Jess Young McLean | votejessmclean.com
Why are you running for Asheville City Council and what do you think distinguishes you as the best candidate?
I’m running for Asheville City Council because I believe our city needs caring, steady leadership that can respond to urgent challenges while also building long-term stability for residents, workers, and local businesses. I’m Asheville-raised and deeply invested in this city’s future. For more than 15 years, my work in education and nonprofit leadership has kept me closely connected to families and small businesses navigating barriers in housing, health care, food access, transit, wages, and opportunity.
What distinguishes me as a candidate is my hands-on experience turning community needs into practical, accountable action. My work has required building coalitions, listening carefully to impacted communities, stewarding budgets, and translating lived experience into effective use of public and philanthropic dollars—including recovery work following Hurricane Helene. I bring proven experience in budgeting, governance, and cross-sector collaboration, along with a leadership style rooted in accountability, transparency, and follow-through.
As a lifelong Ashevillian and educator, I lead by listening, working collaboratively, and focusing on solutions that strengthen everyday life and our local economy. I’m committed to ensuring Asheville remains a place where businesses can thrive, workers can succeed, and our community can grow together—now and for the long term.
Please briefly describe your experience and qualifications that will enable you to be an engaged and effective member of the Asheville City Council, including other elected or appointed offices that you’ve held:
I’m a lifelong Ashevillian and nonprofit leader with more than 15 years of experience building partnerships, moving resources, and strengthening systems that support Asheville’s children, families, and neighborhoods. My work has included mobilizing significant philanthropic investment, stewarding budgets through growth and recovery, and expanding access for communities that have historically been left out.
I bring proven nonprofit leadership with real results, deep roots and relationships across Asheville, and an educator’s lens grounded in equity and evidence. I have hands-on budgeting and governance experience across multiple organizations and boards, including serving as Board President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Western North Carolina and Board President of Stewart/Owen Dance. I also participate in regional recovery and advisory efforts following Hurricane Helene – the Buncombe Long-Term Recovery Group and Just Recovery Collaborative. My current work with Read to Succeed Asheville/Buncombe and Buncombe County Schools advisory committees keeps me closely connected to the lived experiences of students, families, educators, and employers.
That experience has taught me that real progress doesn’t come from quick fixes or talking points—it comes from showing up, listening closely, and doing the work together. Asheville faces urgent challenges like housing instability, disaster recovery, and access to food, transit, and care, which too often fall hardest on people with the fewest resources. Addressing those challenges requires thoughtful governance, long-term investment in education and opportunity, and a commitment to follow-through and accountability so our city can move from reaction to resilience.
What do you believe are the most pressing issue(s) for our city? What specific policy changes would you propose to address these issues?
The most pressing issue facing Asheville is child poverty, because it concentrates multiple crises—housing instability, low wages, health disparities, and educational barriers—on families with the least power to navigate them. How we address child poverty today will shape Asheville’s workforce, public health, and economic stability for generations.
In Asheville, roughly one in six children lives in poverty, and research consistently shows that our region is among the most difficult in the country for a child born into poverty to reach the middle class. Those early hardships are strongly linked to lower educational attainment, poorer health outcomes, and reduced lifetime earnings, which means today’s child poverty becomes tomorrow’s housing, health care, and public safety challenges unless we intervene upstream.
To address this, I would prioritize policies that stabilize families with children and strengthen the conditions for long-term economic mobility. That includes expanding deeply affordable, family-sized housing near schools and transit; supporting living-wage jobs and stronger wage floors; ensuring access to quality early childhood education and after-school care; and investing in safe, reliable transportation so parents and children can reach work, school, and essential services.
The City has meaningful tools to act. We can use land use and development policy to require and incentivize more income-restricted, family-friendly housing; align economic development strategies with sectors that offer stable, living-wage employment; and partner with Buncombe County, schools, and community organizations to target investments in neighborhoods where child poverty and food insecurity are most concentrated.
I believe we should treat child poverty as a core metric of success—asking of every major policy and budget decision, “Does this make life more secure for children and caregivers?” By aligning housing, transit, education, and economic policy around that question, Asheville can move from reacting to crisis toward building lasting stability for families and businesses alike.
The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce has a policy agenda, which focuses on four key areas: housing, infrastructure, workforce development, and resources and support for businesses. Based on those key areas, how would you prioritize these and are there policies that you would move forward to address these issues?
The four priorities outlined by the Chamber—housing, workforce development, infrastructure, and support for businesses—are deeply interconnected, and I believe housing and workforce development must come first, with infrastructure and business support aligned around making Asheville a place where working families and locally owned businesses can thrive.
Housing is economic policy. Without deeply affordable, family-sized homes near jobs, schools, and transit, workers and small business owners are pushed out or forced into unsustainable commutes. I support zoning and land-use reforms that allow more housing in walkable, transit-served areas; expanded nonprofit and social housing on public land; and stronger tenant protections that provide stability for families and the workforce businesses depend on.
Workforce development must focus on both opportunity and retention. That means supporting living wages, reliable transit, and access to childcare and after-school care, while strengthening partnerships with local school districts, higher education and trade schools, regional workforce development programs, and community organizations so people can access good local jobs and businesses can retain skilled workers.
Infrastructure investments should prioritize sidewalks, transit, safe streets, parks, and flood-resilient public spaces—especially in neighborhoods and commercial corridors hit hardest by Hurricane Helene. Recovery has underscored the importance of resilient infrastructure that protects small businesses, reduces downtime, and speeds reopening after disasters. City investments should be coordinated, predictable, and tied to tangible benefits for local employers and residents.
When it comes to resources and support for businesses, my focus is on independent, locally owned businesses like the ones my husband and family work at in Asheville. In the wake of Helene, we’ve seen how critical it is for the City to help businesses navigate relief quickly and clearly—through coordinated technical assistance, streamlined permitting, local procurement, and grants or loans that help businesses stabilize cash flow and reopen. I support using City tools to strengthen local enterprises and oppose incentives that prioritize large corporate developments without delivering living-wage jobs or meaningful community reinvestment.
By aligning housing, workforce development, infrastructure, and business support around stability, resilience, and local ownership, Asheville can build an economy that weathers shocks and works for the people and businesses who make this city run.
Specifically, how would you propose that the City of Asheville allocate its resources to grow the economy, attract workforce, and support businesses?
I would allocate City resources toward a people-centered economy—one that strengthens housing stability, public infrastructure, and workforce supports so residents and locally owned businesses can remain rooted in Asheville. A healthy local economy depends on whether workers can afford to live here and whether small businesses can retain employees without constant turnover.
To grow the economy and attract workforce, the City should prioritize investments in deeply affordable and workforce-oriented housing, reliable transit, and safe streets—especially in working-class neighborhoods and employment corridors. When people can live near jobs, schools, and services, businesses benefit from a more stable and reliable workforce, and the City reduces pressure on transportation and emergency systems.
I would also focus on raising the floor through City policy: supporting living-wage standards on City contracts, expanding access to childcare and after-school care, and ensuring transit runs frequently and late enough to serve service workers, healthcare staff, and hospitality employees. The City can partner with anchor institutions, education systems, workforce development programs, and local employers to align training pathways with sectors that offer stable jobs and keep wealth circulating locally.
When it comes to supporting businesses, I believe City dollars and staff capacity should be directed primarily toward small, locally owned enterprises and cooperatives. That includes using local procurement to help Asheville businesses secure contracts, offering targeted grants and low-interest loans for neighborhood-scale firms, providing technical assistance for business continuity and worker-ownership transitions, and streamlining permitting and recovery processes. I am cautious about using public subsidies or incentives for large corporate developments that do not deliver living-wage jobs or long-term community reinvestment.
By aligning housing, workforce development, infrastructure, and business support, the City of Asheville can grow an economy that attracts talent, supports local businesses, and delivers lasting stability for our community.
The City of Asheville is planning to update the Unified Development Ordinance, with a process anticipated to begin this year. How important is this issue? And how will you, as a member of Council, support the success of this project?
The Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) update is extremely important. It shapes how Asheville grows—housing supply and affordability, walkability, commercial corridors, neighborhood character, infrastructure demands, and displacement pressure. It also affects the predictability and clarity that residents, small businesses, and developers need to plan and invest responsibly.
I’ll be candid: I’m not a UDO expert today. But I am the kind of leader who takes deep dives, asks good questions, and does the work to understand complex systems—especially when real people’s lives and livelihoods are impacted. As a Council member, I will treat the UDO update as a major responsibility and commit the time necessary to learn it thoroughly: studying how the current ordinance functions, where it creates barriers, and what changes would mean on the ground for renters, homeowners, small businesses, and workers.
To support the success of this project, I will:
– Prioritize learning and transparency—seeking clear explanations from staff, planners, and community experts, and helping translate technical language into plain terms the public can engage with.
– Focus on real-life impacts—asking consistently who benefits, who bears costs, and how proposed changes affect housing options, business viability, and displacement risk.
– Support meaningful community input—making sure engagement is accessible and includes people most affected by zoning decisions, including renters, working families, and small business owners.
– Work collaboratively—with Council colleagues, City staff, neighborhood groups, and the business community to build a balanced, workable ordinance.
For me, success means a UDO that preserves Asheville’s character while increasing housing options, strengthening neighborhood-scale business corridors, and creating clearer, fairer rules that help our city move toward long-term stability.
It’s been 16 months since Hurricane Helene devastated our region. What are the most important issues/priorities for Asheville when it comes to recovery? How do you plan to address those issues/priorities?
Hurricane Helene was a profound loss for our region—of homes, businesses, stability, and a sense of safety. As we continue recovery 16 months later, our goal should not be to simply return to the status quo, but to rebuild in a way that is more stable, more just, and more resilient for the long term.
A central priority for Asheville is the responsible stewardship of federal disaster recovery funds, including Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) dollars. These resources represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address long-standing vulnerabilities that Helene exposed. City Council has a critical role to play in ensuring these funds are used transparently, strategically, and with meaningful input from residents and businesses most affected by the storm.
My priorities for Helene recovery are informed by my ongoing work with residents, students, families, and nonprofit partners, and include:
Education as a core recovery pillar, with academic, social, and emotional supports for students whose learning and well-being were disrupted, recognizing that recovery for children is essential to our city’s future workforce and economic health.
Economic recovery rooted in living-wage jobs and small business stability, with targeted support to help locally owned businesses reopen, retain workers, and adapt to ongoing challenges.
Housing stability and anti-displacement efforts, including focused support for renters and displaced households so recovery does not result in permanent loss of community or workforce housing.
Climate resilience and preparedness, investing in flood-resilient infrastructure and community-based solutions that are informed by people with lived experience of disaster and displacement.
As a Council member, I would work to align recovery investments across housing, education, infrastructure, and economic development; prioritize clear communication and coordination among City departments and partners; and ensure that those most impacted by Helene have a meaningful voice in shaping recovery decisions. Done right, Helene recovery can strengthen Asheville’s resilience, protect local businesses and workers, and leave our city better prepared for the future.
While there are always competing priorities, the safety of our community is always top-of-mind. How will you prioritize investments in and policies that promote and enhance public safety?
Public safety is always a top priority, but it isn’t a one-size-fits-all concept. What safety looks like depends on context and lived experience. A downtown business owner may be concerned about visibility, foot traffic, and emergency response times, while a family in public housing may be more focused on housing stability, youth opportunity, and access to mental health support. Effective public safety policy starts with listening carefully to those different needs and responding with targeted, coordinated solutions.
Second, I believe we must invest in addressing the systemic issues that repeatedly drive public safety challenges, not just respond to symptoms. Gaps in education and opportunity limit young people’s ability to participate fully in the economy and can increase the risk of involvement in the justice system. Housing instability and displacement place enormous strain on individuals and neighborhoods. Climate-related disasters and extreme weather disproportionately impact those with the fewest resources, increasing vulnerability and compounding safety concerns. Addressing these root causes—through education, housing stability, and economic opportunity—is essential to long-term public safety.
Finally, we need to be thoughtful about how we deploy our public safety resources. Our police officers are asked to respond to an increasingly wide range of situations, many of which involve mental health crises, substance use, or social service needs rather than criminal activity. We should expand and better coordinate non-law-enforcement responses—such as trained mental health and crisis intervention teams—so people receive the right help at the right time, and police can focus on preventing and responding to violent crime.
As a Council member, I would prioritize investments that improve coordination across departments, support data-driven decision-making, and align public safety strategies with housing, health, and education policy. By listening, addressing root causes, and using the right tools for the right challenges, Asheville can strengthen public safety in ways that support residents, workers, and businesses alike.
What is your vision for Asheville in the next 5-10 years?
Growing up in Asheville, I’ve watched this city evolve over nearly four decades. My dad was a surveyor who helped shape much of the physical landscape and infrastructure we know today, and as a teenager, downtown felt like the center of the world—grabbing coffee, seeing live music, and feeling part of something creative and alive. Asheville has changed in many ways since then. Some changes have brought growth and opportunity; others have come at a real cost to children, families, workers, and locally owned businesses.
I’m deeply proud to call Asheville home and fiercely committed to its future. Over the next 5–10 years, I believe Asheville can become a guidepost for other cities of our size—showing what bold, caring, community-centered leadership looks like in practice. That means addressing poverty at its roots, honoring and stabilizing long-time residents and businesses, and preventing displacement while welcoming thoughtful growth.
My vision is an Asheville where local businesses are strong, students and educators are well supported, and working families can afford to live near jobs, schools, and services. It’s a city that uses policy and public investment strategically to improve housing, transit, land use, food access, workforce development, and climate resilience—so growth strengthens community rather than eroding it.
If we lead with care, creativity, and accountability, Asheville can build a future that works for the people who live and work here now—and serve as a model for what’s possible when a city chooses stability, opportunity, and shared prosperity.
If elected, how would you engage with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce?
If elected, I would engage with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce as a consistent, collaborative partner—building on an existing relationship rooted in participation, trust, and shared commitment to Asheville’s long-term success.
I’m proud to be part of an organization that has been a Chamber member for nearly three years, and I regularly participate in Chamber networking and professional development events, including my weekly involvement with the West Asheville Professional Networking Group, Best in the West. Through my work at Read to Succeed, we’ve leveraged Chamber connections to recruit volunteers, board members, sponsors, and donors, reinforcing the value the Chamber provides to both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
I’ve also been honored to work with young professionals through PROpel AVL and to receive the Chamber’s 2025 Leadership Award. Those experiences have deepened my appreciation for the Chamber’s role as a convener, policy partner, and leadership pipeline for our region.
If elected, I would continue engaging through regular, two-way dialogue with Chamber leadership, policy staff, and members—seeking input early in the policymaking process, not after decisions are already in motion. I believe the strongest policies are developed when local government and the business community work hand in hand to understand impacts, identify unintended consequences, and align around shared goals.
I would look for opportunities to partner with the Chamber on advocacy related to housing, workforce development, infrastructure, disaster recovery, and small business stability. Above all, I would approach this relationship with openness, responsiveness, and follow-through, so Chamber members see City Council as an accessible, engaged partner working toward a resilient and inclusive Asheville economy.
Is there anything else that you’d like to share with our members that would help them to evaluate you as a candidate?
One thing I’ve learned through my relationships with members of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce is that business in Asheville is about more than bottom lines and balance sheets—it’s about connection.
Again and again, I hear the same thread in conversations with Chamber members: being in business here means being in relationship. It means celebrating one another’s wins, showing up for each other during hard moments, grabbing coffee or lunch to learn from one another, making referrals, and offering support. It’s the reminder that none of us is doing this alone—that we’re a team, a community, and that we are stronger together.
That sense of connection is what I would bring with me to City Council. I believe good governance, like good business, is rooted in trust, communication, and collaboration. I lead by listening, building relationships, and following through, and I would approach my role on Council with the same care and respect I bring to every partnership.
I hope Chamber members see me as someone who understands the realities they face, values their role in our community, and is committed to working alongside them to build an Asheville where local businesses, workers, and families can continue to thrive.