Name: Kim Roney
Profession: Piano Teacher, Service Industry Worker, Community Radio Producer, Community Advocate
In up to three words, describe your political affiliation: Affiliated with People
In one brief sentence, describe yourself and why you’re running: After 5 years of attending and reporting back to neighbors from City Council and civic meetings, I know we must take better care of each other and the planet, so I’m running to represent our community while prioritizing our budgeting, planning, and policies.
General questions
These questions are about problems, challenges or topics facing city government and how you will try to deal with them if elected.
1) Despite pressure from the transit workers union, riders and council repeatedly designating the bus system as a major priority, senior staff have consistently failed to provide it the funds even the city’s own plans say are necessary. How do you plan to deal with this situation?
As a necessity bus rider and member of Better Buses Together, we will continue to advocate for evening service hours in this budget cycle because transit can’t wait. As of today, 30% of our buses end at or before 8pm, with funding named the primary capacity barrier. With a budget amendment in place for June 1st, staff could prepare for implementation while Council could earmark the continuance budget to more likely ensure maintenance of service.
Next, we need dedicated funding for transit. Over the past 4 years of serving on Asheville’s Multimodal Transportation Commission and the Transit Committee, I have reviewed the commission’s funding proposals. In my opinion, a quarter-cent sales tax would have been the best option to back up to the previous one for AB Tech, but the embezzlement of our County funds by our former County Manager obliterated trust and made it unlikely that this option would have public support. A prepared foods tax limited to places that serve alcohol would be directed at tourist-focused bars, breweries, and restaurants while not taxing folks at the grocery store and other places that don’t serve alcohol. The law requires that this type of tax would have to fund transit. Since this action would require approval by the North Carolina General Assembly, I ask that you join me at the polls this year to ensure we elect officials we can count on in Raleigh to represent the needs of the people.
Big picture, we need a solution to the transit management company contract, a requirement since North Carolina doesn’t allow municipalities to negotiate directly with unionized staff. This could look like a non-profit or cooperative model that grows jobs and resources in the local economy while ensuring local accountability measures.
2) Despite an incredibly poor environmental record, especially on the storage of dangerous coal ash, Duke Energy has kept gaining power in the city’s sustainability decision-making process. How will you respond to this?
I signed the petition and gathered signatures with Community Roots to get the Climate Bill of Rights on the Ballot, an endeavor that is not yet secured, but would allow our community to address our need for community rights as corporate rights overrun our community’s ability to protect nature and our ecosystem. We will need to continue efforts such as this, building coalition across the state to change legislation to remove caps on solar production and so municipalities across North Carolina can invest in our own energy cooperatives.
I am concerned about Duke’s outsized role in the Blue Horizons Committee, our next iteration of the Energy Innovation Task Force. That group was convened to avoid our need for a peaker power plant, a $100 million dollar fossil fuel infrastructure investment we’ll have to continue to work to avoid as Asheville grows. I appreciate the neighbors bringing their expertise to the work, but I don’t see how Duke being in leadership at this table is not a conflict of interest.
3) The city of Asheville’s land and facilities are dotted with blatantly racist monuments and memorials, from the confederate regime monuments in Pack Square to paintings like “the white man’s family council” in council chambers. What’s your plan to remove these?
My answer is the same as in 2017: I support the removal of confederate monuments as well as renaming streets named after confederate officers and slave owners.
It’s important to acknowledge the historical context and intent of white supremacy within the symbols of confederate statues, and as we work to reconcile the hate and trauma many of these statues cause, we must continue to focus our attention on addressing institutional and structural racism in policies, schools, workplaces, and within our criminal justice system. It is time for gatekeepers to use their power and privilege to take the door off the hinges.
We need courageous leadership by our elected officials in Asheville to engage the public through community input, work with volunteers on City boards such as the African-American Heritage Commission, and invite POC leaders to speak to the long legacy of racism in Asheville and in our country. Recognizing my privilege as a white person, part of my role as an ally is to work with communities of color, allowing their perspectives and lived experiences to guide our work in dismantling systemic racism and systems of oppression.
4) Senior staff have repeatedly ignored council on issues ranging from transit and development to refusing and delaying implementing rules reining in the police department. If elected, what will you do when senior staff outright ignore or defy elected officials?
We need performance metrics in place with follow through in annual reviews for the three staff Council oversees directly: City Manager, City Clerk, and City Attorney. Additionally, I continue to believe that the Equity and Inclusion Officer should report directly to Council, which would allow the position to hold the top three staff accountable while authorizing real power to match such an incredible responsibility in City Hall.
My most common critique of our current Council is that we do not see efforts to instruct the City Manager when the opportunity arises. This is the greatest responsibility of our City Council, and the only way we can ensure our elected officials maintain the budget, planning, and policies that are in line with our community values. The 100% vote in support of the City Manager budget last year without public instruction or follow-up shows me we need a more explicit, coordinated effort. That work can’t be done alone, which is why I’m running with Nicole Townsend with the endorsement by Councilwoman Sheneika Smith, and why I invite community input through my campaign platform around participatory democracy & budgeting.
5) Mayor Esther Manheimer, with the complicity of much of the current council, has repeatedly tried to silence dissent by enforcing a made-up rule against applause or demanding that locals have to give their addresses (they don’t). What will you do to ensure locals can criticize local government without fear of intimidation or retaliation?
Having attended all but 3 of the Council meetings over the past 5 years, I would add that silencing the public inhibits us all, not just the neighbors dissenting.
In an effort to educate readers: At the January 28th meeting of Council, at 42 minutes into the recording, Mayor Manheimer said, “We had a new idea going forward with our speakers—if you’ll tell us where you live. Like if you live in Asheville or you live in Black Mountain, or whatever the case may be, so we know where you live.” I will not assume the intention of “we,” so I emailed the Mayor to ask. I will say that the reception to the new procedure had a range of reactions, including confusion and conflict. Because the procedure was not applied to everyone, members of our community were singled out.
Moving forward, we need to have procedures for public comment that encourage participation and promote inclusivity while ensuring hate speech is not permitted.
Yes/No questions
These questions are about specific proposals Asheville City 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. Answers in this section that do not begin with “Yes” or “No” will not be published.
6. During the year-long hotel moratorium, council is reviewing the city’s rules on hotels. Will you reject final power over hotel approval being given to an un-elected board like planning and zoning?
Yes, we have tried that before and the results were terrible. Additionally, there is a conversation considering the same for private development of housing. Whether it’s housing or commercial development, the public needs to be able to bring our concerns to our elected officials. It’s going to be challenging and politicized, but that’s why we go through the struggle to elect and hold accountable our government. Unfortunately for all of us, having the Council election postponed a year means the final decisions about the hotel moratorium will be made by this Council, members who are all serving an additional year in their term that is legislated, not elected.
7. The APD is the largest police force per-capita of any major city in the state, has some of the worst racial disparities in enforcement and a long history of targeting the homeless and impoverished. Will you support cutting the APD’s budget by at least $7 million?
No, and for all those tempted to stop reading, hear me out: I am really disappointed in this question, which lacks an opportunity to engage and inform readers. Solidarity means working together. We can’t just pick numbers out of the air from just one department when systemic racism and oppression are ancient tentacles strangling the most vulnerable of our community in every part of City Hall. I worked in solidarity with Million Dollars For The People in 2017, with Move The Money in 2018, and in every budget work session, Council retreat, and budget cycle to get informed and share information with our neighbors. We need a complete overhaul of our general operating budget, divesting in what isn’t serving us or is causing harm so we can prioritize our needs to heal our planet and the people of Asheville. It’s part of participatory democracy and budgeting that will require massive community engagement like we’ve never seen before. This is how we will realize a Green New Deal for Asheville that’s not just conservation for those with the most resources.
[Editor’s note: Roney, like any candidate, is of course free to offer views on this idea. But the Blade takes exception to the jab at the asking of the question itself. The APD is the single largest city department, one that’s seen both massive budget increases and an appalling record. The $7 million number is not picked out of the air. It’s the $4.5 million in budget hikes the APD’s received since 2016, combined with $2.5 million more because the department was already massive before then. Any candidate claiming to want to scale back the damage of such institutions needs to confront them in real terms of cuts and resources, not just vague promises to bring fairness or make things better. After three years of public clamor over the APD’s expansion, sharp questions on this front are beyond necessary. — D.F.]
8. Asheville is one of the most unaffordable cities in the country. Instead of giving city-owned land to private developers, will you support the city building housing and turning it over to independent tenant co-ops to own and run directly?
Yes, this may be our last, best chance at ensuring deeply-affordable housing in perpetuity.
9. Will you publicly call on the Buncombe County commissioners to abolish the Tourism Development Authority by repealing the hotel tax it relies on for revenue?
Yes, and we need to vote across the entire ballot to ensure our voice is heard on this matter. Our neighbors serving on the Tourism Development Authority are not listening, and have even added an additional $1 million in advertising. This is taxation without representation, and we need to ensure democratization of the next iteration of the TDA.
10. City workers face a major wage gap, with some senior staff raking in $150,000 (or far more) a year while firefighters, water system workers and many others remain desperately underpaid. Will you support a minimum salary of $40,000 (tied to inflation) and a maximum salary cap of $100,000 for city workers and staff?
Yes, though in addition, I would review performance bonuses, which have been awarded to top level staff in recent years on top of performance-based pay increases. I think the $100,000 cap is probably too low, but would like to see data on that to inform my support. I’d also support paid family medical leave, which is a substantial benefit for staff while a low cost for taxpayers, especially considering retention.