Name: Ken Michalove
Profession: Consultant
In up to two words, describe your political affiliation: Independent
In one brief sentence, describe yourself and why you’re running: I am a former Mayor and City Manager of Asheville; I will focus on basic city services and infrastructure improvements; seek a 3.5 cent tax reduction; encourage private investment in affordable housing; encourage development while protecting neighborhoods and the environment.
General questions
These questions are about problems, challenges or topics facing city government and how you would try to deal with them if elected.
1) According to recent studies, Asheville has an extremely low amount of available housing and the city’s currently making national lists as an unaffordable place to live. What steps would you pursue to deal with this issue?
Stop Council from adopting unnecessary taxes, rate and fee increases (their actions the last 2 out of 3 years for taxes and the last 3 years for rate and fee increases); and, they gave themselves a raise every year. These Council decisions become a pass-through that goes from landlords to tenants, thus higher rents. This Council, Marc Hunt, is part of the unaffordable housing problem. Support the initiative by the Chamber; deal with affordable housing through a public/private initiative. The City appropriated several million dollars to the affordable housing cause; and, there are at least 12 organizations working this issue. The City needs its emphasis on providing basic services and infrastructure improvements. The Chamber group recognized, affordable housing doesn’t stop at the City limits and only non-profit and government support. I applaud their initiative.
2) During the past year, we’ve seen an increasing numbers of concerns raised about de facto racial segregation in Asheville, an issue worsened by the impacts of redlining, racism, urban renewal and the state of public housing. If elected, what specifically would you do to help address this problem?
My work background, both paid and volunteer, started by being involved with the anti-poverty programs locally in the early 60’s into the early 70’s: The Opportunity Corporation; Model Cities; Buncombe County Planning Council; Urban Renewal; Housing Authority; Asheville Buncombe Community Relations Council; school integration. I was a part of the major changes in citizen participation in this community and policy changes in service organizations. The City needs to focus on making sure its staff, departments, boards, commissions and committees are fairly represented and the City does not practice the de facto issues you mention in your question. To my knowledge there is little or no focus on developing leadership and citizen participation in the minority communities.
3) From internal disputes and problems with morale to concerns about racial disparities, many are wondering about the state of the Asheville Police Department. What specific steps do you see as necessary to reform the APD and improve relations with the community?
Give the new Chief an opportunity to complete her personal assessment of the Department and the community on the issues you raise. Make sure the Police Department has the training, equipment and other tools they need for dealing with the community law enforcement needs; and, good human relations.
4) Wages in Asheville are well below the state average and federal data shows pay for many jobs here remains stagnant despite the tourism boom. If elected, what specific steps would you pursue to help boost local wages?
Wage issues don’t stop at the City limits. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour effective 7-24-09. The City Budget adopted a “living wage” of $12.50 in 2007 for permanent positions and in 2015 for part-time positions. The 2015 increase costing $250,000 in additional taxes or about 0.25 cents on the tax rate. The organization promoting the living wage is Just Economics. As I understand it, this is a non-profit organization focused on: living wage jobs; accessible transportation; affordable housing; community education and leadership development, all good causes. In viewing their website I don’t see Mission Hospital, the Chamber of Commerce, Buncombe County or any of the other towns in Buncombe County listed as paying a Living Wage. It’s admirable for Asheville to be a trend setter but the message of a Living Wage has not reached these other major organizations in the 8 years the City adopted the program. Obviously, there are reasons these businesses have not rallied to pay a Living Wage. I need to hear firsthand from these businesses the reasons they don’t participate. And, their reasons can’t be just a profit motive since all of those mentioned above are not-for-profit organizations.
5) The last city budget estimated the total cost of the city’s infrastructure needs at around $400 million. What steps would you encourage to address this problem, what funding sources would you use and what would the top priorities be?
First you have to believe the City Manager. Who questioned the Manager about the $400 million? Is there a list that he picked from? If the City had $400 million how long would it take the City to plan and implement the spending of that money? It’s very unlikely the City could spend that amount of money in 5 years. What role did the Council play in selecting the projects for 2015/16 and beyond? Fact is, the five year CIP plan is subject to change annually. I have discovered that even the 5 year CIP is flawed since specific plans, start dates, etc. are unknown or don’t exist, they are just “plug figures”. Example: the $2 million funding of the Asheville Art Museum, a must do project for 2014 (which does not qualify, in my opinion, as a high priority expense and should never have been considered). This $2 million, collected annually for this project to be done in 2014 will not be done until 2017, thus $6 million will be collected for a $2 million project. Where did that $6 million go? Why didn’t the Council cut the tax rate? I will cancel that project and reduce the city tax rate by 3.5 cents.
I recommend a re-prioritization of the CIP and the City’s long range 2025 plan. Many projects cannot be done on the time schedule proposed; and, some should not be considered at all. So, $400 million need? Priority (in whose eyes)? The ability to implement is a practical consideration.
Some of my top priorities: infrastructure; pushing the state on high priority roads (I-26/240 bridge and added lanes; Sweeten Creek Rd widening; Hendersonville Rd congestion; a focus on bus transportation; a South Asheville community center; another parking deck downtown.
Yes/No questions
These questions are about specific proposals Council has or may consider, and how you would vote on them. The first word of each answer must be Yes or No. An explanation of one’s position — or an alternative proposal — may follow.
1) A majority of Asheville City Council recently approved increased fines and enforcement to strengthen the ban on short-term rentals (i.e. Airbnb and similar sites) in most areas of the city. Do you support this move?
Yes. As I understand it, this is appropriate since this applies to a use of property that is not allowed. The fine, I believe was $100 before and that was not stopping the violation of the ordinance. Hopefully, this increase in fine will get the attention of those violating the ordinance. If there are changes that need to be considered in the ordinance, I am open to listening.
2) City staff recently proposed a detailed plan to restrict busking in downtown in three major spots, with specific rules on the numbers of performers and the amount of space they can occupy. Do you support this proposal?
No, I don’t have the benefit of actually hearing the pros and cons of such a restriction. My past city service experience makes me cautious in deciding on a position unless I have heard first hand from the parties involved. And, in this case I would want to be on site where and when such performances take place.
3) Do you support a $12.50 minimum wage for all city of Asheville employees, regardless of classification or status?
No. And the key here is the word “all.” Wage issues don’t stop at the City limits. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour effective 7-24-09; the City Budget adopted a “living wage” of $12.50 in 2007 for permanent positions and in 2015 for part-time positions. The 2015 increase, costing $250,000 in additional taxes or about 0.25 cents on the tax rate. The organization promoting the living wage is Just Economics. As I understand it, this is a non-profit organization focused on: living wage jobs; accessible transportation; affordable housing; community education and leadership development, all good causes. In viewing their website I don’t see Mission Hospital, the Chamber of Commerce, Buncombe County or any of the other towns in Buncombe County. It’s admirable to be a trend setter but the message of a Living Wage has not reached these other major organizations in the 8 years since the City adopted the program. Obviously, there are reasons these businesses have not rallied to increase their payrolls. I need to hear firsthand from these businesses the reasons they don’t participate. Apparently, it can’t be just a profit motive since all of those mentioned above are not-for-profit. I am concerned that the City sets a standard that some businesses, including the City, can’t achieve and we are better off having jobs, even at minimum wage, than driving businesses out of business. I will seek these organizations out to find out their reasons for not adopting a Living Wage.
4) Will you approve city funds to support the proposal, backed by the city-county African-American Heritage Commission, for a monument on Pack Square marking the contributions and history of Asheville’s black citizens?
Yes, provided the Council first comes up with an ordinance/rule that regulates types of monuments and/or other permanent recognitions the City will and will not consider on public property and this proposal meets the terms of that ordinance or rule. Fact is, that there are or will be other interests that the City may not want recognized in such a manner and the only way to control that is by establishing rules ahead of time.
5) This year’s city budget included a property tax increase, with a majority of the current Council claiming this was necessary due to revenue changes at the state level. Do you support that increase?
No, the Council and Manager used this as an opportunity to play on the taxpayer’s sympathy. I don’t feel that the Council examined the budget detail. All the Council had to say is “no tax increase and don’t cut services”; and, then told the City Manager to come back with another budget. The $2 million Art Museum tax increase of 2014 has never been spent and not expected to be spent until 2017. Meaning the City will have collected $6 million for a $2 million project. A conscientious manager could find $1.5 million in a $165 million budget without affecting services. I intend to cut the tax rate by 3.5 cents.