Without much fanfare, Asheville City Council moves to put more power over hotels and downtown development in their hands, reversing nearly a decade of city policy Above: Asheville City Council member Brian Haynes. File photo by Max Cooper. Local politics, like any other level of politics, is often a study

A bevy of items — including drug enforcement, housing and the interstate — lead to a long and occasionally contentious Council meeting Above: Asheville City Council member Julie Mayfield. File photo by Max Cooper. The Sept. 16 Asheville City Council meeting was a long one, less due to a lengthy

The response to recent protests by APD leaders and the city attorney’s office is marked by petty retaliation, contempt for civil liberties and repeatedly shifting explanations, giving locals of all political stripes cause for major concern. Above: a slide in an Aug. 3 APD presentation about its response to late July

Council sends the first bond referendum in nearly 20 years to the voters in a short meeting that illuminates the divides ahead Above: Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell. File photo by Max Cooper. Asheville City Council’s Aug. 9 meeting was a short one, just 40 minutes long. Front and

This November city voters might have the choice over $74 million for affordable housing, transportation and parks and rec. Behind Asheville’s first bond referendum in nearly two decades Above: City Hall under renovation. Photo by Bill Rhodes. Seventy-four million dollars. That is, by any standard, a lot of money. That’s

Lessons from Council’s summer days. South Asheville organizes, process woes send bus system plans back to the drawing board, the bond vote moves forward and policing comes under serious scrutiny Above: Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer. File photo by Max Cooper. Summer, including this particular, blistering one, is an unusual time

The controversial company managing Asheville’s bus system almost gets another three years, as a process falls out amid withheld information, major questions, dueling committees and ongoing problems Above: the aging SUV used to ferry transit passengers when the system runs out of buses due to maintenance problems. Last year, both

A state legislator’s trying to drastically gerrymander Asheville’s city elections. Here’s why that push matters, and where it comes from Above: A list of census blocks making up the proposed Council districts in state legislation that would force Asheville to switch to a district system. On June 22, state Sen.

For months, the Asheville Busker’s Collective has tried to deal with city staff in good faith to find common ground. But the latest busking proposal is more restrictive than ever, and will hurt our local culture and livelihoods Above: The Stillwater Hobos performing in a still from Erin Derham’s movie

Council votes, reluctantly, for a developer’s relocation deal and sets the stage for some upcoming conflicts over transit, elections and more Above: Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler. File photo by Max Cooper. One of the biggest votes of the year passed without much remark in Asheville City Council’s chambers on June 14,