You might want to verify that I am reading this staff report correctly. Apparently, August 26, Asheville City Council was asked to donate $500 to Western Carolina Rescue Ministries to pay for bus passes for 32-35 homeless people who supplanted illegal employees deported in an ICE raid of Arvato Digital Services in Weaverville. Councilman Dr. Carl Mumpower objected that the city was being very generous with other people’s money. He, Bill Russell, and Vice Mayor Jan Davis offered to contribute out of their pockets instead. The next day, ESI, a local employment agency, delivered a $500 check to the city to cover the cost with private-sector funds. The city, however, could not accept the money without an outside agency agreement. So, ESI purchased the transit passes directly. With a bureaucracy too large to use the donation for the purpose intended, the city next asked ESI (who had just spent another $500 on transit passes), what they wanted to do with the $500 donation. ESI CFO Bobby Walker, with a temper longer than mine, asked the city to pass the money along to WCRM.
by Leslee Kulba
Wild West blogger