Addresses on “the state of the city” of Asheville and “the state of the county” of Buncombe emphasized dealing with challenges by planning for the long term during an April 23 Leadership Asheville Forum.

The luncheon, which drew a full house of 113 people, featured 15-minute talks by city Mayor Esther Manheimer and county commissioners’ Chairman David Gantt, respectively. They then fielded questions for about 10 minutes.

Manheimer began by talking about some of the current issues with which Asheville is grappling. She also asked attendees to bring up any other issues later.

She said “every year the city develops a strategic plan... What has changed about this year’s strategic plan is a new emphasis on upward mobility of Asheville’s citizens. The city adopted a plan to invest in the City of Asheville. We raised taxes... Please know that the city has not raised taxes in over 10 years.”

Manheimer noted that there are “a variety of reasons Asheville is in a unique financial situation. Basically, we’ve had to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps... In the River Arts District, we’ve seen the transformation from a manufacturing/business district to a growing lively arts district.

“The RAD is an exciting opportunity... It’s really low-hanging fruit. If you can get a New Belgium” (with its jobs) to locate in the RAD, “even better. Cold, hard cash is one thing... Results in investment results in job growth.”

She also said the RAD Transportation Improvement Plan “will result in a place to walk and drive along” the burgeoning district. The mayor added that New Belgium Brewery “is under construction right now.”

The mayor addressed many other topics, including that downtown is “a high-maintenance kind of place” in which the city is investing, that the South Slope area “has a lot of potential” and Eagle Market Place (a historically African-American commercial district) will be revitalized soon with 60 units of affordable housing funded by tax credit money. This will be mixed-used development.

She also cited the city’s success in drawing and retaining industries, resulting in job growth; and the action being taken by the city on grafitti.

Regarding the city’s support of the 3-c option of the proposed I-26 connector, she said, “David Gantt and I emphasized that we were getting together on this plan. This includes a multi-modal component, including greenway connection to downtown — that was very important to us.”

Meanwhile, Gantt spoke of the county’s many achievements and its good working relationship with the city.

“Education is our emphasis,” Gantt said. “Our kids are our future... If we can’t educate and take care of our kids, we are in the wrong business.”