asheville โขExtends Deadline for Helene Recovery Board Applications Followingโค Resident Concerns
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – โข The โCity of Asheville has extended the submission deadline for positions on the Helene Recovery Boards by one week, to 5 โp.m. on Tuesday,โฃ Oct. 21, after receiving โfeedback from residents who felt the original timeline was insensitive to those still actively engaged inโข recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. Final appointments are now expectedโค to be made on Oct. 28.
The initial application window coincided with the one-year anniversary of the storm, โขprompting criticism that it excluded individuals deeply โinvolved โฃin ongoing rebuilding.River Arts โDistrict โArtists president โJeffrey Burroughs voiced theseโ concerns, โคstating, “It seemed a little insensitive, maybe to put an application deadline around the time of a one-year milestone when so many people who have been on the front lines this last year would be busy and โtied up.” He subsequently shared a video on Facebook on Oct. 13 calling for the City Council to reopen the โฃapplication process, which quickly gained traction within the community.
Cityโข Council member โคBo Hess confirmed the extension โfollowed constituent feedback โand internal discussions. “Many people are still inโ activated mode,” Hess said. “We’re still โon the ground, we’re still in full throttle with recovery, and quite frankly,โข some of the moast active people in that really don’t haveโข time to pay โขattention to what city hall is doing and this deadline โขand that deadline and so it wasn’t fair.”
Hess emphasized that city leaders did not intend to exclude anyone and sought to establish the recovery boards quickly, but acknowledged the need to address the concerns raised. “We’re not โฃrushing things as,quite frankly,this is too serious toโ rush through,” he stated. “We need everyone’s voices.”
The Helene Recovery Boards will oversee the distribution of funds from recovery programs,including Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding. Burroughs added, “This isn’t impossible, and this isn’t setting a new โฃprecedent. The city council has the power toโ make this โchange.”