Summary: The City of Asheville’s Policy, Finance and Infrastructure Committee is starting to meet, and it appears that they won’t be accepting any public comments at their meetings.

The Facts: The Policy, Finance and Infrastructure (PFI) Committee is holding its first meeting at a “worksession” on June 10th at 2 pm. The main item on the agenda is an overview of the work of this committee. One of the primary aspects of its proposed scope of work is: “Review and discuss matters that foster an equitable community that provides community members with the opportunity to be informed and engaged in the policy-making process.”

Our Assessment: The PFI overview document begins with a series of priorities, divided into the categories People, Economy, Housing, and Infrastructure & Environment. Under “People,” we were pleased to see the priority “Recognize that pre-existing vulnerabilities are amplified in disasters and work to address these disparities.” Under Economy, we were pleased to see “Strengthen outreach and support for underrepresented businesses to ensure equitable recovery opportunities.” These are indeed important priorities, and we appreciate their being named.

However, we are concerned about how this PFI Committee intends to implement a key aspect of its scope of work – ensuring that community members are “informed and engaged in the policy-making process.” We find it problematic that this Committee is opting to prohibit public comment at their inaugural meeting, thereby shutting off a key means for community members to engage. This seems a direct contradiction to the mission of the Committee, one we think the City Council needs to address.

In an earlier draft of the PFI overview document, there was an indication that disallowing public comment might be the norm for this committee: “The council may in any case suspend the rules to allow public comment as to any item under consideration at a worksession.” That portion of the overview document has now been removed, leaving us to wonder what the ongoing policy around public comment will be.

The Ask: We invited you to join us in reaching out to the Asheville City Council and asking them whether they plan to include public comment in future Policy, Finance and Infrastructure Committee meetings.

Report Back

GAP Supporters Taking Action: 13

Recipients and Responses:

Asheville City Council

• Mayor Esther Manheimer: No response
• Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley: No response
• City Council Member Bo Hess: No response
• City Council Member Kim Roney: No response
• City Council Member Maggie Ullman: No response
• City Council Member Sage Turner: No response
• City Council Member Sheneika Smith: No response