'We do not have all the answers': Asheville takes a step back from board restructuring process

ASHEVILLE — After the chaos of a vitriolic first meeting and many residents left frustrated by the city's proposed restructuring of its 20 advisory boards, a June meeting found the group back at square one. 

The working group returned under a new name and with a new slate of promises: Namely, city staff said they were taking a step back, removing all previously imposed timelines and slowing down the process to reduce the number of boards and commissions.

“In that last meeting, we did hear that we need to slow down and also that we need to do a deeper assessment. We have heard that this group would like to look at the big picture, so we are pivoting to broaden the scope and do exactly that," said Sarah Gross, deputy city clerk and project manager for the restructure. 

“We do not have all the answers, and we are hoping that this community group can help to define and co-create a workable system that is beneficial for all of our stakeholders." 

Previous coverage: 

• Asheville advisory boards restructuring: 'An atrocity.' 'Total crap.' 'A nonstarter.'
• Asheville commissions like forestry, affordable housing, fear loss in city restructure
• Asheville proposal: Shrink number of boards and commissions from 20 advisory boards to 4

She emphasized that no decisions have been made for the final vision of restructuring and that any eventual changes will ultimately be a City Council decision. 

The proposal to consolidate the city's various boards and commissions — including the  Affordable Housing Advisory Board Committee, Urban Forestry Commission, African American Heritage Commission and more than a dozen others — was first formally floated to the community in February, though rumors of the restructuring had swirled for months. 

The initial proposal made by staff was to consolidate Asheville's 20 boards and commissions, totaling about 130 members, into four advisory boards of about 40 appointees. 

The restructuring was intended to streamline a bloated process, take strain off city staff, which is stretched thin, and create a model that generates more policy-level recommendations to City Council, the intended purpose of boards and commissions, according to city staff. 

Some of the city's boards and commissions have been in existence since the 1960s. In that time, there has never been an overall assessment of the system, according to a one-page rationale for the realigning process. 

Calls to slow the process were community-wide. Many were concentrated in a May 9 open letter to council that was signed by nine organizations and more than 90 individuals. 

Roe v. Wade: Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, eliminating constitutional right to abortion

Read this:Asheville answers call of reparations, urban forestry commissions; living wage proposed

'I don't want to see us go backwards' 

The group that gathered virtually on June 23, newly dubbed the Realignment Working Group, had about 40 attendees. At times, the group splintered off into breakout rooms, where residents, with the aid of city staff, began assembling working documents of feedback, ideas and concepts for the new leg of the restructuring journey. 

Aisha Adams, an outside facilitator helping to guide the working group, asked that people committing to the working group, made up of boards and commission members, past and current, and any other residents interested, commit to participate through September. 

Two hour meetings are planned for the fourth Thursday of each month. 

After a brief presentation by Gross, the meeting began with a discussion of what works well in the current system and the positives that people want to keep. 

What followed was a conversation that sketched a vision of boards and commissions as an Asheville institution — a confluence of decades of experience that, while not always a seamless process, was essential to creating community involvement in an oft-overwhelming governmental system. 

Barber Melton said she's spent 40 years on "many, many" different commissions, including four different iterations of the affordable housing commission.

“I remember the time when the City Council and city management and staff were begging neighborhood people to get involved," Melton said. "I don’t want to see us go backwards." 

She was involved with the rewrite of the Asheville Unified Development Ordinance and the creation of the city's comprehensive plan. 

Without boards and commissions, she said, the city would not have a number of new policies, including its Tree Canopy Preservation Ordinance and Noise Ordinance, among others. 

ACS:After 'devastating' Asheville Primary closure, $200 Pre-K increase 'blindsides' parents

In other news: Malvern Hills Pool closed after failed inspection; loss of a 'lifeline,' says neighbor

"There's a lot of good that's come out of these," she said. “(Participants) know they have a voice in the community and it’s not decisions coming from the top down."

Current board members, like Margie Bukowski, vice chair of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, said boards bring together various community experts and help inform policies from the perspective of those deeply familiar with their chosen field. 

Karen Ramshaw said she has been to a lot of meetings and is continually impressed that the city has people with 20 or 30 years of experience willing to contribute what they know. 

Kit Molina-Nauert said she appreciates the ease of access of the city's boards and commissions — with most meetings livestreamed, she can be folding laundry at home while watching the Affordable Housing Committee and can reference back meetings or offer public comment. 

“(It) allows residents like myself, who don’t necessarily need to be on a committee ... be tapped into what’s going on earlier upstream before it gets to council," Molina-Nauert said. "It really allows us to stay tapped in, stay engaged, know who the players are and what’s going on."

Next steps? 

The meeting resulted in the creation of four working documents — which will be open to additions from participants until June 29. They explore goals delineated in the first meeting: creating a survey for all current city appointed board members, identifying who is missing from the conversation, a look at policy recommendations coming out of advisory boards and a discussion of what a successful board and commissions system actually looks like. 

186-unit Long Shoals project: Affordable studio and 1 bedroom apartments coming to Arden?'

Our frustration continues': CBD could be illegal next week as legislative hemp action stalls

Adams said this information will be given to city staff, which will come back at the next meeting to discuss how they will use the recommendations provided. 

While the overarching goal is to work with the community to co-create a recommendation to the City Council for an advisory board system that is more strategic, effective and inclusive, Gross said, in the short term, staff will continue to meet with the working group to "assess our boards and commissions and collect input to inform the next phase of the process." 

Stacy Anderson, former chair of the Transit Committee, commended staff for "backing up and reevaluating" the restructuring process. 

"I'm sure everybody appreciates the fact that we've kind of got a reboot here," she said. 

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky.