A plan that would shift Asheville’s approach to citizen advisory boards drew concerns from both residents and City Council members during Tuesday’s council meeting.
As previously reported by BPR, Asheville city government has been considering changes to 15 of these boards, which consist of local volunteers who offer expertise on specific areas of policy. But specifics of the proposal weren’t available until Assistant City Manager Ben Woody presented to Council Tuesday evening.
Following the suggestion of Research Triangle Park-based consultancy Fountainworks, Woody said, Asheville would create four new advisory boards focused on the council’s Helene recovery priorities: people and environment, housing, infrastructure, and economy. Each would contain no more than 11 members, consisting of the chairs and vice chairs of existing advisory boards alongside new members appointed by council…