Community Forum TODAY (May 11th) at 6pm!
IMPORTANT UPDATE: May 7th, 2026
Our position has changed. We are now firmly asking Council to vote NO on Items B1 and B2 on May 12.
When we published this Open Letter on May 1, we asked Council to fix the public participation, transparency, and procurement problems with the RTIC and Axon items before voting. We feel our role is to advocate for a fair public process rather than a specific policy outcome, so we did not explicitly ask Council to vote no on either item.
However, at today’s Agenda Briefing worksession (May 7), it was confirmed that there is no formal Axon contract for Council to review on May 12. Item B2 is the cooperative purchasing authority — after Council approves it, the City Manager will negotiate the binding contract with Axon directly, with no further Council review. Item B1 (the federal grant) is mechanically linked to the same Axon contract through the $467,602.15 FUSUS line item in the grant budget.
Council cannot meaningfully approve a 7.5-year, multi-million-dollar vendor commitment whose binding operational terms do not yet exist in reviewable form and will not return for Council review. Council also should not accept federal funds earmarked for a contract that does not yet exist.
Our updated ask: Vote NO on Item B1 and NO on Item B2 on May 12.
Furthermore, we call on Council to pause consideration of any further contracts with surveillance tech vendors until the conditions in the original letter are met: full publication of the documents that would actually bind the City, independent civil-rights and technology review, meaningful public participation, and a competitive procurement process that preserves Council and community oversight. The six requests in the original letter below remain. They are now the conditions for any future return of any similar items to the agenda, not the conditions for a yes vote on May 12.
Revised Email Template:
Subject: Please vote NO on Items B1 and B2 (RTIC grant and Axon contract) on May 12
Members of City Council,
I am writing as a supporter of the Open Letter put forth by Sunshine Labs.
When the letter was published on May 1, it asked Council to fix the public participation, transparency, and procurement problems with the RTIC items before voting. At the May 7 Agenda Briefing, it was confirmed that there is no formal Axon contract for Council to review on May 12. Item B2 is the cooperative purchasing authority — after Council approves it, the City Manager will negotiate the binding contract with Axon directly, with no further Council review. Item B1 is mechanically linked to the same Axon contract through a $467,602.15 line item in the grant budget.
Council cannot meaningfully approve a 7.5-year, multi-million-dollar vendor commitment whose binding terms do not yet exist. Furthermore, I encourage Council to pause consideration of any further contracts with surveillance tech vendors until the conditions in the original letter are met: full publication of the documents that would actually bind the City, independent civil-rights and technology review, meaningful public participation, and a competitive procurement process that preserves Council and community oversight.
Please vote NO on Item B1 and NO on Item B2 on May 12.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
[Name]
Update: May 6th, 2026
We’ve created a shorter, “share friendly” summary of our open letter:
Update: May 5th, 2026
Resident Aaron Dahlstrom created a “fact check” document that digs into six claims presented at the April 28th Policy, Finance, and Infrastructure worksession:
Asheville City Council, Residents, Businesses, and Organizations,
Asheville City Council is considering a $1.14 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, secured by Congressman Chuck Edwards, to fund the buildout of a new Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) for the Asheville Police Department. The proposed RTIC would consolidate license plate readers, body and dash cameras, fixed cameras (including in schools), drones, and aggregated private camera feeds into a single live monitoring platform powered by Axon’s Fusus software.
The team at Sunshine Labs puts forth this “Open Letter” to share specific concerns regarding public participation, transparency, federal entanglement, and accountability as City Council considers whether to accept federal funds for the RTIC. A vote is expected at Council’s May 12th meeting.
