A budget, housing and monuments take center stage at the last Council meeting before the summer break, with more on the horizon Above: Asheville City Council member Gwen Wisler. File photo by Max Cooper. The spring and early summer are typically a big time for local politics. City government —

The public weighs in on the budget’s ‘moving parts’ while Council gets an earful, wrangles over numbers and disagrees on a few key points Above: Mayor Esther Manheimer during the June 9 budget hearing. Photo by Max Cooper. As the Blade (and some of the area’s other media as well)

Local government’s biggest — and most underrated — public hearing of the year happens tomorrow. Inside the city’s $154 million budget, from tax hikes to living wage, why it matters and what it means Above: City Hall under renovation, photo by Bill Rhodes. It’s easy, for those watching the goings-on

The city budget rolls out, with uncertainty over a living wage increase, a survey reveals mixed opinions on the city’s performance and Council divides with developers over housing incentives Above: Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell, file photo by Max Cooper The summer is often the meat of the city’s political

Behind the controversial definition of ‘workforce housing’ and the larger debate over local government’s power to solve Asheville’s housing crunch Above: The site of the future RAD Lofts development in September, with dissenting graffiti painted on its sign. “Workforce housing” is back in the city news again. This perhaps shouldn’t

The city manager tries to put the brake on living wage increases, Council wrestles with short-term rentals and a split vote on a new development as local government heads into a tense summer Above: City manager Gary Jackson, file photo by Max Cooper As summer comes on Asheville City Council

Locals resent the hotel boom because it represents and furthers the worst aspects of today’s Asheville. What’s behind the anger, and what it means Above: The BB&T building, future site of an ‘upper-upscale hotel’ First it was “upscale,” then “boutique” and “luxury.” Now we have “upper-upscale.” That’s what the developers of

Council runs into multiple demanding situations, including the housing crisis and a public irate about the actions of a power giant, in a packed meeting Above: Asheville City Council member Gordon Smith. File photo by Max Cooper As our longtime readers know, our Council reports usually come out on the

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

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,