The Buncombe County Commission meets this Tuesday, November 15th at 5 pm. You can attend the meeting at 200 College Street, Suite 326 in downtown Asheville. You can watch the meeting online at the County’s facebook page. The full agenda is here.
The Asheville City Council also meets this Tuesday, November 15th at 5 pm. You can attend the meeting on the 2nd Floor of City Hall at 70 Court Plaza in downtown Asheville. You can watch the meeting online here. The full agenda is linked here.
URGENT
- 0 items
PROBLEMATIC
- Reach out to Asheville City officials about Reparations process
EMAIL TEMPLATES
Use our prepared email templates to take action on this week’s items.
RED:
Things that seem problematic
Asheville City Council Agenda: Consent J. Resolution authorizing assignment of the Reparations Project Management contract between the City of Asheville and TEQuity LLC to Amplify Consulting LLC (Staff Report)
In 2021, the City contracted with the company TEQuity to provide Project Management for the Reparations process. This company can no longer fulfill the contract. From the staff report: “Due to capacity constraints associated with the company president accepting a full time position with another agency, TEQuity LLC wishes to assign this contract and responsibility to a separate entity and requires consent of the City for the assignment, and so City staff are proposing to reassign it to a new entity called Amplify Consulting.”
We are deeply troubled by the process behind this proposed shift in management of the Reparations process. Of particular concern is the fact that the Community Reparations Commission was only informed of the shift after the reassignment plan had already been made. There was ample time to bring them in: the former Project Manager took the full time position referenced in the staff report in September 2021, less than a month after she was hired by the City. Both City and County governments claim that they want to follow the leadership of the Commissioners, but when a consequential decision needed to be made, our local governments neglected to consult the Commission in any meaningful way. We hope this shift in Project Management bolsters the vital work the Commission is doing, but the way this process unfolded undermines confidence that the City and County are serious about supporting and empowering the Reparations Commission.
Things to do
We encourage you to reach out to City Manager Debra Campbell and Equity and Inclusion Director Brenda Mills and express concern at their exclusion of the Community Reparations Commission from the process of selecting a new Project Manager. Click here for an email template or see below for a list of email addresses and a sample email you can adapt and send them.
YELLOW:
Things of concern, more information needed
Buncombe County Agenda: Approval of Updated Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) FY 2022-2023 County Funding Plan (Funding detail document)
The County agenda provides no further information about this Council or the funding plan. Most of the money is earmarked for something called “Earn and Learn,” but no explanation of this program is offered.
It is challenging for us (or anyone) to weigh in on this funding plan when there is no support documentation offered by the County.
Things to do
We encourage you to reach out to the Buncombe County Commissioners and the County Manager and ask them to provide background information on agenda items such as these, so that community members have an opportunity to evaluate them prior to the County Commission meeting. Click here for an email template or see below for a list of email addresses and a sample email you can adapt and send them.
Buncombe County Agenda: Budget Amendment for NC Community Development Block Grant-Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) Program Grant Budget Revision (Ordinance)
The County is proposing to contract with the Land of Sky Regional Council for “technical assistance in completing the CDBG-CV Compliance Plan and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing for CDBG-CV compliance.”
We wonder what other companies were invited to bid on this contract, and specifically whether Black-led organizations were invited to apply.
Things to do
We encourage you to reach out to the Buncombe County Commissioners and the County Manager and ask them to provide background information on proposed contracts such as these, so that community members have an opportunity to evaluate them prior to the County Commission meeting. Click here for an email template or see below for a list of email addresses and a sample email you can adapt and send them.
Buncombe County Agenda: Board Appointments
The County will evaluate applications to the Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee by Jaime Benshoff and the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council by Miranda Poe, Jorge Redmond, Jeremy Bricker, and Tim Henderson.
It is challenging for us (or anyone) to weigh in on these proposed Board Appointments when there is no support documentation offered by the County.
Things to do
We encourage you to reach out to the Buncombe County Commissioners and the County Manager and ask them to provide background information on agenda items such as these, so that community members have an opportunity to evaluate them prior to the County Commission meeting. Click here for an email template or see below for a list of email addresses and a sample email you can adapt and send them.
CITY EMAIL TEMPLATE TEXT
You can open this email in your own email program by clicking here. To proceed manually, you can paste the content below into an email and address it to them individually using these email addresses: dcampbell@ashevillenc.gov,bmills@ashevillenc.gov
Subject: Reparations Commission Should Have Had a Say on Project Manager
Dear City Manager Campbell and Director Mills,
I have concerns about the fact that the Community Reparations Commission was only informed about a shift in the management of their project after the reassignment plan had already been made. There was time to bring them in: the former Project Manager took the full time position that conflicts with her role in Reparations in September 2021, less than a month after she was hired by the City. You have both asserted that you want to follow the leadership of the Commissioners when it comes to our local Reparations process, so I wonder why you chose to keep the Commission in the dark on such a consequential issue.
Sincerely,
COUNTY EMAIL TEMPLATE TEXT
You can open this email in your own email program by clicking here. To proceed manually, you can paste this into the County Commissioners’ contact page or address it to them individually using these email addresses: brownie.newman@buncombecounty.org, jasmine.beach-ferrara@buncombecounty.org, alfred.whitesides@buncombecounty.org, amanda.edwards@buncombecounty.org, terri.wells@buncombecounty.org, robert.pressley@buncombecounty.org, parker.sloan@buncombecounty.org,Avril.Pinder@buncombecounty.org
Subject: Why do so many County agenda items have no support documentation?
Dear County Commissioners and County Manager Pinder,
There are three items on this week’s County agenda that appear to have racial justice implications, but it’s very hard to evaluate them because no explanatory documents are provided for them. An example: the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council has a proposed funding plan, but no explanation is offered about this Council or how the funds will be used beyond the numbers themselves. Four people have applied to be on this Council, but no information is offered about any of them. There are other examples offered at gapavl.org. When this kind of information is withheld, it’s hard for community members like me to evaluate these decisions.
Sincerely,