Asheville – Asheville City Council has approved a slate of candidates for the board of the Asheville Downtown Improvement District (ADID). The ADID’s mission is to “enhance the cleanliness, hospitality, and beautification of Downtown Asheville, driving economic growth and enriching the community experience for residents, workers, and visitors alike.”
The ADID is “supported” by the Asheville Downtown Association, the chamber of commerce, and Nexstreet, the company the city hired to manage the ADID. It has a $1,250,000 budget funded through a special $0.0877 tax assessment on downtown properties.
One form of supporting the BID was to generate a slate of 20 board members, which was essentially rubberstamped by council, Councilwoman Kim Roney dissenting. Three ex-officio seats were filled by government representatives. Assistant County Manager Tim Love previously served the county as director of economic development and government affairs. He also brings management and budget skills to the table. Assistant City Manager Ben Woody has been with the city for seven years and brings experience in urban planning. City Councilmember Antanette Mosley was appointed and then elected to council. She is best known for her advocacy for equity and inclusion.
The single at-large member will be Scott Fowler, owner/manager of Brucemont Communications, a full-service marketing company. The company’s specialties include story pitching, press releases, campaign planning, market research, crisis communications, social media management, and ghostwriting, for starters. High-profile clients include Explore Asheville, LaZoom, Navitat, the Asheville School, and the Biltmore Company.
Melina Arrowood will be representing the interests of the “continuum of care.” Arrowood was inspired to go into nursing at a young age by those who gave her critical care. As an RN, she served as patient safety officer, interim chief nursing officer, and director of nursing at Mission. In 2021, she became one of three COOs at Mission, and last June she became a board member for MAHEC and chair of the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care. Her commitment to compassionate care was tested when she shepherded clients and staff at the 120-bed Sweeten Creek Mental Health and Wellness Center through the outages and isolation of Hurricane Helene.
While the slate drafters were careful to make sure representation came from all four quadrants of the city, as divided by the main drags, Nex Millen is the only member appointed to represent a specific geographic area of town: The Block, which is a historic Black business hub. Millen is a producer, disc jockey, and MC at Nex Millen Music. He also self-describes as a “hip-hop scholar and cultural curator.” He is on the board of the YMI Cultural Center and teaches financial literacy classes to youth.
Four commercial property owners were appointed. JB McKibbon IV assumed leadership of McKibbon Hospitality after his father remade the old BB&T skyscraper into the classy and glassy Kimpton Hotel Arras. The company now manages the AC Hotel and Aloft, among 75 other hotels across the Southeast. McKibbon’s property taxes constitute 19% of Buncombe County’s collections and one-third of Asheville’s, and they still had to safeguard and reassure their guests who had a front-row view of the anarchist riots that broke out downtown in the name of George Floyd. The other commercial property representatives are Larry Crosby, owner of the Foundry Hotel; Cheryl Antoncic Suess, owner of Bear’s BBQ; and Natalie Dierkes, who manages commercial and residential properties through DMG.
The four commercial tenant appointees include Eva-Michelle Spicer. The co-owner of Spicer Greene Jewelers is also the president of the Asheville Rotary Club and has been heavily involved in working toward improving public safety downtown. She is joined by actor, writer, producer, and general manager of LaZoom Kyle Samples. The other tenants are Ashleigh Hardes, creative director for Lexington Glassworks, and Joelle Gali, office manager for Dewey Property Advisors.
Dane Barringer, Susan Griffin, artists Kevan Frazier and Meseret Aitken, urban planner Gurleen Kaur, and seamstress and pet sitter Karmen Milham will represent the residential community.