ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Asheville City Council candidates are staking out very different positions on police surveillance technology heading into the November municipal election, even after the city ended its contract with Flock earlier this year.
The flashpoints are the Asheville Police Department’s license plate readers and its Real-Time Intelligence Center. A pledge circulated by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America asks candidates to oppose any new automated plate readers, end existing contracts with Axon and put future technology purchases before the public.
Only one council hopeful, former council member Keith Young, has signed it. Young, who served from 2015 to 2020 and works as a deputy clerk of Superior Court, argues a searchable camera network can track the daily habits of people never suspected of a crime. Council member Kim Roney, who is running for mayor, also signed. That race includes Mayor Esther Manheimer, who has led the seven-member council since 2013 and is seeking a fourth term.
Newcomers Drew Ball and Jeffrey Burroughs answered in writing without signing. Ball warned that a blanket ban on Axon contracts could sweep in police body cameras, which he views as an accountability tool, and favors judging each technology on its own. Burroughs backed stronger oversight but did not call for ending the tools outright, though Burroughs said earlier on social media they would have opposed the intelligence center, which council approved 6-1.
None of the three incumbents seeking new terms, Sheneika Smith, Antanette Mosley and Maggie Ullman, responded to the pledge, and they split on the Aug. 25 vote that ended the Flock deal 5-2. Ullman voted to cancel it, while Mosley and Smith voted no, saying residents asking for more safety measures also deserve to be heard.
Section: More Asheville NC politics news
Filed under: Asheville NC Politics News
