US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Scott Turner has ended Asheville’s plan to distribute hurricane relief funding based on diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) qualifications rather than by need.
“Once again, let me be clear, DEI is dead at HUD,” Turner told Fox News. “We will not provide funding to any program or grantee that does not comply with President Trump’s executive orders.”
Turner referenced an executive order signed by Trump on the day of his swearing-in ending DEI programs and preferencing.
Asheville’s Mayor Esther Manheimer, who served on Gov. Josh Stein’s transition leadership team, told ABC affiliate WLOS that the city is in the process of editing their Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery action plan to meet the requirements.
Turner said the prior language read “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 city, like many cities has programs around contracting with minority and women-owned businesses and apparently reference to that program in the action plan,” Manheimer, told WLOS.
The action plan is 125 pages long and Manheimer said the language was on page 76.
“We have modified the action plan to reflect his concerns, and we’ve been told the changes that we made are acceptable,” she added.
“At HUD, we are taking a detailed and deliberate approach in every aspect of our work to ensure we are serving all communities regardless of race, color, or creed,” continued Turner. “Let this send a clear message that no detail will go unnoticed, adherence to President Trump’s Executive Orders is mandatory. We appreciate that Asheville has reversed course and is now working with us to get this right.”
On March 4, the city of Asheville posted on its website a plan to allocate the $225 million grant issued by the Biden Administration in January, according to Fox News. The plan included a section explicitly stating that minority and female-owned businesses would be prioritized. Following an investigation by HUD, a new plan was posted to the website, which did not include a DEI section.
A similar situation occurred earlier this when WNC Citizens for Equality filed a Title VI complaint with the US Treasury Department against Buncombe County on behalf of local business owners by prioritizing business owners based on DEI standards rather than by need.
Buncombe County reallocated almost $1.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the Helene Relief: Small Business Grant Program, also known as the Asheville-Buncombe Rebuilding Together Grant Fund. The county administered the grant program in partnership with Mountain BizWorks, another local nonprofit. Applicants could receive up to $25,000 in grant money to cover losses incurred from the storm.
The grant program would prioritize BIPOC (Black, Indigenous People of Color) or “nonwhite” businesses over white businesses rather than prioritizing businesses based on need.
“HUD looks forward to helping thousands of North Carolinians rebuild after Hurricane Helene by directing funding assistance to impacted businesses, nonprofit organizations, and neighborhoods,” concluded Turner. “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.”