Police funding debate continues as key Asheville City Council meeting approaches

 

Asheville, NC - Now, just seven weeks before the November election, the Defund the Police movement continues to be hotly debated by members of both political parties.

Following protests after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, calls to defund grew increasingly loud.

“I think it is becoming politicized. I think it’s been politicized really from the beginning,” Western Carolina University political science professor Chris Cooper said.

Cooper said the discussion's falling on natural party lines.

“So, Republican Party tends to be the party of law and order - that’s really how they want to be perceived. The Democrats, on the other side, have clearly been the party that is more concerned of issues of inequality and of racial injustice,” he said.

Earlier this week, Republican House Speaker Tim Moore held a news conference. During it, he blasted Democrats, saying many had signed a pledge to defund law enforcement and use police money on other programs.

“The last thing we need to be talking about is reallocating assets from law enforcement and defunding the police,” Moore said.

Representatives John Ager and Joe Sam Queen said that's just not true.

They said the pledge they and other candidates signed two years ago from the group Future Now focused on jobs, health care and equality.

“Tim Moore has just decided to tell a lie about me and some other members of North Carolina House, I guess,” Queen said.

“It’s pretty bogus. This is something I signed onto in 2018 and has nothing to do with the current controversies,” Ager added.

Republican Jake Johnson agrees the discussion around the movement has become politicized.

“It’s something that I never thought in my lifetime would be a partisan issue, so it’s a shame it’s come to that,” Johnson said.

“The election is in November and the Republicans have gone to their tried and true issue law and order to try to get as many votes as they can. I think it’s as simple as that,” Ager said.

It’s a topic all lawmakers believe will be on people's minds as they head to the polls.

“I think what they’ve done is going to play very poorly for the Democrats in November,” Johnson said.

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Protests against increases to Gainesville Police Department’s budget

The masked crowd responded when it was asked what it would do with $1 million. 

Close the achievement gap. Provide free WiFi. Fund East Gainesville. They made one thing clear as they stood on the sidelines of Gainesville’s 5 p.m. traffic — no more funding for Gainesville Police.

More than 70 people gathered at the corner of Main Street and University Avenue Thursday evening to protest Gainesville City Commission’s proposed $1 million increase to GPD’s budget.  The protest was organized by the GoDDsville Dream Defenders, the local chapter of an organization founded after the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The protesters faced University Avenue and chanted “No justice, no peace. Defund the police” before they gathered in a circle around a white tent and listened to speakers, a poet and a rapper. 

In the proposed budget, the Gainesville City Commission plans to increase GPD’s budget from $36 million to $37 million next year, leading organizer Manu Osorio said. The commission also passed a $3 million plan in early August to upgrade police officers’ body cameras, Osorio said. 

“We have to show that we are here together as a community, and we have the power to change things,” Osorio said. 

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