Word on the street: Asheville City Council prepared to hire Campbell as new city manager

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Word on the street is that Asheville City Council is prepared to hire assistant Charlotte city manager Debra Campbell as Asheville’s new city manager. Campbell has 30 years of experience as an urban planner.

Asheville City Council has been looking for a new city manager since earlier this year, when it fired former City Manager Gary Jackson following the controversy over an Asheville police officer’s beating of a pedestrian.

If City Council hires Campbell, they’ll be hiring a woman with extensive extensive experience in one of North Carolina’s largest, fastest growing cities. In her current role, Campbell offers technical and managerial support to Charlotte’s planning and transportation departments, as well as the Charlotte Area Transit department. Public transit is an area that Asheville officials have been struggling with in recent years.

Campbell has more than 30 years of experience in urban planning, according to a bio posted on the city of Charlotte’s website. “Her goal is to help develop and implement public policy that makes Charlotte-Mecklenburg an eminently livable, economically vibrant and memorable urban community,” according to the site.

On Monday, Asheville city officials announced that Asheville City Council would hold a special 4 p.m. meeting Wednesday in council’s chambers on the second floor of City Hall to vote on executing a contract to hire a new city manager.

City Council had planned to hold a public meet-and-greet with job finalists, but City Council and staff decided to move forward with a contract offer because the candidate was so “well-aligned” with what city officials and stakeholders were looking for, according that announcement. But the move miffed a number of City Hall observers who have been pushing hard for greater transparency on a number of fronts.

The new city manager and city council will meet at Twisted Laurel on College Street on Wednesday following the vote, according to the announcement.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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1 Comment

  1. Enlightened Enigma October 16, 2018

    Everyone should go meet her and communicate that AVL will no longer tolerate a spineless pansy manager too scared to challenge city council!
    I will communicate this to her personally Wednesday…

    Reply

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