Just want to commend and thank Robert McGee on his well-crafted letter, “Tourists, the Lifeblood of Our Community?” [Feb. 23, Xpress].
He did an excellent job in calling our attention to the wrongheadedness and shortsightedness that have turned our beloved town into a tourist mecca rather than a community that works for its residents.
City/county leaders: Pay attention. Enough is enough. Start working for the betterment of our entire community. Enough hotels, enough huge apartment developments, enough trees felled, enough zoning variances that wreck the character of our neighborhoods.
Primary season is approaching. Mr. McGee is so right: “Tourists don’t vote.” Be sure you do.
— Anne Craig
Asheville
1 thought on “Letter: Local leaders must pay attention”
Thanks, Anne. Hopefully, locals will finally see some of the tourism tax dollars used for projects that benefit the average citizen, including but not limited to infrastructure, transit, keeping the place clean, etc. City Council has finally heard all of our pleas, and many of our elected officials (especially Kim Roney) say they want the same. Watch for more information during the NC short legislative session beginning May 18th. In the meantime, I encourage you to reach out the BCTDA. Remind them that we’re neighbors and we’d appreciate their support on a 50/50 split. All the money we need to make our city safe/clean/resilient is right here; we just need to keep working for more equitable/wiser/sustainable distribution.