Folks – We are in a world of trouble if we refuse to fight for our values. Three other conservatives and I attended the July 27 city council meeting. Many folks were present to comment on a new noise ordinance that would be voted upon during the session. Several young people who did not seem to have anything else to do lounged around and waited for their chance to rage against the establishment.
Watch for yourself to see what your City Council is hearing from people who have plenty of time to attend these meetings and advocate for their own radical viewpoints.
********
00:02:50 — Angry, police-hating advocate for the homeless who lamented holding the meeting on land that we stole from the Cherokees.
00:05:05 – A multi-masked homeless shelter advocate sought clarity on (1) why the city has not defunded the police by 50% and used that money to help the “unhoused” and (2) why the noise ordinance specifically targets protesters, robbing them of their right to stomp around and yell.
00:07:50 – Sherry’s husband, Chuck, highlighting how ridiculous it is for the city to raise taxes as people are still trying to recover from the economic fallout of Covid. Thank you for that, Chuck!
00:09:15 – Crisis-obsessed fan of defunding the police.
00:10:44 – A multi-masked angry homeless victim of everything demanded that the City Council immediately defund the police. He also demanded that they stop crushing the poor and homeless people in the city as they flee the police, who (aided by swarms of white supremacists) are out to kill him and his community. Oh, …and the tourists are killing him and his buddies by spreading covid. He speaks many times on various topics and says the same things over and over.
00:13:16 – A tiny little homeless girl (Our Lady of Negative Gratitudes) expressed that she can’t understand why the city is spending $11 million on a public building that will house a fire station, emergency operations center, a community meeting room, and (OMG!) a police substation. Why not spend some of that money to help the homeless with permanent shelters instead of hotel rooms? She also complained that the city didn’t bother to provide them with food, only shelter.
00:15:08 – Another angry lady who is tired of having to keep coming to council meetings to repeat the same demands – dismantle the police force and give additional free everything to the homeless.
00:22:33 – City planners presented information on affordable housing apartment units in a new development on Long Shoals Road.
00:39:48 – Donate two city-owned lots to be used for affordable single-family housing.
00:47:24 – Proposal for the city to donate $2million from American Rescue Plan Act funds to Homeward Bound to purchase a Days Inn hotel, which will be re-purposed into permanent housing for the homeless.
00:55:25 – Unhappy lady (from the beginning of the meeting) who wants us all to know that the city should have given more money to the Days Inn project by taking it away from the $11million public facility (which has been a frequent target of complaints at this meeting).
00:56:00 – Our own Sherry Warner with some perfectly reasonable questions based on her review of the Days Inn proposal document attached to the agenda. I’m shocked that they attempted to answer those questions during the meeting, but I was happy they did! Excellent job, Sherry! I think they have just realized that someone is starting to pay attention to what they are doing!
01:00:00 – this begins nearly 2 hours of public comment on the new noise ordinance. Just a couple of hours of people telling the opposing view to move away if they don’t like it.
03:05:00 – Lady reminisces on when she moved to Asheville and then reflected on what it is becoming. She also suggests that APD is now so understaffed that it isn’t realistic or fair to expect them to enforce the new noise ordinance.
03:10:00 – The multi-masked homeless fellow declared that City Council sucks and has endangered the community by requiring public comment to be in person. He also stated that he believes “the Pigs” will enforce the noise ordinance disproportionally against BLM protesters. Wealthy people should not be listened to or considered by the city government. Blah, blah, blah…
Council then voted to accept the noise ordinance, and most of the public cleared out of the meeting space.
03:33:28 – Retired LEO thanking police for coming to his rescue after a devastating hit-and-run that placed him into physical rehabilitation for months.
03:37:15 – A historical review to support the belief that Asheville has ALWAYS been a city of systemic racism.
03:40:53 – A conservative old white man in Asheville horrifies everyone by expressing his incorrect opinions about supporting the police and disagreement with the city council’s assertion that systemic racism is a public health crisis.
03:43:48 – The little angry multi-masked homeless man (again) begins his final rant of the evening by pointing out that the prior speaker (Cowmia) is a fascist. Cowmia protested and was told by the mayor to be quiet and keep paying his taxes.
03:46:24 – Opposition to the requirement that public comment must be made in person.
03:48:20 – Final speaker for the evening. She asked that we remember a man that she claims was murdered in jail by the police. She is also a Covid expert and wants the city to defund the police.
********
Folks, we need to voice our opposition to the radical demands expressed at these meetings with elected representatives. City Council will continue to hear the loud voices of those opposed to the police in favor of giving more and more to the homeless and making reparations to those harmed by this city’s perceived “systemic racism”. Are you going to allow those voices to drown yours out?
Asheville City Council typically meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month; however, the next meeting is scheduled for August 24 at 5 p.m.
Meeting materials for meetings held in 2021 are available HERE. You can find video recordings of City Council meetings on their Youtube channel.
Many thanks to Doug Brown, who stayed with us for several hours during the meeting and worked alongside Sherry Warner and me to plan our debut city council appearance.
