asheville Extends Deadline for Helene Recovery Board Applications Following Resident Concerns
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The City of Asheville has extended the submission deadline for positions on the Helene Recovery Boards by one week, to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, after receiving feedback from residents who felt the original timeline was insensitive to those still actively engaged in recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene. Final appointments are now expected to be made on Oct. 28.
The initial application window coincided with the one-year anniversary of the storm, prompting criticism that it excluded individuals deeply involved in ongoing rebuilding.River Arts District Artists president Jeffrey Burroughs voiced these concerns, stating, “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 tied up.” He subsequently shared a video on Facebook on Oct. 13 calling for the City Council to reopen the application process, which quickly gained traction within the community.
City Council member Bo Hess confirmed the extension followed constituent feedback and internal discussions. “Many people are still in activated mode,” Hess said. “We’re still on the ground, we’re still in full throttle with recovery, and quite frankly, some of the moast active people in that really don’t have time to pay attention to what city hall is doing and this deadline and 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 rushing things as,quite frankly,this is too serious to 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 precedent. The city council has the power to make this change.”