Earlier this month, BPR asked the Asheville community one question: What do you want candidates to talk about as they compete for your vote? We received more than 300 suggestions from about 150 people in the Asheville area.
BPR sent six questions informed by the community responses to each City Council candidate. Here are candidate Kim Roney's responses:
1. What is the biggest challenge facing Asheville in the realm of housing and what do you see as the best solution right now?
Our biggest challenge in Council’s six Strategic Goals is Equitable,
Affordable Housing: who can afford and access the housing we’re building?
The Thrive report is the newest documentation of housing disparities in
race and gender, identifying who’s excluded from housing built with our tax dollars.
If we have a majority on Council dedicated to setting and holding standards that are in the best interest of our community, strategies could include:
● A community benefits table applied to conditional zoning processes that incentivizes deeply-affordable housing development on transit corridors close to jobs and groceries, where the infrastructure can handle housing density.
● Adopting and implementing the Missing Middle Housing Study & Displacement Risk Assessment Study recommendations to ensure that creative solutions like duplexes and tiny home villages are allowed while using overlays to protect the natural environment and neighborhoods vulnerable to gentrification.
● Updating our Land Use Incentive Grant – I’m eager to get this tool to align with our strategic goals, because it works like voluntary rent control.
● And partnering for creative solutions, like the sector-based housing Buncombe County built for teachers, or the Beloved
Tiny Home Village which I voted to fund but which didn’t have a majority of Council support.
2. What role, if any, should a city council member play in addressing the impacts of climate change? Are there specific policies related to climate change that you would support?
Climate and neighborhood resiliency are among my top three priorities. As a music educator, I know new voters in this election that I’ve worked with since they were in kindergarten – securing a hopeful future for future generations and their families is why I serve. My commitment to this work includes:
● Responding to our stated Climate Emergency by supporting adopted neighborhood plans and our Climate Justice Initiative.
● Keeping utility costs in check by incentivizing renewable energy options and ensuring fair residential water rates instead of steep bulk discounts for corporate accounts, because keeping our water on is a public health issue.
● Investing in neighborhood resiliency hubs and food system security, including community gardens.
● Following through with our commitments to reparations.
● And maintaining and restoring our tree canopy, which solves multiple problems.
Trees are our greatest asset for addressing flooding, the heat island effect, air quality, and resilient green spaces for human and natural habitats.
Thanks to recommendations by our Urban Forestry Commission and community organizing efforts, the City of Asheville responded to research regarding our declining tree canopy by hiring the City’s first Urban Forester and budgeting for the upcoming Urban Forestry Master Plan, which needs to be adopted by Council.
3. Are there specific measures you would take in your first 100 days to make Asheville City government more efficient and responsive to the needs of the people?
We’re having hard conversations in City Hall because our community faces serious challenges. I believe we are capable of better than “business as usual” when we face challenges together.
As an advocate of Open Meetings Policy, I initiated ending the private check-in meetings of Council, demanding accountability and voting against the identified violation of open meetings law that happened in my first 100 days.
I continue advocating for: accessibility of public documents and meaningful engagement opportunities; removing barriers to civic participation as outlined in the openmeetingspolicy.com petition; supporting advisory boards; proactively sharing information and pursuing public input about upcoming decisions; and asking hard questions while courageously sharing my position so people can better understand what’s going on during Council meetings.
I’m in the kitchen because I can handle the heat. I’m grateful to live in a caring community, and I appreciate when neighbors engage, add to my understanding, and share the work to take better care of each other and our mountain home.
4. The Sheriff’s Office Downtown Initiative is a recent example of increased police presence as a solution for crime downtown. Do you believe this is an effective method for curbing crime? Why or why not?
Everyone in Asheville deserves to be safe! First, I have to state that a narrow definition of public safety limits results and creates new problems. A public safety response that keeps everyone safe isn’t a far off reality. The City should:
● Partner with Buncombe County for a 24-7 Community Paramedicine program Downtown with intent to grow city-wide.
● Implement an Office of Community Safety and HEART Program as Durham has done, deploying first responders with the right tools and training to calls for service around the opioid crisis, homelessness response, and mental health.
● Engage community health workers organizing to prevent gun violence and intimate partner violence.
● And prioritize living wages so staff providing the quality, equitable services our community deserves can afford to live in the communities they serve.
Downtown is in the jurisdiction of our elected Sheriff Miller. I understand Miller’s responding to business and resident complaints with more staff overtime, filling gaps the City has historically failed to address. I’m concerned about the resources this absorbs that should be going towards expanding behavioral health crisis response. Additionally, I’m concerned about the related expansion of the Sheriff’s FUSUS video surveillance system that lacks a process for community oversight and accountability.
5. Who of the 8 candidates, other than yourself, is the strongest candidate for City Council and why?
Representation matters! I acknowledge that Council is missing representation by a renter who currently relies on affordable housing.
I recently advocated for applicants with renter experience to be appointed to our Planning and Zoning Commission too. I believe having people with lived experience at the table is key to shared accountability and shared success in setting and holding the standards we need for decisions around our budget, plans, policies, and land use– some of the most important decisions Council makes.
As your Councilmember, you can count on me to prioritize affordability. With a majority support, Council could:
● Initiate a community benefits table for housing development that incentivizes deeply-affordable housing for people who live and work in Asheville.
● Partner with the County for more reliable public transit, including late night service and increased transit frequency so people can spend more time at home with their families instead of buying another car.
● Keep utility costs in check while securing our food and water systems.
● Adopt a Source of Income/Funds discrimination protection policy to provide a process for documenting housing discrimination.
● And set an example by regaining living wage certification for City staff so our employees can live in the communities they serve.
6. Asheville City Council has worked on a number of strategies to provide shelter and services for people experiencing homelessness. What strategies would you support as a council member?
The visible deepening of poverty impacting our neighbors is heartbreaking. By selling out to unchecked tourism, we’ve lost the plot: if we take care of the people who live and work here, it’ll be a great place to visit too.
The City is responsible for the safety of everyone in our community, regardless of economic or housing status. How we relate to our neighbors experiencing homelessness is fundamental to improving community-wide quality of life.
Reducing homelessness means mitigating crises effectively, removing barriers to shelter, getting and keeping people housed, and centering people with lived experience. As your Councilmember, I’ve voted to fund deeply-affordable and permanently-supportive housing, supported expansion of Code Purple, and rejected policies like criminalizing poverty and the food-sharing ban. As liaison to the Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee, I’m committed to recommendations in the National Alliance to End Homelessness report and invite readers to join the new Continuum of Care as we implement recommendations to reduce homelessness in Asheville by 50%.
As we work to secure housing and healthcare as human rights in our society, at the local level, Asheville must expand transit, bikeability, walkability, and accessibility so having a car isn’t a prerequisite to accessing jobs and housing.
