My work with and for Asheville so far:

• Bold leadership before, during, and after Hurricane Helene: Certification of Emergency Management Training with the Asheville Fire Department in May 2024; ensuring first responders had the right tools and training for climate catastrophe and getting the Level One Incident Management Team here during Helene; delivering water and flushing toilets for disabled and elderly residents; briefing staff, electeds, and community leaders through disaster response; organizing multi-lingual communications and information distribution into neighborhoods; demanding transparency through water system outages and repairs; and ensuring open, inclusive process for impacted people to have a seat at the table including Recovery Boards.
• Responding to the affordability crisis: Consistently supporting Costco and voting against the potential Amazon warehouse that would’ve blocked it; identifying funding for the Talbert lot, currently being planned for affordable housing on city-owned land Downtown; advocating for a more accountable contract for public transit and maintaining service to jobs, housing, and health & human services; successfully lobbying for change to fair water rates instead of residents subsidizing largest accounts; and demanding accountability for Duke Energy rate hikes.
• Boldly advocating for our rights: I voted against Flock and surveillance tech systems that violate our Constitutional rights; I supported City staff training for 4th amendment workplace to ensure staff know their rights if they’re the victims or witnesses of federal government overreach by ICE or DHS; I shared the work locally and statewide to advance LGBTQIA+ inclusive Non-Discrimination Ordinances that also includes protections for veteran status, pregnancy status, and natural hair; I pushed back against SB49 and the “Slate of Hate” legislation by drafting a resolution in support of our LGBTQIA+ community; as liaison to the Human Relations Commission, I supported their recommendation to protect against Source of Income/Funds discrimination that creates barriers to housing access; and I drafted the proclamation to protect access to reproductive healthcare.
• Demanding action on our stated climate emergency: I moved to implement the data center moratorium in committee which passed unanimously at Council; I worked with a colleague to get Neighborhood Resiliency added to Council priorities, which led to funding the Climate Justice Initiate and hiring the City’s first Urban Forester and budgeting for an Urban Forest Master Plan; I got Climate Justice to COVID-relief funding; I organized with community to get Resilience Hub funding in Helene Recovery spending and continue advocating for renewable energy solutions on City property.
• Accountability for the tourism industry: Saving the Grey Eagle and parts of the Southside from the Hotel Overlay Map; bringing the motion to Governance Committee to increase the occupancy tax percentage for local use instead of advertising and leveraging for accountability; and advocating alongside service industry workers, especially for affordable housing and transportation options.
• Prioritizing people & planet over profits: Setting and holding the standard for renewable energy in all new residential development; pressing to lead not lag on living wages; demanding water rate parity for residents; voting as a member of the French Broad River MPO to fund next steps in returning passenger rail service to Asheville; leveraging a long list of community benefits to ensure a better deal at our McCormick Field baseball park; and identifying funding for Talbert lot for expanded transit, deeply-affordable housing, and $1.2-million in Reparations funding.
• Leading courageously to diversify our public safety response which means deploying first responders with the right tools and training for the task at hand; demanding living wage policy to recruit and retain staff; convening with community members on the National Alliance to End Homelessness plan a for a humane response to the homelessness crisis; securing the return of 24-7 bathroom access Downtown; and asking hard questions about our budget, plans, and policies so we can deliver quality, equitable service outcomes that improve quality of life for all of us.
• Advancing an Open Meetings Policy at the Governance Committee that ended the private check-in meetings of Council; demanding accountability; and voting against the identified violation of open meetings law because the difficult conversations we need to have as a community should happen in the sunshine, not behind closed doors. I continue advocating for accessibility of public documents and engagement opportunities; removing barriers to civic participation as outlined in the openmeetingspolicy.com petition; supporting advisory boards; and amplifying community calls for an organizational equity audit.