Title: Candidate for Asheville City Council · former Asheville City Council member (Dec 2015–Dec 2020) · author of the July 2020 reparations resolution In this role since: — Current term ends: — Next voter decision: Nov 3, 2026: City Council general; advanced from the March 3 primary (~6%) · Election 2026
Surveillance record
No votes on the current buildout (he left council before it). But Young is the only council candidate whose 2026 campaign materials contain any data-privacy commitments. From his DSA questionnaire:
- Build “a local firewall so city government is not an arm of deportation”
- Ensure local government “is not feeding a pipeline into enforcement through data, technology, or informal collaboration”
- “Strong privacy and data minimization rules”; nonpublic records “not accessed without a proper judicial warrant”
Read those against the RTIC’s design, with its 500-mile data-sharing radius and informal inter-agency lookups as the documented ICE pathway (The National Wave), and his language describes the problem almost exactly. He has never named the RTIC, Fusus, or Flock. His Chamber survey frames public safety as staffing and response times.
The question for him
Does the “local firewall” include the RTIC? Would he vote to release the Axon contract, publish the audits, and pass an oversight ordinance? He’s one direct question away from being the first council candidate with an actual position. See Election 2026.
Last updated: Aug 17, 2026