GAP Report for 10/5/26
PROBLEMATIC
County seeks $290,000 for surveillance technology without explaining what residents are buying
Buncombe County Commissioners are being asked Tuesday to approve $290,000 from forfeiture funds for the Sheriff’s Office’s FY27 FUSUS/Axon contract and a “Camera Project at IGrant.” That’s essentially all the agenda packet tells the public. Fusus/Axon brings together numerous public and private camera feeds with other law-enforcement data, raising significant questions about privacy, data sharing, oversight, and civil liberties. We believe Commissioners should not approve additional funding for this technology without first explaining what the money will purchase, how the system is being used, what safeguards govern it, and what results it has produced.
POSITIVE
Asheville creates another opportunity for community leadership of Juneteenth
The City of Asheville has reopened its search for a community production partner for the 2027 Juneteenth celebration, with proposals due October 30. We understand that the Evaluation Committee and City staff concluded that the original process had not produced the kind of locally-rooted community partnership they were seeking and chose to reopen the opportunity and conduct additional outreach rather than simply move forward. We appreciate that decision. Juneteenth should be shaped by people and organizations with meaningful connections to Asheville’s Black community, and reopening the process creates another opportunity for those organizations to participate.
POSITIVE
Clear Safeguards Can Strengthen Asheville’s HOME-ARP Plan
On September 22, the Asheville City Council held a public hearing on proposed changes to the HOME-ARP program, which would expand rental assistance and case management while giving preference to people experiencing homelessness, particularly those who first became homeless as a result of Hurricane Helene. Council discussed how people would access assistance and how funds might be divided between direct aid and nonprofit staffing, but it did not discuss our recommendations for clear prioritization rules and regular public reporting. We continue to support the amendment and encourage Council to approve it, while asking residents to contact Council before written comments close October 2 and urge members to put these safeguards in place before final approval.
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY
What’s on the Ballot: A Nonpartisan Workshop
Join GAPavl and community partners on Wednesday, October 7 at 6 p.m. for a nonpartisan workshop about the races, bonds, and ballot measures Asheville and Buncombe County voters will decide this fall. GAPavl is co-sponsoring and helping lead the workshop, which will be held at the YWCA of Asheville, 185 S. French Broad Avenue. The event is also hosted by Just Economics, the Reparations Stakeholder Authority of Asheville, The People’s Place AVL, Common Cause North Carolina, the Asheville-Buncombe League of Women Voters, and WNC Votes.
Active Issue Reports
County seeks $290,000 for surveillance technology without explaining what residents are buying
PROBLEMATIC
Summary: Buncombe County Commissioners are being asked Tuesday to approve $290,000 from forfeiture funds for the Sheriff’s Office’s FY27 FUSUS/Axon contract and a “Camera Project at IGrant.” That’s essentially all the agenda packet tells the public. Fusus can bring together numerous public and private camera feeds and other law-enforcement data, making legitimate questions about privacy, data sharing, oversight, and civil liberties particularly important. We believe Commissioners should not approve additional funding for this technology without first explaining what the money will purchase, how the system is being used, what safeguards govern it, and what results it has produced.
The Facts: The Buncombe County Commission agenda includes a Sheriff’s Office request to appropriate $290,000 from the County’s Forfeitures Fund balance.
The agenda packet says the money will cover two things:
- the Sheriff’s Office’s FY27 FUSUS/Axon contract; and
- a “Camera Project at IGrant.”
The recommended action is simply to “Approve budget amendment.” The packet includes no description of the contract, the camera project, how the $290,000 is divided between them, or what additional or continuing surveillance capabilities the expenditure would provide. Presumably “IGrant” refers to the Sheriff’s Illegal Gun Reduction and Narcotics Taskforce, but the supplied documents do not indicate what the acronym refers to. The accompanying budget amendment provides no additional explanation beyond identifying the funding source as the Forfeitures Fund balance.
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) already operates a Real Time Intelligence Center. On its website, BCSO says the center gathers intelligence to help deploy resources and can receive information from a network of community stakeholders. Its Community Camera Registry allows residents and businesses to register cameras and offers an option through which participating camera owners can stream live video directly to BCSO.
Fusus, now owned by Axon, is a broader real-time intelligence platform. Axon says it can integrate public and private cameras, body-worn and vehicle cameras, license-plate readers, drones, alerts and other information into a common interface.
You can read the request for board action here. The proposed budget amendment can be found here.
We raised similar concerns in August when Asheville City Council was considering its use of Flock and Axon technology. Supporters argue that surveillance tools can improve public safety. But these technologies also raise important questions about privacy, tracking people’s movements, data sharing, misuse, mistaken identification and the gradual creep of surveillance capabilities. Before the government spends public money on surveillance, residents deserve to know what benefits are claimed and demonstrated, what risks exist, and what safeguards are in place. That deserves a public conversation – not a two-line budget item.
Our concern isn’t simply that the County uses Fusus or Axon. It’s that Commissioners are being asked to appropriate another $290,000 for a surveillance contract and camera project without telling residents what they are paying for.
These questions are especially important because surveillance systems can expand incrementally. A new camera, integration, or data source may look modest when considered on its own, while subtly creating a much larger surveillance network.
Commissioners may ultimately conclude that some or all of this expenditure is justified. But residents should not have to consent on trust alone to surveillance technology with demonstrated risks. The County should provide enough information for the public – and Commissioners themselves – to understand what is being purchased, what risks exist, and what protections accompany it.
Things to do: Email the Buncombe County Commission and ask members to postpone the $290,000 appropriation until the Sheriff’s Office publicly explains what the money will purchase, how the technology is used, what safeguards govern it, and what results the relevant existing systems have already produced.
Email Template: You can send an email to the Buncombe County Commission by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent.
Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.
To: alfred.whitesides@buncombecounty.org, amanda.edwards@buncombecounty.org, drew.ball@buncombecounty.org, jennifer.horton@buncombecounty.org, martin.moore@buncombecounty.org, parker.sloan@buncombecounty.org, terri.wells@buncombecounty.org
CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org
Subject: Please provide more information before approving $290,000 for surveillance technology
Dear Chair Wells and County Commissioners,
Please postpone voting on the proposed $290,000 appropriation for the Sheriff’s Office’s surveillance technology and contracts until the public has more information.
The agenda does not explain what the money will actually buy or why it is needed. Before approving the funding, please ensure the public has sufficient answers to the following important questions:
- what technology and services the $290,000 will purchase, including how much is for the existing contract and how much is for the camera project;
- what new or continuing surveillance capabilities the funding will support;
- what privacy, access, sharing, and retention rules apply to whatever new capabilities will be created as a result of this funding;
- how the Sheriff’s Office reviews use of the system to identify possible misuse and ensure misuse is avoided, and whether the results of these reviews are made public; and
- what evidence the Sheriff’s Office has about the technology’s public-safety benefits and potential harms.
Supporters of surveillance technology argue that it can improve public safety. Critics raise important concerns about privacy, tracking people’s movements, data sharing, and misuse resulting in civil liberties violations. Decisions about this technology deserve transparency and public discussion.
Please postpone a vote on the appropriation until the Sheriff’s Office provides this information and the public has the opportunity to consider its real implications.
Thank you for your consideration.
[Name]
[Address or neighborhood, if desired]
Asheville creates another opportunity for community leadership of Juneteenth
POSITIVE
Summary: The City of Asheville has reopened its search for a community production partner for the 2027 Juneteenth celebration, with proposals due October 30. We understand that the Evaluation Committee and City staff concluded the original process had not produced the kind of locally-rooted community partnership they were seeking and chose to reopen the opportunity and conduct additional outreach rather than simply move forward. We appreciate that decision. Juneteenth should be shaped by people and organizations with meaningful connections to Asheville’s Black community, and reopening the process creates another opportunity for those organizations to participate.
The Facts: The City of Asheville is seeking a community production partner for its 2027 Juneteenth celebration.
The City issued an earlier request for proposals and has now reopened the process. A new Request for Proposals (RFP) was posted October 1, with proposals due at 5 p.m. October 30. An optional virtual pre-proposal meeting is scheduled for October 13, and questions regarding the proposal process are due October 15.
The City’s public procurement page identifies the opportunity as “Community Production Partner – Juneteenth Celebration 2027.”
Earlier this year, the City also invited community input about what the 2027 celebration should look like. The City described Juneteenth as having cultural as well as social and economic importance to the community.
According to members of the Evaluation Committee, City staff chose to reopen the RFP because the original applicant pool did not provide a potential partner with the desired level of local knowledge and community connections, and that staff intends to conduct additional outreach during the next round of the process.
You can read the advertisement for this opportunity here and the request for proposals here.
Our Assessment: We appreciate the City’s decision to reopen the process rather than simply select from the applicants it had.
Juneteenth commemorates emancipation and has particular meaning for Asheville’s Black community. Producing the celebration requires event-management capacity, but technical competence alone isn’t enough. Knowledge of local history, relationships, trust, and connections to the people whose history the celebration commemorates matter too.
Government procurement processes don’t always capture those qualities well. When the initial process doesn’t produce the community partnership the City is seeking, reopening the opportunity and doing more outreach is a reasonable response.
It also creates an important opportunity. Asheville has organizations and community leaders with deep connections to Black Asheville. We hope qualified local organizations will consider whether they – or a partnership they help assemble – could respond to the new RFP.
We especially want to recognize City staff Chris Corl, Sala Menaya-Merritt, Jon Fillman, and Marcus Kirkman, along with the volunteer members of the Evaluation Committee: Aisha Adams, Amieris Lavender, Jessica Thompson, Ramona Young, Renee White, Shuvonda Harper, Sophie Dixon, Tiffany DeBellott, and Norma Baynes. (For transparency, Tiffany DeBellott is also a member of GAPavl’s Strategy Team.)
We appreciate the City’s willingness to recognize that the initial process had not produced the community partnership they were seeking and to reopen the process rather than simply move ahead. That kind of responsiveness – recognizing when a government process isn’t producing the desired result and being willing to change course – is something we want to encourage.
Things to do: Share the new Juneteenth RFP with qualified organizations and community leaders who might be interested, and send City staff Christopher K. Corl, Sala Menaya-Merritt, Jon Fillman, and Marcus Kirkman a note thanking them for reopening the process and conducting additional outreach.
Email Template: You can send an email to key Asheville City staff by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent.
Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.
To: ccorl@ashevillenc.gov, smenaya-merritt@ashevillenc.gov, jfillman@ashevillenc.gov, mkirkman@ashevillenc.gov
CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org
Subject: Thank you for reopening the 2027 Juneteenth partnership process
Dear Mr. Corl, Ms. Menaya-Merritt, Mr. Fillman, and Mr. Kirkman,
Thank you for reopening the search for a community production partner for Asheville’s 2027 Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth has deep historical and cultural significance, and we believe the celebration should be shaped by people and organizations with meaningful knowledge of and relationships within Asheville’s Black community.
We appreciate the City’s willingness to reopen the process and conduct additional outreach rather than simply move forward when the initial process did not produce the community partnership you were seeking.
Thank you for taking the time to get this right.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Address or neighborhood, if desired]
Clear Safeguards Can Strengthen Asheville’s HOME-ARP Plan
POSITIVE
REPORT BACK STATUS
Unresolved
Report Back
Updated 10/5/26: On September 22, the Asheville City Council held a public hearing on proposed changes to the HOME-ARP program, which would expand rental assistance and case management while giving preference to people experiencing homelessness, particularly those who first became homeless as a result of Hurricane Helene. Council discussed how people would access assistance and how funds might be divided between direct aid and nonprofit staffing, but it did not discuss our recommendations for clear prioritization rules and regular public reporting. We continue to support the amendment and encourage Council to approve it, while asking residents to contact Council before the vote on October 13 and urge members to put these safeguards in place before final approval.
At the hearing, staff explained that the amendment would add temporary rental assistance and comprehensive case management to the services supported by HOME-ARP. It would also use the region’s Coordinated Entry system to help identify and refer applicants. Council members asked how that system works, whether people seeking help through different organizations would be connected to it, and how much of the approximately $1 million for supportive services would pay for direct assistance rather than additional personnel.
Those are worthwhile oversight questions, but they did not address an important consequence of the proposed preference for folks who became homeless after Hurricane Helene. People fleeing domestic violence, trafficking, stalking, or sexual assault would remain eligible for assistance, yet the plan does not clearly explain how an immediate threat to someone’s safety would be weighed against the preference for people whose homelessness began after Helene. Council also did not discuss whether applicants could face burdensome requirements to document when or why they became homeless.
Council likewise did not discuss GAPavl’s recommendation for regular public reporting. Without information about referrals, enrollment, housing placements, wait times, households that could not be served, demographic or geographic disparities, and remaining funds, Council and the public may have difficulty determining whether the program is working fairly. The public hearing was informational only, however, and Council has not yet taken final action. There is still time to strengthen a promising amendment without delaying assistance or opposing its approval.
Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 18
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: Responded, see below
- City Council Member Sheneika Smith: No response
Email from Sage Turner to a GAP Supporter:
Hi ___.
I think this is a form email, but fyi I chair HOME and am bringing this to Council for their support.
Sage
Summary: Asheville’s proposed HOME-ARP amendment could help more people move out of homelessness by expanding rental assistance and case management. We support the proposal and believe City Council should approve it. But the amendment will also determine who is first in line to draw from a limited assistance pool. We are asking the City to adopt two safeguards: (1) clear rules for balancing the needs of folks directly impacted by Helene with other urgent needs, and (2) regular public reporting that shows who receives assistance, who remains waiting, and whether the program is supporting those most in need. These details may sound technical, but implementation guidelines can determine whether a vulnerable family obtains housing or remains homeless or endangered.
The Facts: In 2021, the Asheville Regional Housing Consortium received approximately $4.7 million through the federal Home Investment Partnerships Program–American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) program. Asheville administers the funds for a four-county consortium covering Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties. The money must be fully invested by August 2030.
The current plan allocates approximately $3 million to affordable rental housing development, $1 million to supportive services, and $705,000 to administration and planning. Supportive services were originally focused on mental health and substance-use services. City staff recommend broadening them to include short- and medium-term rental assistance and comprehensive case management. Staff believe that a rapid-rehousing approach can help people obtain housing more quickly while addressing problems that threaten their long-term housing stability.
A proposed amendment would also give preference to individuals and families experiencing homelessness, particularly people whose first episode of homelessness occurred as a result of Hurricane Helene. Other eligible populations — including people fleeing domestic violence, trafficking, stalking, or sexual assault — would remain eligible, but they could be placed behind preferred households on a waitlist.
Finally, the City would begin using Coordinated Entry — the regional system for assessing people’s housing needs and referring them to homelessness services — along with other eligible referral sources to identify and prioritize applicants. The Asheville Regional Housing Consortium unanimously endorsed the amendment. City Council will hold a public hearing on the amendment on September 22. Written comments will be accepted through October 2, and final Council consideration is expected on October 13.
You can read the staff report here and see the presentation slides here.
Our Assessment: We support the amendment. Expanding rental assistance and case management is a practical response to the region’s housing crisis, and it makes sense to recognize the additional housing instability caused by Hurricane Helene. The amendment could help the City use HOME-ARP funds more effectively and move people into housing more quickly.
But good intentions do not automatically produce fair results. The rules used to carry out this program will decide who receives limited assistance first. Without clear safeguards, someone who became homeless after Helene could receive priority over a person trying to escape an abusive partner or trafficker. That may not be what the City intends, but the proposal does not clearly explain how applicants’ competing needs will be balanced.
The City should publish understandable prioritization rules that preserve an urgent pathway for people facing immediate safety risks. It should also avoid burdensome documentation requirements that prevent people from receiving assistance because they cannot easily prove when their homelessness began.
The City should also report regularly on how the program is performing. At least quarterly, it should disclose how many households were referred, enrolled, housed, or unable to be served; how long it took people to obtain housing; whether significant demographic or geographic disparities emerged; and how much funding remains.
Public reporting is not simply an administrative exercise. Without it, residents and Council cannot know whether people are being housed promptly, whether certain communities have meaningful access, or whether particular groups are consistently left waiting. The reporting would also help ensure that the funds are used before the August 2030 deadline.
These safeguards would not delay or weaken the amendment. They would help ensure that the program fulfills its purpose, reveal unintended consequences, and give the City an opportunity to correct problems before vulnerable residents are harmed.
Things to Do (Updated 10/5/26): We originally asked the community to tell Council that you support the HOME-ARP amendment while asking members to establish clear prioritization rules and regular public reporting guidelines before final approval.
Written comments closed on October 2, but you can still email City Council with your input. We will monitor Council’s process and update the community when more information is available.
Email Template (Updated 9/28/26): You can send an email to the Asheville City Council by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent.
Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.
To: ashevillenccouncil@ashevillenc.gov
CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org
Subject: Support HOME-ARP – and add safeguards before final approval
Dear Mayor Manheimer and members of City Council,
I support the proposed HOME-ARP amendment and encourage Council to approve it when it returns for final consideration.
The amendment could help more people obtain housing by expanding temporary rental assistance and case management. It also makes sense to recognize the additional housing instability caused by Hurricane Helene.
At the September 22 public hearing, Council raised useful questions about access to services, direct assistance, nonprofit staffing, and oversight. However, two important safeguards were not discussed.
First, please establish clear rules explaining how the preference for people experiencing homelessness – particularly those whose first episode followed Helene – will be balanced against urgent safety and vulnerability concerns. People fleeing domestic violence, trafficking, stalking, or sexual assault should retain a meaningful pathway to immediate rental assistance. The process should also avoid documentation requirements that unfairly exclude people who cannot easily prove when or why they became homeless.
Second, please require regular public reporting on how the program is working. This reporting should include the number of households referred, enrolled, housed, waiting, or unable to receive assistance; the time required to obtain housing; any significant demographic or geographic disparities; and the amount of funding remaining.
These safeguards would not delay assistance or weaken an amendment that deserves Council’s support. They would help ensure that limited resources are distributed fairly and allow Council to identify and correct unintended problems.
Please address these matters before final approval.
Thank you for your consideration,
[Name]
[Address or neighborhood, if desired]
Safety, Second Chances, and HACA’s New Screening Rules
QUESTIONABLE
REPORT BACK STATUS
Outcome Unknown
Report Back
HACA Screening Policy Outcome Is Still Unknown
Updated 8/31/26: The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) Board met on August 26 after receiving public comments on proposed longer lookback periods for several criminal convictions. Because HACA has not published minutes, a recording, or another account of the meeting, we do not know whether the revised screening policy was discussed, amended, adopted or postponed.
Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 6
Recipients and Responses:
Housing Authority of the City of Asheville
- Board: No response
Asheville City Council
- Mayor Esther Manheimer (appoints all Board members): No response
- Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley (Council liaison): No response
Summary: The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) is accepting comments through 11:59 p.m. tonight (August 24, 2026) on proposed criminal-background screening procedures. The proposal offers applicants stronger procedural protections but would also extend the lookback period for many convictions from five years to seven years, 10 years, or life. We have heard that part of the motivation is concern from residents who survived rape, molestation, or stalking that their assailants could be approved to move into their housing communities. Those safety concerns deserve substantial weight. But the longer periods would also apply to property and drug crimes – including felony drug possession – and HACA has not publicly explained the basis for each change.
The Facts: The proposal would:
- Apply lifetime lookbacks to intentional homicide, kidnapping or human trafficking, and forcible sex or rape convictions
- Apply 10-year lookbacks to felony stalking and many other felonies, including assault, robbery, burglary, drug possession, and drug distribution
- Apply seven year lookbacks to misdemeanor domestic-violence convictions
- Allow consideration of violent patterns outside the stated periods
- Exclude arrests without charges and generally require additional evidence before considering dismissed charges
- Provide an individualized review meeting, consideration of rehabilitation, and up to 30 days to gather supporting evidence
You can read the full proposed policy revision here. The 48-day public-comment period began July 8 and ends at 11:59 p.m. tonight. Comments may be sent to comments@haca.org.
Our Assessment: HACA is right to consider the safety of residents who fear that people convicted of serious violence against them could return to their housing communities. The proposal responds directly to some of those concerns by establishing longer (or lifetime) lookbacks for rape, stalking, homicide, and other violent offenses. (A lookback period is the length of time a past conviction remains relevant when HACA reviews someone’s housing application.)
But the proposal also extends scrutiny to offenses that do not necessarily involve violence or a threat to another resident. For example, felony drug possession and two or more felony theft or fraud convictions would carry 10-year lookbacks. Drug-related crime convictions in particular have a well-documented racial bias. HACA has not explained how these longer exclusions address the resident-safety concern motivating the proposal, how many applicants they would affect, or whether a shorter period or more individualized approach would be sufficient.
The proposal may ultimately strike an appropriate balance between safety, rehabilitation, and access to housing. Before adopting it, HACA should explain why longer lookbacks are necessary for nonviolent convictions and how it will avoid excluding people who no longer present a risk to residents.
Things to do: No action suggested at this time. Last week, we invited you to email HACA before 11:59 p.m. Monday night – and copy Mayor Esther Manheimer (who appoints all HACA Board members) and Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley (who is the City Council liaison to HACA) – asking HACA to explain why the proposal extends lookback periods for nonviolent convictions and how those extensions advance resident safety
PREVIOUS REPORTS
GAP Report for 9/28/26
Clear Safeguards Can Strengthen Asheville’s HOME-ARP Plan On September 22, the Asheville City Council held a public hearing on proposed changes to the HOME-ARP program, which would expand rental assistance and case management while giving preference to people...
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