Carl Mumpower, a private practice clinical psychologist, lifelong Asheville resident and former City Council member who served from 2001 until 2009, said the city\u2019s current challenges stem from decisions made over decades.<\/p>\n
“Asheville began its efforts to address homelessness at least<\/a> three decades ago. This effort accelerated in the early part of this century with the first \u2018Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness,\u2019” Mumpower told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n “That plan was ill-advised but passed with a super-majority. At the time, I suggested to the council that any plan that removed personal accountability from the helping equation was doomed to fail.”<\/p>\n LEFTIST LAWMAKERS WANT TO MAKE HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS A NATIONWIDE CRISIS<\/a><\/p>\n Homeless people play music in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, peddling for money. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Mumpower said the city has continued down the same path ever since.<\/p>\n “That plan and subsequent plans have failed with equal enthusiasm. Homelessness, drug abuse and related<\/a> crimes<\/a> have increased relentlessly under the watch of local homelessness experts and a governing body that is dominated by liberal Democrats and those with an even more extreme view to the left. That lack of balance \u2014 the last conservative on the council was in 2009 \u2014 has led to a myopic repeat of errors.”<\/p>\n He also argued that city leaders relied on ideas that were not grounded in practical solutions.<\/p>\n ONE OF AMERICA’S PRETTIEST CITIES SCRAMBLES TO RECLAIM STORYBOOK STREETS FROM HOMELESS CAMPS, DRUG DENS<\/a><\/p>\n Downtown Asheville is struggling to deal with homelessness and crime, critics say. (iStock)<\/p>\n “As regards homelessness, Asheville has a persisting history of pursuing fantasized interventions over more<\/a> realistic, measurable and trackable solutions.”<\/p>\n The Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care, the local, government-supported coalition responsible for coordinating federal homelessness planning and services in Asheville and Buncombe County, said homelessness in the region is at its highest level on record in its latest count.<\/p>\n Data from the group\u2019s 2026 Point-in-Time survey found 824 people experiencing homelessness, a 9.1% increase from 2025. That included 334 people living unsheltered, up 1.8% from the prior year. Nearly 500 others were in shelters or transitional housing, a rise the Continuum of Care attributed partly to expanded emergency shelter and transitional housing capacity.<\/p>\n People walk through downtown Asheville, North Carolina. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n These “fantasize interventions,” Mumpower said, were accompanied by the city\u2019s pursuit of defunding the police department<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The council\u2019s political dismantling of the police department \u2014 resulting in a 40% reduction due to retirements and resignations \u2014 has had a dramatic impact on crime in Asheville,” he said. “Most \u2018smaller\u2019 crimes are no longer enforced or realistically tracked, and return on investment costs have skyrocketed. We have officers who earned over $150,000 in overtime last year due to manpower shortages. Enforcement is not possible without adequate, motivated personnel.”<\/p>\n “The direct impact on residents is increased and unenforced crime, direct exposure to intoxication and violent street behaviors, and burdensome taxes<\/a> and fees to chase the recycled program pretenses.”<\/p>\n GOT A TIP?<\/a><\/p>\n Homelessness and crime have crept into downtown Asheville, critics say. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Mumpower said many local residents have simply stopped going downtown.<\/p>\n “The single most common phrase uttered by county and surrounding area residents is \u2018I don\u2019t go downtown anymore – it\u2019s nasty, crazy, and scary,\u2019” he said.<\/p>\n FOLLOW US ON X<\/a><\/p>\n He said tourism also suffers when disorder becomes more visible in the city center.<\/p>\n “Tourism is impacted, and those we attract are often coming here not as families, but as partiers seeking to join the fray.”<\/p>\n GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL<\/a><\/p>\n People in Asheville worked together to support each other as they struggled to return to normal life in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. (Fox News)<\/p>\n The issue has taken on added urgency in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated<\/a> parts of western North Carolina in September 2024.<\/p>\n Michael Whatley, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, said the storm worsened hardship in the region<\/a> and exposed failures in the government response.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n “The biggest issue set that we\u2019ve been dealing with, obviously, is the hurricane relief coming on the heels of Hurricane Helene and the fact that the Biden administration and Roy Cooper<\/a>, when he was governor, failed miserably to help that situation in terms of following the hurricane,” Whatley told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visit a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, N.C., on Jan. 24, 2025. <\/p>\n Whatley said that the administration\u2019s clearance of relief funds will assist residents to get back on their feet.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n “As part of President Trump\u2019s government response, $1.4B was made available by HUD for housing relief<\/a>,” Whatley said. “And there also has been over the last month or so a lot of movement with FEMA in terms of the disaster relief that they\u2019re providing to homeowners there.”<\/p>\n “We\u2019re certainly not ready to hang up a mission accomplished sign by any stretch of the imagination. But federal relief that has been put into Western North Carolina is substantially more than has ever been given into North Carolina as a result of any storm by the federal government.”<\/p>\n The Asheville, North Carolina, skyline is shown at sunset. The city, located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Buncombe County, experienced a 31% increase in violent crime from 2016 to 2020. (Pawel Gaul\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n In a statement to Fox News Digital, the City of Asheville said that officials continue to focus on public safety.<\/p>\n “This month we launched the\u00a0Asheville Police Department’s Downtown Plan which will essentially double police patrols downtown \u2013 increasing day and overnight patrols and, in some cases, responding along with trained mental health counselors. Our\u00a0REST Team program<\/a> is an operational response to mitigate the effects of homelessness,” the city said. “It uses specially trained Asheville Fire Department staff to engage with concerned residents and people experiencing homelessness to problem-solve and connect them to resources.”<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Asheville-North-Carolina-03.jpeg\")
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