What Are Your Top Three Priorities For 2008? (Most of) Our City Council Answers. UPDATED.

I sent this email to all seven Asheville City Council members on Tuesday, Dec. 18th.

“Councilmembers,

My name is Gordon Smith, and I’d like to put together a post for the upcoming year regarding your individual and collective policy priorities for the coming year.

Your responses will appear at my blog, Scrutiny Hooligans, unedited.

What are your Top Three Policy Priorities for 2008 City Council?

Thanks for your time, attention, and hard work,

Gordon Smith”

Carl Mumpower, Robin Cape, Brownie Newman, Holly Jones, Jan Davis, and Terry Bellamy’s responses are listed below in the order they were received. Councilman Bill Russell eschewed my request and chose to act out his personal frustrations instead. (UPDATED at the bottom of the post with Councilman Russell’s just-sent priorities) That’s his prerogative, I suppose. Here’s Councilman Russell’s response, in full, to my email:

(pic credit – Jason Sandford a.k.a. Ashvegas)

“Mr. Smith,

Your blogging over the past 4 months and contstant criticizing of my candidacy both on your website, and in many other media outlets, was completely one sided. Your predetermined political positions and assumptions about my campaign, my positions, my integrity and my loyalties were not presented as news, rather an attempt to damage me politically and personally.

It should be no surprise to you that I will not be participating in your blogging; however, I wish you the very best in 2008! Instead of constantly throwing mud and criticizing so many people and things over the next year, I would encourage you to consider how your blogging is helping our community “Progress”.

Bill Russell

I responded to Mr. Russell (twice) and haven’t yet heard back from him. But in case he reads this post, I’d like to point out (1) this is not a journalistic news site, it is a partisan political blog; (2) I never said anything personal about Mr. Russell; (3) All I did was repeatedly point out that Mr. Russell raised the vast bulk of his campaign funds from Republicans, out-of-towners, and Big Development interests because they felt he would best represent their interests. These things are all true. All other inferences I left to the readers.

Since Mr. Russell doesn’t want to “participate in [my] blogging”, I’m giving him the opportunity to simply communicate with the citizens of the city he’s chosen to serve. Please take a minute to email Councilman Russell (billrussell@charter.net) to ask him his top three priorities for 2008. He can ignore a lone blogger, but if he ignores dozens of constituents then he’s moved from petulance to arrogance. He doesn’t have to like me, but he just took a job representing me – and you. Now he doesn’t want to participate? Draw your own conclusions.

Here’s Dr. Carl Mumpower, who’s been mentioned a time or two on this blog. He was the first to respond. He has always been communicative despite our political differences. I have enormous respect for his maturity and dogged determination:

“In a nutshell-

1) Continue to press for the elimination of our open air drug markets in all public housing developments and neighborhoods in Asheville. If we drive it underground, we reduce the recruitment of new dealers, users, and supporters and impair their ability to harm children, the elderly, and families in vulnerable neighborhoods. This continues to be Job One in my view.

2) Continue to support a model of government in Asheville that supports the common good and upholds personal liberty, opportunity and responsibility over special interests and self-serving personal agendas.

3) Continue to serve as a consistent voice for fiscal constraint, transparency, fairness, and balance in all Council decisions.

Carl Mumpower
Asheville City Council”

Next to respond was Councilwoman Holly Jones:

“Hi Gordon,

Sorry for the slow response. This is generally the couple of weeks we have off from city council. I have been kind a jammed up with recitals, Christmas concerts and work. I was going to write a bit of description with each one, but since there is a time crunch….

1) Affordable Housing (Continuing looking for ways to increase supply)
2) Continued investments in sidewalks and greenways (with an emphasis on safe routes to school.)
3) Regional planning with the County

Peace, Holly”

I’ve invited Holly to respond at greater length in the new year, and she expressed her desire to do so.

Recently re-elected Councilman Brownie Newman sent this:

“1. Make Asheville the leader for environmental sustainability in the Southeast. I hope we can create a community-wide commitment to dramatically reduce our global warming pollution, create stronger incentives and requirements for green building, and create programs to encourage widespread utilization of energy efficiency measures and installation of renewable energy systems.

2. Implement new strategies to address the challenges of growth and development. The pattern of sprawl development and gentrification are key challenges to our community. If we are going to have growth in our area, we need to support the kinds of community development that reflect Asheville’s values. To me, that means:

* environmentally sustainable building practices
* inclusion of housing that is affordable to regular working people
* excellent designs that fit in with the community
* in-fill development that supports walkable and transit-friendly neighborhoods.

I will support changes to our land use plans to achieve those goals. Both incentives and regulations are necessary. We need to streamline the process for projects that meet these goals to be approved and we need to provide greater scrutiny to proposed developments that do not address these goals.

We need to partner with the County Commissioners and other municipalities on a regional land use plan. It does not make sense for the city and the county to come up with land use plans in isolation from one another. We need a shared vision and plan for where in our county it makes sense to focus growth and what areas we want to protect from development.

I think the City Council needs to be willing to give up some of its own power in the development review process in order to achieve these goals.

3. Support for working families and living wage jobs. I will work to support living wage jobs in Asheville. I will work to reduce regressive taxes that impact middle class and lower income families. I would like to see a new Asheville Green Jobs Corps Initiative to provide job opportunities and skills training for young people in Asheville that help us achieve our community’s environmental sustainability goals.

Brownie Newman”

Councilwoman Robin Cape agreed that it’s a very busy time of year, but she found the time to fill us in:

“Gordon,

Sorry for the delay. Your right, this is a very busy time of year. My top three priorities would be as follows:

1) How can the city of Asheville use its sphere of influence to affect the global issues of climate and energy management?

. Building Incentives to encourage increasing the energy efficiency of buildings
. New Construction
. Remodels
. Evaluating our ordinances to see where they encourage sprawl and discourage more sustainable patterns of “city building”
. Supporting higher building code standards to increase the efficiency baseline of home inspection
. Supporting the new Sustainability coordinators work within city operations
. Funding increased operational efficiency for the city organization itself

2) Regional partnerships for growth management

. The time has come for constructive and active conversations within the region on growth management, protection of farmland, vital natural areas and the right places to locate our coming growth
. A realistic evaluation of water usage in our area for now and the future and where development patterns affect this important resource
. Inclusion of new development tax base set asides for green space protection

3) Support for the positive regional economic strategies.

Keeping our community vital and not relegated to a tourist economy alone is very important to me. We sit on the brink of a new era of economic development. Small, local and interconnected businesses that relate to the values of our community are building on the horizon. How we encourage these businesses and support their development will bode well for the future health of our citizens, both working families now and in the generations to come.

. Community sustainability and health is dependent upon the economic health of its citizens. The Hub has been working to catalyze the existing economic sectors within our region and synergize their efforts for the increased good of all. An example of this is the proposed Centers for Environmental and Climatic Interaction. I believe the city of Asheville has a vital role to play in the development of this initiative. http://www.climatealive.org/
. Advantage West recently hosted a conference on green building and energy efficient businesses. This is an excellent economic strategy for our region that I will work to support.
. Making the connection for our students between their education and their future work options in the area. How can we build an economy that will allow our children to live her? Building relationships between schools and local work futures.

Robin Cape
Council Woman
City of Asheville

Vice-Mayor Jan Davis’ response initially found its way into my spam filter, but he kindly sent another email to let me know he’d responded.

“Sorry for the delay.

1. Continue to seek equitable treatment of Asheville and it’s citizens by the county and legislators. That could be brought about by removal of the Sullivan Acts or an equity payment reducing the burden of the city resident and giving those outside the city an opportunity to share in the services and amenities they use. Developing trust between the two governments could lead to consolidation of some services or departments. That trust is not there presently; it will require a sincere effort on both parts to
achieve it.

2. Update the 2025 Comprehensive Plan and continue amending the Unified Development Ordinance. The 2025 Plan is a good plan that was a great community collaboration five years ago. Much of it remains very current, offering good direction for future growth, but in need of adding newer strategic goals of the Council and community. The UDO has been aggressively amended last year to provide clarity and easier use; we need to continue it’s revision.

3. The Civic Center needs a sooner than later rehabilitation and the City should be a full partner in a collaborative to build a new performing arts center. We have, for the first time, committed general funds for deferred maintenance of the Civic Center but it is for maintenance and continued operation, over a five year period. We need to invest in re-imaging the building to make it more operational and customer oriented. It is necessary for the economy and viability of the City to have a great gathering place downtown. A performing arts center is a must for an arts city if we are going to walk the walk. Quality of life amenities will separate us from the also ran’s when corporations consider relocation, as well as private citizens.

4. If you will indulge me, equal to the others above; the judicial system has to be improved to address behavioral issues like drugs, prostitution, panhandling, public drunkenness and graffiti. Our citizens have to feel safe; regrettably, our overwhelmed courts can not deal with nuisance crimes without greater funding by the state.

Jan”

Lastly, Mayor Terry Bellamy showed up with a remarkably exhaustive set of priorities. She’s setting a very ambitious agenda:

“Mr. Smith,

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your question. As mayor, I am faced with a number of policy issues that I have to address; however, you have asked for my top three. My policy priorities for 2008 are:

1. To continue to provide leadership and support for policies that will focus on the City of Asheville’s Core services, which include:
” improving the city’s water system
” addressing crime within the city limits
” making Asheville a cleaner and greener city
” developing and supporting a capital plan for the city’s aging infrastructure (which includes, streets, sidewalks, parks and
recreational facilities and city hall)

2. Work with council, community and neighboring communities on transportation, growth and development issues. As we continue to be a desirable place to relocate to, I will work to make sure we are meeting the needs of current and future residents. At the same time working to make sure we have affordable housing for working families and individuals. I will also work with nonprofit and for-profit entities to address our homeless population.

3. Lastly, I will continue to work with council, staff, County Commissioners, HUB partners, Chamber of Commerce, CIBO, Advantage West and NC’s Department of Commerce to maintain and increase the number of jobs in our city, county, and region.

Happy Holidays.

Mayor Bellamy”

UPDATE: Bill Russell got the message, I guess. Here’s his good-humored reply:

“Oh Gordon, if I must, and only for you: Priorities for 2008
1 Whip Gordon in a live bowling match while talking politics on his online blog site.
2 Convince the Mayor into letting me arm wrestle Freeborn live during a city council meeting.
3 Get the city to buy me a Blacktopping machine so I can begin my alleged mission to pave Pisgah.

OK, to the real world of the political neophyte, and to restate my pre-election slogan that I bring no party & political agendas to the table, I give you my adolescent priorities as a freshman councilman.

1 Go from 0 to 70 MPH on the water agreement & I-26 projects to hopefully assist in getting both issues resolved and moving forward during my first 12 months in office.
2 Learn about all the departments and responsibilities of the 1000+ city employees and begin to look at our local government and services from a business perspective. I would like the city and county to constantly be looking at ways we can consolidate services when the results would lead to lower taxes and more efficient basic services to our community.
3 Begin task force with local business owners, civic leaders, and stakeholders to look for ways to retain and attract more business and industry to our community. The cost of living and housing is very high in Asheville. Instead of looking for ways to bring costs down, I would prefer to look for ways to push wages UP and bring in higher paying jobs to the area. It’s a priority to get this started in my first year, but I understand it could be years or even a decade before the results begin to emerge.

And by the way, my first #1 priority was serious. Let’s go bowling so I can call you out on many of the comments you blogged about over the last 5 months. Game on!

Cheers!

Bill

There’s a lot here to chew on, but it’s clear that those Councilfolks who responded have big agendas they will seek to further in this upcoming year. Scrutiny Hooligans salute our City Council for the untold hours of hard work they put in. They’re paid a pittance to do all this, and we owe them our respect for their willingness both to take on a job that affects us all and to take the time to respond to citizens like me in the midst of all their other responsibilities.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Asheville and its elected leaders!

p.s. I replied to Mr. Russell that I wasn’t much of a bowler but that I’d like to get together. Look for more of our growing, developing relationship after the new year.