HUD Secretary Rejects Proposed Asheville, NC Disaster Relief Plan Over DEI Criteria

American Greatness ^ | 12 Mar, 2025 | AG Staff

[MtnClimber]

The Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has rejected Asheville, North Carolina’s $225 million draft action plan intended for victims of Hurricane Helene due to a Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI) clause in the proposal.

HUD Sec. Scott Turner, in an official press release, stated, “Once again, let me be clear DEI is dead at HUD. We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders.”

In an interview on Fox Business, Turner explained that President Trump’s goal is to help the people of Asheville recover, not to push a DEI agenda.

Embedded in the proposed draft action plan submitted by the City of Asheville was a clause stating that rather than distributing the aid based on need, the city would “Within the Small Business Support Program, the City will prioritize assistance for Minority and Women Owned Businesses (MWBE) within the scoring criteria outlined within the policies and procedures.”

The official HUD press release also states:

HUD looks forward to helping thousands of North Carolinians rebuild after Hurricane Helene by directing funding assistance to impacted businesses, non-profit organizations and neighborhoods. However, Asheville’s draft action plan incorporated DEI criteria to prioritize some impacted residents over others, which was unacceptable. After HUD informed Asheville that its plan was unsatisfactory and it would not be approved, the city assured us that it was updating its draft action plan to be compliant.

In the Fox Business interview, Sec. Turner referenced President Trump’s Day One Executive Order to end radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing and to eliminate discriminatory government-funded DEI practices.

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer told Spectrum News that the city has removed reference of the program that was of concern and that with that modification, the city is now in compliance.

[MtnClimber]

Asheville’s woke policies causing them problems and causing problems for their constituents.

[Qwapisking]

“elections have consequences and then everyone suffers the consequences” applies. when asking if the voters will ever learn, the First rule of insanity applies.

[rigelkentaurus]

Put an audit on this money in 6 months. Bet they find Ashville does it anyway. At which point, the Fed should force Ashville for reimbursement.

[Frank Drebin]

The City council and the rest of the administration of Asheville needs to be run out of town on a rail. Asheville is a liberal cesspool. The City will now try to hide and lie about where the aid is going in their “updated” proposal. At this stage, do not go through the city. Give it directly to those in need.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

Psycho liberal fux. They still have people smeared in riverbanks and racist BS is what they are most concerned about????

HEY ASHEVILLE!!!! YOUR COMMUNITY IS IN RUINS, YOUR PEOPLE HAVE DIED BY THE HUNDREDS, YOUR ENTIRE LANDSCAPE HAS BEEN RESHAPED, YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE IS GONE AND PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN TENTS BUT YOU WANT TO PRIORITIZE RACISM TO PUT BLACKS AND WOMEN AHEAD OF THE MEN WHO ACTUALLY BUILT YOUR CITY????

[EastTexasTraveler]

HUD better follow up and make sure they do not try to do the DEI stuff anyway.

[LeonardFMason]

“Embedded in the proposed draft action plan submitted by the City of Asheville was a clause stating that rather than distributing the aid based on need, the city would “Within the Small Business Support Program, the City WILL PRIORITIZE assistance for Minority and Women Owned Businesses (MWBE) within the scoring criteria outlined within the policies and procedures.””

AWESOME! Asheville residents couldn’t care less if MARTIANS rebuilt the town as long as it is done quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively.

[grobdriver]

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer told Spectrum News that the city has removed reference of the program that was of concern and that with that modification, the city is now in compliance.

Now they need to, somehow, be policed to make sure they don't use DEI anyway. Just because they changed the text doesn't mean they have had a change of heart.

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

Asheville is Berkley in the Appalachian’s

[Savage Beast]

"the City will prioritize assistance for Minority and Women Owned Businesses"

Absolutely not!

"Asheville’s draft action plan incorporated DEI criteria to prioritize some impacted residents over others, which was unacceptable"

Of course this is unacceptable! Justice is blind!

"After HUD informed Asheville that its plan was unsatisfactory and it would not be approved, the city assured us that it was updating its draft action plan to be compliant."

If it is not compliant, HUD must draft a plan for Buncombe County that specifically excludes the City of Asheville but includes the rest of the County, e.g. Black Mountain, Weaverville, Swannanoah, et al., the entire County excluding the City of Asheville.

[Ann Archy]

They VOTED FOR THESE IDIOTS

[redangus]

They’ll still dole the money out to their favorite. They just won’t codify it in writing.

[Dahoser]

Not saying that Asheville’s government wouldn’t do it anyway, but has anyone considered that it was a requirement under the Biden regime to include language like that if you wanted to get a grant of any kind and so that’s why it was in there?

[b4me]

As if changing the words means those planning to forward helps won’t still do as they please and help minorities before others?

[Liz]

p

[flamberge]

...Has anyone considered that it was a requirement under the Biden regime to include language like that if you wanted to get a grant of any kind and so that’s why it was in there?

That does not matter in the slightest way. The Biden regime is gone.

The new executive directions from the Trump administration are perfectly clear. Grant requests are easy to rewrite. They (Asheville) should have revised their proposal.

More to the point, they should have changed their actual policies. We have seen repeatedly where organizations change a few department names and job titles, to claim they no longer have a DEI policy. Then they keep on passing out goodies to their favored minority groups and cronies just like they were doing before the "compliance" with executive directions.

DEI policies were and are illegal under existing anti-discrimination laws. But they buy votes for Democrats, and they harass and harm people, (specifically White Male Christians), who are not Democrats. That is why Democrats support these policies.

Time for a reckoning.

[FrankRizzo890]

What I bet happens now? “Trump and his cronies don’t want to help Asheville, they just wanted to criticize the great work that FEMA was doing under president Biden”.

[FreedomPoster]

To be clear, their constituents voted for this. They had it coming.

[Dahoser]

As I said, it may very well be that the Asheville government would do this on its own, but I think the language was in there most likely because it's been in there and it's probably been in there everywhere else around the country. There is so much of that with any kind of government contracting where the feds put all sorts of requirements and unspoken must haves. When you apply for a job, especially with a company that does government contracting, you have to roll through the diversity set of questions about what's your ethnic background, are you a veteran, actually phrased that you identify as a veteran if you are which obviously shows you the wokesters got into that question, and whether you have a disability.

That's why this is a very important thing to occur because as you said, the Biden regime is gone and now everyone should, I say should, from this point on not have that language in there.