With the support of our readers, the Asheville Blade did a lot in 2015 and helped change our city for the better. We aim to do even more this year
Above: Fireworks outside City Hall. Photo by Bill Rhodes
As winter (finally) arrives, Ashevillians shake off the holidays and the numbers of tourists begins to dwindle (a bit), I’d like to provide our readers with a look at what we’ve done — especially in the past year.
In our recently concluded winter fund drive, we had a nice rise in subscribers, and some of you bought gift subscriptions for friends or family.
In 2014, the Asheville Blade emerged out of a union fight at Mountain Xpress, printing a story on tenant rights that publication’s top management tried to quash. That experience and others over a decade working in media convinced me of the need for aggressive, independent local journalism. I love Asheville and believe it’s a city worth fighting for. I believe that the reality of our changing city, beyond the tourist-friendly image, is a more interesting and necessary story, one the people of our city have to face head-on if we’re going to have a worthwhile future.
To that end, we focus primarily on hard-hitting journalism, in-depth analysis and sharp perspectives.
In summary: we’re the publication a lot less interested in the fancy restaurant opening up than how the workers there are paid and treated.
That course also required some innovations on the funding front. The Blade is not funded by advertisers — at all — but by our readers directly. Most subscribe (for $3 or more a month), through the Patreon service, though we accept donations (covering several months’ subscription in advance) as well. We inform the public free of charge with the articles on our site, but subscribers get extra content, free admission to the events we throw and other perks. Importantly, every donation allows us to continue to survive and thrive. Every article you read here — by me or anyone else — is there because of our readers’ commitment.
We launched the full website and Patreon funding page in mid-June 2014, so 2015 was our first full year in operation. It proved an important year for our city on many fronts. Here’s what, with your support, we did.
We started the year off with a look at the Transit Committee’s search for funds, Leigh Cowart’s humorous guide to the strange tourist creatures that migrate to our town, and following up on our late 2014 investigation revealing that about 150 city workers made less than a living wage. We sat down for an in-depth interview with Mayor Esther Manheimer, covered Asheville City Council’s first meeting of the year and took an in-depth look at how our elected officials set things up for a major conflict at their annual retreat.
We also delved into the increasing prominence of UNCA Professor Dwight Mullen, the State of Black Asheville project and what exactly he was saying about Asheville’s relationship with democracy and consequences.
Throughout the first part of the year we updated our primer on the debates over the future of Asheville’s public housing, highlighting stories done with Carolina Public Press about evictions, transparency and plans for redevelopment. We also extended that look at shortages across WNC.
As Winter ended, Thea Bryan shared her story of trying to make a living in Asheville, but being forced to leave. I analyzed if Asheville — given its left-leaning nature and problems with incredibly low wages — would be the next union city. Local Victoria Rodriguez took aim at the anti-immigrant bigotry that leaves many families in limbo. Council had a snow day meeting, and the groans of the gentry about the “undesirables” followed.
As a downtown resident, I raised concerns about the controversial record of the Downtown Association’s leadership and asks who really represents the city’s core. Planner Don Kostelec tore apart Asheville’s dangers to pedestrians and laid out the history of how the city got that way. Blade writer and activist Sheneika Smith talked in-depth with activist Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson about issues of segregation, protest and power ranging from Ferguson to Appalachia. Council hit a lot of ground in a half hour.
For Sunshine Week, we teamed up with the Asheville Citizen-Times to look at how city government does (or doesn’t) handle records requests. We also gave a glimpse at what happened with our own records requests. Meanwhile, Asheville’s servers started to organize to deal with issues of low pay, poor conditions and illegal work practices.
As Spring warmed up, we interviewed UNCA historian Darin Waters about the importance of public space and efforts to bring greater attention to Asheville’s African-American history. Council got an earful of reports. Jennifer Barge of TransHealth Coordinators wrote about the reality of violence and exclusion many trans people face and recommended some steps to start “fixing society.”
After failing to receive some basic records on police complaints from the city of Asheville, I called out the silence from City Hall in a column on the need for greater transparency (the city later released the documents). Leigh Cowart delved in-depth into our local whooping cough outbreaks and how some Ashevillians anti-science streak is creating a public danger. Emma Greenbaum of the Beyond Coal campaign declared that the time for “Sulfurgate” to end had come and that Duke Energy needed far stricter oversight.
Council got into hot water over some fee increases, especially ending the fare free zone for downtown bus riders, something advocate Sabrah n’haRaven objected to. Local researcher and writer Joy Chin analyzed the issue of short-term rentals — Airbnb and its ilk — in an in-depth piece that later shaped the public debate about what to do on this complicated topic. Locals gathered to mark Asheville’s liberation from slavery, and later to mark May Day. Council faced an increasing number of demands.
As the city headed into Summer, I looked at why locals were angry about ‘another f’ing hotel.’ Council saw tensions erupt over housing, Airbnb and a living wage. We took a detailed look at what Ashevillians are actually paid and found that even in the middle of a tourism boom, wages were staying stagnant or even declining in key sectors. We also examined what “workforce housing” meant, why the term is so controversial and how it shapes the debate over what should be done about the housing crisis.
Summer saw city leaders knee-deep in passing a $154 million budget, and the Blade both examined the budget itself and covered the public response and wrangling before its eventual passage.
The Blade also celebrated its first anniversary on June 13.
Reporter Emily Foley looked at how the Burton Street community, long threatened by the possible I-26 expansion, sought to plan for its future amid major doubts about the extent to which local government took those plans seriously and if their voices would be heard. As Council headed towards passing a budget, the fate of a living wage for all city workers remained uncertain. Activist Martin Ramsey asserted that the fight over the hotel tax revealed the mentality of a damaging industry and a local government that took far too weak of an approach to halt them.
Photo by Max Cooper
In late June, same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the country, many Ashevillians celebrated and Blade photographer Max Cooper was there to capture the scene. Airbnb sent in its lobbyists to try and change the minds of local leaders.
With 16 candidates then declared for the race for three Asheville City Council seats, attention turned to local politics. I analyzed what those local politics actually are (hint: our city government is not dominated by the far-left or even the left). We investigated whether our local government could pass its own minimum wage. Council took a break from its summer hiatus to debate a wide range of issues, then inched towards a decision on short-term rentals, though that didn’t stop the furor. Joy Chin provided a view from the overflow room, surrounded by Airbnb operators and defenders.
In my Labor Day column, I called for more unions, a push to raise wages here up to the state average and a serious effort to focus city funds and incentives on repairing some of the damage done by segregation.
We also, after further digging, issued an important correction about a historical article on Isaac Dickson and Teddy Roosevelt we published earlier in the year. Locals also brought a number of matters, large and small, to Council’s attention.
After much controversy and a public dialogue sparked in part by a Blade investigation, the city adopted a living wage for all its workers. We revisited the topic and the pushback faced by one of the workers who spoke out about the issue.
It was then election season, and the Blade offered an in-depth primary guide with candidates’ responses to a number of questions on key topics.
We also kept up our scrutiny on local government, with an in-depth investigation that broke the news of serious problems with the city’s bus system and conflicts between the transit union, rider advocates, city staff and the private management company about what should be done.
Our investigative efforts extended to the local economy as well, as we looked at how restaurant fixture Tupelo Honey, which has recently expanded into a regional chain, cut wages for some servers and faced organized pushback from some of their workers.
As temperatures cooled, we analyzed the aftermath of the local primary elections, a group of locals rallied against “hate and exclusion” directed at immigrants. Council continued its own attempts to tackle a variety of issues.
Locals protest outside Waking Life espresso. Photo by Max Cooper.
Locals also rallied against the predatory misogyny of the owners of Waking Life espresso, and I penned a column supporting their response and against the hasty urge to “forgive and forget” that often plays a role in upholding rape culture.
Dee Williams, one of the leaders of the local Ban the Box campaign, wrote about its importance to allowing many in our city a second chance and ending policies of segregation.
Don Kostelec returned to the Blade with an analysis of the clueless thinking behind the state Department of Transportation’s approach to the I-26 plan, something he asserted could have devastating consequences for our city.
Election day rolled around, and we offered local photographer Jen Bowen’s view on a forum near her home and in-depth interviews with each of the candidates.
The election itself saw some major upsets, and I analyzed why it marked an era of political conflict, and how that might not be a bad thing. Council continued its business between the electoral battles, and afterwards too, though with some changes of direction.
As the end of 2015 approached, we offered a guide to making sense of Asheville’s government at the request of many citizens looking for a primer on how our local government works and how they can change it. Priscilla Ndiaye of the Southside Advisory Board wrote about the importance of saving the Walton Street pool and recreation complex. Three Council members marked their final meeting, and a three new Council members were sworn in, complete with a new vice mayor and a somewhat controversial sing-along.
A collection of images, unveiled recently, provided a new glimpse at black and working-class life in Asheville in the 20th century. Amy Hamilton, one of those who helped organize the Waking Life response, offered an in-depth look at how it happened, what motivated the demonstrators and what it meant. We gave the public a primer on why Interstate 26 is such a huge deal and why it’s so controversial and Council wrapped up its year with clear signs that many of its political divisions will continue.
As for us, readers, we’ll be there to give you the story to the absolute best of our resources and ability. This is, after all, our city. We hope you’ll join us: 2016 promises to be a brave year.
The Asheville Blade is entirely funded by its readers. If you like our work, donate directly to us on Patreon. Questions? Comments? Email us.