Government Accountability Project Asheville

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The Buncombe County Commission meets this Tuesday 7/19/22 at 5 pm. You can attend the meeting at 200 College Street, Room 326 in downtown Asheville. You can watch the meeting online via Buncombe County’s Facebook page. The full agenda is here.

The Community Reparations Commission will hold their next meeting on Monday, July 18, 2022, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The meeting is being held at the Cherokee Center Banquet Hall at 87 Haywood Road. The public is welcome to attend the entire session. The meeting will be recorded and streamed here.

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Things that are top priority

Reparations funding on the Buncombe County Commission agenda at Tuesday’s meeting

The Buncombe County Commission will get an update on the Reparations process from Chief Equity Officer Rachel Edens, and then will discuss whether to approve the Reparations Commission request to “include a line item in their budget for reparations for Black people in Buncombe County as a percentage of the overall budget in perpetuity.” Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara shared a preliminary response to this request: “I am personally in support of adopting the Reparations Commission proposal, with the caveat that we might adjust funding up in a given year based on the strategies the Commission recommends.”

We commend Commissioner Beach-Ferrara for her stance, and encourage her colleagues to join her in taking this important step toward racial justice in our region.

Things to do

We encourage you to attend the Buncombe County Commission meeting in person at 200 College Street in downtown Asheville, and to make a public comment in favor of Reparations funding. If you would like a ride to the meeting, please check out the schedule of pick-up locations, or add your own, at rjcavl.org/ride.

If you can’t attend the meeting, you can personalize and send the email template available at the Racial Justice Coalition website.