It is officially budget season in Asheville. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, residents had the first of many opportunities to share their thoughts on how to spend the city’s $240 million operating budget during a public comment period.
Resident and former mayoral candidate Jonathan Wainscott offered a cautionary tale by way of a powerpoint presentation. The presentation focused on Asheville’s $5 million inventory of broken Proterra electric buses sitting idle, as reported by WLOS.
“Now I want to show you what $5 million dollars could’ve bought us back in 2018,” Wainscott joked. “For $1 million, we could’ve bought 40 Toyota Priuses for the cost of one Proterra Electric bus, which by the way Proterra just declared bankruptcy so we can’t even fix our broken buses.”
Wainscott went on to list more $1 million purchases the city could have bought instead of the buses, including 20 Ford Transit 350s, eight Porsche 911s, five tree canopy litter vacuums, and 666 electric bikes, which he referred to as “a whole satan’s worth, 666, of $1,500 electric bikes.”
“I know it’s absurd,” Wainscott said. “But I would like to ask you all that when we approach the budget, please choose practicality over popularity, please think about the things we really need in this city versus things that sound good.”
Residents can share thoughts on budget priorities by answering this survey through February 23.
Potty talk gets postponed
When nature calls in downtown Asheville, there is only one public restroom option available 24/7: a single port-a-potty at the corner of Rankin Avenue and College Street.
The lack of facilities has caused issues for families, workers, visitors, and the unhoused community, but at Tuesday’s city council meeting, members questioned a proposed solution of a Portland Loo. The prefabricated, standalone, and grafitti-proof restroom that the company bills as easy to clean and maintain has a $650,000 price tag.
Councilwoman Kim Roney celebrated the proposed public bathroom for its ADA accessibility and inclusion of a changing station.
Roney said the city has a dire need for a permanent bathroom and hand-washing station, noting that on her visits downtown she has been “surprised at the number of times” she has had to “help a worker and take the initiative to clean human excrement off the sidewalk.”
“It is very unpleasant, and I don’t even have a place to wash my hands afterwards because the bathrooms are closed,” she added. “Because this is such an important public health investment, I intend to support it.”
Mayor Esther Manheimer and other council members balked at the price of the project, which would come from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.
Manheimer noted that the city already has public bathrooms on Haywood Street that are currently closed, as well as bathrooms at Pack Square Park that are often closed as well.
The Haywood Street bathrooms have been permanently closed since 2020 due to maintenance costs and vandalism issues, city officials said. The Pack Square bathrooms keep irregular hours for similar reasons.
The mayor said the city is in early talks with the Asheville Downtown Association, whose offices neighbor the Haywood Street facilities, to open those bathrooms.
Manheimer also suggested partnering with shelter operators to provide bathrooms on nights and weekends.
“I’m not satisfied yet. This is a lot of money,” she said. “I just want to make sure we have fully looked at our other current facilities and just make sure there isn’t a way to open those.”
The city will need to have funds available for a shelter down the line, Mainheimer said.
Council members opted to postpone a vote on the issue until February while city staff runs numbers on what is the most affordable public bathroom option.
A “theme of powerlessness” from boards and commissions
Many volunteers who participate on Asheville’s boards and commissions feel powerless, according to a 40-page report from the Realignment Working Group, a group tasked with assessing the city’s engagement with advisory boards.
A presentation delivered by the group’s spokesperson, Elyse Marder, summarized input from 150 current or prior board members who served from 2012 and 2022.
Board members felt strongly supported by city staff, but noted high staff turnover as a hindrance.
Board members were most dissatisfied with interactions with city council, citing frustration with the communication.
“The overarching theme from the comments is a feeling of powerlessness,” Marder said.
“One member wrote ‘serving on the board was a complete waste of time. Great people. Completely powerless to make recommendations or changes.’”
The Realignment Working Group made no formal recommendations, but Marder asked city council to read the report and remain open to future recommendations to be presented in a few months.
From public comment
Gene Bell, a founder of PEAK Academy – a local charter school aimed at supporting Black and other educationally disadvantaged students – spoke about the state of the school during public comment. Four other residents ceded their allocated two minutes, allowing Bell to speak for 10 minutes.
Bell shared that the school has made great strides in eliminating the achievement gap between Black and white students and asked city council to consider giving the school extra funding.
The school faces a lawsuit from WNC Citizens for Equality, which has alleged the school of racial discrimination against white students and faculty, as reported by Asheville Watchdog.
Bell did not specify a requested amount. Councilwoman Antanette Mosley suggested using ARPA funds to support the school.
Dozens of local activists also spoke during the public comment period to ask city council for a ceasefire resolution in the Israel-Palestine war. City council members have not taken public action or expressed intent to move a ceasefire resolution forward.
Other tidbits
- Council approved a resolution to reduce the speed limit on Patton Avenue from 35 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour when the I-26 connector project kicks off.
- The day after the city and county learned from the Cease Harm audit that it wasn’t doing enough to make its contracting opportunities equitable, it bypassed the normal process to temporarily extend contracts with two parking-related companies, Parker Technology and Passport Labs, Inc. Interim Transportation Director Jessica Morris said her team made an oversight and forgot to renew its contracts, which is why they needed to temporarily make this extension through June 2024.
- Council voted 5-1 to approve a text amendment to its Unified Development Ordinance that replaces the phrase “conditional use” with “special use” and gives the Planning and Zoning Commission the final say in certain special use permitting circumstances. Sage Turner was absent and Kim Roney voted against the measure.
Every second and fourth Tuesday, Asheville City Council meets at the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of City Hall, 70 Court Plaza beginning at 5:00 p.m. See the full recording of the January 23 meeting and the action agenda.
Editor's note: This article was updated to reflect that Elyse Marder led the Boards and Commissions Realignment Working Group at Tuesday's city council meeting.
