2024 ELECTION
Candidates
Asheville City Council Primary Election Survey
Q1: ARTS BACKGROUND
What is your personal background and experience in the arts? (check all that apply) Is this anything else you would like to share about your arts background? (optional)
Domingo
Instrumental, Vocal, Visual, Theatre, Literary
Frazier
Instrumental, Theatre, Literary
These days I am more in the audience than on stage but back in the day I was a fine 3rd chair trombone player. I also think back very fondly on my theater experience, like for so many young people, the performing arts cultivated confidence and comfort in front of an audience as well as cultivated an ability to think on my feet. In recent years, I have had some great mentors who have helped me connect with performance poetry as well as storytelling. Though I don’t consider myself to have strong literary skills, I am the author of one book, Legendary Locals of Asheville, which is a collection of biographical shorts on the people who have shaped our city’s history.
Hess
Instrumental, Vocal, Visual, Dance, Theatre, Photography, Literary
Asheville’s poetry and open mic scene were the first people to truly bring me in and make me feel like my whole self when I first moved to Asheville in the early 2000s.
Leaven
Instrumental, Vocal, Theatre, Literary
Pearson
Instrumental, Vocal
Music and other forms of art can be/is an outlet for unspoken trauma. Various forms of art is used as a way of expressing one’s self.
Roney
Instrumental, Vocal, Visual
My name is Kim Roney. I’m an owner of an arts-based business, music educator, community organizer, and current Council member running for re-election.
This is my 25th year as a music educator, so there are first-time voters in this election that I have worked with since they were in kindergarten. A hopeful future for my students and their families is one of my top reasons for serving in public office.
As an artist and musician, I mostly perform locally. I had the privilege of touring across the country and internationally with a group of Asheville musicians as the backing band for the late Rodrguez, whose story was portrayed in the Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugarman. I collaborate with my partner Nathanael, who is a graphic designer and mural artist, on pieces of spoken word with a music element. We have performed on a variety of formal and DIY stages, including multiple fundraising events and the BMCM+AC’s {Re}HAPPENING.
As a community organizer, I’ve worked with Just Economics, Asheville Music School, ART-C Coalition, Better Buses Together, and I was a founding member of Friends of Community Radio, the parent organization of 103.3-AshevilleFM. My fourth station in 22 years of volunteering with community radio, I applied my passion for amplifying community voices, music, and culture as a DJ, Producer of the AFM News Hour, and Station Manager from 2012-2015, overseeing operations with 100+ all-volunteer staff.
Now, in my fourth year on Council, plus seven years as an active participant in City hall, I bring curious creativity at the heart of my work, and I continue to amplify community voices. For example, in 2021 the City of Asheville updated the Noise Ordinance. I did not vote to approve as drafted because of concerns around equitable enforcement and because it left both neighborhood and music industry concerns unsatisfied, with potential impacts on our cultural identity including concerns that the decibel limits effectively require a permit to play some instruments at an unamplified, acoustic level. I responded individually to engagement from hundreds of residents, advocated for compromises that would better address neighborhood concerns while mitigating impact on the performing arts, and continue to ensure appointments of industry professionals and impacted neighbors to the Noise Advisory Committee.
Turner
Instrumental, Visual, Dance, Photography
Q2: RECENT ARTS ACTIVITIES
What arts activities have you attended, participated in, or supported in the last year? (check all that apply) Is there anything else you would like to share about your recent arts activities? (optional)
Domingo
Music, Dance, Literary Arts
Frazier
Music, Theatre, Visual Arts
One of the reasons I choose to continue to call Asheville home is our arts scene. It’s what gives Asheville not just character but soul. One of the great joys of emerging out of Covid is the return of our great arts culture, but sustaining an arts scene of our caliber requires investment.
Hess
Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Dance, Literary Arts
Leaven
Music, Theatre, Visual Arts
I am the Chair of the Board of Directors for Montford Park Players and one of their biggest donors. I am also on the Board of Trustees for the Asheville Chamber Music Series and a major donor. From 2013-2017, I was on the Board of Directors of the Asheville Lyric Opera.
Pearson
Music
Roney
Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Dance, Literary Arts
I am an artist, and it’s important to me to participate and lift up our creative community.
This past year, I enjoyed performances by Womansong, the Gay Men’s Chorus, and Symphony in the Park, attended story-telling events including the Moth and Story Parlor, attended First Fridays at Noir Collective, supported artists and makers at Big Crafty and productions in our community garden network, reviewed and provided feedback for up and coming recording artists, amplified events by BIPOC artists, participated in the ally panel by DIY-abled, supported the mural in the RAD by Southern Equality Studios, volunteered with multiple cultural events and festivals, patroned the fine arts, facilitated and performed recitals with my students, played drums with Brass Your Heart, embroidered gifts for family and friends, and attended performances by local artists at venues across town.
I’m currently the Secretary of the board at Asheville Music School where I share oversight of the scholarship program, working to remove tuition as a barrier to participation in music education for students in our community.
Pre-pandemic, I worked events every week, ranging from open mic nights to concerts by national touring artists, from poetry readings to gallery openings, from Fringe Fest to the Symphony. Through the early days of the pandemic, I supported fellow artists and musicians directly and by advocating through my role on Council for relief funding.
Turner
Visual Arts, Dance
I have been enjoying painting, underwater photography, and drone recording in recent years. These are newish pass times to me and have reawakened by creative side!
Q3: ARTS FUNDING
BACKGROUND | The City currently supports the arts through facilities like Thomas Wolfe Auditorium (more about this below), programming through the Parks & Recreation Department, grants like the Event Support Grant (in partnership with ArtsAVL), and the Public Art Program. However, all of these services are failing to reach their full potential due to funding shortages for things like maintenance, operations, and staffing,
Asheville does have a 1% for the arts policy that provides some support for public art from qualifying Capital Improvement Projects (CIP)– this does not generate a lot of funding. However, it is also common for cities to have additional dedicated funding streams for arts and culture like a Food and Beverage Tax. For example, Wake County currently has a countywide 1% Prepared Food and Beverage tax which supports arts, culture, sports and convention facilities in Wake County. Similar local taxes are also in place in Dare, Cumberland, and Mecklenburg Counties, as well as in the Town of Hillsborough.
Would you support a local food and beverage tax to provide additional funding for the City’s arts and cultural services? Is there anything else you would like to share about City arts funding?
Domingo
Disagree
At this time, I could not support a Prepared Food and Beverage Tax.
I appreciate the importance of supporting the arts and cultural services in our city. Arts are part of the spice of Asheville, attracting tourists and enriching the lives of locals at the same time.
In order to confront the challenges outlined, I would want to meet with the leaders of these programs to understand where the oversight came from and find out if there aren’t ways that the city could help to share in the maintenance and staffing burdens. If we could alleviate the operating costs and stretch the existing funding, could that resolve the budget shortfall? Are the costs associated with an ongoing issue which could be resolved by a one-time grant instead of a permanent tax?
Additionally, I spent years working in the food service industry. The profit margins for most restaurants are notoriously thin. A widespread Prepared Food and Beverage Tax would disproportionately harm smaller restaurants, coffee shops, and food trucks; so if a tax is truly the only option, it would have to be carefully targeted.
Frazier
Undecided
I am an advocate for more public funding of the arts. The arts are both about quality of life as well as community and economic development. Asheville has one of the largest populations of professional artists in the country outside of the big cities. It is important that the city supports the arts and most importantly, our artist neighbors.
Our need to support our artist neighbors ,as well as the arts, causes me to pause about committing to a one percent food and beverage sales tax for the arts. It would be irresponsible of me at this time without a full review of the city’s current budget and a better understanding for how the city will support other large priorities such as affordable housing. I think it is an idea very much worth exploring. I would not, however, favor any changes to sales taxes that are not county-wide. It would be unfair to businesses within Asheville or the other municipalities if the total cost for customers varied depending where they were eating or drinking in Buncombe County.
Hess
Undecided
While I am currently undecided about the introduction of additional taxes on the people of Asheville, my commitment to robustly supporting and enhancing the arts in our vibrant city remains unwavering. Asheville’s culture and creativity are our lifeblood, and it is crucial that we find innovative ways to sustain and nurture this creative heartbeat.
I believe in exploring alternative funding mechanisms that do not solely rely on new taxes. We can look towards optimizing the use of existing funds and identifying underutilized resources that could be redirected to support the arts. Furthermore, the city can foster a self-sustaining
arts ecosystem through the organization of quarterly festivals. These events would not only celebrate and showcase Asheville’s rich artistic and creative community but also generate revenue that can be reinvested into the arts.
Additionally, prioritizing the maintenance and repair of our existing theaters and art spaces is essential. These venues are the cornerstone of Asheville’s artistic expression and community engagement. By ensuring they are in prime condition, we enhance their potential as sources of cultural enrichment and economic activity.
Leaven
Undecided
Whereas the city absolutely needs to support the arts significantly more than it currently is (the arts have flourished despite the city, not because of the city), I would first have to see the exact wording of the proposed tax in order to gauge its scope, depth, and breadth. I would want to make sure that the tax does not directly tax the restaurants themselves and I would want to speak with all effected parties prior to voting. I am in theory supportive of a 1% consumer tax that supports the arts, but I would have to make sure that the targeted industry (if there is one) is not taxed, that a 1% consumer tax would not deter consumers from that industry, and I would want to speak in-depth with the targeted industry prior to voting to make sure that I understand and weigh any concerns they may have.
Pearson
Undecided
I would be open to having more discussion about what this looks like.
Roney
Agree
Yes, I support additional arts funding as a connection to our community health and well-being. We are members of a dynamic arts community, and I appreciate ArtsAVL’s work to study the economic impact of the arts. A sales tax could be a way to capture and invest tourist dollars into our arts and culture infrastructure. Thank you for partnering with the City to facilitate the Event Support Grant!
Turner
Disagree
I answered disagree for several reasons: First, only the County can enact new taxes on the public; the City cannot. Second, food and bev taxes are regressive in nature, in that they impact the lower incomes more than the higher incomes. Additionally, taxes, utilities and rents have spiked so dramatically – up 42% – in recent years; we cannot add more, new daily taxes right now. There is also a significant bond package building for 2024 that will address our much needed long term facilities and infrastructure planning. We really need to see how that shakes out on the ballot ahead of any more new taxes.
Q4: CREATIVE SPACES
BACKGROUND | A report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness found that Asheville is more expensive than 98% of other North Carolina cities, and rents have risen 41.7% since 2020, making it the most expensive place to rent in the state. In fact, a recent Asheville Citizen Times article showed that fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Asheville has risen 78% since 2019. Meanwhile, the hourly wage has not risen to meet the living wage, reported by Just Economics as $22.10/hour in Buncombe County. This is having a devastating impact on the local creative community, forcing more arts professionals to move their residences and businesses outside of Asheville and even Buncombe County.
Affordability was identified as a problem back when rents 40-80% cheaper. The 2018 Arts Market Study showed the majority of artists (86%) and arts organizations (78%) identifying a need for affordable artist housing and/or studio space– 424 responded that they considered leaving Asheville due to cost of living. The report also identified the City’s “Ice House” property on Riverside Drive in the River Arts District as an ideal location for multiple use live/work development for artists.
ArtsAVL is currently conducting a Creative Spaces study that builds on this previous report from 2018, with the final report expected out in May 2024. Learn more at artsavl.org/spaces.
Would you support an initiative to create affordable artist housing and/or studio space in the River Arts District? Is there anything else you would like to share about City support for affordable artist live/work spaces?
Domingo
Disagree
Affordable housing issues must be resolved for all Ashevillians. I would not want to use taxpayer funds to specifically help folks of any specific profession over another. I would also be worried about such a program creating a de facto “chilling effect” on art and artists that would criticize the city.
Frazier
Strongly Agree
Because our city is not prepared to serve as the builder or manager of housing, I am inclined to propose that the city serve as the owner of affordable properties and partner with skilled developers and property managers for construction and operations of affordable artist housing and studio space.
Hess
Strongly Agree
Ensuring that artists and creative individuals can afford to live and thrive in Asheville is paramount. By supporting the arts, we support the soul of our city, fostering an environment where creativity flourishes and enriches us all. I am committed to working collaboratively with the arts community, local businesses, and other stakeholders to develop and implement strategies that secure the long-term prosperity of Asheville’s arts and cultural landscape without placing undue financial burden on our residents.
Leaven
Strongly Agree
The city can also support the performing and literary arts significantly more than it is.
Pearson
Strongly Agree
I support affordable and deeply affordable, adequate, equitable live/work spaces.
Roney
Strongly Agree
Yes, and I think we can learn from the County’s experience with sector-based housing for teachers.
I’m committed to affordability and to improving quality of life for the people who live and work here. The rent is too high, but so is the rising cost of transportation and utilities. Tackling affordability looks like: Incentivizing and investing in deeply-affordable housing; keeping neighbors from becoming unhoused through partnership for home repairs and eviction protection; following through on recommendations in the National Alliance to End Homelessness report to reduce homelessness; expanding transit, bikeability, walkability, and accessibility so having a car isn’t a prerequisite to accessing housing; securing our food and water systems, including fair water rates to keep our water on instead of steep discounts for the largest commercial accounts; demanding renewable energy options in new development to secure our energy grid and keep utilities down; and setting an example by regaining living wage certification for City staff so our employees can live in the communities they serve.
Serious concerns need to be addressed regarding disparate outcomes of the City’s affordable housing efforts. Council is currently pausing our Land Use Incentive Grant to look at disparities of race and class, and I’m eager to get this tool to align with our strategic goal of Equitable, Affordable Housing because it’s the closest thing we have to rent control. Another strategy could look like a community benefits table applied to conditional zoning processes for residential and mixed-use development on transit corridors.
Turner
Strongly Agree
The longer we wait, the more expensive the venture will become. We were in talks 4 years ago about a sliver of land in the River Arts District that could become artist housing. A great partner org was found and early conversations were started. Then it fizzled. Just this week, Council looked at those parcels of land again and is considering introducing them into a redevelopment process. Let’s do it!
Q5: THOMAS WOLFE AUDITORIUM
BACKGROUND | On July 5, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium closed its doors due to a massive failure of the HVAC system. In the short-term, that failure immediately resulted in scheduled shows being shifted to the ExploreAsheville.com Arena or other locations. In the longer-term, this current closure of Thomas Wolfe, even if it reopens in a limited capacity, is estimated to result in a loss of over $20 million for Asheville businesses.
At a work session on September 26th, Asheville City Council directed staff to explore two potential paths forward—both major redesigns of the historic space. Staff is expected to come back to Council with more fleshed out recommendations for renovation in early 2024.
You can find more information about the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium issue here.
Based on your knowledge of this issue and the information that is available, do you believe it is time for the City to finally address this issue by fully renovating or replacing Thomas Wolfe Auditorium? Is there anything else you would like to share about the renovation or replacement of Thomas Wolfe Auditorium?
Domingo
Agree
The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium is an essential part of Asheville’s cultural heritage. It is disheartening that like so many important pieces of our infrastructure, it has been allowed to decay and deteriorate to the point of failure.
While renovation/replacement plans must reflect the balance of historical preservation – maximizing public benefit and minimizing economic burden, I am committed to a future in which Thomas Wolfe Auditorium continues to be a cherished venue for music, comedy, theatre, and dance.
Frazier
Strongly Agree
The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium either needs to be fully renovated to become a modern performing arts venue or it needs to be replaced by a new performing arts venue in a different downtown location. We have gone past the point of a band-aid solution.
The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium is almost 100 years old. It was built in the 1930s as the city’s second auditorium in that location. When the arena was added in the 1970s, the city auditorium was encapsulated by the new building and renamed in honor of the famous Asheville author. Now, nearly a century later, the auditorium has outlived its usefulness. We don’t need an auditorium, we need a performing arts venue, and even if the HVAC were repaired it would still be a subpar venue.
Because the auditorium and arena are revenue generators there is a great opportunity to develop new business plans for both. If we built a new performing arts venue downtown on a different site what new purpose could the current space be used for? An expansion of the arena? A small conference center?
The city needs to move swiftly to address this issue, as it did recently with McCormick Field. Both assets are important to residents of the city, the county, and the region, as well as for the economic viability of downtown. “
Hess
Strongly Agree
Leaven
Strongly Agree
Pearson
Undecided
The TWA is and can be a major tourist attraction and may provide revenue generating activities for the city, but if a decision is going to made to replace or fully renovate the TWA, there needs to be a standard process for such. Deciding on which project to fund and how to fund them should be decided in a fair and equitable manner, ensuring transparency throughout the process. Projects such as the Wesley Grant Center Pool and Walton Street Pool created a divide in the community, and many believed the City did not make the decison based on community input and that this historically black community was taken advantage of and this project was another part of genetrifying the neighborhood. So yes, there are issues that can and should be addressed by the city. Deciding and ensuring the process of how or why projects are chosen to be funded, replaced and/or renovated should be fair and equitable to minimize the divide within our city. I believe we must invest, incentivize, engage, and empower our community for the future.
Roney
Agree
Yes, and I know that partnerships will be critical to our success. As I noted on the record in the Council work session, my experience in the music industry along with community engagement leads to my position that we should prioritize the Acoustic-Driven or Raked Floor options instead of the Flat Floor one. We have multiple flat-floor venues in the local and regional market, and I don’t think we should duplicate that offering if we can partner to expand our venue resources while securing a home for the Asheville Symphony.
Turner
Undecided
I chose undecided because there are caveats to my agreement. One, this is a great use of tourism tax dollars and shouldn’t be solely on the city to fund. There is a large area of city owned land near this auditorium and a large, aged county owned library next door. I would like to see the updates and funding needed to renovate as part of a larger plan to update this entire district. Imagine how amazing it could be if we update and move the library to 68 Haywood, build a state of the art NC History exhibit, include the gardens and community visions, build out housing around the site, transition the old library to housing, and use the proceeds to help offset renovations to TW. We can do great things with this area.
Q6: DOWNTOWN BID
BACKGROUND | A Business Improvement District (BID) is a specially designated area within a city or town where local property and business owners collaborate to enhance the economic and physical environment. BIDs are typically funded through a self-imposed tax or assessment on property owners within the district. The primary goal of a BID is to improve and promote the area, often through initiatives such as beautification, cleanliness, enhanced security, marketing, and events.
These districts are typically managed by a nonprofit organization or association (like the Asheville Downtown Association) that works closely with local government authorities and stakeholders. BIDs serve as engines for economic growth, helping local businesses thrive and contributing to the overall vitality and inclusivity of the neighborhood or downtown area they serve.
Downtown Asheville is the major arts and cultural hub for our region. Many arts organizations located in and/or presenting in downtown continue to be negatively impacted by safety and security issues facing our downtown. It is our hope that a BID could help address these challenges.
Based on your current understanding or prior knowledge of Business Improvement Districts, do you believe Downtown Asheville would benefit from the establishment of a BID? Is there anything else you would like to share about establishing a BID in Downtown Asheville?
Domingo
Agree
Provided that the public are given regular oversight on how collected taxes are being spent, I believe that a BID can be a powerful asset in allowing downtown stakeholders to innovate and implement new solutions.
Frazier
Strongly Agree
As a downtown resident and downtown business owner, I support the BID. It is a well-tested tool for ensuring a safe, clean, and beautiful downtown. I’ve seen a BID in action in cities like Chattanooga, TN and Portland, MN, to great success. One of the key elements of a well-run business improvement district is having staff on the ground to address needs and develop relationships with the people who are our residents and our workers.
Hess
Agree
Leaven
Strongly Agree
The fact that a BID is even on the table means that we have failed to do our job as a city. We have to make sure that the city does not further defund downtown after a BID is established.
Pearson
Undecided
My first thought/question is how many downtown business owners are in favor, and of the small business owners downtown, can they afford afford the tax adjustment? Can the goal be accomplished in another way? What about the power dynamics and influences from property owners with larger business and revenue versus smaller businesses? Who is pushed out upon the creation of BID?
What did we learn 12 years ago when the subject of BID came about?
I believe that to improve our community and public safety, it takes effort from the collective. It’s not always necessary to add a “”gatekeeper”” when we as a collective can and should work to address these challenges. If it is felt that another entity, name, or label is needed to make it official and does not create a divide within the city, then I would be open to supporting such, pending input from the community, especially the smaller local businesses that would be affected, and hearing of the lessons learned along with issues and concerns being addressed.
Roney
Undecided
I am currently in a position of listening and learning, both to new voices in the conversation and to those who participated in previous engagements around a BID. When engaging business owners and residents during the Chamber’s recent stakeholder meetings, some of the concerns I heard included: accountability for an unelected board overseeing tax dollars, realistic service boundaries and expectations, impact of the potential for multiple property tax raises at the same time, and insufficient base-level services currently provided by the City and County in Downtown.
As a dedicated advocate for true public safety, I believe that everyone in Asheville deserves to be safe, but a narrow definition of public safety limits successes and creates new problems. True public safety identifies needs and utilizes the correct tools. A BID is required to serve above and beyond base-level services, but the City and County are not yet providing the base-level services our community deserves during crises of behavioral health and opioid overdose. While our community considers a new property tax to fund a BID Downtown, in large part to fund staffing, I hope my neighbors will also consider advocating for improved base-level services now in addition to the suggestions outlined in my recent opinion piece in the Citizen Times. Otherwise, even with a BID we will still be sending the wrong person with the wrong tools during times of crisis, but with a new problem as our community will have less resources to support the services everyone deserves.
Turner
Undecided
I am starting from a place of support but I have many concerns that must be addressed before I support a BID. The body appointed to govern the tax must be inclusive of downtown businesses of all sizes and representation. I am already concerned the BID is proposed to be housed at the Chamber, when it could be housed at a nonprofit business organization like the Asheville Downtown Association.The voting body should not include any tourism authority representation – they have enough tax and power. The core services that are already in place for the downtown district are a baseline starting point and need to be clearly identified. The BID is in no way to replace the funding that is currently (and historically) being spent on Downtown; a BID is meant to go above and beyond current services. The tax cannot be astronomical; rents and costs in downtown are already spiking; we cannot harm our beloved businesses. I will be frank: if all the hotels want the BID but no local businesses do, and if the voting body is comprised of hotels, tourism leaders, and large businesses like Biltmore Estates, I will not be supportive. My hope is the groups working on the BID hear this message clearly and address the concerns before it comes to Council. A BID can be a wonderful and important addition to our Downtown but it must be done as we do all other things – fairly, with inclusion, and without large powerful agencies and tourism influence dominating the body.
Q7: CULTURAL PLAN
BACKGROUND | A cultural plan is a place-based planning process that generates a vision and action plan for strengthening and growing arts and culture assets. It provides an inventory of current assets, identifies maintenance and support needs, and highlights gaps and future opportunities for growth.
There has never been a cultural plan for Asheville or Buncombe County– even though we are widely known as a arts and cultural destination and our arts scene drives many people to want to live, work, and play in our community. As we hope you are seeing for the previous questions, our cultural community is being impacted by Asheville’s continued growth. It is important that we consider conducting some sort of cultural planning process to provide a roadmap to support this growth over time for the social and economic benefit of our community.
Would you support the creation of Asheville- Buncombe County’s first Cultural Plan to support the preservation of our cultural assets, and the equitable and sustainable growth of the creative sector? Is there anything else you would like to share about a Asheville-Buncombe cultural plan?
Domingo
Agree
Frazier
Undecided
As a city, we have so many plans and policies in place that we do not follow and that we do not update in a timely manner because we appear to not have enough staff time and overall time to dedicate to reviewing, re-engaging the public, making updates, adopting those updates, hiring enough staff to execute the plans, etc. Each plan requires hundreds if not thousands of hours from city employees, and countless hours from the public and stakeholder partners as people seek to engage, understand, and shape our community’s plans. I support the preservation of our cultural assets, and the equitable and sustainable growth of the creative sector, and similar to my response regarding the question gauging my current support for raising sales taxes, it would be irresponsible of me at this time to declare support for a new plan without a full review of the city’s current and multi-year plans, as well as a review of staffing for updating and actually implementing our current plans and policies.
Hess
Strongly Agree
Leaven
Strongly Agree
The city and county can have a joint plan, but the city additionally needs to go above and beyond this plan to further support the arts within the city limits.
Pearson
Agree
I am open to the idea as long as it is fair, equitable, and there is collaboration with other entities, our cultural center and locals that have the knowledge and are doing similar work locally, in our city.
Roney
Agree
Yes, and as unchecked tourism continues to extract our resources, burden our infrastructure, and displace our vulnerable neighbors, I think it is appropriate that we advocate together for changes to our hotel occupancy tax so this kind of plan and other services and infrastructure needs in this questionnaire could be implemented through our hotel taxes.
I’m grateful for the partnership ArtsAVL is taking on with the City for supporting local festivals through the Event Support Grant, and I continue to appreciate the intentionality of the ArtsAVL to evaluate funding processes to ensure more equitable outcomes, building relationships and amplifying the work of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists in our community. Many artist households like mine are concerned that Asheville is marketed to tourists for our art and beer culture, but the attention and resources mostly benefit a few while the extractive impact of tourism is deeply felt by those most vulnerable to displacement from places to live and work. I invite neighbors and organizations to join, continue, and deepen the shared work to make our community better, identifying barriers and shifting behaviors to achieve equitable outcomes just as I remain committed to pushing for systems change and operationalized equity in City Hall.
Turner
Undecided
Depending on cost and outcomes of the study and plan process, I could get behind this. I would need more info on timing, costs, and pros and cons. Great idea.
Schedule
Primary Election Countdown
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PRIMARY ELECTION
Voter Registration Deadline: February 9, 2024
Deadline to Request an Absentee Ballot: February 27, 2024 at 5 pm
Early Voting Dates: February 15- March 2, 2024
Election Date: March 5, 2024
General Election Countdown
Day(s)
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Hour(s)
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Minute(s)
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Second(s)
GENERAL ELECTION
Voter Registration Deadline: October 11, 2024
Deadline to Request an Absentee Ballot: October 29, 2024 at 5 pm
Early Voting Dates: October 17- November 2, 2024
Election Date: November 5, 2024
Voter Resources
