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From YouTube: Board of Commissioners' Regular Meeting (August 4, 2020)
Description
Regular Meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners for August 4, 2020. To view the meeting agenda or watch previous Commissioner meetings, you can visit buncombecounty.org/commissioners.
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
Thank
you
all
right.
We
have
a
couple
of
announcements.
Let
me
begin
with
the
by
reading
the
ethics
reminder
to
the
board,
in
accordance
with
the
code
of
ethics
adopted
by
the
board,
all
county
commissioners
have
a
duty
to
obey
all
applicable
laws
regarding
official
actions
to
uphold
the
integrity
and
independence
of
the
office
to
avoid
impropriety
and
the
exercise
of
official
duties
to
faithfully
perform
the
duties
of
the
office
and
to
conduct
the
affairs
of
the
governing
board
in
an
open
and
public
manner.
A
B
Mr
chairman,
the
on
our
agenda,
we
talk
about
some
more
funding
from
the
cares
act,
and
that
is
a
grant
from
the
federal
government
and
under
the
federal
government
guidelines
that
money
can
be
used
for
salaries
and
some
of
that
money
is
going
to
go
to
the
fire
departments
in
the
county.
So
I've
conversed
with
miss
hockaday
when
we
get
to
that
item.
I'd
like
to
be
excused,
sir.
A
B
But
shame
I
do
have
a
question
on
the
minutes
when
it
comes
to
the
solar
panel
project.
When
we
ask
about
the
decision
points
that
need
to
be
made,
I
just
want
to
ask
the
staff,
if
that
is
working
with
the
educational
partners,
about
getting
some
of
that
money
back.
That
mou
will
take
care
of
that,
and
it
is
spelled
out
in
the
minutes
to
say
that.
Okay,
thank
you.
A
C
D
A
E
E
So
it's
a
double
badge
and
you've
picked
a
great
meeting
to
be
at
alex,
and
once
you
obtain
that
eagle
scout
joining
only
four
percent
of
boy
scouts,
I
invite
you
back
so
that
we
can
recognize
you
for
achieving
that
as
well.
Thanks
for
joining
us
and
good
luck-
and
this
is
alex
standing
right
here-.
A
F
I
do,
commissioner,
I
do
want
to
take
the
time
to
introduce
two
of
the
new
department
heads
working
for
the
county
earlier
this
afternoon.
Stay
safe,
you'll
come
forward.
I
did
mention
stacy
saunders.
Our
new
public
health
director
stacy
has
extensive
public
health
experience
and
comes
to
buncombe
county
from
alamance
county
north
carolina
where
she
served
as
the
public
health
director
she's
the
president-elect
of
the
north
carolina
association
of
local
health
directors.
F
She
is
well
recognized
across
north
carolina
as
a
leader
in
public
health,
and
she
has
the
technical
and
relation
skills
to
lead
our
county
public
health
program
now
and
into
the
future
she's
a
native
of
southwest
virginia
and
is
looking
forward
to
living
in
western
north
carolina.
So
welcome
stacy.
A
G
F
Olivia
would
oversee
the
combined
communications
and
public
engagement
department,
with
a
focus
on
buncombe's
2025
strategic
plan,
ensuring
brand
consistency
and
developing
a
culture
of
meaningful
public
engagement
across
the
county.
She's,
a
native
of
western
north
carolina
and
she's
excited
to
return
home.
Most
recently,
she
served
as
director
of
communicate
community
relations
and
communications
for
salem
kyger
public
schools,
the
second
largest
public
school
district
in
oregon.
She
comes
to
buncombe
county
with
more
than
15
years
of
experience,
leading
communications
for
a
large
educational
institution,
government
agency
and
legislators.
A
G
A
A
A
H
I
know
I
should
have
said
something
at
three
o'clock
there
and
we
run
out
of
time
public
comment.
What
about
tonight?
I
was
just
looking
through
here.
Are
you
going
to
restrict
that?
And
I
would
also
like
for
us
if
we
could
take
time
tonight
to
see
if
we
can
bring
public
comment
back
in
in
person,
and
I
can
talk
about
now
or
we
can
talk
about
it
later.
On
of
how
you
know,
I
think
we
can
at
the
public
comments
at
the
end
of
our
meeting
correct.
H
So
we
can
let
our
staff
leave
everyone,
but
the
commissioners
and
county
manager.
I
don't
think
we
need
anyone,
because
we
don't
vote
on
anything
and
do
it
kind
of
like
the
curbside
deal.
They're
doing
you
know
we
can
say
approximately
7
30
we're
going
to
start
public
comment
at
the
end
and
we
can
phone
them
and
tell
them
and
bring
in
we
got
downstairs.
H
A
Would
like
to
learn
that?
Why
don't
we?
If
it's
okay,
if
there's
without
objection,
why
don't
we
just
talk
about
it
a
little
bit
right
now,
because
we
do
need
to
you
know
just
kind
of
confirm
what
what
the
plan
is
for
this
meeting
and
we
can
share
thoughts
about
what
the
commission's
wishes
are
going
forward.
A
So
just
as
a
I
guess,
a
reminder,
I
think
our
current
policy
is,
you
know
no
in-person
comment.
We
made
an
exception
for
the
budget
hearing,
but
that's
the
only
exception
we
made
so
folks
can
email
the
county
commission.
They
can
leave
voicemails
with
the
county
commission
and
we
will
spend
up
to
one
hour
reading
the
emails
that
we
receive.
The
voicemails
are
transcribed.
A
A
A
You
know
I
I
want
to
get
back
to
that
soon,
but
I
just
feel
like
we've
had
you
know
we,
we
have
seen
a
lot
of
growth
as
we
just
heard
from
our
health
director.
You
know
health
staff
a
lot
of
growth
in
the
covid
cases
in
our
county
over
the
last
45
days.
It's
been
a
you
know:
we've
been
we've
been
way
below
the
state
average
for
most
of
this
time,
but
we're
we're
we're
looking
a
lot
like
the
rest
of
the
state
more
so
now
than
we
were
30
or
45
days
ago.
A
So
I
feel
like
being
really
careful
is
just
is
very
important.
We're
not
we're.
I
don't
think
we
need
to
let
up
on
that
at
all.
This
is
just
one
measure
of
many
that
we've
taken,
but
it's
these
crowded
indoor
environments,
where
you
know
a
lot
of
this
transmission
does
happen,
and
I
know
we
do
everything
we
can
to
to
spread
out.
A
But
you
know
we
are
all
sitting
in
these
rooms
for
long
periods
of
time,
and
that's
also,
I
think
the
science
tells
us
is
when
you're
in
an
enclosed
environment
for
a
long
time,
that's
very
different
than
you
know,
passing
somebody
in
the
hall
right
and,
if
folks
are
coming
here,
even
though
they're
not
going
to
be
sitting
in
this
room,
they're
going
to
be
sitting
in
some
room
and
we
don't
know
when
we're
going
to
get
to
public
comment.
So
to
me
it
seems
like
an.
A
B
Basically,
we
would
stay
in
their
car
until
they
received
a
phone
call
saying
now
it's
your
time
to
come
in
the
building
I
mean
I
I
think
I
mean
I
know
this
is
something
we
got
to
look
at
and
we
can't
do
it
at
our
next
meeting,
but
a
plan
needs
to
be
in
place.
That
says:
hey
we're
going
to
allow
the
public
to
come
back
in
here.
B
If
the
public
wants
to
come
in
here
now,
the
thing
is,
we
don't
know
when
this
is
going
to
end,
so
we
could
be
here
until
january
february
if
we
say
we're
not
ready
for
it,
we're
not
ready
for
it.
We
just
need
to
hear
and-
and
you
can
see
so
much
by
someone's
expressions
and
and
right
now
we're
just
I
mean
you
can
read
these
and
some
of
them.
B
Are
you
pretty
much
know
how
they're
going
they're
going
by
the
way
the
wording
is,
but
I
think
it's
time
that
we
put
our
let
our
community
come
back
in
come
up
with
a
plan
that
brings
them
in
one
door
comes
out
to
another
door.
They
stay
outside
until
a
phone
call
and
we'd
put
no
more
than
10
no
more
than
10
in
this
room
at
all
and
they
have
to
have
face
coverings.
B
C
I
mean
I
think
we
should
move
towards.
Thank
you
very
much.
I
hear
what
everybody's
saying
about
you
know
people
coming
in,
but
if,
if
they
do
come
in-
and
I
would
love
for
that
to
happen,
but
if
they
do,
you
know
we're
going
to
have
to
have
guidance
from
staff.
It's
going
to
we're
going
to
have
to
do
the
kind
of
things
you're
talking
about
which
they
do
at
other
I
mean
robert.
I
don't
know
I'm
trying
to
think
of
a
specific
example
where
they
do
that.
Well,
they'll.
C
Do
that
at
the
dentist
or
they'll
do
that
at
you
know
that
doctor's
office
they'll
call
you,
then
you
come
in.
So
if
you're
gonna
do
it
it's
gonna,
I
would
think
it
would
need
to
be
that
type
of
you
know
pretty
strict.
We
could
immediately,
though
you
know,
we
could
recommend
people
until
we
decide
what
this
looks
like
you
know
they
could
leave,
leave
a
voicemail.
C
H
Yeah,
I
think
so,
and
you
know,
and
their
staff
their
and
county
manager
they
could
be
leaving
because
public
comment.
No
one
really
says
anything
after
that.
It's
just
whoever
wants
to
speak
correct,
so
we
could
release
8,
10
or
12.
That
is
here,
and
you
know,
I
think-
and
I
know
look
at
it
next
couple
weeks.
Next
couple
you
know
up
to
a
month,
but
I
just
think
with
what
we
talked
about
in
the
three
o'clock
meeting.
H
It
would
take
a
lot
off
of
stacy
and
lamar
of
having
to
write
all
this
out,
and
I
don't
know
how
hard
it'd
be
on
voicemail
for
that
to
happen.
But
I
like
to
hear
someone
talk
and
know
you
know
what
their
feelings
really
are
and
see
how
they're
expressing
it
instead
of
it
being
read
off
here.
Just
that's
my
thought.
All.
I
E
I
agree
I
like
the
voicemail
idea.
I
think
the
word
unprecedented
has
been
overused
in
the
last
four
months,
but
I
mean
this
is
unprecedented
and
when
you
have
unprecedented
times
you
have
to
think
in
unprecedented
ways
and
creatively
and
outside
the
box,
and
I
think
this
is
a
good
compromise
on
that.
E
J
Yeah,
I'm
in
the
same
place,
I
would
support
the
voicemail.
I
I
don't
know
what
the
technology
is,
but
city
council
asheville
city
council
has
been
using
a
live,
call-in
function.
That
seems
like
another
thing.
We
might
explore
that
kind
of
gets
you
a
little
bit
closer
to
that
in
the
moment:
interaction
as
soon
as
it's
safe
for
us
to
resume
in
person.
Public
comment
I'm
eager
to,
but
I
don't.
J
C
C
If
you
don't
get,
I
mean
that
connection
with
the
public
is
something
that's
been
difficult.
I
I'm,
you
know
I've
missed
some
of
that
public
comment.
I've
missed
the
in
person,
but
there
there
could
be
some
other
ways
to
actually
get
the
get
the
face,
get
where
we're
actually
seeing
them.
They're
they're,
seeing
us
there
might
be
a
might
be
a
way
to
to
do
that.
But
you
know
robert.
I
agree
with
you.
A
All
right
so
appreciate
everyone's
weighing
in
on
this.
So
what
I'm
hearing
is
that
I
think
the
majority
is
not
ready
to
resume
in-person
comments.
You
know
right
away.
I
think
everyone
wants
to
see
that
hopefully
happen
and
then
and
then
not
too
distant.
Future
numbers
are
going
in
a
good
direction,
but
there's
been
several
ideas:
voicemails,
maybe
other
ways
of
folks
calling
in.
So
how
about
how
about
this?
Because
I
think
I
think
everyone's
comments
reflected
this.
A
We
do
need
to
come
up
with
a
plan,
so
why
don't
we
ask
our
staff
to
go
ahead
and
prepare
plan
for
what
public
comment
will
look
like
as
we
you
know
as
we,
because
we're
not
just
going
to
go
from
the
way
we're
doing
it
now
back
to
the
way
it
used
to
be
there'll,
be
some
steps
in
between.
So
if
the
staff
could
kind
of
come
up
with
some
recommendations
for
us
to
look
at
for
how
to
how
to
resume
it,
we'll
still
think
some
more
about
when
to
implement
it.
A
But
I
think
the
let's
go
ahead
and
I
think
the
ideas
that
were
shared
about
people
staying
in
their
vehicles
and
getting
called
up
things
like
that.
That's
a
pretty
good
idea.
So
I
like
that,
and
so
let's
ask
our
staff
to
think
about
those
ideas
and
kind
of
work
up
a
plan
for
us
to
look
at
because
does
that
sound
good?
Is
the
next
step
yeah.
I.
H
Think
I
think
just
making
a
step
forward
because
you
know
I'm
sitting
here.
We
got
18
people
in
here
now
and
we've
got
good
safe
distance
and
everything,
but
I
don't
think
we
ought
to
bring
10
at
a
time
in.
I
think
one
at
a
time
coming
in,
but
that's
down
the
road.
You
know
we
got
to
go
a
little
at
a
time
here
and
but
I
think
we
need
to
be
letting
the
people
know.
We
are
thinking
about
bringing
them
back.
A
In
here
I
appreciate
that
so
good
discussion,
so
just
and
then
just
to
clarify
what
we
are
going
to
do
tonight.
We
have
the
comments
that
have
been
submitted.
Our
policy
is
to
read
them
all,
or
at
least
for
an
hour.
If
it
exceeds
an
hour,
then
we'll
we,
we
won't
continue
reading
them.
After
that,
I
think
these
will
be
done
in
less
than
an
hour.
So
I
anticipate
we'll
we'll
read
all
of
these
tonight
and
I'm
going
to
ask
some
of
the
other
commissioners
to
take
turns
on
this
chairman.
A
A
No,
I
don't
want
to
talk
about
it.
You
know
you.
We
wouldn't
have
done
that
under
our
policies,
but,
okay,
yes,
good
good
point,
all
right
any
before
we
leave
this,
though
lamar
or
avril,
do
you
have
any
other
comments.
You
would
just
kind
of
share
with
us
to
relevant
to
this
topic
that
you
think
we
ought
to
be
thinking
about
like
what
some
ideas
might
be
or
just
other
any
other
insights.
You
would
share.
F
F
A
Yeah,
if
we
can
do
you
know,
I
think
voicemails,
it's
you
hear
the
person's
voice.
That's
that's
more
direct.
I
don't
know
if
there's
other
ways
to
record
someone,
you
know.
Is
it
like
a
zoom
like
I
don't
know,
let's
think
about
what
the
technology
can
do
to
kind
of
help.
Us
actually
see
people
and
hear
people
more
while
we're
while
we're
staying
safe.
A
D
M
First,
one
is
the
approval
of
the
annual
settlement
for
fiscal
year
2020.
The
second
is
the
adoption
of
the
order
of
collection
for
fiscal
year
2021..
I
put
together
a
brief
presentation
to
combine
the
two
actions.
I
did
build
in
a
pause
for
any
discussion,
any
questions
and
the
approval
of
the
first
item,
because
there's
a
good
information
in
your
packet
belonging
to
the
annual
settlement
for
fiscal
year
2020.
I
didn't
want
to
kind
of
recap
quickly
what
is
included
in
that
annual
settlement?
M
It
does
require
approval.
The
key
components
are
the
summary
of
the
net
levy
and
collections
for
buncombe
county
and
the
jurisdictions
and
districts
we
bill
and
collect.
On
behalf
of,
we
also
include
what
the
north
carolina
department
of
motor
vehicles
collects
for
registered
motor
vehicle
property
taxes.
M
M
M
B
I'd
like
to
ask
a
question:
the
registered
motor
vehicle.
I
know
that
the
state
is
extending
that
out.
So
I
know
if
it
was
in
june,
you
didn't
you
don't
really
have
to
pay.
So
how
would
we
basically
end
up
getting
that
or
is
that
would
that
hold
off
some
of
our
income
and
money
that
we
wouldn't
be
able
to
show
until
november
or.
M
It
has,
the
collections
have
actually
been
much
higher
than
I
thought
they
would
be.
I
was
concerned
we'd
see
a
significant
drop
with
that
that
approved
delay,
but
we've
only
seen
about
a
10
to
13
percent
drop
in
the
months.
We've
we've
come
through
so
far
and
so
august
now
begins.
The
due
dates
are
back
to
normal.
F
We
took
that
to
heart
on
some
thinking
about
commissioner
fire
and
he
would
bang
constantly
about
how
we're
treating
our
taxpayers
and
I
want
to
just
recognize
the
fact
that
staff
has
been
mindful
of
that.
They've
done
a
fantastic
job
of
collections,
whether
it
was
payment
plans
or
whatever.
So
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you
to
jennifer
and
her
staff
for
the
work
they've
done
on
this.
A
N
D
M
B
B
O
O
So
the
statute
says
the
commissioners
must
adopt
the
schedule,
values
for
any
general
reappraisal
and
let's
talk
again
a
little
bit
about
what
the
schedule
values
does
and
what
it
gives
to
us
this.
This
is
more
like
we
can
call
it
a
manual.
Almost
it's
a
guide
and
what's
in
this
book,
sets
forth
how
we
value
property
for
the
next
four
years.
This
gives
the
methodology
definitions
rates
anything
that
a
citizen
may
be
concerned
about
or
want
to
know
how
we
do.
O
The
schedule
values
assures
uniformity
in
the
appraisal
process
and
some
people
always
come
back
to
me
and
say
what
do
you
mean
by
that?
What
that
means
is
that,
in
in
between
reappraisal
years
after
the
schedule
is
adopted,
the
assessor
has
no
authority
to
change
that.
The
assessor
has
no
authority
to
value
anybody's
property
outline
out
of
this
manual.
Okay,
everything
has
to
be
within
the
guidelines
of
this
manual
and
that's
what
keeps
the
uniformity
for
all
citizens
in
the
county.
O
O
So
today,
on
the
schedule
today
august
the
4th
I
formally
present
to
this
board
the
schedule,
standards
and
rules
which
we
also
refer
to
as
the
schedule
values.
I
ask
the
board
to
approve
and
direct
the
clerk
to
advertise
the
public
hearing
and
set
the
date
for
the
public
hearing.
That's
the
action
that
I
need
from
the
board
tonight,
mr
chairman.
O
O
We
will
advertise
the
schedule
values
then
for
four
weeks
and
give
citizens
the
opportunity
to
come
forth
and
appeal
the
schedule,
if
that's
what
they
wish
to
do
from
that
point
forward
after
schedule
is
adopted.
Then
we
get
to
the
reappraisal
2021
january
through
february
we
will
mail
the
new
assessments
to
the
citizens
february
through
april.
We
will
work
in
formal
appeals
april
through
may
schedule,
values
adopted
to
the
well,
that's
the
wrong
april
through
may.
O
So
the
action
request
from
the
for
the
commission
tonight
set
the
public
hearing
for
the
board
of
commissioners
regular
meeting
on
august.
The
18th
2020.
approve
the
advertisement
of
the
public
hearing
starting
august,
the
5th,
and
I
can
answer
any
questions
about
that
that
you
may
have
or
about
the
schedule.
D
N
I
am
very
excited
to
be
here
to
share
with
you
our
new
farmland
protection
plan
that
we've
been
working
on
over
the
past
year,
in
collaboration
with
smithson
mills,
the
soil
and
water
staff,
the
ag
advisory
board,
the
soil
and
water
board.
We
have
created
this
plan
to
help
guide,
buncombe
county's
farmland,
protection
efforts
as
the
farmland
preservation
coordinator.
My
work
is
focused
on
identifying
priority
farming
regions,
protecting
farmland
in
perpetuity
and
in
order
and
to
ensure
the
future
for
farming
and
the
local
food
system
in
buncombe
county.
N
Our
farmland
preservation
program
is
award-winning.
It's
a
well-known
around
the
state
as
a
leader
and
an
innovator.
This
plan
will
also
help
support
and
expand
the
work
that
we
currently
do
so
well.
We
deeply
appreciate
your
support
over
the
years
and
believe
that
buncombe
county
can
continue
to
set
a
precedent
for
others
across
the
state,
in
collaboration
with
the
communications
department.
We
have
a
short
video
we'd
like
to
share
about
the
presentation
in
order
to
include
our
local
farmer
input
on
farmland
preservation
in
buncombe
county.
Please.
L
L
D
L
D
L
P
K
My
parents
bought
this
as
retirement
in
1965
bought
the
land
and
we
moved
here
in
1968..
My
dad
was
an
airline
pilot
and
this
land
was
burnt
over
with
a
forest
fire.
At
the
time
it
had
been
logged
before
the
forest
fire
and
no
erosion
control.
In
those
days
this
was
the
early
60s,
so
it
looked
like
it
was
a
wreck,
so
they
really
had
to
work
hard.
My
parents
did
to
bring
it
up
to
status
that
they
wanted
to
have
a
beautiful
place
to
live
at
well.
K
K
P
Good
evening,
chairman
and
commissioners,
my
name
is
terry
wells,
I'm
the
vice
chair
of
the
buncombe
county
ag
advisory
board,
and
it's
my
pleasure
to
be
here
this
evening
on
behalf
of
the
buncombe
county
ag
advisory
board.
I
thank
you
for
your
support
of
our
farmland,
conservation
efforts
and
I'm
pleased
to
be
here
to
introduce
our
new
buncombe
county
farmland
protection
plan.
P
P
We
continue
to
strategically
prioritize
the
conservation
of
valuable
farmland
and
we
must
ensure
that
we
proactively
implement
policies
and
support
efforts
not
only
to
conserve
farmland
but
to
also
increase
the
economic
viability
of
farming.
A
healthy,
diverse
and
robust
farming
and
food
economy
is
vital
to
our
future.
P
P
We
are
well
positioned
to
strategically
conserve
our
best
farmland
and
support
new
initiatives
that
will
enhance
efforts
already
underway.
It
is
my
pleasure
to
introduce
miss
and
mills
who
we
commissioned
to
research
and
write
this
plan.
Smithson
is
an
agricultural
economic
development
consultant
with
many
years
of
experience
in
western
north
carolina
and
smithson
also
is
a
resident
of
buncombe
county
smithson
will
present
our
proposed
farmland,
protection
plan
and
recommendations.
P
A
Q
Here
tonight
to
learn
about
the
farmland
preservation
plan
we've
been
working
on
this
for
about
a
year.
It's
been
a
it's
been
a
real
pleasure
to
work
with
the
ag
advisory
board.
I'm
glad
to
let
you
know
that
you
have
really
have
a
board
of
experts
when
it
comes
to
agricultural
preservation
and
farming,
and
so
it's
nice
to
work
with
very
competent
people
who
are
passionate
about
farming.
D
Q
Okay,
well,
the
first
thing
people
ask
is:
why
should
we
do
a
plan?
Well,
the
plans
are
highly
recommended
by
the
north
carolina
department
of
agriculture
and
consumer
services.
The
ag
development
farmland
preservation.
Trust
fund
is
a
program
at
the
state
level
that
gives
money
for
preservation
and
by
doing
a
preservation
plan
that
lowers
our
match
requirements
for
state
funds,
but
probably
more
important
than
that.
It
helps
us
to
document
the
rate
of
loss
and
sets
baseline.
So
we
can
see
how
well
we're
doing
going
into
the
future
about
preserving
farmland.
Q
Q
Q
This
is
not
something
that
you
see
in
other
large
counties
in
north
carolina,
and
I
can
only
attribute
that
to
proactive
policies
and
a
good
community.
That's
dedicated
to
farmland
preservation,
development
pressures
vary
from
moderate
in
the
more
remote
areas,
as
you
might
think,
to
extreme
near
major
transportation
corridors
in
the
city
of
asheville.
Q
Q
So
the
question
is:
what
do
we
really
want
in
ag
and
why
do
we
want
ag
and
bunkum?
And
what
good
is
it
for
us?
The
first
thing
that
comes
to
people's
minds
is
local
food
for
asheville's
food
scene.
That's
not
just
a
nice
thing
to
have
it's
an
economic
driver.
People
come
to
buncombe
county
because
they
want
to
have
the
farm-to-table
experience
in
our
restaurants
and
our
farms.
Q
It
provides
a
view
shed
for
asheville's
tourism,
industry
people
don't
come
to
western
north
carolina
to
look
at
housing
rooftops
they
come
to
look
at
open.
Land
agritourism
is
an
economic
driver
for
rural
communities.
It
provides
food,
resilience,
clean
air,
clean
water
and
wildlife
and
probably
as
important
as
anything
else.
It
saves
the
county
money,
but
it
also
makes
the
county
money
because
we
bring
in
outside
dollars
to
help
with
preservation.
Q
Q
Q
This
is
a
forestry
agriculture
in
hortland,
horticulture,
forestry
and
agriculture,
make
up
about
95
000
acres
in
the
county.
That
has
again
stayed
fairly
constant
in
the
last
10
12
years
and
that's
good
work,
but
you
can
see
where
those
those
lands
are
that
said,
development
pressures
in
2019
have
been
quite
quite
severe
and
you
can
see
the
new
construction
permits
well
in
septic
permits
all
over
the
county
and
we're
starting
to
see
larger
scale
development
in
floodways
and
flood
plain
areas
that
could
threaten
both
the
water
quality,
as
well
as
the
soil
quality.
Q
Prime
soils
with
floodway
prime
soils
are
are
hard
to
find
in
western
north
carolina
most
of
it's
along
the
riverbanks,
and
you
can
see.
Obviously
we
have
a
lot
of
that,
but
floodplain
and
floodway
development
is
something
that
ultimately
is
probably
not
sustainable.
So
I'd
encourage
you
all
to
keep
an
eye
towards
preserving
these
prime
farmland.
Prime
soils
along
the
riverways
key
challenges.
The
single
key
challenge
is
to
recognize
that
we
have
competing
interest
between
a
desire
to
preserve
open
space
and
a
desire
to
have
more
affordable
housing.
Meeting
population
growth
demands.
Q
These
seem
to
be
mutually
exclusive,
but
they're
not
there
are
compromises
and
there
are
smart
strategies
where
you
can
address
both
of
those
so
how
we
navigate
these
are
going
to
determine
where
we
live
in
20
years
time.
Recommendations
from
this
study
are
continued
to
continuing
to
support
farmland
protection
through
existing
policies.
Basically,
your
ag
advisory
board.
Your
soil
and
water
board
are
doing
good
work.
Now
they
need
to
be
con.
Continue
to
support
that
long
range
and
comprehensive
planning
for
the
county
is
essential.
Q
It
is
also
important
that
we
promote
and
implement
outreach
and
education
on
land
taxation,
estate,
planning
and
farm
transition.
We
did
a
survey
of
landowners
and
present
use
valuation
and
a
large
percentage
of
them
said
that
they
needed
more
education
and
knowledge
about
how
to
plan
for
transition
of
their
land.
So
when
land
is
lost,
is
when
the
elder
of
the
family
dies
passes
on
the
kids,
don't
want
it,
they
sell
it.
They
might
not
make
all
the
right
decisions
that
they
could
make
if
they
don't
have
all
the
tools
available
to
them.
Q
Continuing
recommendations,
continue
county
level
funding
to
support
transaction
costs
for
purchase
of
farmland,
conservation
agents
right
now.
The
amount
that
you're
putting
in
is
helping
with
the
preservation
of
around
three
to
four
tracks
a
year.
Is
that
about
right?
Three
to
four
there's
a
backlog
list
of
people
who
would
like
to
participate
in
that
and
any
way
that
that
can
be
increased
for
farmland
preservation
such
as
collecting
puv,
deferred
fees,
storm
water
fees,
using
fees
for
additional
projects
and
more
staff.
Support
for
the
program
could
all
be
useful
for
continuing
farmland,
preservation.
Q
Q
One
of
the
things
that
is
pretty
interesting
is
that
you
all
are
developing
the
farm
heritage
trails.
I
believe,
and
that's
going
to
bring
in
a
lot
of
tourism
dollars,
plus
educate
people
about
the
importance
of
open
land
and
finally,
supporting
marketing
and
production.
Training
and
strengthening
support
for
agricultural
economic
development
are
all
key
to
being
successful
going
into
the
future.
Q
Again,
this
plan
provides
a
foundation
for
the
2025
strategic
plan.
Environmental
stewardship
stewardship
focus
is
important,
preserving
farmland
and
environmentally
sensitive
tracts
is
a
big
goal
of
what
you
need
to
be
doing,
and
I
commend
you
for
your
dedication
to
farmland
preservation
in
the
county.
Q
Q
Most
of
it's
either
going
to
be
in
agriculture
or
forestry,
and
one
thing
to
note
is
that
we've
seen
a
lot
of
the
older
landowners
move
from
agriculture
designation
to
forestry
designation,
because
it's
easier
to
maintain
that
when
you're
in
your
elder
years
than
to
be
farming
is
hard
work.
It's
not
necessarily
something
people
want
to
do
when
they're,
70
and
80
years
old,
but.
B
C
So
you
know
to
that
point
I
think
in
50
some
pages
and
I
read
every
bit
of
it,
but
which
is
it's
a
lot
for
me,
but
my
understanding
is
that
the
number
of
farms
are
pretty
much
constant.
They
just
they're
smaller.
We
have
more
smaller
farms
than
we
used
to,
but
we
still
have
the
same
amount
of
from
2007.
C
Until
now,
we've
pretty
mean
we've
kind
of
done
well
and
maintained
a
good,
a
good
level
of
farmland
in
buncombe
county,
and
I
know
that
this
was
one
of
my
one
of
the
things
that
really
concerned
me.
You
know
in
in
buncombe
county.
You
know
coming
here
in
1980
and
seeing
you
know
seeing
the
growth,
and
you
said
it
well
that
when
people
are
traveling
in
the
mountains,
no
matter
where
they're
at
you
know
the
the
view
they
want
is
not
a
view
of
a
bunch
of
houses.
C
They
want
to
see
sandy
much
harmony
valley.
They
want
that's
what
that's.
What
brings
him
here
had
a
conversation
a
little
a
little
bit
before
we
were
talking
about
restaurants
and
people
eating
here,
which
you
know
we
need
that,
and
that's
that's.
That's
all
well
and
good,
but
if
we
didn't
have
the
mountains
they
may
or
may
not
be
here.
You
know,
and
these
mountains
and
the
bowls
the
the
uniqueness
of
you
know
the
bowls
that
we
have.
We
need
to
protect
them.
So
I'm
glad
that
this
is
part
of
our
strategic
plan.
C
A
A
Is
you
know
when
we're
not
in
a
budget
cycle
right
now
you
know,
but
as
we
go
into
the
budget
cycle
in
the
future,
I
think
one
of
the
most
important
recommendations
we
really
do
have
to
look
at
is
is
the
financial
investment
part
of
this?
In
terms
of
you
know
this,
this
conservation
easement
program
we
have
in
buncombe
county.
It
is
a
great
program.
It's
been
so
successful
in
conserving
so
many
of
these
properties
and
it
and
you
know,
and
when
we
preserve
it,
we
preserve
it.
A
You
know,
unlike
land
use
policies
and
things
like
that,
the
landowner
makes
the
voluntary
decision
to
permanently
protect
their
families
land
for
the
future.
So
and
I
think,
as
the
presentation
shows,
the
funds
that
that
we've
invested
have
been
so
useful
in
terms
of
leveraging
a
lot
more
funding.
So
I
think
it's
been
very
impactful,
but
if
we
want
to
do
more
of
this,
then
then
trying
to
find
a
way
to
put
some
more
funding
towards
that.
A
E
I
just
want
to
echo
that
looking
at
preserving
farmland
is
actually
something
that
is
deeply
personal
to
me
and
my
family,
that
my
husband,
as
many
of
you
knew,
grew
up
on
a
300
plus
acre
farm,
and
we
were
not
in
a
position
when
the
family
was
ready
to
sell
it
to
be
able
to
purchase
that
so
it
was
lost.
So
I'm
really
want
to
focus
on
helping
those
who
want
to
preserve
the
land,
keep
it
in
the
family.
So
they
don't
experience
the
sadness
and
the
heartbreak
of
losing.
E
E
So
I'm
pleased
that
we
have
this
as
I'm
calling
it
a
bit
of
a
stop
gap
until
we
can
pick
that
back
up.
But
I
do
want
to
really
continue
to
advocate
this,
particularly
as
we
are
able
to
pick
up
that
comprehensive
land
use
plan.
I
think
this
is
really
important
for
buncombe
county
and
I
thank
you
all
for
the
work
that
you've
put
into
it.
C
So,
commissioner
edwards,
I
just
want
to
hop
on
one
of
one
of
the
points
that
you
made
and
so
that
the
maybe
staff,
as
we
as
we
look
forward
in
in
preserving
these
farms
and
making
sure
we
don't
have
conflict
with
with
affordable
housing.
What
I
think
something
that
happened.
I
think
it
even
happened.
C
You
know
someone
could
come
in
there
on
that
on
a
farm
just
because
that
opened
up
and
they
could
they
could
stick
up.
You
know
you
know
four
or
five
story.
You
know.
Affordable
housing
and
affordable
housing
would
be
good,
but
none.
That's
not
necessarily.
There
and
it
could
displace
a
could,
could
displace
a
farm
you
know
out,
particularly
particularly
in
that
area.
I
just
you
know,
think
of
that,
because
I
actually
think
it
happened.
I
think
it
happened
a
couple
a
year
or
two
ago,
so
yeah,
it's
a
good
point.
Yeah.
A
A
Okay.
The
next
item
on
the
agenda
is
a
resolution
regarding
the
blue
ridge,
road
interchange,
project,
I-4409
and,
as
folks
will
recall,
some
of
the
members
of
the
black
mountain
town
council
asked
us
to
consider
this.
We've
supported
this
project
in
the
past
as
well,
but
tim
love
will
present
this
item.
T
Good
evening,
commissioners,
good
evening
so
this
evening,
I'll
be
brief
on
this
presentation.
I've
also
like
to
introduce
josh
harold
who's
here,
representing
the
town
of
black
mountain,
as
the
town
manager
well
asked
josh
to
say
a
few
words,
but
I'll
get
us
started
so
this
evening.
We're
asking
for
your
approval
of
a
resolution
supporting
the
blue
ridge,
road
interchange
and
that's
pretty
much
it.
The
resolution's
in
your
packet.
T
This
resolution
was
approved
by
the
the
black
mountain
town
council
on
july
13th
of
2020,
just
by
to
help
orient
y'all
as
well
as
the
public.
This
is
a
quick
map.
This
is
only
slide
you'll
get
from
us
today,
but
it
shows
kind
of
where
we
are
so.
You
can
see
interstate
40
above
that
you
can
see
a
us-70.
T
The
blue
ridge.
Road
is
right
there
in
sort
of
the
center
of
the
map,
and
then
we
have
sort
of
an
inset
that
shows
you
what
the
proposed
interchange
would
look
like,
and
you
can
see
the
clover
leafs
there.
A
few
other
items
to
sort
of
orient.
You
today
on
the
far
left,
the
the
red
one
or
the
circle
with
the
one
on
it.
That's
the
ingles
distribution
center.
It's
a
really
large
property
that
I'm
sure
you're
familiar
with
familiar
with
right
off
of
us
70.
T
They
haven't
constructed
their
site
yet,
but
there's
an
access
road
that
goes
through
there
and
but
it's
a
really
promising
set
of
parcels.
So
with
that
said,
that's
orienting
you
to
where
this
is
I'd.
Ask
you
know
josh.
Is
there
anything
you'd
like
to
add
related
to
this
interchange,
the
benefit
to
the
community?
Anything
of
that
nature.
U
U
It
has
the
potential
to
kind
of
redo
our
whole
downtown,
with
getting
truck
traffic
off
of
our
downtown
streets,
making
that
more
pedestrian
friendly,
as
well
as
serve
the
commerce
park
and
the
avatar
facility
and
ingles
warehouse
out
in
the
west
part
of
town.
So
I
appreciate
the
consideration
great.
A
S
Good
evening,
commissioners
just
want
to
give
you
a
brief
introduction
to
this
item
at
your
july.
21St
brief
commissioner's
briefing
staff,
provided
you
with
significant
amount
of
detail
regarding
historical
perspective,
as
well
as
relevant
data
to
support
a
resolution
to
declare
racism
a
public
health
and
safety
crisis
in
buncombe
county
that
included
a
commitment
to
eliminate
racial
disparities,
not
only
in
health
and
criminal
justice,
but
also
in
the
critical
areas
of
education,
wealth
planning
and
development,
housing,
community
engagement
and
also
an
important
examination
of
our
internal
policies.
S
C
I'll
I'll
I'll
make
a
comment
and
then
I'll
move,
I'm
gonna
move
for
approval.
We
did
have
a
lot
of
conversation
around
this
and
I'm
I'm
grateful
to
approve
it
and-
and
I'm
also
also
look
forward
to
the
work
that
the
staff
will
do
and
and
bring
back
to
us.
I
believe
that
we
have
the
commitment
as
a
board
and
the
commitment
within
staff
and
the
community
to
be
able
to
work
towards
some
positive
solutions
around
this
subject,
and
so
I'm
I'm
happy
to
support
it
tonight.
J
Just
like
to
thank
staff,
as
well
as
the
members
of
both
the
hhs
and
j-rock
boards
for
their
work
on
this
and
feels
like
an
important
step
forward
for
us
to
be
coming
together
as
a
community
to
name
name
racism
as
a
crisis,
it
is
and
make
sure
we're
attending
to
it
every
way
we
can
so.
Thank
you,
commissioner,
belcher
and
penlin
for
the
mission.
I
look
forward
to
supporting
it.
V
R
Good
evening,
yes,
the
we
are
establishing
the
capital
project
ordinance
for
the
solar
project.
Last
meeting
you
approve,
you
folks
approved
the
awarding
the
contract
to
mb
haynes
in
the
amount
of
ten
million
two
hundred
eighty
three
thousand
one
hundred
thirty
six
dollars,
and
this
ordinance
is
simply
to
establish
the
associated
capital
project
and
the
budget
we
will
return
in
october
after
rfps
have
been
received
for
debt
issuance
any
questions.
E
A
A
R
R
The
state
has
asked
that
we
put
these
dollars
in
a
special
revenue
fund.
We
received
about
three
mil
three
million
dollars
that
buncombe
county
was
using
on
2.9
million
dollars
in
the
first
round
of
this
funding
and
there's
about
a
hundred
ninety
seven
thousand
dollars
left
of
that
funding,
which
we
one
amendment
is
moving
those
dollars
forward
to
the
grants
fund,
and
then
we
have
a
second
round
of
funding
of
five
million
dollars
of
which
about
1.65
million
dollars.
R
We
will
be
offering
to
municipalities
and
fire
districts
based
on
the
same
ad
valorem
distribution
method,
as
we
did
in
the
first
round
of
funding
in
your
in
your
documents.
You
can
see
the
fund
amounts
we'll
be
offering
for
distribution
to
those
municipalities
and
the
fire
districts
we
we
did,
we
did
spend
almost
2.8
million
dollars
of
the
first
round
of
funding.
R
R
R
So
that's
how
we
did
spend
the
first
round
dollars
that
we
have
already
spent,
so
we
have
a
around
two
dollars
about
three
million
dollars
that
that
buncombe
county
will
be
will
again
have
to
spend.
We
anticipate
spending
on
again
staffing
for
public
safety
and
public
health,
isolation
and
quarantine,
and
testing
and
testing
sites
departments
are
due
to
submit
plans
to
the
finance
by
august
10th
with
how
they
expect
to
spend
dollars.
So
these
are
the
main
areas
that
we
expect
to
see
them
spending
their
dollars.
R
The
other
areas
that
we
might
see
is
that
we
might
need
to
upgrade
facilities.
We
already
have
been
working
on
the
on
making
the
tax
collections
office
friendly
with
plexiglass
and
social
distancing,
and
the
courthouse
has
some
needs,
so
there'll
be
some
spending
there
and
then
there
are
increased
janitorial
costs.
A
R
J
R
T
Presentation
is
about
the
dogwood
health
trust
and
specifically,
a
census
incentive
grant
to
get
through
the
presentation,
though,
we're
going
to
use
a
few
slides,
because
we
want
to
use
this
opportunity
to
explain
to
you
kind
of
what
the
grant's
about,
but
also
where
we
are
related
to
the
census.
So
our
agenda
today
overview
and
request.
Where
are
we
with
the
census
and
then
just
want
to
show
you
some
of
the
materials
from
the
census
campaign?
T
It's
estimated
by
george
washington
university
that
each
person
counted
is
worth
approximately
sixteen
hundred
dollars
in
federal
aid
for
programs
like
medicaid,
medicare,
school
lunches
highways
and
disaster
relief.
So
there's
tangible
dollars
that
come
to
our
community
based
on
census,
counts
to
support
the
increased
count
of
the
census.
The
dogwood
health
trust
or
dht
in
the
slides
is
supporting
efforts
to
increase
accounts
across
the
the
western
north
carolina
region,
so
the
18
counties
that
they
support.
T
One
way
that
they're
doing
this
is
through
incentivizing
and
granting
a
thousand
dollars
to
counties
for
every
percentage
point
that
they
increase
the
count
between
now
and
the
time
that
the
census
is
completed,
which
was
supposed
to
be
the
end
of
october,
but
is
now
the
end
of
september,
and
we're
going
to
talk
about
that.
A
little
bit
more.
T
T
The
requested
action
for
this
board
is
to
accept
the
grant
and
to
approve
the
budget
amendment
that
budget
amendment
I'll
ask
john
to
come
up
and
speak
to
it.
If
we
need
to
includes
a
placeholder
amount
that
will
refine
and
we'll
adjust
as
we
go
forward,
but
we
needed
a
budget
amendment
to
accept
the
grant,
as
I
said
earlier,
we're
not
going
to
spend
any
money
until
we
have
the
money
in
hand,
so
we
don't
worry
about
overspending
with
that
said.
So
where
are
we?
T
This
is
a
map
that
shows
you
a
lot
of
information
about.
What's
going
on
in
in
buncombe,
county
related
to
the
census,
each
of
those
shapes
indicates
a
census
district
depending
on
the
color
that
indicates
kind
of
the
how
good
we're
doing
with
our
count.
So
you
can
see
sort
of
on
the
periphery
of
the
county
edges
that
sort
of
tannish
color
that
indicates
an
undercounted
area,
so
areas
like
broad
river
would
be
a
good
example
within
sort
of
the
center
of
the
county.
T
Certain
areas
within
the
city
of
asheville,
also
under
counted
our
overall
count,
is
right
at
the
top
in
the
middle,
and
that's
a
58.9
percent
count
as
of
last
friday.
The
thing
that
I'd
like
to
share
with
you,
though,
is
this
is
a
self-response
rate.
So
this
indicates
someone
who
has
either
completed
the
census
online,
who
turned
in
a
mailing
that
came
to
them
or
did
it
over
the
phone.
T
T
Knockers
aren't
expected
to
hit
the
grounds
in
buncombe
county
until
august
11th,
which
is
soon
but
does
not
give
us
much
time
with
door
knockers
in
the
field
sort
of
taking
us
the
extra
mile
to
get
us
from
58.9
percent
to
our
goal,
which
is
80
percent
as
a
friendly
reminder.
If
we
assume
that
you
know
we're
20
off,
you
can
sort
of
back
into
the
math
and
the
potential
federal
loss
of
dollars
that
we're
talking
about
then.
T
So,
with
that
said,
here's
where
we
are.
What
are
we
doing
to
try
to
help?
And
so
you
know
the
buncombe
county
has
been
working.
Our
staff,
with
members
of
the
community,
since
early
january
and
local
nonprofits
municipalities,
the
business
community,
etc
to
sort
of
get
the
word
out
related
to
the
census,
and
so
I'm
going
to
show
you
a
few
things
that
we've
done
so
there's
a
media
campaign.
That's
been
going
on
and
these
are
just
snippets
of
examples.
T
So
you
know
at
the
bottom
left
you
can
see
some
advertisements
that
have
occurred
on
the
I
heart:
radio
set
of
stations,
kiss
country
rock
105
as
examples
in
the
middle.
You
see
la
neta
radio,
which
is
a
jm
pro
radio
station.
So
that's
a
spanish
language
census.
Radio
show
where
we
partnered
with
jm
pro,
where
they've
been
supporting
us
on
the
far
right.
That's
a
youtube
video
that
is
a
spanish
language
cartoon
that
speaks
to
children
about
why
they
should
be
counted
and
ultimately
talk
to
their
parents
about
getting
counted.
T
Top
right
is
a
sticker
that
will
be
delivered
to
some
of
our
schools.
The
theme
here
is,
I
count
two,
so
we're
trying
to
influence
parents
to
complete
their
accounts
based
on
their
children.
The
reason
we
chose
some
of
these
marketing
campaigns
is,
we
know
our
hardest
account.
Populations
are
children
zero
to
five,
hence
the
stickers
spanish-speaking
populations,
hence
the
work
with
jm
pro
and
then
also
you
know,
through
our
media
campaign,
just
making
sure
that
we're
hitting
larger
groups
of
people
as
well.
T
We've
also
taken
a
more
traditional
approach
with
physical
mailings,
so
at
the
top
left.
This
is
a
water
bill
and
I've
highlighted
some
language
in
the
black
mountain
water
bill
that
reminds
people
to
complete
their
census
on
the
bottom
right.
We
have
an
example
of
a
direct
mailing
that
we
sent
to
hard
to
count
populations
at
their
homes
as
a
reminder
to
complete
the
census.
T
T
Next
up
is
our
library
campaign,
and
you
know
one
of
the
challenges
that
we
face
with
this
census.
Unlike
any
other
census,
is
it's
the
first
online
census
never
had
that
opportunity
before
really
easy.
If
you
have
the
internet,
so
we've
been
trying
to
support
our
community
by
making
it
easier
to
take
the
census
online.
T
So,
on
the
far
left
you
can
see
some
marketing.
This
will
be
in
the
form
of
yard
signs
that
you'll
see
at
all
of
our
libraries
in
the
very
near
future
that
these
are
free,
wi-fi
zones
and
here's
the
login
information
to
access
the
internet
in
the
parking
lot
of
those
libraries.
So
I
think
you
can
probably
connect
the
dots
here.
This
also
serves
us
well,
as
we
talk
about
kids
going
back
to
school
and
the
need
to
be
able
to
to
access
the
internet
if
they
can
in
their
homes.
T
Additionally,
you'll
see
large,
complete
your
senses
here.
Signs
at
those
libraries
as
well.
Those
will
be
in
the
form
of
yard
signs,
as
well
as
flags,
so
two
birds,
one
stone
here
spreading
the
word
about
access
to
the
internet,
but
also
the
census,
there's
also
a
number
of
campaigns
that
are
being
led
by
our
folks,
our
folks
at
the
state
you
see
two
here:
one
is
targeted
to
farm
workers
and
then
another
is
targeted
specifically
to
the
latinx
population.
So
again
just
trying
to
get
the
word
out
to
as
many
people
as
we
can.
T
T
I've
showed
you
a
percentage,
that's
60
percent
counted
in
buncombe
county,
which
is
20
off
of
our
goal,
and
this
is
a
self-response
rate,
so
we
know
that
we're
going
to
have
an
uptick
as
we
have
door
knockers
in
the
field.
What
I'd
like
to
tell
you,
though,
is
we're
expecting
our
door
knockers
to
be
in
the
field.
You
know
starting
august
11th
through
the
end
of
october.
T
So
the
question
is
how
to
help
and
so
for
y'all.
My
request
is
that
you
tell
everyone,
you
know
if
you
haven't
already
post
on
facebook,
send
an
email.
If
you
tick
talk,
do
that
instagram,
whatever
works,
if
you
haven't
already,
I
think
this
is
crucial.
Make
an
announcement
at
your
workplace,
your
boards,
that
you
work
on
your
church,
your
religious
institutions,
wherever
you're
at
or
any
other
organization
that
you're
affiliated
affiliated
with
this
is
my
ask
of
the
board.
But
it's
awesome.
T
T
The
payoff
and
I'm
sorry
to
be
redundant,
but
my
my
one,
my
household,
that's
four
people
times
sixteen
hundred
dollars
times
ten
years.
It's
just
a
really
substantial
amount
of
federal
funding
for
these
critical
programs
like
medicaid,
medicare,
school
lunches,
school
breakfasts
relief
funds.
I
mean
it
just
goes
on
I'd,
also
tied
back
and
I'll
start
to
wrap
this
up
to
our
coronavirus
response.
When
the
karazhak
came
out,
it
was
actually
mandated
at
the
treasury
treasury
level
department
of
treasury
level
that
those
dollars
would
be
allocated
to
communities
based
on
census
counts.
T
So
this
isn't
just
us
making
up
numbers.
This
is
the
truth.
It
was
in
statute.
So
please
take
a
look
at
the
slide.
I'd
ask
all
of
you
to
consider
how
you
can
sort
of
help
us
get
the
word
out
on
this
super
important
initiative.
I'd
also
ask
you
to
consider
what
I've
said
about
the
shortened
timeline
related
to
the
census
and
consider
consulting
with
others
in
leadership
positions
that
you
may
know
at
the
state
level,
perhaps
but
from
there
I'll
wrap
it
up.
So
that's
kind
of
our
quick
nutshell
on
the
census.
J
G
T
B
Okay,
and
is
there
any
other
way,
because
I
know
some
parts
of
our
county-
I
mean
the
library
may
be
well
like
broad
river
libraries
in
black
mountain.
Is
there
any
other
way
that
we
could
do
something
that
might
would
they
would
have
to
travel
so
far
to
get?
If,
because
I
don't,
they
may
not
have
internet
in
broad
river
matter
of
fact,
I
know
some
of
them.
Don't.
B
T
That's
right,
and
so
we've
started
well.
I
shouldn't
say
this:
throughout
the
process.
We
we
establish
subcommittees
that
are
based
around
interest
areas,
so
we've
got
sort
of
an
education
subcommittee
as
an
example,
we
also
have
an
un
unincorporated
subcommittee,
which
is
led
by
someone
in
the
audience
terry
wells
specifically,
and
those
groups
have
been
sort
of
working
in
those
communities
to
get
the
word
out.
To
give
you
examples,
our
community
centers
that
are
not
government
owned,
are
all
participating
in
a
program
to
get
the
word
out.
T
Additionally,
I
would
say
many
of
our
fire
districts
are
working
specifically
in
broad
river.
The
fire
chief.
There
is
working
with
the
black
mountain
chamber
to
sort
of
host
an
event,
but
we
continue
to
work
with,
in
particular
with
our
fire
chiefs,
because,
especially
in
the
unincorporated
areas,
the
their
their
word
certainly
carries
some
weight.
So.
A
A
All
in
favor,
please
say
aye
aye
aye
all
right!
Thank
you.
Tim
appreciate,
y'all.
Okay,
the
next
item
on
the
agenda
is
a
reserve.
Is
a
resolution
to
support
community
reparations
for
black
people
in
buncombe
county,
and
I'm
going
to
ask
commissioner
jasmine
beach
ferrara
to
start
us
off
on
this
item.
J
And
commissioner
edwards
will
join
me
as
we
are
actually
reading
from
the
resolution
before
we
begin
reading
the
text
of
the
resolution.
Just
a
few
just
a
few
comments
to
start
the
conversation
and
thank
you
to
everyone
in
advance
for
for
being
part
of
this
conversation
to
me
in
many
ways,
this
resolution
feels
like
a
natural
and
necessary
companion
to
the
resolution.
We
just
passed
7-0
a
few
minutes
ago,
naming
racism
as
both
a
public
health
and
public
safety
crisis.
J
Black
people
in
america
have
been
calling
for
reparations
for
centuries
and
although
there
have
at
various
times
been
moments
where
there's
been
response
to
that
call
on
the
whole
we
haven't
yet,
as
a
country
responded
in
the
way
that
I
believe
we
have
a
opportunity.
But
also
an
obligation
to
do
so.
J
That
is
what
I
think
we're
being
called
to
do
in
this
moment,
is
to
speak
more
honestly
than
we
have
to
apologize
for
sins
of
the
past,
to
name
sins
of
the
present
and
to
get
very
serious
in
our
souls,
our
spirits,
our
heart
and
with
the
resources
available
to
us
as
a
community
about
repairing
that
harm.
So
it
is
in
that
spirit
that
I
want
to
bring
this
resolution
forward.
J
I
think
this
is
a
step
that
our
community
is
ready
for.
The
city
of
asheville,
of
course,
passed
a
resolution
to
establish
a
commission
focused
on
reparations
on
july
14th,
and
this
resolution
would
have
us
the
county
joining
in
that
and
also
apologizing,
and
talking
really
specifically
about
the
legacy
of
racism
and
slavery
within
buncombe
county.
J
So
with
that,
I
will
begin
reading
and
amanda,
and
I
will
commissioner
edwards
and
I
will
go
back
and
forth
and
then
look
forward
to
hearing.
Obviously
what
other
members
of
commission
have
to
say
a
resolution
to
support
community
reparations
for
black
people
in
buncombe
county,
whereas
between
1619
and
1865,
an
estimated
4
million
people
were
unjustly
enslaved
in
the
colonies
in
the
united
states,
whereas
in
1860
on
the
eve
of
the
civil
war,
there
were
an
estimated
1913
people
enslaved
in
buncombe
county.
J
Due
to
racist
state
and
local
voter
suppression
laws,
whereas
public
schools
in
buncombe
county
were
not
integrated
until
the
1966-67
school
year
as
a
result
of
a
district
court
ruling
more
than
a
decade
after
the
1954
u.s
supreme
court
ruling
in
brown
versus
board
of
education,
whereas
even
after
the
era
of
legal
segregation
ended.
Black
americans
continue
to
experience
the
harms
of
institutional
and
systemic
racism.
E
Whereas
urban
renewal
in
buncombe
county
destroyed
many
homes
and
businesses
owned
by
black
families
and
greatly
harmed
many
traditional
minority,
neighborhoods
displacing
many
people
to
live
in
public
housing,
whereas
despite
decades
of
policy
level
efforts
and
community
and
faith-based
efforts
to
create
racial
justice.
Deep
disparities
persist
for
black
people
in
buncombe
county,
including,
but
not
limited
to
the
areas
of
infant
mortality,
home
ownership,
ownership
of
businesses,
earnings
health,
education,
justice
system
involvement,
incarceration
and
life
expectancy,
whereas
in
buncombe
county
only
41
percent
of
black
people
own
the
home.
E
All
via
acts
of
congress
supported
by
presidents,
coolidge,
truman,
nixon
and
reagan
respectively.
Reparations
have
also
been
made
to
descendants
of
survivors
of
racial
terrorism
and
massacres,
targeting
black
people
in
rosewood,
florida
and
greenwood
oklahoma
through
acts
of
their
state
legislatures
in
1994
and
to
2001.
J
During
that
era,
apologizes
to
the
black
community
and
seeks
to
make
amends
for
buncombe
county's
participation
in
an
urban
renewal
program
that
harmed
multiple
successful
black
communities,
we'll
appoint
representatives
to
and
fully
participate
in.
The
new
community
reparations
commission
that
the
city
of
asheville
is
creating
calls
on
other
organizations
and
institutions
in
our
community
that
have
advanced
and
benefited
from
racial
inequity
to
join
in
these
steps
calls.
E
Increasing
black
home
ownership,
business
ownership
and
other
strategies
to
support
upward
mobility
and
build
generational
wealth
within
the
black
community.
Reducing
health
disparities,
including
infant
mortality,
reducing
racial
disparities
in
the
justice
system,
directs
county
staff
to
update
content
on
www.buncombecounty.org
about
the
history
of
buncombe
county,
to
include
references
to
enslaved
people
who
lived
in
our
community
and
directs
county
staff
to
provide
at
minimum
biannual
updates
to
the
county
commission.
On
the
impact
of
strategies
being
pursued
through
the
strategic
plan
on
reducing
racial
disparities
in
buncombe
county
and
on
the
progress
of
the
community
reparations
commission.
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
This
civil
rights
movement
is
not
over.
We
still
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do
so.
What
might
community
reparations?
Look
like
in
buncombe
county?
I
certainly
do
not
have
all
the
answers,
I'm
a
white
person
and
have
had
more
advantages
than
most
even
among
white
people.
It's
important
for
us
to
listen
more
than
talk.
A
A
B
Now
reading
the
resolution,
it
doesn't
say
that
doesn't
say
that
someone's
going
to
get
a
check,
it
looks
like
we're
going
to
look
at
programs
one
of
the
things
in
the
resolution.
It
says,
whereas
buncombe
county
has
a
leadership
role
in
supporting
economic
development,
public
education,
healthcare
in
our
community
and
must
assure
this
vital
work
is
carried
out,
and
this
is
the
important
part.
B
That
is
that's
that's
a
good
statement.
The
issue
is,
is
that
the
city
of
asheville
formed
a
commission
and
they
want
us
to
join
with
their
commission,
but
the
people
of
buncombe
county.
They
formed
a
commission
as
well,
and
it's
called
the
bunker
county
commissioners
and
u6
along
with
commissioner
mike
fryer.
B
B
But
I
can't
support
this
in
the
way
it
is
because,
in
my
belief,
is
that
you've
already
identified
our
staff.
We
have
a
committee
already
they're
called
the
buncombe
county
staff,
which
are
the
finest
I
haven't
met
all
of
them,
but
the
ones
I
have
met
are
the
finest
in
the
land
they're
already
working
on
this
they're
already
identifying
some
of
this
here
and
they
are
already
working.
B
So
I
would
say,
let's
expand
and
invest
in
the
strategic
plan
and
let's
not
pass
another
piece
of
paper,
because
that's
how
we
feel
like
we
should
do
it
today
when
the
fact
that
we've
already
identified
this
and
passed
a
a
plan
that
already
moves
us
forward.
And
let's,
let's
look
at
at
that,
we
said
earlier
that
we
don't
usually
get
involved
when
it
comes
to
state
and
federal.
B
But
now
we
see
a
resolution,
that's
asking
the
federal
u.s
congress
and
the
state
to
to
pass
to
those
who
worked
on
this
hard
work.
Thank
you,
commissioner.
Whitesides
thank
you
for
sitting
down
with
myself
and
commissioner
belcher
and
commissioner
preston
going
over
this,
and
but
here
we
are
saying
one
thing
and
then
here
it
is.
B
B
E
E
E
They
went
oh
you're,
not
writing
checks,
you're,
investing
in
the
programs
and
services
and
to
me
where
this
is,
is
we're
reaffirming
our
strategic
plan
and
in
a
way
that
it
is
very
specific
to
our
black
community,
our
communities
of
color,
and
I
also
participated
in
the
racial
equity
institute,
training
and
hands
down,
probably
the
best
three
hours
I
have
spent
in
a
training,
maybe
ever
what
I've
also
explained
to
these
folks
that
I
learned
from
that
is
they're
like
I'm
not
wealthy.
I
don't
have
privilege.
E
The
phrase
that
was
used
at
the
rei
training
was
white
advantage
that
not
every
white
person
is
wealthy
and
being
able
to
separate
out
wealth
and
privilege
from
advantage
because
of
our
skin.
Color
has
really
reframed,
even
in
my
own
mind
how
I
think
about
the
fact
that
I
didn't
grow
up
wealthy,
a
single
mom.
It
was
the
two
of
us,
but
because
I
was
blonde
haired
blue
eyes
and
white
skin
the
advantages,
the
doors
that
have
opened.
E
E
I
heard
too
you're
just
caving
to
the
city
of
asheville
you're,
just
doing
what
the
city
wants.
I
stated
two
weeks
ago.
I
would
support
this,
but
I
would
not
support
a
copy
and
paste
document
from
the
city
of
asheville.
The
document
that
commissioner
beech
ferrara
and
I
presented
this
evening
is
not
a
copy
and
paste.
E
I
I
think
it's
a
commitment
to
implementing
our
services
in
a
really
equitable
way
to
repair
the
damages
that
have
been
done
in
our
community
for
hundreds
of
years
and
chairman
newman.
I
so
appreciate
the
words
that
you
said
when
you
started
speaking
of
when
we
talked
about
monuments.
People
didn't
want
to
forget
the
past,
and
that
is
another
common
phrase
that
has
come
up
throughout
again.
E
H
H
P
H
H
You
know
what
six
months
ago
about
how
many
resolutions
we're
doing
here
and
I
think
it's
been
17
resolutions
in
four
years,
three
and
a
half
years
that
I've
been
a
commissioner
and
we
was
going
to
cut
back
on
resolution
because
we're
doing
them
but
putting
them
back
and
what
you
said,
commissioner,
we
don't
need
to
put
this
stuff
back.
We
don't
need
to
pacify
one
night
that
we're
going
to
pass
a
resolution.
H
We
need
to
go
ahead
and
fulfill
what
we
think
we
need
to
be
doing.
We
need
to
be
working
on,
affordable
housing.
We
need
to
be
working
on
this
education
for
them,
the
welfare
of
them,
and
when
I
say
them,
I'm
talking
about
everybody
we're
all
involved
in
this
every
one
of
us
are.
We
don't
need
this
country
this
county.
H
This
state
is
so
divided
that
they
are
so
much.
I
don't
know
how
we
can
mend
a
lot
of
this
unless
we
all
come
together
and
say
we're
going
to
do
something,
and
I
can't
support
the
resolution.
I
support
a
lot
that's
in
there,
but
there's
just
some
things
and
I
would
like
to
see
some
things
changed
around,
but
more
than
anything
else
more
than
anything
else,
I
want
to
see
us
work
together
and
fulfill
what
we've
done
county
manager.
H
I
think
we
spent
what
seventy
thousand
dollars
on
a
strategic
plan
four
or
five
months
ago.
What
was
the
number?
I
think
it
was
forty
thousand
forty
thousand
dollars
to
come
up
with
this
right
here
with
two
to
three
days
of
staff
and
the
commissioner
spending
all
day,
long
of
coming
up
with
what
we
needed.
H
E
E
Our
strategic
plan
was
written
for
all
of
buncombe
county
residents,
black
white
purple,
polka
dot
everyone.
What
we
are
doing
this
evening
is
pulling
a
little
bit
out
from
that
strategic
plan
and
saying
we
see
you,
we
hear
you
and
we
are
committed
to
ensuring
that
the
work
behind
that
will
support
you.
I
am
not
turning
my
back
on
any
particular
person
in
buncombe
county,
but
rather
saying
I
hear
you,
I
see
you
and
as
a
white
woman,
I
am
here
to
listen
and
carry
out.
E
I
I
purposely
waited.
You
know
when
we
talk
about
reparations.
Well,
let's
go
back
when
we
talk
about
race
in
this
country,
it's
the
800
pound
gorilla
in
the
room.
Nobody
wants
to
discuss
it,
but
folks,
let
me
tell
you
coming
from
a
black
man
that
what
just
I've
gone
through
in
my
life
and
look
I've
been
fair.
I've
been
fairly
successful,
but
with
systemic
racism.
I
I
I
I
don't
want
to
see
my
grandsons
have
to
put
up
with
what
I've
gone
through,
but
you
know
what's
unfortunate
when
we
talk
about
systemic
racism,
I
have
to
talk
to
my
grandsons
two,
who
are
adults
now
and
one
who's
entering
the
ninth
grade.
The
same
way
that
my
dad
and
granddad
talk
to
me
about
what
happens
if
I'm
stopped
by
police.
I
You
know
all
of
that
is
systemic
racism.
Folks-
and
we
have
got
to
have
the
guts
as
commissioners
to
take
to
if
we're
going
to
be
leaders,
we've
got
to
take
the
leadership
and
that's
why
people
put
us
in
this
position
and
it's
not
always
going
to
be
comfortable.
I've
gotten
the
calls
too.
You
know,
and
I've
talked
to
a
lot
of
people
about
it,
but
folks
I've
gotten
these
calls
and
I've
had
this
fight
for
all
my
life.
I
Oh
commissioner,
I
didn't
recognize
you
and
you
tell
me
it's
not
systemic
racism
in
this
town
and
we've
got
to
deal
with
it.
You
know
I
have
dealt
with
it.
I'll
tell
you
I'll
be
the
first
to
admit
I'm
racist
as
racist
as
hell,
but
I've
learned
how
to
deal
with
it,
because
it's
when
I
came
up
and
what
I've
had
to
go
through.
I
It's
a
wonder
that
every
black
man
in
america,
my
age,
isn't
out
there
in
the
streets,
saying
I'm
going
to
burn
the
place
down
because
of
what
they've
gone
through,
but
we're
not
that
way,
because
we
want
to
see
changes.
We
want
to
see
our
kids,
our
grandkids
and
all
be
successful
and
most
of
all
give
black
people
in
this
country
a
level
playing
field.
That's
all
we're
asking
for.
I
If
you
give
us
the
opportunity,
we
will
take
it
from
there,
but
folks,
it's
still
not
a
level
playing
field
by
any
means,
because
it's
a
fight
whenever
what?
If
you
stop
to
listen
and
you
listen
to
what
people
go
through
and
you
know
what's
unfortunate,
I
think
in
america,
if
you're
black,
you
have
to
be
able
to
survive
in
both
societies,
one
white
and
black,
to
survive,
but
when
you're
white
and
making
all
the
rules,
you
don't
have
to
give
a
kid.
I
Let's
face
it
because
you're
making
the
rules
and
we
have
to
play
bob,
but
for
once
I
wish
that
I
could
change
places
with
you
and
you
would
see
what
I
mean
and
what
we
go
through
and
folks.
You
know
I'm
fortunate
than
most,
but
still
america
always
reminds
me
wherever
I
go
that
I'm
the
black
man
in
the
room.
I
I
I
But
all
that
is
still
here
and
we've
got
to
deal
with
it
once
and
for
all.
We
can't
keep
putting
it
off
and
we
can't
say-
and
you
know
I'm
sorry
if
reparation
scares
people
but
it's
time
to
wake
up.
You
know
and
when
we
talk
about
reparations
sure
I
don't
want
to
see
them.
Give
me
a
dollar.
You
know,
because
you
can't
it's
no
way
you
can
pay
any
african-american,
just
one
family
for
them
what
they
have
gone
through
for
generations.
Money
won't
repay
it.
I
No,
but
we
can
put
in
place
the
laws
and
do
the
things
that
will
level
the
playing
field
like
we're
doing
within
our
in
our
strategic
plan.
But
even
though
it's
in
our
strategic
plan
we've
still,
we
can't
keep
our
eye
off
the
ball.
We've
got
to
deal
with
this
800
pound
gorilla
in
the
room,
and
you
know
it
just
pains
me
especially
coming
up
and
listening
to
my
parents
and
they
really
pushed
us.
You
know
I
was
in
church
three
times
a
week
or
whatever,
but
you
know
when
I
hear
people
talk
about
that.
I
You
know
and
when
I
hear
a
president
and
the
way
he
talks
to
people
and
especially
when
he's
dealing
with
african-americans
I'll
say
it
here,
and
I
don't
care
what
people
they
can
complain
or
whatever,
but
we're
dealing
one
of
the
problems
we
have
today
and
the
reason
we're
so
divided
is
we
have
one
of
the
most
racist
presidents.
It's
been
in
the
white
house
during
my
time
and
yes,
I
said
it
and
it's
something
I
will
not
apologize
for,
and
this
is
what
you
know.
We've
talked
about
it
long
enough.
I
C
C
This
is
a
this
is
a.
I
knew
this
would
be
a
very
emotional
issue
tonight.
You
know
how
it
is
true
that
in
a
christian
nation
we
don't
treat
people
the
way
that
we
should.
I
pray
that
I
would
have
an
example
in
front
of
my
family
and
my
children
that
I
would
do
that.
A
piece
of
paper
doesn't
do
that
now.
C
For
me,
good
policy
does
line
item
decisions
do
as
far
as
government.
You
know
I'm
a
government
official.
You
know,
we've
all
heard
that
you
know
the
welcome.
You
know
I'm
from
the
government
I'm
here
to
help
you
know.
Well,
I
mean
a
whole
lot
of
people.
Don't
have
a
lot
of
confidence
in
that.
I
know
that
a
lot
of
hard
work
went
in
this
and
you
know
it
did.
C
It
is
part
of
of
did
come
out
of
the
city
did
come
from.
You
know
was
generated
through
other
conversations.
I
don't
really
have
a
problem
with
all
that
it
is.
It
does
call
on
additional
support
from
congress
it
it
does
bring
in
some
political
things,
which
I
don't
think.
As
a
commission,
I
have
my
personal
views,
but
I
don't
think
it's
a
commission.
C
C
Sure
I
wasn't
here
when
and
I
don't
guess
any
of
us
was
here
when
when
decisions
were
made,
whoever
made
them
you
know
in
the
in
in
the
in
the
city
of
asheville
and
that
there
was
communities
that
were
pushed
out
into
into
housing
al.
You
know
all
you
know
all
about
that.
I
don't.
I
don't
know
anything
about
that.
C
C
C
There's
a
lot
of
emotion
around
it.
I
want
to
cut
through
the
motion.
I
want
to
go
to
this
strategy.
I'm
willing
to
invest
money
in
home,
buyer
education,
I'm
willing
to
invest
money
and-
and
I
would
put
dollars
with
it
I'll
I'll-
tell
you
right
now
tonight
the
numbers
that
the
numbers
that
I
that
I
I
believe
we
could
invest
a
half
a
million
dollars
to
put
african-american
business
and
minority
businesses
back
to
back
and
opening
during
the
pandemic.
I
think
we
could
do
that
for
the
next
year.
C
That
strategy,
that's
putting
your
faith
to
work
in
in
government
is
by
is
establishing
a
line
item
with
the
money
in
recognize
the
hurt.
God
knows
my
heart,
I
don't
have
to
prove
it
to
any
commissioner
up
here.
You
know
my
my
walk
with
the
lord
is
between
is
between
me
and
him,
and
I'm
and
I'll.
I
just
remember
most
of
you
know
this
you,
you
know
the
name.
C
John
john
newton,
who
wrote
amazing,
grace
many
of
you,
y'all
y'all,
know
that
the
words
of
that
of
that
song
and
and
people
of
all
faiths
of
all
colors
have
have
sung
that.
Well,
he
was
he
needed
what
this
country
needs.
He
needs
what
I
need.
He
needed,
what
I
needed.
He
was
a
horrific
horrific
slave
trader.
C
C
As
to
how
you
vote
tonight
I
mean
how
you
vote
is
not
going
to
change
how
I
feel
about
you
know
the
respect
that
I
have
for
the
these
commissioners,
but
I
can
I
can.
I
can
tell
you
that
that
if
I,
if
I
could
make
the
motion
tonight,
I
would
make
the
motion
for
that
amount
of
money,
and
I
would
do
that
and
and
for
me
that's
that's
what
my
job
is.
C
I
cannot
apologically
do
it
because
it
would
return
money
not
only
to
the
to
the
people
of
color,
but
it
would.
It
would
raise
the
level
within
the
county
and
it
would
help
an
awful
lot
of
other
people
if
we
could
create
a
path
to
home
ownership.
Y'all
know,
that's
been,
you
know.
I've
preached
that
message
before,
but
as
a
commissioner,
it's
my
job
to
to
put
that
money
on
a
line
item.
I'm
not
I'm
not
afraid
to
do
it.
C
I'm
willing
to
do
that
and
I
I
prefer
to
keep
our
strategy
and
our
policy
associated
with
returning
direct
benefits
back
to
the
community,
and
I
do
pray.
Commissioner
white
says
that
our
hearts
and
our
eyes
would
be
changed
as
a
community
and
as
a
country-
and
I
I
have-
I
have
a
lot
of
faith
and
and
we'll
deliver
up
the
prayers
try
to
try
to
make
that
happen,
but
I'm
willing
to
make
the
investment.
H
I
got
one
more
thing
there,
I'd
like
to
before.
Just
short,
you
know
what
you
said
really
touched
a
lot
of
people.
I've
got
some
emails.
You
know
both
ways
here,
while
you
was
talking,
but
I
want
you
to
know
our
first
step.
We
need
to
do
happens
in
our
house,
because
I've
got
a
couple.
People
called
and
said
you
know.
My
kids
was
not
brought
up
that
way
and
we're
teaching
our
grandkids
that
you
know
we're
all
one
and
that's
what
it
is
so
putting
forth
all
this.
H
H
You
know
I
growed
up
very
poor
and
you
know
I
had
opportunities
and
I'd
say
most
of
us
I
mean
west
virginia
was
not
a
strong
place,
you
know
to
grow,
but
we
don't
need
to
talk
anymore.
We
need
to
just
go
on,
but
I
just
want
to
let
you
know
what
some
people
are
saying.
It
starts
at
home
of
how
this
is
going
to
be
fixed.
J
You
don't
have
to
do
that
and
you're
making
a
choice
too,
because
you're
a
leader
and
I
think,
you're,
trying
to
help
our
community
understand
how
important
this
is,
and
we
are
here
to
lead
and
our
country
and
our
community
are
in
a
crisis.
Yet
another
crisis
around
race,
and
I
just
want
to
directly
respond
to
something
I've.
I've
heard-
and
I
I
understand
where
people
will
vote-
I
don't
expect.
J
I
I
never
expect
to
change
anyone's
mind
in
here,
but
I
do
want
to
say
my
piece,
but
but
this
thing
that
words
don't
matter,
and
I
just
I
just
can't
really
let
that
one
rest,
I
think
our
words
matter
a
lot
they
matter
when
we
say
our
marriage
vows
they
matter
when
we
say
our
prayers,
they
matter
when
we
take
our
oaths
of
office,
they
matter
when
we
pass
policy,
and
this
resolution
is
about
setting
policy.
It's
about
to
my
knowledge.
J
A
A
A
Recommendations
to
us
to
narrow
down
the
list
of
applicants,
so
we
have
three
appointments,
one
for
each
district
and
we
have
two
applicants
from
each
district.
So
my
suggestion
is
that
we
do
zoom
interviews
with
the
narrow
down
list
and
then
we'll
make
a
final
decision.
Are
we
in
agreement
on
that
yeah?
Great?
All,.
V
C
D
A
I
V
D
A
C
A
C
C
I
C
E
A
H
D
C
V
A
So
we
now
come
to
the
justice
resource
advisory
council
and
again
we
talked
earlier
today
about
future
processes,
but
different
groups
have
been
doing
what
they
think
is
the
right
thing
to
do
so.
They've
they've
made
they've
made
three
recommendations
to
the
commission:
jasmine
you're
lisa
liaison
there.
Would
you
like
to
share
any
just.
J
The
context
I
believe
that
miss
wesley
shared
last
week
was
just
that
the
j-rack
opening
application
process
has
conducted
interviews
and
and
from
among
the
finalists
brought
forth
recommendations.
So
with
that,
I'd
like
to
move
to
prove
robert
thomas
and
joseph
hackett
as
members
and
sarah
frick
as
an
alternate
member
for.
C
S
C
A
A
C
Chairman,
yes,
sir
suggestion
just
thought
just
popped
in
the
head
on
board
adjustments
very
important
board,
so
we
want
to
try
to
figure
out
a
way
that
if
the
public
wants
to
view
it
these
interviews,
we
should
make
these
public.
For
sure
I
mean
I
guess
all
these
ought
to
be,
but
you
know
the
board
of
adjustment.
We
need
to
figure
out
a
way
for
so.
A
I
A
I
A
B
A
A
Yep,
sorry
about
that,
thanks
for
asking
all
right,
we
come
to
the
vance
monument
task
force.
The
commission
spent
a
lot
of
time
last
week
talking
to
20
of
the
applicants.
For
this
we
had
over
120
residents
of
buncombe
county
apply
to
this
lots
of
great
folks.
You
know
it
was
just
really
interesting.
Just
reading
a
lot
of
the
applicants
and
just
their
ideas.
I
A
I
mean
a
large
range
of
views,
but
a
lot
of
people
putting
a
lot
of
you
know
real
thought
into
this
issue.
So
I'm
going
to
make
a
motion
that
we
appoint
david
king
carmen
ramos
kennedy,
essie,
hutcheson,
catherine
calhoun,
cutshaw
ben
scales
and
elizabeth
harper
as
our
primary
appointments
and
then
two
alternates.
The
first
alternate,
if
there
is
a
vacancy,
would
be
dennis
fagnet
and
if
there's
a
second
vacancy.
C
Yeah
I
just
I
got
a
comment
on
it
before
and
then
we'll
go
next.
We
this
this
took
a
while
for
for
us
to
do,
and
I
I
won't.
I
won't
say
that
we
agreed
on
everything,
but
I
would
say
it
was.
There
was
a
very,
very
close
consensus
and
a
lot
of
good
conversation,
and
I
mean
you
could
you
could
have
picked
up?
You
know
most
of
the
people
that
was
on
that.
I
think
they
got.
C
B
Commissioner,
I
just
like
to
make
sure,
because
we
talked
about
it,
that
our
alternates
actually
would
participate
in
in
the
meetings
only
so
that,
because
of
the
length
of
this
could
be,
if
someone
didn't
have
the
time
that
alternate
would
have
to
be
brought
up
to
speed.
So
so
we
talk
to
we
give
our
names
to
whoever
another
thing,
mr
chairman,
is,
is
any
one
of
our
selections,
a
selection
with
a
city
and
or
an
alternate
with
the
city
that
they
may
have
to
come
up
with
another
name.
A
So
so
good
good
good
point
and
lamar,
I
want
to
make
sure
you
I
knew
you
were
just
huddling,
make
sure
that
all
the
staff
got
this.
We
want
the
alternates
to
be
required
to
attend
the
meetings
in
case,
so
they
don't
have
to
get
up
to
speed,
as
commissioner
pendleton
just
said.
So,
let's
make
sure
that's
clear,
and
none
of
our
primary
appointments
were
also
made
by
city
council.
The
only
overlap
was
ben
scales
was
identified
as
a
city
alternative,
so.
P
A
A
D
A
Any
opposed
all
right,
those
are
all
of
the
board
appointments
that
we
needed
to
address.
I
believe
tonight,
all
right.
Now
we
come
to
public
comments.
We
have
transcribed
the
emails
and
voicemails
that
were
sent
in
so
we're
gonna
read
these.
I
I
think
that
it'll
all
be
done
in
less
than
an
hour.
So
I
anticipate
we'll
read
all
of
these
I'm
going
to
ask
for
some
help
from
other
commissioners.
A
E
All
right,
the
first
one
that
I'm
going
to
read
has
a
note
that
says
this
was
the
same
basic
general
comment
that
I'm
about
to
read
was
received
by
a
number
of
folks
whose
names
I
will
read
at
the
end.
I
demand
commissioners
amend
their
budget
and
defund
the
county,
sheriff's
office
and
detention
center
by
at
least
50
percent
immediately.
E
Covid19
is
causing
exponential
harm
by
killing
our
neighbors
family
and
friends,
or
leaving
them
with
organ
damage
to
last
a
lifetime.
Furthermore,
even
the
county
health
board
acknowledges
that
racism
is
a
public
health
crisis.
Now
that
the
diagnosis
is
official,
we
need
you
to
effectively
address
the
local
pandemic
and
to
fund
reparations
for
our
black
brown
and
indigenous
neighbors.
As
a
start,
please
reinvest
funds
taken
from
the
sheriff
in
jail
in
ways
that
effectively
address
the
local
pandemic.
E
E
The
county
must
provide
accessible,
free
testing
for
all
who
need
it.
Free
masks
available
for
everyone
who
doesn't
have
one
and
funds
for
increased
pay
and
support
for
frontline
medical
and
emergency
workers.
We
must
address
over
tourism,
and
that
means
the
county
must
shut
down
all
leisure
travel
and
abolish
the
tv
tda
and
its
advertising.
E
The
county
must
open
hotels
for
the
unhoused
community
to
provide
to
prioritize
their
health
and
well-being.
The
buncombe
county
sheriff
must
also
halt
enforcing
evictions
during
the
coveted
pandemic.
Durham
county
sheriff
has
made
this
commitment.
Buncombes
must
too
and
finally,
the
pandemic
response
must
direct
funds
toward
communities
hardest
hit
and
most
at
risk,
especially
immigrant
communities.
E
The
pandemic
management
must
center
the
needs
of
communities
of
color
going
forward.
The
county
must
invest
in
the
economic
well-being
of
black
brown
and
indigenous
residents,
commit
resources
to
eliminate
the
racial
opportunity
gap
and
provide
deeply
affordable
housing,
land
provisions,
mental
health
services,
rent
subsidies
and
eviction,
diversion
free
public
transportation
and
restorative
justice.
E
This
is
from
claire
solomon,
I'm
a
buncombe
county
native,
and
I
live
in
nashville
asheville
city
council
recently
approved
reparations
for
our
black
community
and
the
buncombe
county
health
board
acknowledge
racism
as
a
public
health
crisis,
while
those
are
good
first
steps
to
addressing
the
systemic
epidemic,
racism
that
is
rampant
in
buncombe
county.
The
time
for
concrete
actions
is
now
the
disproportionate
number
of
black
people
targeted,
arrested
and
detained
by
law
enforcement
is
a
crisis.
E
Your
constituents
are
urging
you
to
defund
the
county,
sheriff's
office
and
detention
center
by
at
least
50
percent.
We
need
those
funds
reinvested
in
programs
that
strengthen
the
community
and
address
the
root
causes
of
crime
such
as
poverty,
addiction
and
mental
illness.
For
those
who
say,
defunding
is
unrealistic.
I
urge
you
to
research,
the
19
and
counting
u.s
cities
that
and
paving
the
way
to
racial
justice
by
committing
to
divest
their
law
enforcement
budgets.
These
cities
include
baltimore,
portland,
philadelphia,
minneapolis
and
hartford.
Connecticut
change
is
not
only
possible,
it
is
necessary.
E
I
urge
you
to
take
concrete
action
to
racial
justice
by
defunding,
the
sheriff's
office
and
detention
center
by
at
least
50
percent
abby
young
asheville.
I
work
at
a
food
justice
and
health
equity
organization
and
I'm
a
yoga
instructor
in
asheville
and
I
write
poetry,
I'm
writing
to
demand
commissioners
to
change
their
budget
and
defund.
The
county,
sheriff's
office
and
detention
center
by
at
least
50
percent
covet
19
is
causing
serious
damage
by
killing
our
neighbors
family
and
friends
and
leaving
them
with
damage
for
our
lifetime.
E
E
I
am
asking
and
demanding
one
reinvest:
funds
taken
from
the
sheriff
and
jail
in
ways
that
actually
support
the
community
and
address
this
pandemic.
Our
hospitals
are
filling
up
and
our
streets
are
overrun
by
tourism
and
people
not
wearing
masks.
Those
signs
downtown,
don't
do
anything
two
end
reopening
please.
Only
essential
businesses
should
be
open
with
a
requirement
that
businesses
provide
essential
ppe
to
its
workers.
E
Three
all
city
and
county
schools
must
choose
plan
c
and
refuse
to
return
to
in-person
learning.
The
county.
Four
must
provide
accessible,
free
testing
for
all
who
need
it
free
masks
available
for
those
who
do
not
have
one
and
funds
for
hazard
pay
for
front
line,
medical
and
emergency
workers.
I
am
one
of
those
workers
and
I've
been
working
triple
overtime.
E
We
have
to
address
over
tourism,
and
that
means
that
the
county
must
shut
down
all
leisure
travel
and
abolish
the
tda
in
its
advertising.
It
is
good
for
no
one
tourism
does
not
protect
this
community,
it
hurts
it.
It
is
killing
people
six.
The
county
must
open
hotels
for
the
unhoused
community
to
prioritize
their
health
and
well-being.
The
buncombe
county
sheriff
must
also
halt
enforcing
affections
during
the
coveted
pandemic.
E
Durham
county
sheriff
has
made
this
commitment.
Buncombes
must
too
and
finally,
the
pandemic
response
must
direct
funds
towards
communities
hardest
hit
and
most
at
risk,
especially
immigrant
communities.
You
all
have
a
chance
to
really
make
a
change.
This
county
is
hurting.
We
are
no
longer
asking
or
staying
quiet
we
are
demanding.
Lives
are
on
the
line,
so
many
beautiful
lives,
christopher
o'leary,
asheville
first
off,
I'm
deeply
concerned
about
our
county's
handling
of
our
pandemic.
E
The
current
lack
of
community
testing
is
appalling
and
embarrassing
and
needs
to
be
remedied
immediately.
Further.
We
need
to
re-evaluate
the
role
tourism
should
play
during
this
very
volatile
and
ongoing
pandemic.
Ever
since
hotels
have
returned
to
full
capacity,
we
have
seen
an
alarming
increase
in
covet
19
cases,
which
brings
me
to
school.
Reopening
asheville
has
committed
to
plan
c.
After
what
we've
seen
in
indiana,
it
is
clear.
Students
cannot
return
in
person
safely.
E
E
Now
is
the
time
to
act,
defund
the
buncombe
county,
sheriff's
department
by
50,
and
invest
that
money
in
our
african-american
community
asheville
has
begun
the
process
of
approving
reparations.
We
need
buncombe
county's
assistance
and
support,
and
that
begins
by
adopting
a
similar
resolution
of
your
own.
Don't
let
these
hard
times
dissuade
you
from
what
is
generations
late
max
max
mcdonald
asheville.
E
I
would
like
to
once
again
emphasize
my
disappointment
in
the
county's
response
to
the
two
pandemics
in
our
state
covet
19
and
racism,
both
as
acknowledged
by
the
county
health
board
or
public
health
crisis.
Moreover,
they
are
intrinsically
related
due
to
the
systemic
disenfranchisement
of
our
black
brown
and
indigenous
neighbors.
I
fully
support
the
calls
to
defund
the
county,
sheriff's
office
and
detention
center
by
at
least
50
percent,
and
reinvest
those
funds
into
an
effective
pandemic
response.
E
The
county
must
halt
reopening
coven.
19
cases
continue
to
rise
in
part
due
to
the
influx
of
tourists
from
around
the
country
and
many
locals
being
forced
to
return
to
work
in
unsafe
environments
as
an
employee
in
downtown
asheville.
It
is
incredibly
unsettling
to
see
hotels
operating
in
full
capacity,
the
resulting
crowds
of
tourists
and
the
disregard
for
social
distancing
guidelines,
the
expiration
of
the
pandemic
relief
program
and
the
enforcement
of
evictions
will
place
financial
burden
on
a
large
number
of
your
constituents,
disproportionately,
your
black
brown
and
indigenous
constituents.
E
If
you
truly
believe
in
reparations,
you
will
commit
to
halting
evictions
and
investing
funds
toward
the
communities
most
at
risk.
Those
investments
should
include
affordable
housing,
land
provisions,
mental
health
services,
rent
subsidies
and
eviction,
diversion
free
public
transportation
and
restorative
justice
services.
Any
deaths
or
severe
illness
as
a
result
of
reopening
is
unacceptable.
E
Non-Essential
businesses
must
close,
schools
must
choose
plan
c.
Free
testing
and
masks
must
be
available
for
all.
There
must
be
increased
support
and
pay
for
frontline
workers.
Leisure
travel
must
be
shut
down.
Protecting
buncombe
county
residents
now
will
aid
in
a
quicker
and
more
effective
reopening
process.
Later
I
implore
you
to
be
an
example
for
our
nation.
This
next
one
is
from
amanda
durst.
We,
the
ywca
of
asheville,
support
the
black
community's
demand
that
the
county
commit
to
implementing
reparations
immediately.
E
We
ask
that
the
buncombe
county
commission
vote
in
favor
of
the
proposed
resolution
to
address
reparations
during
the
august
4th
county.
Commissioner
meeting
asheville
city
council
has
unanimously
voted
for
a
reparations
resolution
and
we
urge
you,
the
county
commissioners,
to
do
so
as
well.
We
ask
that
you
join
with
the
city
of
asheville
to
implement
reparations
and
repair
the
harm
that
both
the
city
and
the
county
have
caused
to
the
black
community.
E
Our
region
is
what
it
is
today,
because
of
resources
extracted
from
the
black
community.
Buncombe
county,
deeply
damaged
our
community
through
decades
of
exploitation
and
through
the
encouragement
of
widespread
gentrification,
the
black
community
has
suffered
as
a
result
of
failures
of
the
school
system
and
the
bias
of
the
sheriff's
department
without
redress.
This
is
unacceptable.
E
We
aim
to
address
these
gaps
through
our
programs
in
racial
justice
advocacy
work
as
a
nonprofit
with
a
113-year
history
in
asheville.
The
ywca
has
continuously
supported
all
of
our
communities.
We
have
seen
time
and
time
again
the
devastating
effects
of
racism
and
oppression
on
our
communities
of
color.
E
E
Today,
we,
the
ywca
of
asheville,
use
our
voice
to
urge
you,
the
county
commission,
to
take
action
to
stop
amassing
debt
against
our
black
community,
while
the
debts
already
accrued
against
this
community
can
never
fully
be
repaid.
We
ask
that
you
begin
to
address
them
through
reparations
in
service
libby
kyles,
ceo
ywca
of
asheville
I'll,
read
one
more
and
I'll
turn
it
over
all
right
all
right.
E
This
is
from
victoria
michael
love,
mika
love,
hello,
I'm
writing
to
say
how
distant
heart-
and
I
am
as
a
tax,
paying
service
industry
working
citizen
of
asheville
in
the
lack
of
protection.
Our
city's
residents
are
being
and
have
been
afforded.
Those
who
work
downtown
are
the
backbone
of
our
city's
tourist
co-dependent
economy.
E
Those
voices
are
not
carefully
listened
to.
Instead,
their
words
get
misconstrued.
It's
tiring
to
ask
for
the
basic
necessities
over
and
over
only
to
have
unrealistic
slapped
onto
those
demands.
What
your
citizens
need
are
in
case.
You
forgot
one
pandemic
safety
through
the
closing
of
our
city
to
tourists
and
opening
of
hotels,
aris,
boutique
residences
to
those
who
need
safe
and
clean
shelter.
E
These
unrealistic
demands
would
easily
be
made
possible
through
the
50
percent
divestment
of
the
city
budget,
for
the
overstaffed
apd,
who
have
turned
out
in
the
nines,
with
military
tactical
gear,
to
tear
gas,
their
own
citizens
and
therefore
appear
to
have
been
overfunded
and
board
for
quite
some
time.
Now.
New
uniforms
and
weaponry
can
wait.
Then
those
funds
can
be
reallocated
into
community
investment.
You
know
the
people
city
council
is
here
to
represent.
E
A
J
Sure
to
whom
it
may
concern,
my
name
is
erica
deaton,
a
20-year
resident
of
buncombe
county
and
hard-working
mother.
I
am
writing
to
demand
that
the
budget
be
amended
to
defund
the
buncombe
county
sheriff's
department
as
soon
as
possible,
instead
of
increasing
and
unneeded,
especially
since
bars,
are
not
opened
police
presence
in
this
town.
Please
put
that
money
into
our
community.
J
Kova
19
is
a
threat
to
all
our
residents.
Many
are
unemployed
due
to
the
virus
and
are
unable
to
pay
their
rent
and
bills,
even
with
the
help
of
unemployment.
The
rent
and
cost
of
living
are
very
high
in
asheville.
Please
use
these
funds
to
effectively
address
the
pandemic.
Use
these
funds
to
sustain
the
livelihood
of
those
less
fortunate
in
our
community.
J
Please
cease
the
promotion
of
over
tourism
and
the
continued
reopening
of
non-essential
businesses
in
our
community
of
non-essential
businesses.
These
tourists
and
the
unnecessary
opening
of
businesses
are
putting
our
own
community
at
risk
of
infection
or
death.
We
already
have
an
overwhelming
amount
of
homelessness
in
the
area.
Please
halt
the
evictions
and
give
tenants
leniency
on
the
payment
of
rent
at
this
time.
There
are
much
better
and
more
appropriate
ways
to
use
this
money.
Our
loves
are
at
stake.
The
people
we
love
in
our
neighborhoods
communities,
schools
and
at
our
jobs,
are
all
at
risk.
J
Next
message
is
from
mali,
holcomb
deere
county
government.
It
is
an
insult
to
virtue
signal
toward
reparations,
while
inviting
tourists
and
therefore
coveted
into
our
county.
Ironically,
these
actions
disproportionately
affect
people
of
color
who
are
statistically
more
likely
to
be
working
face-to-face
with
consumers.
The
county
must
at
least
attempt
to
protect
its
people.
J
We
demand
a
two-pronged
effort
to
both
effectively
addressing
the
pandemic,
as
well
as
investing
in
long-term
strategies
that
repair
the
physical
and
emotional
economic
health
of
systemically
excluded
racial
groups.
We
implore
you
to
reallocate
half
of
the
sheriff's
office
and
jail
budget
into
supporting
these
protective
and
reparative
measures
in
the
immediate
term.
J
This
means
we
must
limit
businesses
to
essentials,
detour,
leisure
travel,
resume
and
expand
testing
open
hotels
for
use
by
the
homeless,
refrain
from
sending
children
and
teachers
into
petri
dishes
and
provide
funds
for
families
financially
affected
by
this
decision,
extend
the
eviction,
moratorium
and
essentially
invest
more
in
pandemic
response
than
in
the
sheriff's
office
in
a
similarly
prompt
but
more
sustained
effort.
We
must
also
provide
tangible
community
support
for
systemically
disadvantaged
racial
groups,
decades
of
political
and
social
neglect
of
people
of
color
compound
to
necessitate
that
we
invest
in
truly
affordable
housing.
J
Mental
health
services
and
free
transportation,
strive
for
equitable
education
outcomes
and
implement
restorative
justice
services.
Our
economy
and
county
budget
must
shift
in
order
to
serve
us
as
citizens.
Our
economy
and
county
budget
must
shift
in
order
to
protect
our
lives
and
long-term
health
during
a
global
pandemic.
J
Buncombe
county
has
the
power
to
better
protect
our
communities
from
both
coveted
and
racialized
poverty.
It
is
simply
a
matter
of
your
priorities:
best
mally
holcomb
from
michelle
paredes,
hello,
council,
I've
been
a
resident
for
five
years
and
love
our
city.
I
think,
to
keep
our
city
safe.
We
should
close
all
non-essential
businesses
as
rates
increase.
I
work
as
a
bartender
downtown
and
fear
my
health
is
at
stake.
I
was
not
getting
unemployment,
so
risking
my
health
for
money
was
my
only
choice.
J
J
J
We
need
to
be
twice
as
cautious
and
vigilant
as
we
were
in
the
spring,
because
the
various
is
much
worse
now
than
it
was
then
only
truly
essential
businesses
should
be
open
and
those
businesses
should
be
required
to
supply
employees
with
protective
gear,
as
well
as
to
strictly
enforce
mask
wearing.
By
patrons.
J
We
need
to
have
expanded
and
expedited
testing
that
is
easily
and
affordably
available.
Whoever
wants
it
test
results
should
be
available
within
48
hours
of
the
test.
Otherwise,
it's
sort
of
pointless.
This
may
be
expensive,
but
the
funds
can
be
diverted
from
the
sheriff's
department
and
jail.
Their
budget
has
more
than
enough
to
go
around
the
priority.
Right
now
should
be
the
residents
of
this
county.
The
tda
should
be
shut
down.
The
last
thing
we
need
to
be
doing
right
now
is
inviting
people
from
hotspot
areas
to
seek
refuge
in
our
area.
J
Asheville
city
schools
have
approved
plan
c,
and
the
county
must
do
the
same.
Resources
should
be
made
available
to
parents,
caretakers
and
teachers.
We
need
to
keep
our
children
safe.
These
items
are
all
very
basic
and
serve
everyone
in
our
community.
Please
consider
investing
in
the
people
of
this
county,
especially
those
who
are
most
at
risk
for
hunger,
eviction,
etc.
These
are
our
tax
dollars.
After
all,
thoughtly
thoughtfully,
claire
boomer
hill,
chairman
newman
and
county
commissioners.
J
The
work
for
collective
liberation
to
collect
on
the
deferred
debt
and
jubilee
of
generations
is
making
possible
the
justice
mercy
and
grace
we
are
presented
with
choosing
today
to
our
representatives
on
the
county
commission.
I
plead
with
you
to
sign
on
to
this
first
step
for
community
reparations
for
our
black
neighbors.
We
know
much
work
is
ahead
to
ensure
a
time
of
lasting
jubilee
to
my
neighbors,
grasping
for
a
reason
to
stay
burdened
with
deferred
debts.
This
is
an
invitation
to
join
in
the
truth
and
reconciliation
required
for
physical,
mental,
emotional
and
spiritual
healing.
J
So
we
and
future
generations
can
celebrate
freedom
it's
time
to
get
well
and
get
free.
We
have
a
lot
of
work
in
these
tough
times
and
we
need
each
other
if
any
group
of
people
can
get
in
the
struggle
for
a
strong,
resilient
community
where
we
tell
it
like
it
is
and
take
care
of
each
other.
It's
the
hearty
kind
people
of
appalachia
and
these
mountains.
Your
friend
and
neighbor,
kim
rhony
I'll
read
one
more.
J
Dear
county
commissioners,
you
have
a
lot
on
your
plate
and
you
have
a
great
deal
of
difference
of
opinions
about
it.
Please
put
your
political
differences
aside
and
put
the
people
of
this
county.
First
put
more
funding
towards
marginalized
communities,
most
impacted
by
the
pandemic,
begin
the
process
of
considering
how
to
divest
from
over
policing
and
invest
in
community
by
supporting
alternatives
to
policing.
J
This
helps
everyone
police
have
to
sorry
when
I
think
maybe
a
line
got
cut,
make
sure
evictions
do
not
happen.
Do
what
you
can
to
limit
tourism
to
our
county
as
covet
cases.
Increase
continuing
to
support
tourism
at
this
time
is
a
death
threat
to
local
workers
in
the
community,
and
if
the
economy
is
your
focus,
long-term
continuing
to
support
reopening
will
further
devastate
our
economy,
as
it
will
increase
covet
cases
and
extend
the
impacts
of
this
pandemic.
J
Please
join
the
city
in
supporting
reparations
for
black
community
members.
This
process
of
healing
and
repair
is
the
best
thing
for
the
whole
country.
In
order
for
us
to
move
forward
together,
you
have
a
lot
on
your
plate,
but
you
have
wise
members
among
you
show
your
leadership.
Do
the
right
thing,
thank
you,
elizabeth
shell,
co-owner
pearl's,
yarn
emporium,
a
local
business
that
has
had
to
close
its
brick
and
mortar
due
to
pandemic
related
impacts.
B
So
much
katie
estrada
dear
county
commissioners,
I'm
reaching
out
to
you
today
to
urge
you
to
pass
the
reparations
resolution
for
the
black
community
in
buncombe
county
at
your
meeting
this
evening.
Bookcom
county
has
an
overdue
debt
to
pay
the
black
community
in
nashua
in
buncombe
county.
In
recent
weeks,
county
residents
have
made
abundantly
clear
that
the
time
to
start
paying
the
debt
is
now
we
are
calling
for
the
county
to
commit
to
implementing
reparations
as
soon
as
possible.
B
Our
region
is
what
is
today,
because
the
resources
extracted
from
black
people,
buncombe
county,
deeply
damaged
our
community
through
decades
of
exploration
and
through
the
encouragement
of
widespread
gentrification,
while
growing
its
tax
base.
The
black
community
has
suffered
a
result
of
redlining
failures
of
the
school
system,
the
bias
of
the
sheriff's
department,
without
without
redress
and
on
and
on.
B
I
am
a
small
business
owner
who
lives
in
buncombe
county
and
my
three
children
attend
the
asheville
city
schools.
Every
year,
educators
and
public
officials
decry
the
gap
between
white
children
and
children
of
color.
In
fact,
buncombe
county
recently
summarized
this
data
clearly
in
the
following
powerpoint
and
there's
a
link
to
a
powerpoint
there.
Unfortunately,
the
scape
will
continue
to
wide
until
we
begin
to
address
the
opportunity
gaps
that
lead
to
the
very
noticeable
and
disturbing
achievement
gap
without
secure
housing,
employment,
health
care,
food,
public
safety
and
transportation.
B
The
disparity
between
the
white
children
and
children
of
color
will
continue
to
grow.
Are
you
ready
to
take
the
next
step
from
noticing
to
actively
working
to
change
a
system
infused
with
racism
and
white
supremacy?
You
can
begin
by
passing
the
proposed
reparations
resolution
at
your
meeting
this
evening.
Can
I
count
on
you
to
support
this
long
overdue
resolution,
while
what
is
owed
is
far
greater
than
what
can
ever
be
repaid.
There
is
no
excuse
for
buncombe
county
to
allow
this
debt
to
continue
to
grow
without
addressing
it
through
reparations.
B
I
trust
that
my
elected
officials
do
the
right
thing
this
evening.
I
am
an
active
voter
and
in
paying
attention.
Thank
you.
Katie
estrada
don
yelton,
two
commissioners
looked
at
the
agenda
and
a
lot
of
money
is
being
moved
and
spent
under
the
disguise
of
no
public
comment.
We
also
have
the
majority
of
you
join
the
city
and
giving
money
to
a
race
of
people.
If
that
is
not
racism,
then
what
is?
B
B
All
lives
matter,
and
that
includes
all
the
above,
but
you
all
feel
that
ain't
true
now
look
at
the
acreage
and
you
will
see
that
your
farmland
preservation
has
destroyed
a
small
farmer
and
helped
a
large
farmer
you're
losing
a
lot
of
land
to
development,
but
that
is
what
you
want:
more
tax
dollars,
but
you're
driving
the
cost
of
a
house
way
up.
So
are
you
really
concerned
about
affordable
housing
when
you
are
destroying
the
small
plots
of
land
that
people
can
have
a
garden
cow
chickens,
goats,
beef,
cow,
etc?
B
B
B
Dear
county
commissioners,
you
have
a
lot
on
your
plate
and
you
have
a
great
deal
of
difference
of
opinions
about
it.
Please
put
your
political
difference
aside
and
put
the
people
of
this
county.
First
put
more
funding
towards
marginalized
communities,
most
impacted
by
the
pandemic,
begin
the
process
of
considering
how
to
divest
from
the
over
policing
and
investing
community
by
supporting
alternatives
to
policing.
B
B
The
county
commissioners
must
act
on
these
facts
by
cutting
the
sheriff
and
jail
budgets
by
at
least
50
percent.
Abolishing
the
tda
taking
real
steps
to
fight
covet,
including
reversal
of
reopening
and
make
it
financially
possible
for
people
to
stay
safely
at
home,
halting
enforcement
of
evictions
and
investing
significantly
in
our
pipoc
communities.
B
B
B
Your
rationality
and
fake
progressionism
is
harmful
to
my
home.
It
will
not
be
tolerated
anymore.
You
allowed
war
crimes
to
be
committed
against
us
and
are
blatantly
enabling
the
liar
david
zak,
because,
yes,
I
may
not
be
a
bomb
expert
but
stomping
and
stabbing
supposedly
suspected
explosives
makes
absolutely
no
sense.
B
Don't
forget
that
you
just
reopened
all
of
our
hotels
to
maximum
capacity
thanks
for
the
downtown
full
of
masculist
mouth
breathers
by
the
way,
and
two
of
you
unironically,
suggested
that
the
vance
might
be
turned
into
a
giant
freaking
cross.
My
friends
are
scared
for
their
well-beings
and
may,
and
many
are
already
sick.
The
reopen
must
stop.
Advance
must
be
removed.
We've
made
our
demands
clear.
B
B
We
demand
the
opening
of
hotels
for
our
at-risk
houseless
populations
during
a
global
pandemic.
We
demand
an
end
to
the
systemic
harms
inflicted
on
all
black
people,
including
black
trans
queer
and
gender
non-conforming
people.
The
city
must
commit
to
concrete
plans
for
assuring
that
those
harms
do
not
continue
and
for
remedy
the
damage.
That's
been
done,
stand
with
us
or
get
out
of
the
way.
Enough
is
enough.
B
On
august
3rd
2020
at
1,
17
pm
joseph,
if
I'm
pronouncing
the
name
wrong,
stornelio
wrote
we
need
to
defund
the
police,
they
have
not
helped
anything
yet,
and
the
budget
is
outrageous.
We
can
invest
in
so
many
better
things
in
our
community
to
be
to
uplift
it
out
of
the
tourist
trap.
That
is,
we
do
not
need
to
have
any
sort
of
indoor
seating
in
restaurants.
It's
putting
everyone
at
risk.
Leisure
travel
should
not
be
a
thing
during
this
pandemic.
Like
like
what
all
you
are
thinking,
we
don't
need
this
right
now.
B
B
B
B
If
you
care
about
the
reparations
for
actions
done
in
the
past,
you
also
make
amends
for
what
is
being
done
in
the
present,
where
black
and
latinx
people
are
disproportionately
affected
by
this
crisis
and
make
sure
they
have
testing
in
health
care,
camila,
mccarthy,
asheville
tom
joe,
the
sheriff
says
on
npr
that
he
increased
the
medical
budget
to
give
more
health
care
to
inmates.
This
is
misleading.
B
So
when
I
refused
to
take
the
medication,
I
was
declared
incompetent
and
sent
to
the
state
hospital
for
evaluation
to
stand
trial.
When
I
refused
the
pill
at
the
state
hospital
they
held
me
down
and
gave
me
a
needle
shot,
this
caused
me
to
stay
in
jail
longer
with
that
local
money.
Where
that
local
tax
money
go
to
some
millionaire
doctor
who
gets
paid
by
the
appeal
company
too.
B
That's
not
health
care,
denver
jail
got
a
medical
x-ray,
not
that
the
x-ray
got
me
any
treatment.
Thanks
for
violating
my
rights
with
so-called
medical
treatment,
abolish
the
police
and
give
the
sheriff
all
that
money
police
can't
be
held
accountable.
With
voting
like
the
sheriff
hey,
I
am
homeless
veteran,
where
my
from
a
hotel
voucher
in
those
empty
hotels.
B
Everybody
is
central,
stop
fear-mongering!
I
thought
the
democrats
were
the
party
of
the
environment,
all
those
masks
end
up
in
the
river
and
ocean
reopened
schools
on
time
in
person,
firestorm
advocates,
equity
and
school
books.
Well,
these
kindergartner
don't
need
to
be
taught
about
slavery.
That's
a
high
school
college
level.
Discussion
kindergartener
can't
understand
slavery.
B
Children
need
to
learn
gardening
and
car
repair
and
wood
shop
and
logic,
so
they
have
skills
and
critical
thinking
and
reasoning
ability,
not
useless,
lincoln
self-shaming
re
revisionism,
abolish
the
travel
development
authority,
don't
violate
people's,
don't
violate
people's
right
to
travel.
On
the
first
amendment,
with
leisure
travel,
ban,
halt
evictions,
sheriffs
sheriff,
don't
have
to
enforce
those
laws
or
judges.
That's
one
of
the
reasons
the
sheriff
is
the
most
important
election
everywhere.
B
B
I'm
son
of
confederate
general,
thomas
jordan,
not
that
I
can
prove
that
since
antifa
burnt
down
that
public
library
in
georgia,
where
I
was
registered,
firestorm
website
was
complaining
about
the
spanish
king
general
committing
genocide
in
cuba
and
I'm
pretty
sure
my
father
killed
him
after
the
war
between
the
states.
He
don't
got
a
monument.
B
A
C
Two
weeks
ago
I
was
proud
of
my
city
I'll,
be
a
concern
due
to
the
non-specific
wording
for
finally
stepping
up
and
voting
on
reparation
for
its
black
seed
citizens.
One
week
ago
I
was
ashamed
because
sure
enough,
it
was
shown
to
be
the
performative
gesture.
I
thought
it
to
be.
National
city
did
not
step
up
to
do
what
was
right
and
necessary
now
buncombe
county.
It's
your
turn.
Are
you
bringing
this
to
a
vote
as
a
performance
measure
to
seek
media
attention?
Are
you
actually
doing
it
for
the
people
of
your
county?
C
I'm
asking
you
to
vote
yes,
show
us
your
care,
melissa,
favario
of
voice
mail,
claire
solomon
asheville
calling
because
asheville
city
council
recently
approved
reparations
for
the
black
community
and
the
buncombe
county
health
board
recently
declared
racism
as
a
public
health
crisis.
While
these
are
good,
first
steps
addressing
the
systemic
epidemic,
racism
that
is
rampant
in
buncombe
county
the
time
for
concrete
action
is
now
the
disproportionate
number
of
black
people
targeted,
arrested
and
attained
detained
by
law
enforcement
is
a
crisis.
C
Your
constituents
are
due
to
defund
the
sheriff's
office
and
detention
center
by
at
least
50
percent.
We
need
the
these
funds
reallocated.
The
programs
that
strengthen
the
community
and
address
the
root
causes
of
crimes
such
as
poverty,
addiction
and
mental
illness.
For
those
who
say
defunding,
isn't
isn't
a
unrealistic.
C
I
urge
you
to
research,
19
cities
and
counting
and
are
paving
the
way
to
racial.
The
justice
by
divesting
their
law
enforcement
budget,
including
baltimore,
portland,
philadelphia,
hartford,
connecticut
and
indianapolis
change,
is
not
only
possible
it's
necessary.
I
urge
you
to
take
action
for
racial
justice
by
committing
to
defund
the
sheriff's
office
and
attention
center
at
50
percent.
C
All
of
these
are
voicemails
violet
asheville,
I'm
demanding
the
commissioners
to
amend
the
budget
and
defend
the
county.
Sheriff's
department,
detention
center
of
at
least
50
percent
immediately
over
19
is
causing
exponential
harm
by
killing
our
neighbors
family
and
friends,
leaving
them
with
organ
damage
that
lasts
a
lifetime.
C
C
It
is
important
to
note
that
the
reparations
resolution
that's
coming
through
is
not
what
I
mean
when
I
say
fun
reparations.
I
don't
want
more
empty
gestures.
I
want
to
see
material
changes
folks,
I
want
to
see
money
coming
out
of
the
institutions
that
cause
harm
on
our
black
brown
and
indigenous
people
here
in
asheville
and
buncombe
county
in
general,
and
I
want
to
see
the
money
that
money
redirected
towards
reparations.
C
I
mean
in
addition
to
that,
you
guys
have
not
addressed
the
pandemic
in
any
way
that,
I
see,
being
I
mean
you're,
just
ignoring
it
flat
out
acting
in
contempt
of
your
health
and
it's
unacceptable
hotels
are
open
right
now,
there's
a
hotel
at
100
capacity
right
now.
I
just
had
a
report
not
too
long
ago
that
there
are
people
vomiting
in
bed
in
rooms.
C
There
are
it's
wild
out
there
folks
and
you
you're
not
showing
any
kind
of
respect
or
care
about
your
constituents
when
you
behave
that
way
and
it's
unacceptable
and
I
need
you
to
stop
and
I'm
calling
you
today
not
to
ask
but
demand
you
effectively
address
the
local
pandemic
and
you
fund.
That's
with
money,
material
changes,
the
reparations
amendment
that
you're
going
to
try
to
pass
monarchy
hill,
asheville
kind
of
make
sure
that
you
are
putting
money
where
your
mouth
is
in
terms
of
racial
reparations.
C
I'd
first
like
to
encourage
you
to
effectively
address
local
pandemic
resume
and
expand
testing.
It's
way
too
difficult
for
any
citizen
to
get
tested
should
be
so
easy
place
on
patent
merriman
smoking
smoky
park
highway.
We
should
be
able
to
just
pull
in
get
tested,
pull
out.
Otherwise,
this
pandemic
is
going
to
be
plaguing
us
forever.
Stop
reopening
shut
down
our
travel
into
asheville.
C
These
unmasked
tourists
are
really
putting
our
citizens
in
harm's
way,
open
hotels
for
unhoused
people
and
the
city.
Schools
have
approved
plan
c,
and
the
county
must
also
the
pandemic
response,
must
direct
funds
towards
communities
hardest
hit
and
most
at
risk
in
the
bc
sheriff
refuses
to
solve
evictions
during
the
cove
event
pandemic,
and
so
we
demand
that
at
least
50
of
their
budget
be
invested
in
covered
response,
totally
believe
in
paying
reparations
through
the
affordable
housing,
land
provisions,
equitable
education,
mental
health
services,
rent
subsidies
and
eviction,
aversion,
free
public
transportation
and
restorative
justice
services.
C
C
I
think
it's
a
contentious
issue
that
the
public
deserves
to
weigh
in
on
and
discuss
the
proposal
that
is
being
put
forward
to
the
commission
for
voting
really
needs
to
be
widely
public
published
and
there
needs
to
be
meeting
with
people.
The
citizens
can
understand
exactly
what
is
being
put
forward
and
what
the
impact
would
be
on
the
citizenry.
Thank
you
very
much
for
considering
my
point
of
view
chairman.
If
you
could
finish.
A
C
A
There
yeah
city
council,
city
council,
I
have
some
questions
for
you.
Why
haven't
you
made
plans
for
reallocation
of
police
funds?
What
about
non-profits,
like
departments
already
within
the
city?
Have
you
reached
out
to
any
mental
health
organizations
or
educational
organizations,
call
unca
to
get
students
to
research
and
give
guidance
on
how
to
distribute
these
funds?
A
A
A
I'm
extremely
worried
that
our
hotels
aren't
following
any
of
the
safety
protocols
that
they
have
been
at
full
capacity
since
late
june.
One
hotel
has
come
to
my
attention
as
being
extremely
unsafe,
and
that
is
the
renaissance
hotel.
It
is
a
273
room
hotel
in
the
middle
of
downtown,
it's
a
very
unsafe
workplace.
These
practices
are
putting
their
workers,
as
well
as
the
restaurant
and
retail
workers,
that
the
tourists
that
are
staying
there
come
into
contact
with
at
extreme
risk
100
of
the
rooms.
A
A
The
workers
are
risking
their
lives
working
for
a
corporate
chain
that
will
not
even
provide
ppe
to
reduce
the
risk
of
transmission.
I'm
asking
the
county
health
department
to
follow
up
on
these
allegations
and
to
ensure
that
the
hotel
is
adhering
to
cdc
guidelines
and
protecting
their
workers,
bring
hotels
to
half
capacity
or
fully
close
them.
Additionally,
I
believe
the
commissioner
should
defund
the
sheriff
and
jail
budget
by
50
percent
suzanne
duprovich,
it's
totally
outside
the
realm
of
a
county,
to
vote
on
reparations.
A
It
should
be
done
on
the
federal
level
and
it
does
not
express
that
all
the
constituents
of
buncombe
county's
wishes.
I
do
believe
it
will
have
a
big
impact
on
the
upcoming
election
of
buncombe
county
commissioners.
We
are
not
in
favor
of
this
resolution
that
you
are
passing
as
well.
We
will
vote
you
out
of
office
at
the
first
chance.
You
are
only
there
to
represent
the
people
of
buncombe
county,
not
your
own
ideas
and
initiatives.
A
Thank
you
and
I
appreciate
you
will
take
this
into
complete
consideration
before
you
vote
on
the
resolution.
Grace
martinez
supports
the
reparation
resolution
and
the
resolution
declaring
racism.
A
public
health
safety
crisis
supports
cutting
the
sheriff's
department
and
redirecting
funds
to
the
black
brown
and
indigenous
communities.
A
A
The
county
must
invest
in
the
economic
well-being
of
black
brown
and
indigenous
residents,
commit
resources
to
eliminate
the
racial
opportunity
gap
and
provide
deeply
affordable
housing,
land
provisions,
mental
health
services,
rent
subsidies
and
eviction,
diversion
free
public
transit
and
restorative
justice's
services
for
all
reduce
the
budget
of
the
county,
sheriff's
department
and
detention
center
by
at
least
50
percent
immediately
effectively
address
the
local
pandemic
and
to
fund
reparations
for
black
brown
and
indigenous
neighbors,
abolish
tda
prioritize
needs
of
community
over
tourists.
Listen
to
your
constituents,
chelsea
gulliver
from
asheville.
A
I
want
you
to
defund
the
police
by
50
and
the
jail
and
sheriff's
department.
I
want
that
money
to
go
to
buncombe
county
teachers.
I
want
you
to
vote
in
reparations
to
take
care
of
our
black
and
indigenous
people.
Take
measures
to
stop
over
tourism
in
the
pandemic
by
stopping
the
hotels
from
filling
up
to
100,
I'm
a
bartender.
A
The
people
working
in
the
tourism
industry
literally
have
to
choose
between
providing
for
our
families
and
our
health
and
safety.
At
this
moment,
it's
not
fair.
I
have
so
many
friends
who've
gotten
sick
in
the
last
two
weeks.
It's
not
okay.
All
I
see
is
tourists
and
they
are
getting
us
sick
bay,
gibney
from
west
asheville,
I'm
calling
about
local
pandemic
effectiveness
and
hoping
to
get
some
help.
A
We
are
aware
that
people's
lives
are
being
risked
because
people
refuse
to
wear
a
mask.
I
don't
just
mean
held
implication
of
a
mask.
I
mean
the
fact
that
of
enforcing
it
becoming
dangerous
for
employees,
they're
really
asking
that
they
not
make
other
people
sick.
This
guy
walked
past.
I
don't
know
many
elderly
people,
I
don't.
I
know
you
want
our
economy
to
open,
but
you
have
to
do
something
about
mandating
these
masks
and
providing
the
people
with
them.
A
We
need
you
to
resume
and
expand
testing,
reallocate
funds
from
sheriff
and
jail
to
provide
accessible,
free
testing
to
all
that
needed,
free
masks
for
everyone
who
doesn't
have
one
dismantle
the
tda
pay
reparations
and
provide
free
public
transit.
All
right-
and
that
concludes
the
comments
we,
let
me
make
a
quick
announcement.
A
The
next
meeting
of
the
buncombe
county
commission
will
be
held
on
august
18th
at
3
pm.
Our
briefing
meeting
will
be
at
200
college
street
room
326
in
downtown
asheville
at
5
pm
on
august
18th.
The
commissioners
will
hold
their
next
regular
meeting
at
200
college
street
room
326
in
downtown
asheville.
A
Joyner,
I
think
I
think
we'd
like
to
try
to
do
it
between
now
and
the
next
meeting.
So
then
we
can
make
decisions
at
the
next
meeting.
So
I
tell
you:
what
can
we
not
schedule
it
now,
but
can
we
all,
let's
lamar,
if
you
could
propose
some,
let's
follow
up
in
the
next
day
or
two
to
find
a
time
that
works
for
for
most
everybody
all
right?
A
A
All
right
there's
a
motion
in
a
second
to
go
into
closed
session
to
discuss
a
personnel
matter.
The
county
commission
will
not
take
any
action
when
we
return
from
the
closed
session.
We
plan
to
just
adjourn
all
in
favor
of
the
motion.
Please
say:
aye
aye
any
opposed
all
right,
we're
in
closed
session.