Hoping for gridlock, mulling a whitewater park, diagnosing the police department’s woes and more as Asheville City Council tackles a bevy of reports Above: City Manager Gary Jackson, file photo by Max Cooper. As the March 24 Asheville City Council meeting drew near, word emerged that a hearing on a

A look at the Blade’s attempts to get public records from the city, what happened to them, and how long they took Above: City Hall by moonlight, photo by Max Cooper As part of a recent Sunshine Week collaboration with the Asheville Citizen-Times, the Blade looked into the number of open

Behind the numbers, criticisms, praise and efforts to reform how Asheville accesses public information about its own government and its records Above: Workers on scaffolding outside City Hall during recent renovations. Photo by Bill Rhodes. Every year Sunshine Week, which ended Saturday, marks a time dedicated to informing the public

An e-cigarette ban, delayed public hearings, repairing the Vance Monument and background checks for school board members in an unusually short Asheville City Council meeting Above: Council member Jan Davis, file photo by Max Cooper. “Short” is a relative term when it comes to Asheville City Council meetings. A lot’s

Council gives controversial Craggy subdivision the go-ahead, some gentry throw a fit about ‘undesirables’ and the police buy more surveillance equipment Above: City-County Plaza, with the Buncombe County Courthouse and City Hall on the snowy morning of Feb. 24 In the morning hours before Asheville City Council’s Feb. 24 meeting,

As a major land battle is delayed, Council turns its attention to local organizing, a contentious consent agenda and several reports Above: Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer. File photo by Max Cooper. Asheville City Council’s Feb. 10 meeting began with the first appearance in the halls of city government of a new

About 140 city employees make less than a living wage. More on that issue, and how Council’s now considering a raise Above: the job description for a U.S. Cellular Center worker in “specialized unskilled work.” The job, like many others at the center, pays below a living wage. Just over

Asheville’s mayor talks about her first year in office, controversies, a defense of the city’s actions, turf battles and more Above: Mayor Esther Manheimer, photo by Max Cooper In 2013 Esther Manheimer, after a term on Asheville City Council, won the mayor’s seat decisively. But her first year in office

Exiled from City Hall due to a burst pipe Asheville City Council opposes a development, prepares to duel over a powerful board and gets an earful Above: anti-fracking and Keystone XL pipeline protesters outside the U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville City Council’s temporary location due to a burst pipe in City Hall.

In a time of growing demand, calls for reform and uncertain budgets, the Asheville Transit Committee sets some priorities for where the cash will go Above: The Asheville Transit Committee gathers for its Jan. 6 meeting, around one of those photographically vexing projectors city meeting rooms have in abundance. —