The following positions taken by members of Asheville City Council Tuesday mystify:

• Two years ago, council decided to sell some of its lands to the private sector for developing some of council’s goals, like affordable housing and green spaces. A real estate consultant was hired, and to date the city has spent over $200,000 on an RFQ/RFP initiative. Now, the city is ready to negotiate with one qualified applicant and investigate the financials of another.

Councilwoman Robin Cape recommended halting the process until the Downtown Master Plan was complete. Mumpower spoke against changing the rules after the developers had invested in complying with council’s first set of instructions. Cape countered that developers were used to taking risks. They win some and lose some. Although a majority on council voted to move forward with what Mumpower called a “misguided” “misinvestment” of tax dollars, Brownie Newman made a motion to more explicitly emphasize council’s goals. Only Mumpower voted against it.

• Mayor Terry Bellamy proposed writing a letter to the Basilica St. Lawence and the Vanderbilt and Battery Park apartments to let them know the city was interested in partnering with the private sector to create public green and/or open space on their property.

• One developer requested permission to build a dozen or so townhouses that would include studio space. Although they did not fit the standard definition of “affordable housing,” the developer argued that the units were affordable because they spared starving artists the cost of renting a studio and saved them commuting costs. Holly Jones still thought it would be good for the developer to provide some conventional affordable housing. Cape recommended that he speak to the city’s Community Development Director to learn how he could use federal funds to subsidize an affordable unit or two. Mumpower said his peers were overstepping their bounds, conducting an inquisition, and practicing socialism.

• Mumpower voted against accepting a Department of Justice grant for police radios and $300,000 in federal funds for transportation planning management. Jones and Brownie Newman thought it was foolish to stand in the way of reclaiming tax dollars North Carolinians had sent to Washington, DC.