ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) —
A second case of tire-slashing and graffiti has happened targeting a car belonging to a member of the task force that successfully lobbied for creation of a downtown Business Improvement District or “BID,” Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer announced Thursday during a City Council agenda briefing teleconference.
Manheimer provided few details but said, as in an earlier incident on June 6, a member of the task force found their vehicle covered with graffiti and its tires slashed when it was parked outside their home.
Manheimer condemned the incident, calling it “intimidation towards folks that are simply volunteering their time to work on an effort that they believe will be better for our community, that I believe will be better for our community.”
“I just hate to see the conversation in our community go beyond civil conversation, and to violence and intimidation perpetrated against folks,” Manheimer said. “It is not OK to silence people through intimidation in this way.”
The first incident happened June 6, days before a City Council vote on June 11 that approved creation of the district, which will collect special property taxes to use toward downtown public safety and cleanliness efforts.
The proposal stirred powerful emotions over the past several months.
Backers called creation of a Business Improvement District important for economic development downtown. But a large and vocal group of opponents questioned its governance, putting day-to-day decisions over spending taxpayer dollars in the hands of an appointed board and the role that so-called downtown “ambassadors” will play.
After the first incident, members of the BID task force cited public safety concerns and did not show up for the June 11 council meeting at Harrah’s Cherokee Center when the final vote was held.
It was approved by a 6-1 vote, along with a resolution that attempted to address some of the critics’ concerns, including training requirements for the downtown ambassadors, now referred to as “community stewards.”
In a press release, the Asheville Police Department said the latest incident is believed to have occurred overnight Monday, June 17, and was discovered by a resident the next morning. The vehicle parked in a driveway had its tires damaged and was defaced with graffiti, including an anarchist symbol on the back window and the side.
The case remains under investigation. Police asked anyone with information to contact them, either by calling APD at (828) 252-1110, by sending an anonymous tip using the TIP2APD smartphone app, or by texting TIPtoAPD to 847411.
During Thursday’s agenda briefing teleconference, Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell echoed the mayor’s call for civility.
“Civil discourse is what democracy is all about and I hope we can do better,” Campbell said.
Prior coverage:
VANDAL STRIKES CAR OF DOWNTOWN BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BACKER
DOWNTOWN SHOWDOWN: CITY COUNCIL TRIES TO ADDRESS BID CONCERNS
COUNCIL OKs DOWNTOWN DISTRICT DESPITE VOCAL OPPOSITION
This story has been updated.