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Tuesday, 20 February 2007 16:34 |
 Asheville City Council recently issued a laundry list of intentions for the coming year after spending an afternoon retreat exchanging ideas about what each member thought were the highest priorities for 2007.
What came out of the retreat was a diverse range of objectives, including funding the transit system, updating the cityís greenways master plan, improving its Web site, maintenance and cleanliness of downtown, building more parking, promoting energy awareness, closer relations with the county and determining where to build housing.
With such a diverse list, it is not surprising that the retreatís facilitator, Andy Atkinson of Leadership Initiatives Inc., responded to the afternoonís conclusions by saying, ìIím not sure what all of this means ... Itís a lot of stuff.î
Undoubtedly,
council has a great deal on its plate. Asheville is witnessing intense
development ó and in many ways is outgrowing much of its infrastructure.
To that end, focusing on issues such as public transit, housing and parking is laudable.
At the same time, we question whether council is spreading itself too thin.
At such a
critical juncture in the cityís history, it would behoove Ashevilleís
leadership to actively engage the major issues facing us ó and maybe
let some of the smaller details work themselves out.
Most likely, the
diverse interests reflect the political diversity of council, which
includes people of such different philosophical perspectives as Bryan
Freeborn and Dr. Carl Mumpower.
At the same
time, the self-proclaimed progressive majority were elected because a
significant portion of Ashevilleís citizens were tired of business as
usual.
Perhaps it is
time for them to take that mandate and act decisively ó while, of
course, listening to the perspectives of the more conservative members
of council.
At any rate,
whatever they do or do not accomplish will ultimately be judged by the
voters. If they can really engage issues of development, affordable
housing and environmental sustainability ó the issues on which they
were elected ó no doubt the voters will ask them to continue to serve.
But we doubt that the quality of the cityís Web site will be a decisive issue, come November.
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