supposed
to
run
their
districts
they're
supposed
to
fiercely
protect
the
missions
of
the
schools
they're
supposed
to
fiercely
protect
the
educating
of
our
children,
and
I
don't
feel
like
that's
happening
in
our
board,
now,
they're
failing
to
use
the
power
that
is
granted
to
them
to
steer
our
district,
whether
elected
or
appointment
or
appointed
our
board
has
to
be
excellent.
Elected
or
appointed.
Our
board
must
be
held
accountable
for
now
we
look
to
you
for
this.
AE
It
is
exciting
to
think
we
have
an
option
in
the
future
for
it
to
look
different,
but
our
children
in
this
moment
need
the
board
to
be
held
accountable.
Now,
I'm
asking
for
your
help
with
that,
while
we're
working
towards
something
new,
I
have
three
requests.
First,
please
consider
all
the
people
who
applied
to
be
appointed
to
school
board.
This
round.
You
chose
to
cut
some
very
qualified
candidates,
including
me,
and
I
think
it's
a
mistake.
Our
years
of
experience
and
expertise
and
talents
would
be
good
for
the
board.
AE
AF
Okay,
great
I'm
kathy
hohenstein,
I'm
from
west
asheville
and
I've
been
associated
or
involved
with
the
asheville
city
school.
Since
I
came
in
1997
and
was
the
dietitian
at
our
school-based
health
centers
and
then
over
the
years,
I've
worked
with
healthy
buncombe.
We've
worked
with
the
school
health
advisory
councils
to
help
support
a
healthy
environment
and
where
kids
can
be
physically
active
eating,
healthy
and
a
lot
of
change.
AF
So
we
did
get
some
changes
in
the
early
years.
When
I
was
here,
I
also
have
been
in
the
last
17
years,
the
family
consumer
science
agent
with
cooperative
extension
in
buncombe
county
and
have
done
interactions
with
the
schools
through
that
position,
as
well
as
with
early
childhood
education.
So
for
a
while,
I
was
on
the
programming
board
with
smart
start
and
also
doing
food
safety
trainings
with
the
cafeteria
staff.
AF
I
do
have
two
children.
One
has
gone
through
the
school
system.
She
started
in
2005
and
my
son
is
a
junior
at
asheville
high.
Now,
so
I've
been
involved
as
a
community
member
and
as
a
parent,
and
I
do
want
to
voice
support
for
change.
We
need
to
change
now
with
the
school
board
we
need
to.
I
do
support
the
hybrid
model
and
then
I
also
do
support
if
we
can
do
it
a
full
elective
board,
if
they
do
not
go
with
a
hybrid
model,
the
numbers
need
to
be
more
elected
than
appointed.
AG
Thank
you.
Can
you
hear
me?
Yes,
we
can
hear
you
all
right
thanks
good
evening.
Everyone
I'll
try
to
keep
this
pretty
brief.
My
name
is
trey.
I
live
in
west
asheville.
AG
I
grew
up
here,
went
to
jones
elementary
primary
jones
primary
at
the
time,
the
nashville
middle
of
nashville
high
school
and
I'm
currently
getting
my
master's
degree
in
school
counseling
and
a
lot
of
my
independent
research
has
focused
on
justice
and
equity
in
schools
and
how
to
how
to
eliminate
the
opportunity
gap,
and
so
I
really
appreciate
the
vice
mayor's
motion
and
and
y'all
support
and
consideration
of
of
these
different
models
and
your
desire
for
equity
and
the
lens
that
that
you're,
seeing.
AH
AG
This
through,
I
do
support
the
hybrid
model.
For
that
reason,
I
think
it
makes
the
sense
the
most
sense
from
an
equity
standpoint,
just
in
terms
of
of
a
a
board
that
is
represented
to
the
representative
of
the
community
and
just
ensuring
that
the
whole
community
is
represented
and
that
the
black
and
brown
community
is
not
falling
to
the
wayside,
as
we
are
a
smaller
percentage
of
the
actual
population.
So
I
appreciate
y'all's
consideration
once
again,
I
support
the
hybrid
model
and
thank
you
for
all
you're
doing.
Y
Okay
hi,
my
name
is
sammy
simpson,
hello,
city
council.
I
am
a
parent
of
three
kids
that
have
been
in
asheville
city
schools,
since
2008
one
has
dropped
out
of
asheville
high
one
is
now
in
silsa,
and
one
is
now
at
isaac
dixon
and
they
are
staying
remote
for
the
rest
of
the
year.
I've
also
worked
in
the
schools
with
america
reads:
program,
which
is
a
a
b
tech
work
study,
a
few
years
back
in
hall,
fletcher
and
what's
now
lucy
herring
school.
Y
Y
I
did
not
grow
up
here
or
go
to
school
here.
I'm
a
proud
graduate
of
lower
marion
school
district,
which
is
a
suburb
of
philly.
It's
a
well-funded,
diverse
school
kobe
bryant
was
two
years
ahead
of
me
anyway.
I
just
wanted
to
say
I
am
for
an
elected
school
board
if
it
is
elected
by
the
people
of
the
asheville
city,
school
district,
like
parents,
staff
and
students.
Y
A
hybrid
board
is
an
interesting
idea,
but
let's
remember
that
asheville's
follow-through
on
new
things
isn't
always
the
best
thing
and
everyone
else
in
the
state
except
one
other
county
or
city,
has
an
elected
school
board.
So
maybe
it
should
be
the
nc
standard
of
public
education
to
have
an
elected
school
board.
That's
just
my
opinion.
Y
However,
I
would
also
say
that
if
a
hybrid
hybrid
is
truly
necessary
so
that
black
voices
in
asheville
are
heard,
then
I
agree,
we
need
a
hybrid,
but
I
think
if
everyone
else
is
doing
elected,
we
should
do
it
elected.
I
also
want
to
mention
that
the
board,
usually
I
don't,
really
pay
attention
to
the
board.
Y
They
didn't
follow
through
so
and
it
wasn't
the
school,
it
was
the
board.
So
that's
how
far
it
got
to
me
and
it
shouldn't
have
gotten
that
far.
So
I
just
want
to
mention
that
big
decisions
are
being
made.
Money
is
being
spent
on
people
to
communicate
with
us
when
they
could
just
open
it
up
and
communicate
with
us
parents
staff.
Y
Y
S
S
S
I
think
it's
important
for
acs
to
have
an
elected
school
board
to
improve
the
decision-making
process
for
all
of
our
students
and
to
remove
the
spirit
of
fear
that
currently
exists
amongst
employees
of
asheville
city
schools.
We
need
a
mechanism
to
hold
school
boards
responsible
for
the
decisions
that
they
make.
In
the
past
seven
years,
we've
had
three
superintendents
with
an
over-inflated
central
office
in
which
people
who
have
not
been
efficient
at
doing
their
jobs
have
gotten
promoted.
S
While
people
who
are
earnestly
doing
the
work
have
been
blocked
repeatedly
from
making
changes
that
could
impact
the
learning
and
growth
of
all
of
our
students.
We
should
not
have
a
board
that
is
unwilling
to
interact
with
all
of
its
constituents
and
is
unwilling
to
have
public
discourse
concerning
the
systemic
issues
that
are
affecting
our
district.
S
S
We
have
a
liaison
who
appears
to
not
have
any
knowledge
concerning,
what's
been
happening
in
our
district
for
the
past
six
years.
For
all
of
these
reasons,
I
support
an
elected
board.
That's
a
hybrid
model,
but
if
the
choice
comes
down
to
being
appointed
versus
elected,
I
would
err
on
the
side
of
appointment.
S
Equity
is
important.
Equity
for
all
of
our
students
is
important.
It's
important
that
we
as
a
community
are
united.
The
primary
goal
of
a
school
board
is
to
make
sure
that
all
of
the
children
in
the
district
receive
the
best
education
possible,
and
in
order
for
us
to
do
that,
we
need
to
be
able
to
hold
the
boards
responsible
for
the
actions
that
they
take.
We
need
to
be
able
to
hold
them
responsible
when
they
are
not
responsible.
A
Thank
you
all
right,
council.
We
have
just
to
restate.
We
have
a
motion
and
a
second
to
recommend
to
the
legislature
or
to
wreck,
to
indicate
our
support
to
the
legislature
for
an
expanded
school
board
to
seven
members,
four
being
elected
and
three
being
appointed
and
the
chair
being
selected
by
the
body.
A
A
S
Mayor,
I
do
have
a
a
quick
question
of
clarification,
so
we
could
make
this
recommendation
and
the
legislature
could
decide
to
accept
our
recommendation
or
do
something
that
they
decide
like.
Instead
of
doing
a
school
board,
roll
asheville
city
schools
into
bunking,
county
schools
is
that
a
possibility.
A
Yes,
I
mean
that
is
I
mean,
that's
a
possibility
theoretically
at
any
time,
but
yes,
we
would
certainly
be
putting
the
question
of
an
elected
school
board
before
them
and
honestly
that.
S
Question
also,
so
let
me
get
some
clarification
here
when
you
were
speaking
about
the
hybrid
abort
and
the
elected
board
earlier,
and
you
were
stating
something
as
far
as
options,
because
you're
not
sure
as
to
how
the
general
assembly
will
look
at
it
or
whatever.
So
what
exactly
are
you
suggesting
that
we
actually
send
two
options
to
see
if
one
gets
through
or
what
I'm
not
I'm
a
little
confused.
A
Yes,
what
I
would
suggest
is
we
have
a
motion
and
a
second
for
this
hybrid
model,
and
I
would
I
would
say,
after
we
vote
on
that,
that
we
secondarily
also
vote
on
the
fully
elected
school
board
option
just
in
case
just
in
case.
For
some
reason,
the
hybrid
model
is
proposed
either
doesn't
work
or,
as
antoinette
suggested,
the
legislature
decides.
They
don't
want
to
do
that.
They
want
to
do
something
else
that
we
that
we
have
given
them
our
support
or
lack
thereof,
for
a
fully
elected
board.
A
K
This
is
kim.
I
will
just
add
that
I
know
that
there
are
still
neighbors
who
are
concerned
about
having
an
elected
board,
and
I
have
those
same
concerns
about
ensuring
equitable
representation
at
the
table.
There's
been
so
many
times
when
asheville
had
an
opportunity
to
lead,
and
I
think
this
is
one
of
them.
If
a
hybrid
elected
and
appointed
board
means
that
other
cities
in
the
state
of
north
carolina
might
have
the
opportunity
to
address
equity
at
their
tables
as
well.
K
S
Again,
my
concern
is
that
we
may
be
opening
pandora's
box
and
potentially
going
as
far
away
from
equity
as
imaginable
in
this
instance.
So
again,
if
we
roll
into
buncombe
county
schools,
is
that
a
more
equitable
outcome?
I
just
wonder,
are
our
voices
in
fact
decrease.
K
I
hear
that
concern
antoinette
and
you
know
what
I've
been
hearing
folks
reaching
out
about
is
a
concern
that
if
we
don't
increase
accountability
at
the
polls,
so
that
voters
can
have
a
say,
then
they
may
feel
that
the
only
request
they
have
left
is
to
ask
the
state
directly
and
my
concern
that
that
actually
opens
up
the
pandora's
box.
S
A
Okay,
I
you
know
I
I
just
want
to
explain
my
vote.
I
I
am.
I
am
supportive
of
a
fully
elected
school
board.
I
have
my
doubts
about
a
hybrid
bottle.
I
mean
I,
I
hear
the
concerns
and
I
am
I'm
not
I'm
not
terribly
convinced
that
a
hybrid
model
is
going
to
be
effective
and
I
also
am
concerned
that
it
is
so
very
difficult
for
us
to
get
legislation
in
the
first
place
that
you
know.
I
think
it
will
be
difficult
to
go
back
and
try
to
change
this.
A
So
you
know
I
I
I'm
very
torn
and
I
don't
I
don't
want
to
support
the
hybrid
model
just
because
of
my
long,
the
the
long
game
and
my
concerns
about
the
long
game
here,
but
but
I
do
want
to
support
a
fully
elected
school
board.
So
when
you
hear
me
but
but
it
sounds
like
there's
a
lot
of
support
for
the
hybrid,
so
that
will
be
a
strong
indication
for
the
legislative
delegation.
So
with
that,
I'm
going
to
do
a
roll
call
vote
and
it
starts
with
councilwoman
whistler.
D
J
A
Okay,
okay:
is
there
someone
willing
to
make
a
motion
for
the
fully
elected
school
board
option.
D
Can
we
I
mean
it's,
it's
sort
of
feels
like
ranked
choice
voting,
so
I
guess
my
question
is,
is
if
I
vote
yes,
can
I
yeah
I
mean?
Is
there
a
way
to
kind
of
say
my
preference
would
be.
A
A
There
can
be
all
kinds
of
issues
that
we
that
happen
down
there
and
reasons
that
bills
get
changed
and
legislation
gets
modified,
and
but
we
can
do
the
best
we
can
to
indicate
what
we
do
support.
So
you
know
I've
been
in
communication
with
with
representative
brian
turner,
representative
fisher's
mother
passed
away
suddenly
this
week,
and
so
she
is,
you
know,
obviously
dealing
with
that,
but
he
is
keeping
her
informed.
A
So
I'm
doing
my
best
to
try
to
explain.
I
did
call
ahead
of
time
and
say
you
know
we're
going
to
consider
these
two
options
and
here's
what's
happening,
and
so
we
will
do
our
best
to
convey
to
them,
and
I
think
if
you,
if
you
do,
have
a
preference,
you
know
even
if
you're
supporting
both
if
you
have
a
preference
to
indicate
that
would
be
important.
S
That
council
moved
to
an
elected
school
board:
okay,.
A
Okay,
we
have
a
motion
and
a
second
I'll
do
a
roll
call
vote
before
we
do
the
roll
cover.
K
Before
we
do
that,
if
anyone
has
a
guess
so
this
is
kim-
and
I
just
want
to
state
publicly
that
I
strongly
prefer
the
hybrid
board
to
a
fully
elected
board.
But
I
will
be
supporting
the
elected
board.
A
A
Okay:
okay,
vice
mayor
smith,.
S
D
Again,
with
a
strong
preference
for
the
hybrid
I'm
and
I
okay.
A
Well,
we
have
sent
them
a
confusing
signal
of
two
five
to
two
votes,
but
but
very
nuanced
differences
that
we
will
that
I
will
do
my
best
to
explain
to
them
all
right.
So
thank
you
all
right.
Council.
That
concludes
the
discussion.
Around
elected
appointed
school
boards
and
now
leads
us
to
the
informal
discussion
public
comment
portion
of
our
agenda.
A
We
do
have
a
number
of
people
signed
up
to
speak.
Maybe
maggie
knows
it
looks
like
slightly
over
20
people
so
settle
in,
and
here
here
we
go
all
right
staff.
Please
begin.
H
P
The
high
school
two
at
the
primary
first,
let
me
say
that
we
are
so
fortunate
to
have
so
many
incredible
resources
at
acs.
I'm
so
grateful
to
our
dedicated
teachers
and
custodial
staff
counselors.
AF
P
And
administrators
who
have
been
working
so
hard
for
our
children
in
this
truly
wild
year,
our
family
is
deeply
deeply
grateful
to
them.
The
factor
means
that,
with
some
of
the
highest
per
pupil
spending
in
our
state
and
some
of
the
worst
racial
disparities
and
student
outcomes,
acs
is
failing
our
children.
Where
is
all
that
money
going?
If
it's
not
being
used
to
support
our
kids?
It's
not
going
into
teacher
pay.
P
Our
district
is
14th
in
the
state
for
average
teacher
pay
and
we
have
much
higher
housing
costs
and
living
expenses
than
much
of
the
state.
How
is
that
money
being
spent?
I
believe
we
have
a
right
to
know
this
is
taxpayer
money
and
we
have
a
right
to
call
acs
and
the
school
board
to
account
for
how
it
is
being
used
or
potentially
misused.
P
As
the
acs
fund
balance
continues
to
shrink
by
millions
every
year.
The
district
certainly
doesn't
need
to
spend
90
000
on
outside
consultants
to
hold
another
round
of
listening
sessions.
There
have
been
five
rounds
of
listening
sessions
in
the
past
10
years.
They're,
not
listening.
Our
current
school
board
has
failed
to
provide
the
vision.
Leadership
and
fiduciary
oversight
of
the
district
that
our
children
deserve.
They
have
hired
superintendents
who
have
started
initiative
after
initiative.
Without
sticking
to
one
plan
to
produce
real
results
for
our
kids.
They
have
blamed
teachers
and
parents
for
the
district's
failures.
P
They
have
let
the
district
continue
to
drain
resources
while
maintaining
worsening
outcomes
for
our
black
children.
We
families
have
no
reason
to
think
that
the
current
board
members
would
change
this
trend.
If
reappointed,
and
neither
should
you
please
do
not
reappoint
the
current
board
members,
we
don't
need
more
of
the
same
look
at
the
outcome.
P
Please
listen
to
educators,
follow
the
acae
endorsements
and
appoint
libby
kyle,
jackie
carmicard
and
pepe
acebo
to
the
acs
school
board.
We
need
strong
skills
and
brave
leadership
to
turn
this
district
around
and
set
us
in
the
right
direction.
Deeply
focused
on
the
success
of
all
our
kids
representation
by
city
council
is
the
only
avenue
we,
as
families
have
for
school
board
accountability
right
now,
please
take
the
opportunity
to
make
real
change
for
the
good
of
our
children
and
our
city.
Thank
you.
C
AI
Paraphrasing
from
cesaro
hernandez
to
reform
the
prison
is
to
perpetuate
it,
and
the
violence
that
inflicts
to
reform
policing
is
to
perpetuate
it
and
the
violence
it
inflicts
to
find
fault
in
these
institutions
is
to
see
them
as
they
have
always
operated
and
just
as
they
are
intended
to,
the
faults
in
policing
are
not
failing.
They
are
design
features
earlier
today,
esther
reprimanded,
council,
personal
rhony
in
reminding
her
the
council
is
merely
a
policy-making
body
that
provides
direction
to
the
city
manager.
Unfortunately,
on
paper,
esther
is
right.
AI
Perhaps
this
is
just
another
one
of
those
institutions
functioning
as
designed
using
bureaucracy
to
suppress
justice.
You
might
just
keep
accepting
that
this
institution
is
designed
to
perpetuate
balance,
abide
by
the
precedent
of
white
supremacists
and
make
excuses
for
not
affecting
any
real
change.
AI
Five
of
you
might
vote
to
swing
the
door
wide
open
for
hotels,
to
identify,
asheville
and
vote
to
sacrifice
the
working
class
of
the
city
at
the
altar
of
capitalism.
Well,
you
did
that
and
the
human
suffering
is
on
your
hands
other
than
members,
rooney
and
smith.
You
do
not
choose
the
value
of
human
life
over
some
y'all's
absurd
lingual
attachment
to
the
boot
souls
of
hoteliers
or
you
could
be
resisting
having
an
office
of
equity.
Inclusion
is
great,
but
it
isn't
enough
if
you
keep
making
decisions
like
this.
AI
Remember
simply
reforming
these
institutions
is
to
perpetuate
them
and
the
violence
they
inflict,
especially
if
it's
in
the
absence
of
real
change,
the
reality
is
that
there
are
so
many
tactics
for
resisting
harm.
If
you
simply
choose
to
leverage
your
platform
of
privilege
in
at
least
one
way,
the
path
to
real
change
is
not
nebulous.
AI
During
the
budget
work
session
earlier
today,
esther
set
the
table
with
these
words
ready
for
later
consumption.
It
is
really
important
that
we
don't
wake
up
two
weeks
before
the
deadline
and
say
I
want
to
turn
this
on
his
head.
It's
important
to
give
as
much
direction
as
you
can.
As
early
as
you
can
hey
esther.
We
are
giving
you
direction
loud
and
clear
and
as
early
as
we
can
defund
the.
J
J
AA
Hear
you
thank
you.
Yes,
this
is
jensen
gelfand
living
in
west
asheville
just
wanted
to
talk
about
the
appointments
that
you'll
all
be
making
in
the
interim,
while
we
hope
to
push
through
these
elected
school
board
here
and
just
the
limiting
that
was
taken
undertaken
by
the
boards
and
committees
admissions
committee.
AA
I
did
attend
that
meeting
and
there
was
very
little
discussion
during
that
meeting
or
any
kind
of
information
given
to
the
public
about
the
process
that
that
committee
went
through
to
push
forward
the
people
who
are
supposed
to
get
the
more
thorough
vetting
by
city
council
and
to
suppress
the
ability
of
other
worthy
board
members
from
getting
a
full
consideration.
AA
AA
I
myself
had
a
chance
to
start
to
get
to
know
some
of
the
people
who
have
put
together
an
application
to
be
on
the
school
board,
and
I
would
like
to
specifically
point
out
libby
kyles
and
pepe
isabo
as
two
people
who
I've
been
able
to
be
lucky
enough
to
meet
recently
and
who
seem
real,
genuine
ashvilians
willing
to
put
in
the
elbow
grease
and
long
hours
to
understand,
what's
going
on,
to
communicate
with
the
community
to
be
open
and
inclusive.
AA
These
are
the
kinds
of
people
that
we
need,
certainly
not
reappointing
existing
school
board
members
when
there
is
already
a
massive
wave
of
ash
civilians
crying
out
that
those
members
are
not
serving
our
children.
Well.
So
I
just
wanted
to
add
my
voice
of
support
to
the
asheville
city,
association
of
educators
and
the
appointment.
Hopefully
libby
kyle
pepe
is
other
and
other
worthy
people.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
time
and
have
a
great
evening.
Z
Hey
today
is
march
9th
2021.
That
means
it's
the
19th
anniversary
of
the
birth
of
floyd
mckissick
senior
right
here
in
asheville.
He
wasn't
born
floyd
mccusk
senior
until
he
was
just
floyd
mckissick
until
1952
when
he
had
his
son.
He
was
born
and
raised
thoroughly
in
asheville,
raised
by
parents
who
instilled
a
strong
work
ethic
and
a
value
of
education
and
community
involvement.
He
was
even
a
boy
scout
here
in
asheville
when
he
finished
all
of
the
education
that
was
available
to
him.
R
Z
Asheville
at
the
time
1939
he
enrolled
in
morehouse
college
in
atlanta
and
he
worked
and
studied
as
much
as
he
could
as
much
as
his
finances
would
allow
and
his
pursuit
of
his
education
at
morehouse
was
interrupted
by
world
war
ii.
I
don't
know
if
he
was
enlisted
or
if
he
was
drafted
into
the
army,
but
he
rose
to
the
rank
of
sergeant
and
fought
in
the
european
theater
and
stayed
there
until
the
end
of
world
war
ii.
He
fought
winning
and
against
the
nazis
and
fascists.
Z
When
he
came
home
from
the
war,
he
came
to
asheville
before
sort
of
getting
his
affairs
in
order
and
returning
to
morehouse
college
where
he
graduated.
He
then
attended
law
school
here
in
north
carolina,
but
he
was
not
able
to
attend
the
university
of
north
carolina.
He
was
rejected
for
his
admission
to
that.
Z
Z
He
fought
for
desegregation
cases
in
durham
and
he
fought
for
the
right
for
blacks
to
join
the
tobacco
union
and
carry
their
seniority
that
they'd
earned
in
the
trades
along
with
them
in
1948.
He
was
working
on
the
progressive
campaign
for
henry
wallace
and
came
to
asheville
to
help
the
naacp
ask
for
permission
for
paul
robeson
to
speak
at
the
asheville
auditorium
and
the
asheville
city
council
denied
that
petition.
Z
Mr
mckissick
then
went
on
to
become
the
second
president
of
core
congress
of
racial
equality
and
did
a
whole
bunch
of
other
amazing
things.
He
came
together
with
other
black
civil
rights
activists
in
1966
when
james
meredith's
march,
the
march
against
fear
from
memphis
to
jackson.
Mississippi
was
interrupted
when
james
meredith
was
shot,
and
mr
mckissick
was
right
there
with
martin
luther
king
and
stokely
carmichael
and
cleveland
sellers.
So
I
would
like.
AJ
AJ
In
fact,
the
woodpens
zoning
board
decided
to
expand
its
inquiry
into
the
bluffs
development
by
adopting
a
provision
and
woodfin
town
code.
That
requires
the
zoning
board
to
consider
quote
the
health
and
safety
of
persons
residing
or
working
in.
The
neighborhood
of
the
proposed
use.
End
quote
so.
The
wood
fed
zoning
board
stated
that
on
april
5th,
it
will
explicitly
consider
the
health
and
safety
of
asheville
citizens
living
in
the
richmond
hill
neighborhood.
AJ
AJ
Woodfin
didn't
have
to
do
the
right
thing.
Amazingly,
it
did
do
the
right
thing.
It
chose
to
consider
asheville
citizens.
Why
hasn't
asheville
city
council?
I
exclude
councilwoman
rooney
from
these
comments.
She
has
taken
the
time
to
inform
herself
about
this
business,
so
whatever
she
decides
at
least
it'll
be
based
on
knowledge.
Thank
you.
B
B
That
is
the
consideration
that
the
the
greater
community,
the
a
greater
number,
is
in
favor
of
the
hybrid
not
going
into
a
full
election
process
for
all
the
seats
of
this
board,
because
the
potentials
there
are
just
as
dangerous
as
what
we're
dealing
with
with
disappointed
structure
that
we're
under
right.
Now,
it's
just
as
haphazard
to
the
black
community.
B
We're
trying
to
fix
the
problem,
not
make
it
better
and
that's
not
to
say
that
this
hybrid
board
is
going
to
fix
the
problem
completely.
That's
to
say
that
it's
the
option
for
doing
it
a
different
way
to
see
if
it
does
work,
and
then
we
can
have
that
level
of
accountability
to
equity
that
all
represent.
AK
AG
AK
The
height
of
the
buildings,
this
statement
sounded
reckless
and
antagonistic
to
me,
because
the
scale
of
the
project
has
direct
bearing
on
traffic.
The
developer
knows
very
well
that
his
current
plan,
without
building
a
bridge
first,
will
inflict
harm
on
the
asheville
residents
of
richmond
hill.
Such
a
cavalier
view
constitutes
willful
negligence.
AK
AK
Imagine
our
narrow
lane
jammed
by
extra
cars
at
the
same
moment
of
a
fire.
It
won't
matter
how
much
water
is
available
at
the
bluffs.
If
firefighters
can't
access
what
many
are
now
calling
the
death
trap,
what's
more
studies
show
that
excessive
traffic
leads
to
a
variety
of
illnesses,
including
depression,
strokes
and
heart
attacks,
allowing
the
bluff
to
proceed
without
safeguarding
health
and
public
safety
is
not
only
playing
with
fire.
It
does
not
embrace
the
equity
sustainability
impact
lens
that
councilwoman
rony
has
so
wisely
mentioned
tonight.
AK
AK
AK
AL
AL
Yeah
no
problem,
I
think
autumn's,
probably
up
next.
So
first
of
all,
I
want
to
begin
by
thanking
members
of
the
city
council
for
for
listening
and
and
for
answering
emails
from
my
neighbors.
We
really
do
appreciate
your
concerns
and
your
attention
to
our
concerns
about
the
proposed
bluffs
at
riverbend
development.
So,
first
of
all
again,
thank
you
for
listening.
AL
Second,
following
up
on
what
galen
and
robert
have
already
said,
I
did
want
to
ask
city
council
to
to
seek
standing
at
the
april
5th,
woodson
planning
and
zoning
hearing
and
to
help
negotiate
with
the
developer.
The
following,
you
know,
first,
a
bridge.
This
really
needs
to
be
conditioned
for
the
project
before
it
begins
and
and
I'll
address
that
a
little
more
toward
toward
the
end
here
in.
AL
Developer
that,
once
the
bridge
is
built
that
access
through
our
neighborhood
is
closed
for
emergency
purposes,
please
help
us
negotiate
with
the
developer
to
to
address
the
stormwater
management
plan.
It's
clear
that
that
really
hasn't
been
considered
seriously
and
it's
going
to
be
a
big
issue
and
then
finally
help
us
negotiate
with
the
developer
to
agree
to
more
buffering
between
the
new
development
and
the
existing
neighborhood
third,
and
I
think
this
will
probably
help
to
be
the
most
interesting.
AL
I
want
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
history
and
geography
of
this
project
over
the
last
few
weeks
and
nights
and
weekends
I've
been,
you
know,
pulling
historic
usgs,
topographic
maps
going
back
as
far
as
1882
and
looking
at
historic
flat
maps
on
file
in
the
pack
library
in
a
lot
of
ways.
What's
most
interesting
about
this
property
is
a
lack
of
development
since
the
late
19th
century.
If
this
place
was
easy
to
develop,
it
would
have
happened
already.
This
is
land
that
was
owned
by
the
pearson
family.
AL
They
were
some
of
the
earliest
developers
nashville.
If
this
is
a
simple
place
to
build
houses,
it
would
happen
already.
It's
not
a
simple
place
to
build
houses.
The
terrain
is
really
steeply
sloping.
There's
only
a
few
landforms
out
there
frankly,
where
you
can
even
start
to
begin
construction
roads.
So
when
construction
happens
out
there,
it's
going
to
move
a
lot
of
dirt,
it's
going
to
be
complicated.
AL
AM
I
want
to
loop
back
to
the
earlier
presentation
made
by
the
economic
development
coalition
for
asheville
buncombe
county,
where
he
said
that
we
are
essentially
laying
the
foundation
for
the
future
economy
that
we
want
to
have
in
asheville,
and
the
surrounding
area
asheville
in
the
surrounding
area
has
always
been
a
place
where
people
come
to
enjoy
the
natural
beauty
that
is
here
and
as
developers
come
in
with
their
proposals.
We
must
keep
this
in
mind.
AM
Are
there
proposals
in
the
best
interests
of
our
community
and
the
natural
resources
that
are
such
a
significant
part
of
our
economy
as
we
grow?
Asheville
cannot
exist
in
a
vacuum
and
choose
not
to
engage
with
our
neighbors
when
the
decisions
being
made
so
closely
impact
this
community
out
of
out-of-state
and
out-of-touch
developers
threaten
the
quality
of
life,
our
residents
with
their
obscene
proposals
that
would
increase
the
number
of
dwellings
by
nearly
900
percent
concurrently
increasing
traffic.
AM
In
the
same
way,
they
threaten
the
quality
of
our
natural
resources
by
having
no
clear
plan
as
to
how
they
intend
to
mitigate
stormwater
runoff,
and
if
the
french
broad
river
is
truly
the
bread
and
butter
of
our
economy.
We
have
to
literally
and
figuratively,
build
a
bridge
with
the
town
of
woodfin
in
order
to
ensure
that
all
the
work
and
planning
that
has
gone
into
creating
these
greenways
and
blues
ways
is
not
negated
by
poor
planning
and
no
cooperation.
AM
AN
Hi
this
is
heather
hairculla
of
richmond
hill.
Thank
you,
mayor
mannhommer
and
members
of
asheville
city
council.
I
asked
you
to
consider
my
concerns.
Our
concerns,
who
pays
the
price
when
a
wealthy
florida
developer
po
proposes
to
build
a
1
500
unit
luxury
condo
development.
Next
to
a
small
working-class
neighborhood,
the
residents
of
the
neighborhood,
the
bluffs
at
river
bend
will
be
in
woodfin.
AN
Would
finn
will
see
the
tax
revenue
if
a
bridge
is
not
built,
then
asheville
city
streets
will
get
its
roads
destroyed
by
the
five
years
of
heavy
construction
vehicles
and
then
at
least
three
thousand
cars
a
day
increased
in
the
vehicles
funneling
down
funneling
out
of
the
development
onto
richmond
hill
drive,
richmond
hill
drive
is
a
dead-end
street
and
the
many
roads
and
lanes
that
branch
off
are
all
dead
end
streets.
There
is
only
one
way.
AE
AN
AN
The
increase
in
noise
and
traffic
from
the
development
will
have
harmful
effects
on
everybody
that
lives
here.
Richmond
hill
drive
is
a
narrow,
unmarked
street,
with
on-street
parking
that,
in
many
places,
narrows
the
road
down
further
to
a
one
lane
road.
We
are
a
quiet,
working-class
neighborhood.
We
pay
our
taxes
and
the
city
of
asheville
should
protect
the
residents
and
roads
of
this
asheville
neighborhood
from
the
development
of
bluffs
at
riverbend.
AN
Currently,
the
town
of
woodfin
has
not
required
the
developer
john
holdsworth,
to
build
a
bridge
across
the
french
broad
river.
Before
construction
can
begin.
This
bridge
is
crucial
to
asheville
residents
like
myself,
who
live
in
the
richmond
hill
neighborhood
a
bridge
would
allow
the
con
construction
vehicles
and
residential
traffic
created
to
funnel
into
riverside
drive.
AN
An
additional
concern
about
increased
traffic
is
the
hairpin
curve
at
the
junction
of
richmond
hill
drive
and
pearson
bridge
road,
where
the
traffic
will
funnel
down
too.
This
is
already
a
very
dangerous
intersection.
I
have
witnessed
increased
instances
of
tractor-trailers
getting
hung
up
unable
to
make
the
turn
each
time.
Police
must
be
summoned.
Traffic
must
turn
around
and
be
rerouted,
sometimes
for
up
to
an
hour
or
more.
It
used
to
happen
about
once
a
month,
but
there
was
a
hung
up
a
hung
up
tractor-trailer
incident
last
week
and
the
week
before.
AN
Instances
like
this
create
havoc
and
when
it
coincides
with
the
end
of
a
workday
and
all
the
employees
from
the
board
of
education
and
other
businesses
get
off
work.
It
creates
a
mess.
If
the
bridge
is
not
built,
the
traffic
the
increase
in
traffic
will
create
pandemonium.
When
this
happens,
asheville
city
council
needs
to
go
into
standing
before
the
april
5th
woodfin
town
meeting
and
demand
construction
of
the
bridge
be
a
condition
of
this
project
going
forward
to
protect
both
the
richmond
hill
residents
and
the.
U
Okay,
this
is
carl
kuhn
from
richmond
hill,
and
I
got
the
same
concerns
that
you
just
heard.
We
really
went
asheville
to
have
standing
in
woodfin
because
of
the
damage
that
well
to
put
it
in
economic
terms.
Since
it
the
development
would
be
in
woodfin,
but
all
the
traffic
gets
rooted
through
asheville
woodfin
gets
all
the
revenues.
Asheville
gets
all
the
costs.
U
U
That's
cost
directly
to
the
taxpayers
of
asheville,
there's,
also
the
indirect
costs
which
are
harder
to
quantify
with
an
increase
of
traffic.
If
that
bridge
doesn't
get
built,
kids
can
no
longer
ride
their
bikes
on
the
street.
Neighbors
can
no
longer
walk
and
we
all
sit
longer
in
traffic.
U
U
I
might
if
I
have
a
second
here
at
another
comment,
and
some
ahead
of
me
already
made
the
point
that
land
where
it's
situated
and
how
it
flows
would
probably
cost
less
all
things
considered
to
buncombe,
county,
asheville
and
woodfin
that
land
were
just
simply
purchased
and
turned
into
a
park
rather
than
allowed
to
be
developed.
U
The
long-term
cost
would
probably
be
lower
of
buying
the
land
as
opposed
to
allowing
it
to
be
developed,
but
in
the
short
term,
since
it's
in
woodfin
asheville
needs
to
have
standing
to
prevent
traffic
from
being
rooted
through
richmond
hill
into
that
development,
both
the
construction
traffic
and
the
eventual
residential
traffic.
U
H
W
Hi,
my
name
is
megan
gardner.
I
live
in
hornet
circle
in
richmond
hill
and
my
husband,
and
I
we
bought
our
house
two
years
ago
and
our
property
joined
the
proposed
bluff
development.
W
W
So
please,
please,
council
members.
I
need
your
help
to
protect
my
rights
as
an
asheville
citizen
and
send
the
asheville
city
attorney
to
represent
my
family
and
my
neighbors
on
april
5th,
at
the
woodfin
town
council
meeting
that
which
will
be
directly
deciding
whether
this
development
will
have
effect
on
the
health
and
well-being
of
the
neighbors
here
in
richmond
hill.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
time,
and
I
appreciate
all
that
you
do.
AO
AO
I
escaped
in
the
aftermath
of
katrina
and
I
landed
in
alexander
for
seven
years.
Living
low
saving
money
for
a
home
and
what
I
was
looking
for
in
a
home
was
a
high
place,
a
place
on
a
hill,
a
safe
place,
and
yet
I
wanted
to
be
near
the
river
because
I
love
wetlands
and
water.
I
needed
lots
of
green
space
forest
and
I
needed
quiet
because
my
nervous
system
is
still
rattled.
AO
I
even
track
every
vehicle
coming
up
the
hill
and
around
the
corner
now,
but
I'm
starting
to
feel
like
I
escaped
a
hurricane
in
louisiana
only
to
be
faced
with
a
tsunami
on
the
top
of
richmond
hill
and
that
tsunami
is
not
one
of
water,
but
it
will
be
one
of
logging,
trucks
and
earth.
Movers,
bulldozers
and
lumber
trucks
followed
by
a
tsunami
of
renters
and
their
visitors,
delivery,
trucks,
ambulances,
etc,
replacing
our
hopes
and
dreams
with
a
nightmare
of
traffic
and
destruction.
AO
AO
AH
I
have
three
children
under
the
age
of
seven
who
enjoy
the
the
neighborhood
the
quiet
streets-
and
I
am
asking
tonight
for
city
council
members
to
represent
us
at
the
upcoming
meeting
for
woodpen
town
council
on
april
5th
and
assist
us
in
demanding
that
a
bridge
is,
is
a
necessary
component
of
this
proposed
mega
development
in
our
backyard,
as
you've
heard
tonight
from
galen,
robert
ben
and
others.
AH
AH
Happening
we
as
you've
heard
there
are
multiple
reasons
to
support
the
release
of
asheville
in
this
matter.
AH
AP
Thank
you.
So,
yes,
I
really
appreciate
all
that.
I
heard
tonight
from
some
of
the
other
citizens
speaking
up
about
the
bluffs
and-
and
I
just
wanted
to
say
I
agree
with
everything
there
you
know
stating
I
was
at
that
march
1st
meeting
and
I
did,
I
think
I
saw
sage
turner
on
there
as
well
as
kim
rooney,
and
I
think
we
were
hoping
to
see
more
of
you
on
there
as
well.
We
heard
you
weren't
going
to
go
in
standing
and
you
proved
us
to
us.
AP
It's
true
that
you
didn't,
and
yes,
please
do.
There
are
so
many
reasons,
and
I
know
you
know
that
I'm
one
of
these
old-timers
who
really
believed
in
the
city
of
asheville,
the
city
council
riverlink
the
promise
of
what
wasn't
at
one
time
it
was
industry
and
the
fear
of
the
pollution
of
these.
You
know
industry
buildings
that
were
going
down
and
we
spent
all
that
time.
AP
Partnering
with
all
of
you.
Many
of
us
did
to
make
what
there
is
there
today,
and
so
you
know,
I'm
very
personally
involved
in
so
many
ways.
Own
sanctuary
is
a
byproduct
of
believing
in
that
too.
You
know
it
was
about
health
and
vitality,
and
so
there's
home
sanctuary
sitting
up
there
on
87
richmond
hill
drive
and
and
yes,
the
river's
at
risk,
and
so
are
the
people
up
there,
but
the
impact
on
all
levels.
We
are
looking
to
you.
AP
I
know
I
am
to
have
you
join
us
and
you
know
I
pulled
something.
I
thought
I
would
just
read
it.
This
was
the
riverfront
planning
that
took
place
in
1989,
and
it
said,
asheville
has
reached
a
point
in
its
history
where
the
function
and
the
character
of
the
french
broad
river
must
begin
to
respond
to
the
needs
of
its
residents
in
a
cultural
and
recreational
way,
as
well
as
an
economic
way.
It
is
a
resource
of
such
spectacular
grandeur
that
the
city
can
only
benefit
from
its
careful
redevelopment.
AP
The
riverfront
plan
is
a
creation
of
many
minds
of
citizens,
professionals
from
the
fields
of
architecture
to
city
and
regional
planning,
while
the
concept
of
his
publications
are
primary,
the
efforts
of
a
team
of
men
and
women
invited
to
asheville
in
april
1989
they
were
their
work.
Could
only
have
been
done
with
the
active
support
and
participation
of
very
large
number
of
local
citizens.
AP
I
stand
here
today
as
one
of
those
local
citizens,
and
I
really
know
that
what
you're
standing
in
right
now
is
built
on
many
of
those
citizens
and
it's
a
hard
job
that
you've
stepped
into.
But
I
ask
you
to
please
help
stand
for
us
and
protect
what
was
you
know
begun
a
long
time
ago
and
walk
along
the
river
and
see
the
product
of
what
we
we
helped.
E
Excellent
thank
you
for
allowing
me
to
speak
tonight
and
thank
you
for
your
time
and
your
service.
E
E
E
E
E
AQ
Okay,
thank
you.
The
first
thing
I'd
like
to
say,
along
with
everyone
else,
is
I
do
thank
you
for
your
attention
to
this
matter.
Obviously,
there
are
a
number
of
us
that
are
very
concerned
about
development.
Going
on.
My
name
is
gary
lane.
I
live
on
richmond
hill.
AQ
I
implore
you
to
act
on
our
behalf.
This
is
why
we
elected
you
that
you
are
the
people
that
we
saw
as
representative
of
us
and
will
fight
for
what
people
of
asheville
need
on
our
city
council
this
morning
at
7
45.
We
had-
and
I
don't
know
how
much
earlier
than
that
it
actually
happened,
but
on
my
way
to
work,
there
was
again
a
tractor-trailer
stuck
at
the
bottom
of
richmond
hill
and
pearson
bridge
road.
AQ
The
only
way
around
that
was
for
me
to
turn
around
go
back
up
the
hill
come
all
the
way
through
the
neighborhood
down
to
where
emma
is
and
then
come
around,
underneath
the
highway
to
get
on
the
highway
to
be
able
to
make
it
to
work
in
woodfin,
a
trip
that
normally
takes
me.
Five,
maybe
seven
minute
tops,
took
me
15
to
20
minutes
this
morning,
and
I
was
10
minutes
late
for
work.
AQ
You
know
I
work
for
a
local
contractor
or
a
local
company
that
makes
satellite
dishes
for
the
government
as
well
as
many
other
things.
I
need
to
be
able
to
get
to
work
on
time
to
have
this
kind
of
traffic.
As
well
as
that,
many
tractor-trailers
trying
to
make
that
curve
to
come
up,
our
street
is
damaging
in
so
many
different
ways,
not
to
mention
all
of
the
gigantic
holes
on
the
road
that
it
causes.
AQ
I
you
know
this
happens
multiple
times
a
week.
This
is
such
and
it's
such
an
important
thing
for
all
of
us
for
various
different
reasons,
not
just
the
roads,
but
the
the
waterways
and
the
soil
going
into
the
water,
and
this
whole
project
that
you're
doing
about
the
greenway
is
going
to
be
affected.
How
can
you
work
on
something
to
beautify
the
area
and
not
help
us
stand
against
somebody
who
is
trying
to
harm
that
that
you're
trying
to
create?
AQ
H
S
It
matters
not
if
the
glass
ceiling
is
broken.
If
this
council
continues
to
work
with
the
status
quo
of
backroom
meetings
and
decisions
made
being
made
based
on
now,
what
is
the
good
old
girl
network
versus
making
decisions
based
on
what
is
best
for
our
communities
and
in
the
case
of
the
school
board?
What
is
best
for
our
children?
S
I'm
asking
that
you
all
be
the
force
that
we
were
hoping
for
and
that
you
impress
upon
city
manager,
deborah
campbell
the
need
to
get
the
equity
and
inclusion
office
fully
staffed.
Miss
rt
has
been
gone
now
for
six
months
and
we've
yet
to
see
a
job
announcement.
The
process
for
reparations
commission
should
be
community-led,
not
city-led.
S
S
It
is
imperative
that
you,
our
representatives
city
council,
center,
the
needs
of
our
children,
teachers
and
other
school
staff
and
make
appointment
decisions
that
make
sense
for
the
health
and
the
future
of
our
district.
You
have
the
power
to
be
the
transformative
council
and
put
the
needs
of
our
students
in
our
communities
of
color
that
have
often
gone
voiceless.
First
councilwoman
mosley
spoke
earlier
about
opening
pandora's
box
and
the
possibility
of
asheville
city
schools
being
absorbed
into
buncombe
county
schools.
S
S
It
is
imperative
that
we
get
to
the
point
where
we
are
doing
what
is
best
for
all
of
our
students
spending
three
million
dollars
on
the
ics
program.
That's
abandoned
after
hiring
a
superintendent
to
lead.
Our
district,
who
had
not
even
been
an
assist
assistant
superintendent
for
a
year
is
irresponsible.
S
A
K
Thank
you
so
much
mayor
for
making
this
time.
I
wanted
to
take
a
moment
first,
to
say
that
the
first
job
that
I
had
in
asheville
was
the
morning
coffee
service
at
richmond
hill
inn,
and
so
that
meant
biking
up
those
hills.
It
is
called
richmond
hill
at
very
early
hours
in
the
morning,
and
I
learned
the
lack
of
infrastructure
as
I
continued
to
navigate
that
neighborhood
biking
walking
by
a
bus.
K
So
here's
what
I've
prepared
for
today
I
have
received,
read
and
responded
to
more
than
400
emails
from
the
richmond
hill
neighbors
regarding
the
bluffs
development
and
tuned
into
last
week's,
almost
six-hour
meeting
of
the
woodfin
planning
and
zoning
and
board
of
adjustment.
On
march
1st.
So
acknowledging
the
bluffs
development
is
outside
the
city
limits.
K
I
want
to
formally
state
my
concern
that
the
proposed
height
and
therefore
scope
of
the
bluffs
development
will
have
a
significant
and
detrimental
impact
on
adjoining
city-owned
property,
including
impact
on
the
watershed
of
the
french
broad
river,
our
richmond
hill
park
facilities
and
our
already
lacking
multi-modal
infrastructure
in
the
area,
as
well
as
impact
on
sustainability,
affordability
and
quality
of
life.
In
the
immediate
and
adjacent
emma
neighborhoods,
we
need
our
residents
to
partner
through
support
in
defense
of
construction
of
affordable
housing
on
transit
corridors
that
can
handle
the
volume
of
traffic.
K
But
this
isn't
it
so
I
know
I'm
just
one
council
member,
but
I
still
think
it's
important
to
speak
up
that
we
need
to
seek
legal
standing
to
ensure
the
bridge
is
built
before
the
next
step
of
development
can
take
place.
It
isn't
enough
for
us
to
hope
for
the
best
regarding
our
city,
property
and
jurisdiction,
we
have
a
responsibility
to
our
residents,
taxpayers
and
neighbors
who
rely
on
us
for
representation,
and
we
have
time
before
our
next
meeting
and
before
the
next
meeting
of
the
whitfin
planning
and
zoning.
A
G
A
All
right,
we,
we
are
adjourned
from
this
meeting
and
you
have
a
link
to
enter
to
so
exit
out
of
this
meeting
and
to
enter
into
for
the
closed
session.
We
will
adjourn
from
the
closed
session.
Okay,.
O
A
K
Thanks,
yes,
I'm
pulling
it
up
now,
so
I
move
that
the
asheville
city
council
go
into
closed
session
to
prevent
disclosure
of
information
that
is
privileged
and
confidential.
Pursuant
to
the
laws
of
north
carolina
or
not
considered
a
public
record
within
the
meaning
of
chapter
142
of
the
general
statutes.
K
The
statutory
authorization
is
contained
in
nc
general
statute,
143-318-11a5
and
three
to
consider
the
qualifications,
competence,
performance,
character,
fitness
conditions
of
appointment
or
conditions
of
initial
appointment
of
an
individual
public
officer
or
employee
or
prospective
public
officer
or
employee.
The
statutory
authorization
is
contained
in
nc
general
statute.
A
All
right,
we
have
a
motion
in
a
second
to
adjourn
to
a
closed
session
and
I
will
take
a
roll
call
vote
and
I'm
just
going
to
do
it
by
looking
at
you
guys
so
so
councilwoman
turner,
aye,
councilwoman,
kilgore,
hi,
councilwoman,
rony,
hi,
councilwoman
mosley.
I
vice
mayor
smith,
hi
councilwoman,
whistler
hi.