Summary (updated 6/15/16): The budget passed 4-3 (Mosley, Roney, Turner opposed). There was no discussion of revising the public safety components of the budget.

Update 6/1/26: Last week, we advocated for Asheville to reconsider its budget priorities – instead of adding more officers and continuing to invest in surveillance, we suggested serious investment in Community Violence Intervention techniques that have a powerful track record of being more cost effective and getting better results. There was no discussion of this proposal at the meeting, nor any substantive response from most of City Council — Council Members Hess and Roney did respond to GAP Supporter emails indicating agreement with our position. City Council will vote on the budget at their next meeting on June 9th, so this is still an active call to action. See our template below.

Original Summary: Asheville’s proposed FY2027 budget continues expanding policing and surveillance infrastructure while considering reductions to community resources like recreation center hours, despite growing evidence that prevention-oriented strategies may reduce violence more effectively and at a significantly lower cost.

The Facts: The City of Asheville is currently considering a FY2027 budget that includes continued allocation of resources toward policing technology, surveillance infrastructure, and staffing growth tied to the City’s developing Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC). At the same time, the City is considering reductions to community center operating hours amid broader budget pressures.

You can read the latest City budget draft here.

Our Assessment: The current budget approach places greater emphasis on reactive systems — surveillance, technology expansion, and long-term policing obligations — than on the community conditions that may help prevent violence in the first place.

The proposed reduction in community center hours is especially concerning because these facilities provide more than recreation. They create safe gathering spaces, youth engagement opportunities, and neighborhood stability. Research demonstrates that these are conditions that actually contribute to public safety. Meanwhile, evidence that surveillance expansion and increased police staffing substantially reduce violence remains mixed at best. If our budget resources are truly limited, we literally can’t afford to keep pouring money into an approach that won’t be certain to substantially improve public safety, while ignoring an approach to public safety that could prevent more harm and crime at a fraction of the cost.

You can learn more about the evidence supporting community violence prevention and our policy arguments in our special report: Preventing Violence Before it Happens: Why Asheville Should Rebalance Public Safety Priorities in FY2027.

Our Proposal: Asheville should use the final weeks of the budget process to rebalance public safety priorities toward prevention and community stability.

• The City should slow further surveillance expansion, which means pausing or limiting additional investment in new camera systems, license plate readers, software integrations, and long-term surveillance contracts until the City can demonstrate clear evidence that these systems meaningfully improve public safety relative to their long-term cost.
• The City should also carefully manage future policing growth through attrition. This doesn’t mean eliminating Asheville’s existing public safety capacity. Instead, it suggests that we stop adding new sworn officers – the current budget draft calls for 24 additions – so that the City can balance enforcement needs with greater investment in prevention-oriented public safety approaches.
• With the resources liberated by this approach, the City can preserve community center operations, and create a modest Community Violence Intervention pilot focused on youth outreach, mentorship, conflict mediation, and trauma-informed support. This could strengthen communities and reduce the strain on our existing public safety systems (that may be leading the City to believe we need more restrictive and reactive strategies).
  

For readers who want more detail, our full recommendations are outlined in the “Proposed FY2027 Budget Adjustments” section of our special report here. 

Things to do: No further action needed. We invited you to use our email template to contact Asheville City Council and urge the City to prioritize prevention-oriented public safety investments and preservation of community infrastructure.

Report Back

Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 47

The budget passed 4-3 (Mosley, Roney, Turner opposed). There was no discussion of revising the public safety components of the budget.

Recipients and Responses:

Asheville City Council

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

Email Response from Council Member Bo Hess:

I agree.

Bo

Email response from Kim Roney:

Thank you for providing input on the budget and for your request to pursue public safety strategies focused on prevention, healing, and community well-being.

With shared concern,

Kim