February 5, 2025

This information is brought to you in collaboration with Asheville City Council and NC General Assembly Members

Council Retreat and Community Recovery Insights

In preparation for our annual retreat next week, the City Council invited co-chairs of various city boards and commissions to provide their insights. Their perspectives on our early response to the challenges posed by Hurricane Helene are invaluable as we shape our path forward together.

Takeaways included:

Gratitudes for City Response to Helene
Rapidly getting roads open, trash picked up, and transit running.
Amazing communications providing clear technical information, reliable life safety information, and consistent needed information.
Creating a community healing space by hosting the Helene vigil.

How should the city staff, the community, and City Council work together through recovery
Keep up the communication: meet people where they are and ensure all voices are heard.
Leverage and build from existing plans: there is tremendous community vision and direction in existing plans including the Comprehensive Plan, the Climate Resilience Assessment, and the Affordable Housing Plan.
Reset systems for collaboration: consider our recovery priorities and bring people together around them.

Social Media Highlights

I invite you to stay connected with me on social media (Maggie4Avl). I’m actively discussing policies that enhance community resiliency through my Rapid Recap segment, sharing events and information you can use, and highlighting the incredible, uplifting spirit of our Asheville community. A few personal highlights include a recent opportunity to read and share the message of “The Lorax,’ to some area school children, and a fun interview I did with @mountainxpress on one of my beloved pastimes.

As we head into our retreat next week, I look forward to collaborating with my fellow council members on ways to continue building a resilient, responsive, and inclusive Asheville. Your survey responses will be a critical component in assisting with that. The response was overwhelming, and I thank you all for taking the time to complete such a valuable tool.

Here’s to a year filled with possibilities -

Maggie