ASHEVILLE, N.C. —  Following revelations that the City of Asheville has a projected budget deficit of $30 million next fiscal year, the city needs to undergo a forensic audit, Chris Peterson, an Asheville native, a long-time business leader and former Asheville vice mayor (1993-94), told the Daily Planet during a Jan. 16 telephone interview.

(“A forensic audit is a specialized, in-depth investigation of financial records to uncover fraud, embezzlement, or other misconduct, gathering evidence suitable for legal proceedings,” AI Overview noted.)

Also, Peterson asserted, “If you are on council or the mayor... and you just found this out, you should resign.”

For starters on the revelation of the $30 million projected budget deficit for the next fiscal year, Peterson said, “The big question is... How in the hell are they $30 million in the hole when they had a hurricane last year (Sept. 27, 2024). That’s how far out of step those people are.”

Peterson praised city Director of Finance Tony McDowell, who he described as “a straight-shooter,” for telling council that “you’ve got to cut your staff and you’ve got to drastically cut your budget... and you’ve got to raise your taxes... 

“I say everything has got to be on the table.

“They shouldn’t spend any money except for bringing the city back from storm damage and help small businesses downtown — and in the city — make a comeback. Try to spend money to bring tourists back,

“There should be free parking ‘til we get tourists back to downtown.

“Everything (future projects and plans) should be stopped… as far as parks, new buildings...”

Peterson asserted that he believes council knew of the huge impending budget deficit,  but “swept it under the rug.” 

He also charged that “the mayor (Esther Manheimer) says she’s got $225 million — that’s a lie.” (Peterson’s reference was to Manheimer recently pointing to more than $225 million in federal disaster recovery funding that, she claimed, she helped secure for Asheville.)

“Tell us, Esther, how much you are getting” of that money for Asheville? Peterson asked, rhetorically. “She’ll only get a portion of that.”

In response to Daily Planet questions about the lack of emphasis by council on cost-cutting to help resolve the anticipated budget deficit for the next fiscal year, Peterson asserted, “The Democratic Communist Party,” which, he said, has ruled Asheville for decades, “does not believe in cutting the government at all. Asheville wants to be like Portland (Oregon) and Seattle (Washington)  — their ‘mother cities.’”

Further, Peterson charged, “They’ve got a huge ‘brain drain’ with college students from here... leaving,” as, he said, enticing job opportunities are lacking here. “It’s the same with the black and Hispanic communities.”

Worse, he lamented that “Esther (Manheimer) is running for re-election” against ‘communist’ Kim Roney, who is a member of  City Council. (Roney also ran against Manheimer in the last mayoral election.)

As for city officials embarrassment followimg the revelation of the impending budget debacle, Peterson said, “They finally got caught with their pants down..”

Also, he asserted that “dumb-ass WLOS” would have missed the meeting if he had not gone to much trouble to alert the Ashevlle  television station of the budget work session.

Peterson added, “We don’t know how this will affect everyone. The county is also in the hole... The county next will be dealing with the county budget deficit situation.”

So how much in extra income will be needed to cover the city and county budgets?

“The property tax, charges, fees, stormwater, water bills — everything will need to be 30 percent higher for the city-county combined,” Peterson told the Daily Planet.

“It’s already been a problem since the storm. This bunch here is a bunch of fools on a ship. They’ve already made this city where there’s no jobs — just tourism jobs. They (the city and county) don’t like businesspeople. They’re anti-business...

“None of the incumbents who are running should be re-elected

“The Democratic Communist Party is in control of $850 million — and they’re not going to give that up...

“And they gave themselves a (salaru) raise last year, right after the f—ing storm.... 

“There’s another (city salary) raise” projected in the city budget for the next fiscal year.”

Peterson said, “They (the city) have got way too many people (employees)… Plus, they’ve got the cost of living raises. They’re at $134 million in wages and benefits... Property taxes is $83 million in revenue — and it should be less this year because of the flood. And then there is $44 million in sales taxes.”

He added, “They’ve robbed money for three years from the fund balance. They’ve got to pay back about $3 million .. They’ve got to pay $500,000 on new staffing.”

Further, he said, “I’ll bet with you that Roney is going to beat the hell out of Manheimer...

“I’m going to say the county is going to come in with even more in the hole,” financially.

“Manheimer and the county worked a deal where she would get the assistant county manager (Daikisha “DK” Wesley) as city manager, so that they could cover up things.

“Both of them need to have forensic audits of their books,” Peterson said. “Basically, we’re all f----ed. Basically, we’ve all been fleeced.”