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From YouTube: Whats Up AVL! – Episode 06
Description
April 27, 2022
Ricardo Basurto, Communication Specialist with the City of Asheville, discusses City of Asheville intern projects with Ruth Dahl and Erick Mendez, graduates of Western Carolina University. Ruth and Erick worked on Capstone Projects at the Community and Economic Development Department at the City of Asheville.
WRES, 100.7 FM website: https://wresfm.com/
Ricardo's profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricardo-t/
A
Hello,
hello,
hello,
good
afternoon
ashfield.
This
is
what's
up
ashfield
at
wres
radio,
100.7
fm.
This
is
a
radio
show
discussing
projects
and
initiatives
from
the
city
of
asheville
just
like
every
other
week.
This
is
ricardo,
serto
communication
and
pool
engagement
specialist
at
the
city
of
asheville.
Today
we
are
accompanied
by
eric
mendes
and
rude
dahl,
both
who
were
working
here
kind
of
like
working,
the
city
of
ashville
at
the
community
and
economic
development
department,
so
welcome
you
both
here
to
this
radio
show
and
to
this
space
and
well
ruth
eric.
B
C
Yeah,
it's
great
to
be
here,
so
my
name
is
eric
mendez
and
I'm
also
a
student
with
western's
mpa
program,
and
I
was
also
a
undergraduate
student
with
western.
So
I
wanted
to
kind
of
stay
within
the
area
and
I've
always
just
really
enjoyed
public
service,
and
I
really
wanted
to
move
forward
and
just
getting
a
master's
degree
in
public
administration.
Just
felt
like
the
right
fit
for
me.
So.
A
That's
excellent.
You
both
were
working
at
the
community
and
economic
development
department.
Right,
that's
correct!
Yes,
that's
that's
excellent,
so
I
mean
what
we
want
here.
You
is
like
absolutely
about
your
experience
and
how
this
relates.
With
your
with
your
with
your
study,
I
mean
the
fact
that
you're
continuing
studying,
by
the
same
time,
getting
like
meaningful,
like
professional
experience,
that's
absolutely
cool!
So
please,
if
you
can
tell
me
a
little
bit
like
what
do
you
notice,
like
the
community,
that
the
department
does
for
the
city
of
asheville?
A
A
C
Able
to
take
into
account
through
this
project,
just
the
incorporation
of
the
suggestions
and
the
concerns
from
businesses
and
the
overall
general
community
as
to
how
they
we
can
better
improve
the
the
economic
structure
of
the
of
the
city
itself
and
how
we
could
be
able
to
help
out
small
businesses
and
newer
businesses
that
are
just
emerging.
What
best
approaches
we
could
take
to
them
and
then
how
we
could
better
strengthen
that
partnerships
from
the
city
and
the
businesses
themselves.
A
C
Right
so
with
my
project,
I
was
working
on
the
construction
of
an
economic
development
incentive,
verification
packet,
and
I
know
it's
a
mouthful.
But
what
we
were
looking
at
is
with
the
economic
development
department
and
their
incentive
programs
being
able
to
find
the
best
approach
as
to
what
it
is
that
we
would
be
asking
for
businesses
to
send
over
to
the
city
and
what
best
methods
and
approaches.
We
can
take
to
verify
that
the
agreed-upon
quotas
are
being
met
and
that
there
is
steady
job
growth
happening.
C
So
part
of
my
responsibility
was
being
able
to
do
the
investigation
through
the
academic
literature,
to
figure
out
what
best
approaches
we
need
to
take
and
what
specifically
we
should.
We
should
be
focusing
on
and
looking
at
and
what
are
some
possible
major
concerns
that
we
just
haven't
considered
yet
that
we
should
also
focus
on.
B
Yeah,
so
mine
was
also
kind
of
business
focused.
It
was
to
create
a
business
resource
guide
so
basically
just
pulling
all
the
resources
that
are
available
in
asheville
like
funding
resources.
Education,
like
av
tech,
has
resources,
there's
basically
a
bunch
of
opportunities
for
business
owners
in
asheville
that
they
a
lot
of
them.
Don't
really
know
about
so
yeah.
A
B
Wanted
to
pull
it
all
together
into
one
web
tool
that
businesses
can
easily
go
online
and
put
in
what
type
of
business
they
have
and
it'll
easily
come
up
with
a
list
of
resources
that
they
can
use,
and
basically
my
responsibilities
were
to
find
all
the
resources
create
a
spreadsheet
and
kind
of
build
it
to
where
it
can
be
implemented
as
a
web
tool
on
the
city's
website.
That's.
A
Great
yeah,
some
issues
that
we
have
noticed
at
the
city
is
that
we
have
the
website
and
we
try
to
make
it
accessible
and
make
more
people
get
interested
into
that
and
make
more
easier
to
find
information,
but
we
sometimes
struggle
with
it
and
it's
like
man.
We
have
like
really
good
problems.
We
have
the
the
minority
and
business
inclusion
certification
that
we
cannot
receive
utilizing.
So
that's
that's
an
issue
and
well
that's
that
sounds
fantastic.
It's
actually
sounds
like
well.
A
B
Yeah
definitely,
I
hope,
to
work
in
local
government,
I'm
actually
moving
away
from
the
asheville
area.
Sadly,
but
I
yeah
this
was
really
a
great
way
for
me
to
like
get
hands-on
and
kind
of
understand
the
inner
workings
of
local
government
and
talk
to
local
business
owners,
and
there
were
definitely
a
lot
of
lessons
that
I
think
can
be
taken
away
to
any
locality
that
I
might
work
in
like
just
providing
a
great
level
of
service
to
local
businesses
and
citizens.
B
A
Mean
certainly
local
governments
exist
like
in
whenever
there's
small
governments
around
and
people
necessities
and
ideas
are
going
to
be
fairly
similar
to
some
extent,
so
those
six
skills
are
going
to
be
exchangeable,
and
how
about
you
eric?
I'm
curious
like
how
you
have
mentioned
a
lot
that
you
would
like
to
serve
to
the
community.
Does
that
have
like
align
with
that
and
following
up
a
little
bit
on
that?
How
do
you
notice,
like
the
city
of
asheville,
the
place
you
were
working
is
trying
to
benefit
the
people
of
the
city.
C
Right,
so
I
felt
that
throughout
my
project
that
the
city
of
asheville
is
taking
into
account
just
a
lot
of
different
factors,
we
want
to
be
able
to
make
sure
that
we
are
taking
the
best
approach
when
it
comes
to
these
these
programs
themselves.
So
for
the
economic
development
incentive
program
itself,
it
does
run
a
lot
of
risk,
but
that's
what
we
we
did.
C
The
investigation
for
to
figure
out
what
we
can
better
do
to
make
sure
that
this
isn't
viewed
as
a
quote:
unquote:
gamble,
but
more
or
less
as
a
strategic
maneuver
from
the
city
to
be
able
to
effectively
create
positive
change
within
these
communities.
So
I
I
felt
it
perfectly
aligned,
in
my
mpa
degree,
and
background
really
did
help
me
be
able
to
do
the
best
that
I
could,
with
this
project
and
being
able
to
help
out
the
communities
that
I
was
able
to
connect
with
and
communicate
with.
That's
that's.
C
B
B
And
so
that
was
partially
my
mpa
learning.
That
was
pushing
me
to
do
that,
but
also
the
city
was
really
like
working
with
rachel.
She
was
like
yeah.
We
really
need
to
get
people
involved
and
get
other
members,
people
from
the
city
involved,
but
also
community
members
involved
in
the
project,
so
that
the
their
voices
are.
A
C
I
I
would
like
to
echo
on
what
ruth
was
saying
about
representation.
I
think
that
was
a
big
portion
of
the
project
and
the
key
takeaways
that
I
was
able
to
take
from
this,
and
it's
something
that
I
feel
I
could
even
incorporate
within
my
own
community,
I'm
from
franklin
so
with
franklin.
I
definitely
could
see
a
lot
of
the
practices
and
methods
that
I
was
using
with
the
city
of
asheville,
taking
it
into
a
smaller
scope
for
franklin
and
just
more
representation
there.
C
A
I
would
like
to
follow
you
up
on
that,
because
I
just
making
the
commercial
here
we
always
are
inviting
like
to
the
people
who
actually
like
you
know
you
should
register
for
aba
alerts.
This
is
the
system
that
we
have
like
activated,
so
you
can
register
and
you
can
have
you
know
like
notification
in
case
there's
like
an
emergency
or
like
something
that's
going
to
happen
in
your
area.
A
Well,
the
city
of
azul
can
reach
out
to
you
and
I
think
many
cities
have
these
alerts,
although
I
think
this
works
fantastic,
but
but
I
would
like
to
notice
that
it's
like
also
like
in
nashville.
We
have
well
the
neighborhood
associations
and
all
these
spaces
and
as
you're
mentioning
this
whole
effort
to
let
the
people
reach
out
to
the
city
and
to
let
us
know
their
thoughts
on
feelings
and
ideas
and
well,
I
know
I'm
kind
of
biased
in
that
regard,
but
but
yeah
absolutely.
A
We
were
trying
to
reach
out
for
that,
and
I'm
glad
to
hear
like
so
far
in
your
experience,
you
you're
noticing
that
but
yeah
ended
up
the
commercial
register
to
aba
alerts,
because
that
way
we
can
inform
you
if
anything
happens,
and
you
can
stay
in
touch
with
more
details
about
like
the
praises
that
are
happening
in
the
city,
moving
on
a
little
bit
for
what
you
did,
I'm
curious
of
like
how
was
this
step
prior
to
that
one?
How
how
did
you
get
this
opportunity?
A
C
B
It
it's
just
like
those
connections
that
are
really
helpful,
so
when
I
knew
that
I
had
this
project
coming
up,
I
just
reached
out
to
her
and
she
was
really
like
welcoming
and
gave
me
a
bunch
of
different
options
that
I
could
work
on
and
really
help
tailor
the
project
to
what
I
wanted
to
do
and
what
would
best
develop
my
career.
So
it
was
really
nice
to
be
welcomed
like
that
and
to
be
like
have
my
my
project
facilitated
so
nicely.
C
Similar,
so
one
of
the
things
with
the
mpa
program
is
that
they
really
try
to
help
you
build
those
connections,
those
networking
skills
with
other
people.
So
when
the
opportunity
came
that
I
had
to
start
focusing
on
a
capstone
project
itself,
my
professor
that
I
had
ashley
fay,
who
also
worked
with
the
city
of
asheville,
was
great
in
being
able
to
help
me
connect
with
the
city
of
asheville's
budgeting
department.
But
when
I
mentioned
that
I
had
an
interest
in
economic
development,
that's
when
they
kind
of
tailored
me
over
to
like.
C
B
A
B
A
Yeah,
absolutely
sometimes
that
we
have
noticed,
especially
I
remember
when
I
was
being
a
student
and
I
had
to
get
involved
in
several
projects-
is
like
you
get
to
projects
who
are
existing,
so
you
get
to
see
that
once
it's
already
going,
and
sometimes
you
leave
before
it's
completed,
so
it's
like
well,
I
was
part
of
something
big,
but
but
you
don't
get
to
see
the
whole
development
which
I
think
is
what's
really
cool
you
both
get
to
see
from
beginning
to
to
one
end
of
that
phase.
That's
that's
fantastic.
B
C
B
I
wouldn't
say
that
I
think,
like
this
experience
was
really
valuable
for
me,
and
I
mean,
like
the
point
of
it,
wasn't
to
get
paid
and
it
was
just
to
like
kind
of
build
that
experience,
and
I
mean
I
felt
really
really
grateful
that
the
city
was
even
willing
to.
Like.
I
mean
that
rachel
was
able
to
like
take
the
time
out
of
her
busy
schedule
to
work.
A
B
C
But
the
great
thing
about
the
mpa
program
is
that
you're
able
to
start
building
those
connections
to
be
able
to
find
those
internship
opportunities.
And
with
my
internship
I
did
I
interned
with
the
city
of
brevard,
and
it
was
nothing
like
just
coffee
runs
or
miscellaneous
grunt
work
and
paperwork.
It
was
a
genuine
project
that
I
was
able
to
become
a
part
of
in
helping
the
community.
C
So
the
end
result,
while
I
was
being
paid
the
the
better
end
result
for
that
was
being
able
to
see
the
the
fruit
of
your
labor
just
start
to
slowly
be
created.
I
helped
create
a
community
garden
for
the
city
and
to
be
able
to
slowly
watch
that
be
built
and
created
and
for
people
to
use
it.
That
was
the
most
rewarding
experience
for
me.
Oh
that's,
so
great
to
hear.
A
So
if
you're,
considering
applying
for
an
internship
as
a
way
to
you
know,
get
some
experience
practice
and
getting
to
see,
applications
are
open
and
they're
going
to
continue
be
opening
more
so
icc
employee.
I
will
encourage
you
to
apply
if
you're
listening
and
here
are
so
to
to.
Colleagues
that
I
can
think
like
they
also
will
say
has
been
a
good
experience.
Definitely.
A
Apply
that
that's
that's
really
great,
to
hear
I'm
kind
of
curious.
What
would
you
say
were
kind
of
like
the
requirements
like
if
someone
wants
to
do
a
capstone
project
at
the
city
of
ashfield?
What
this
person,
besides,
like
the
bureaucratic
of
like
getting
a
sponsorship
which
we'll
go
to
that
in
a
minute
like
what
what
this
person
should
should
have
or
what?
What
do
you
think
we
were
looking
for
and
so
on?.
A
B
Our
capstone
project
was
like
through
our
school
program,
so
it
was
kind
of
like
okay
you're
almost
about
to
get
your
degree
now
you
have
to
find
a
capstone,
but
I
think
I
mean
anyone
like
I'm
sure.
Anyone
who's
in
school
in
any
form
like
their
school
would
be
willing
to
say
like
if
you
want
to
do
a
project
with
the
city
for
credit,
or
I
mean
our
program,
I'm
sure
like
is
going
to
have
more
and
more
students
wanting
to
do
capstones.
So
I
mean
I
guess
I
don't
know.
C
I
think
one
factor
to
incorporate
is
if
you
are
wanting
to
focus
on
an
internship
or
a
capstone
project,
for
example,
for
with
the
city
of
asheville,
to
really
do
it
in
a
field
that
you
have
a
genuine
interest
in.
You
don't
want
to
just
make
this,
be
something
that
you
feel
is
a
form
of
a
labor.
You
want
this
to
be
something
that
you
genuinely
are
passionate
about
and
wanting
to
pursue
further
great
something
that
you
that
you
really
like.
C
A
You
know,
so
we
have
a
lot
of
opportunities
open
for
for
high
school
students
and
at
the
same
time.
Well
this
is
not
a
commercial.
This
is
kind
of
like
an
announcement.
I
know
like
unc.
Chapel
hill
will
participate
with
the
civic
collaboration
program
this
summer
and
we're
going
to
have
like
five
first
year,
students
who
are
going
to
be
assigned
here
at
the
city
of
asheville
to
do
their
sweet
collaboration.
A
So
I
I
think
that
will
agree.
You
were
like
at
the
at
the
end
of
your
master's
degree
and
we're
having
like
high
schoolers
and
first
year
undergrad
students
coming
here
to
different
projects,
so
I
mean
you're
right
if
you're,
if
you're
in
a
school
go
to
your
school
and
check
it
out,
how
you
can
like
relate
most
of
the
times
is
probably
we
have
like
a
you
know,
an
agreement
to
some
relates,
so
you
can
participate
here.
That's
fantastic.
A
B
C
Absolutely-
and
I
think,
that's
a
great
program
too,
to
start
including
the
youth,
because
they
are
the
future
generation
for
all
city,
county
managers,
all
local
government
officials
and
back
in
my
high
school,
we
didn't
have
any
of
that.
We
didn't
have
any
kind
of
government
or
any
kind
of
of
clubs
organized
to
do
anything
like
that.
So
I
think
it's
great
to
include
the
youth
and
being
able
to
expose
to
them
like
this
is
how
your
government
works.
C
A
Absolutely-
and
I
I
think,
that's
something
that's
thinking
about
it-
clubs
that
you're
saying
we
tend
to
think
that
oh
yeah
government
exclusive,
like
you,
know,
budgeting
and
economic
and
stuff
like
that,
and
we
certainly
have
to
deal
with
all
of
that,
but
the
center.
We
have
many
projects
like
cultural
parks
and
recreations
and
stuff
like
that
who
require
like
interaction.
A
Just
like
you,
my
high
school,
it
was
in
mexico.
I
didn't
have
like
a
lot
of
like
connection
with
like
local
governments,
but
I
was
in
a
dance
club
and
we
used
to
do
performance
in
the
public
every
once
in
a
while,
and
it
was
a
cool
way
to
get
involved
like
because
we
were,
you
know,
going
to
different,
like
municipalities
and
performing
there.
So
in
a
sense
you
ended
up
like
getting
to
knowing
people
and
doing
a
really
informal
networking,
but
you
get
to
see
like
oh
well.
A
That's
this
passion
that
I
have
in
my
case
was
dancing
in
high
school
and
we
get
to
see
get
to
know.
People
go
to
see
around
like
I
see
that
many
people,
many
organizations
they
have
to
do
a
lot
of
activities,
organizing
festivals
and
stuff,
like
that.
So
if
you
follow
your
passion,
you
can
certainly
find
something
that
will
suit
you
in
that
regard.
Right.
A
C
Absolutely-
and
I
feel
another
way
to
also
actively
engage
with
the
community-
is
the
idea
of
citizens
academies.
I've
been
a
huge
fan
of
them,
since
I
recently
discovered
them
and
that's
hopefully,
one
project.
I
could
maybe
start
working
on
next
of
installing
a
citizen
academy
with
franklin
itself
from
macon
county.
A
I
think
that
the
last
few
weeks
we
have
here
like
a
kelsey
club
like
from
the
fire
department,
and
she
was
really
great
because
she
was
telling
us
about
like
persistently
the
citizens
academy
and
these
initiatives,
and
if
you
want
to
be
a
firefighter
well,
that
certainly
will
be
a
good
place
to
start,
but
at
the
same
time
it
will
give
you
the
tools
so
how
to
react
in
several
situations.
So
what
to
do
in
case
of
an
emergency.
B
A
I
think,
like
the
whole
purpose
of
like
serving
and
being
in
the
public
is
like
to
help.
So
that's
that's.
What
we're
looking
for
and
well
my
dear
friend
randy
here
is
telling
me
that
we
are
kind
of
running
here
on
time.
So
I
don't
know
what
will
be
if
you
have
to
send
like
a
message
saying
like
someone
who
is
studying
his
high
school
undergrad
and
he's
like
you
know,
I'm
I'm
curious,
I'm
unsure
what
can
you
recommend
them.
B
I
mean,
I
would
just
say,
don't
hesitate
to
reach
out.
I
mean
there's
like,
even
if
you
you
have
a
connection
with
anyone
or
even
if
you
don't
have
a
connection
with
anyone,
just
look
up
somebody's
email
address
and
reach
out.
In
my
experience,
everyone
who
I've
talked
to
at
the
city
and
in
other
capacities
have
just
been
so
willing
to
help
you
and
try
and
provide
opportunities
for
you.
B
So,
and
I
have
the
tendency
to
be
like
oh
well,
they
probably
don't
want
to
hear
from
me
they're,
probably
too
busy,
but
they're
really
not
like
they're
not,
and
they
want
to
help
facilitate
young
people
in
their
professional
development.
So,
if
like,
if
you
have
the
opportunity
to
reach
out
just
do
it
like
it,
can't
it's
gonna
go
well
like
they're,
not
gonna,
say
no.
C
A
C
Would
be
to
be
open-minded,
be
open-minded
and
allow
yourself
the
opportunity
to
expose
yourself
to
something
new,
something
that
you
may
at
first
think
that
you're
not
going
to
have
a
genuine
interest
in
and
then
you
end
up
falling
into
an
mpa
degree
like
me
and
further
to
that
of
just
latino.
We
we
need
more
of
representation.
We
need
more
diversity,
so
please
include
yourself,
reach
out
and
don't
be
afraid
to
ask
any
questions
or
follow-ups.
A
Latino
community,
we
are
one
of
the
biggest
minorities
who
are
in
the
area,
so
we
certainly
should
be
participating
and
taking
a
more
active
role
in
how
we
are
being
perceived
the
same
way
like
the
african-american
communities
and
lgbt
minorities
in
every
minority
importance
and
representation
matters
we
should
realize,
like
we
belong
to
government
just
like
anyone
else
absolutely,
and
we
have
to
use
it
absolutely
right.
Man,
we
have
a
voice.
We
have
to
use
it.
Okay,
but
well,
that's
that's
the
time
we
have
for
today
and
what's
up
asheville.
A
Thank
you
so
much
everyone
for
for
listening
for.
Please
be
here
what
you
wrote.
Eric
has
been
a
pleasure.
Certainly
thank
you
for
your
service
here
at
the
city
and
for
your
time
here
on
the
show
today
and
please
stay
tuned
and
continue
listening
here
at
wres,
100.7
fm.
We
will
continue
talking
about
the
projects,
initiatives
that
we
have
of
the
city
of
azure
and
take
care
of
one
another
ashfield
and
have
a
good
day.