Civic Engagement

Check out the videos of the town halls below, and also our City Council Scorecard

We were proud to co-host The Black Asheville Town Hall Series alongside Jefferson Ellison and Libby Kyles. The Black Town Halls was a three-night public forum created to foster direct, accountable dialogue between candidates for elected office and the communities they seek to represent. Hosted at the historic YMI Cultural Center, the series centered Black voters while welcoming the broader Asheville and Buncombe County community.

This moderated town hall gave voters the opportunity to hear directly from candidates on issues impacting everyday life in Asheville, including housing, public safety, economic mobility, education, health, and community investment.

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City Council Night 1

Monday, February 16

Participants

  • Antanette Mosley

  • Bobby Smith

  • Drew Ball

  • Jeffrey Burroughs

  • Jess Young McLean

  • Kyle A. Turner

  • Scott Buroughs

  • Shaunda Jackson

  • TIffany DeBellott

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City Council Night 2

Tuesday, February 17

Participants

  • Blake Butler

  • CJ Snyder

  • Dan Ferrell

  • Jared Wheatley

  • Keith Young

  • Maggie Ullman

  • Nina Ireland

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Below are the yes/no responses that City Council members made at the Town Halls. (Question 6 wasn't asked on Night 2, which is why it's blank for some candidates.) They were invited to explain their responses in the discussion that followed, which you can review in the videos above.

Here is the full text of the questions:

Importance of Black-centered events: Do you agree that the local Black community, while diverse in thought and legacy, has shared common interests and a unique set of obstacles that make events like tonight both useful and necessary for Council’s understanding of the local community?

1. Importance of Black-centered events: Do you agree that the local Black community, while diverse in thought and legacy, has shared common interests and a unique set of obstacles that make events like tonight both useful and necessary for Council’s understanding of the local community?
2. Need for systemic changes: Do you agree that certain issues facing the Black community in Asheville—the racial wealth gap, reading comprehension, and justice system involvement—are indicative of the need for systemic changes and direct investments into the community to address those specific issues?
3. Implement reparations recommendations: The City’s Reparations Commission proposed 39 city actions and recommendations to address past harms and disenfranchisement of the local Black community. Do you support the implementation and prioritization of those actions?
4. Fund reparations: Do you support Asheville continuing to fund reparations work beyond symbolic resolutions, with dedicated dollars each budget cycle?
5. City contracts to Black-owned businesses: Do you support setting measurable targets for city contracts going to Black-owned businesses?
6. Black residents policed differently: Do you believe Black residents in Asheville are policed differently than white residents?
7. Shift funding from police to violence prevention: Should the city shift additional funding from policing to community-based violence prevention programs?
8. Living wage for all City employees: Will you commit to not voting for a budget that does not pay all Asheville City employees a living wage?