ASHEVILLE – The Reparations Commission recently heard the preliminary results of an equity audit, intended to asses harms perpetuated against Black residents in Asheville and Buncombe County through existing policies, practices and programs. The consultant called it the first known audit of this nature to be funded by a municipal and county government.
The $174,375 contract cost was shared between the city and county.
Florida-based Carter Development Group was selected to conduct the study, dubbed the “Cease the Harm Audit” by commissioners, and began its work over the summer.
Adrian Carter, project lead and founder of the Carter Group, led the Jan. 22 presentation. While the report boasts 70 preliminary recommendations — only 28 of which were shared at the meeting — some of them might look familiar, such as calls for more affordable housing and greater police transparency.
But commission members and local activists told the Citizen Times that the report’s recommendations, even those that seem to duplicate ongoing efforts, are vital to ensuring the work actually happens.
“The squeaky wheel gets the oil,” said Rob Thomas, executive director of the Racial Justice Coalition of Asheville. “They have to hear it and hear it. Not only the problem, but they have to start hearing the solutions.”
Similarly, reparations commission member Tiffany De’Bellott said the recommendations were “spot on,” and the emphasis they place on certain disparities “speaks to the priority and urgency” that must be taken to address them.
“Sometimes you have to tell them, and tell them again, and then tell them what you told them,” De’Bellott said.
What did the audit find?
Carter said the audit was compiled through the review of more than 1,000 documents, including policies, procedures and reports, across seven focus areas. The Carter Group held 18 meetings with various city and county departments since they were selected last summer. The study looked at information from July 2020 to June 2023.
Among preliminary harms presented Jan. 22 were findings surrounding insufficient data-driven practices to determine the level of Black participation and representation in city and county opportunities or whether there was an equitable use of funds allocated to partnership programs.
“The data is not being effectively collected,” Carter said. The report is a signal to the city and county that they need to begin collecting that data to “ensure representation,” he said.
“How can you assess representation, how can you ensure access, how can you ensure knowledge if you’re not collecting the data to be able to measure that to begin with?”
Carter said they also found that the municipalities lack wide-scale racial equity training to create baseline knowledge of equitable practices. He also called out limited affordable housing and “subjective interpretation” of Human Resources’ hiring and promotion processes, which could enable covert, latent and explicit biases.
“I’m quite sure that’s information you already know. The issue is not so much that the county or city has created that particular harm, but it’s how are they addressing that particular harm,” Carter said of the findings around housing needs.
While speaking, Carter drew murmurs of agreement from the room.
The more than two-hour presentation spanned recommendations from the commission’s five impact focus areas, which encompass housing, health and wellness, criminal justice, education and economic development.
“I was shocked at how good the audit was, actually,” Thomas said.
“To see it all in one place, whether it was the AMI versus the annual income of a Black person, whether it was the percentage of Black people that rely on subsidized housing, whether it was the issues in educational system or criminal justice system or training,” Thomas said, he felt the Carter Group had touched on topics he has advocated around for years.
In the past, he said, problems have been met with a “Band-Aid solution instead of a massive redress.”
He hoped this was the way toward “long-term, iterative and adaptive solutions.”
More data, training and transparency
The slides included breakdowns of area median incomes, with findings that reiterated Asheville’s steep rent costs, the highest in the state, and the Black homeownership gap coupled with a median household income of $22,312, significantly lower than that of white residents ($70,209) or the average ($64,548).
Results were similar to that of the Thrive Asheville report, presented to Asheville City Council in November, which concluded that city housing investments targeting incomes at the higher end of affordability, like 60-80% of the area median income, likely exacerbate racial and gender gaps.
Addressing an urgent need for affordable housing was first identified as a strategic priority by Asheville City Council in March 2022. It was named a top spending priority for Buncombe County commissioners in December 2021.
The presentation also called for the establishment of a Buncombe County Black Chamber of Commerce, more measurable training for Asheville Police Department and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, and disparity studies to be conducted by the county. The city of Asheville has conducted disparity studies since 2018.
Some of the information presented on the slides has since been identified as inaccurate — such as a data point that seemed to imply 72% of Black residents of Asheville live in public housing. The city confirmed Jan. 29 the number is being corrected by the Carter Group.
Asheville has 9,938 Black residents, according to 2020 census numbers. That’s 10.5% of the city’s total population, down 1,196 people since 2010. Data provided to the Citizen Times by the Housing Authority in May found that about 2,845 people live in public housing complexes. Of those, 40% are white and 53% are Black.
The final report and presentation is expected at the end of February, said city spokesperson Kim Miller. It will go to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on March 5 and Asheville City Council March 12.
Find the Carter Group’s presentation and other meeting materials on the city website at ashevillenc.gov/department/city-clerk/boards-and-commissions/reparations-commission/
What happened to the reparations extension request?
In October, the reparations commission requested an eight-month extension to their two-year timeline, which would prolong the process until December 2024.
The request garnered a cold reception from some Buncombe County Commissioners, who seemed to agree on a June extension, and an initial lack of consensus from Asheville City Council.
A response from the city, attached to the Jan. 22 Community Reparations Commission agenda, said staff is recommending they continue current levels of support for the work of the commission through June 30.
“Staff will continue to provide support needed to ensure the success of this important effort,” the memo said.
The historic 25-member board is tasked with making short-, medium- and long-term recommendations to repair damage caused by public and private systemic racism. A resolution in support of reparations was first passed by Asheville City Council July 14, 2020. Asheville and Buncombe County are among the first locales in the country to undertake such an effort.
No timeline was established in the resolution. Members were appointed to the commission in March 2022. No term limits were included.
All draft recommendations will be presented to the full commission by February.
De’Bellott stressed the need for the commission to have time to integrate Carter’s recommendations into the ongoing work of the reparations commission.
“This is a task that is of monumental proportions and it’s not going to happen overnight,” she said. “We need to consider ways of how we are going to continue this work even if we don’t have local city and county support.”
The Community Reparations Commission will next meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 in the banquet hall of the Harrah’s Cherokee Center. Meetings are open to the public.
More:Asheville Reparations commission calls for extension; awaits final decision in ‘limbo’
More:What is reparations? 17 months in, Asheville board is still struggling to define itself.
See some of the preliminary recommendations
Economic Development
- Develop a “Utilization and Industry Dashboard” that captures city and county procurement dollars.
- Conduct a disparity study for inclusive procurement practices in Buncombe County.
- Establish a Buncombe County Black Chamber of Commerce.
Education
- Early Childhood Education universal assessment tool.
- Use of education subject matter expert.
- Data collection.
- Require cultural sensitivity training for School Resource Officers.
- Pursue legislative changes that tie funding to specific county driven metrics.
Housing
- Increase housing supply.
- Develop a strategic housing plan with the county, housing authority and other key stakeholders.
- Develop a joint housing commission consisting of Buncombe County, the city and the Housing Authority to develop collective strategies to increase affordable housing.
Health and Wellness
- Increase the number of indoor winter markets.
- Create a “Healthy Corner Store” initiative to provide healthier options in food insecure Black communities.
- Improve advertisement and tracking of pop-up markets that include SNAP-approved opportunities.
- Improve data collection and visibility for Parks and Recreation program demographics and community involvement.
- Create health and fitness challenges such as walking or biking campaigns.
Criminal justice
- Implement skills assessments in the form of “measurable scenario-based recorded training” and pre- and post-testing to capture overall proficiency and competency levels of departments.
- Continue to implement annual race-related training and include a measurable approach.
- Utilize volunteer citizens to participate in scenario-based training to encourage both peer and citizen review and ensure transparency.
- Coordinate with the Citizen’s Policing Academy, an Asheville Police Department Program.
Internal workforce
For both city and county:
- Develop a hiring manager and interview panel policy and procedure.
- Conduct an annual comprehensive data collection of key Human Relations metrics.
- Conduct an annual employee engagement survey.
For the county:
- Develop a point system incentive for Buncombe County lead and skill-up course completition.
For the city:
- Develop a women’s focused leadership program to support advancement of women of color.
Equity Inclusion and Human Rights
For both:
- Collaborate with HR to conduct an annual comprehensive data collection of key employee metrics.
- Collaborate with HR to conduct and annual employee engagement survey.
For the city:
- Require diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging professional development training for all staff beginning with executive leadership.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.