Title: President and CEO, Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA); secretary to its Board of Commissioners In this role since: about May 2025 (“just about one year” at the May 20, 2026 meeting) Next voter decision: none; the board is appointed by the mayor
Surveillance record
At the May 20, 2026 board meeting, Santos introduced Interim Chief Jackie Stepp, who, per the approved minutes, “encouraged questions of the community related to the real-time intelligence center and otherwise,” “noted that a member of the HACA team will be joining the program policy board,” and said APD “is bringing back the HACA team in early July (formerly the housing team).” No commissioner asked a question; the item passed without discussion (board minutes · archived copy). Eight days earlier council had voted for the RTIC over the objection of nearly every resident who spoke; the authority whose ~500 cameras feed it learned of its own seat on the policy board as an aside.
Two months before that, HACA’s IT section reported “Surveillance Integration: We are working with Edwards Equipment to update passwords for all users who access the camera DVRs, including BCSD and APD” (March 25, 2026 executive report); by June the same vendor was helping HACA seek grants for a “security fleet.” Across every 2026 board document reviewed (January through the August 26 agenda), cameras appear exactly twice, as an IT status line and as the chief’s aside. No resident-notice or consent policy has been found; the 2026 lease and house rules adopted June 24 have not been checked for camera language (Watching the Poor).
What the sheriff’s log shows about her residents. Of 225,439 camera events in the Sheriff’s Office’s Fusus audit log (January 2024 to May 2026), 130,003 were on HACA cameras, 58 percent of the center’s viewing; Pisgah View, Hillcrest, Maple Crest, Deaverview, and Aston Park Towers were the five most-watched housing sites, and 95 percent of it was live monitoring. No HACA board minute reviewed on this site mentions the figure or asks for it (The Sheriff’s Audit Log).
The board
Chair Mychal Bacoate (appointed January 2025); Vice Chair Kimberly Collins; commissioners Scott Farkas, Maggie Burton-Hughes, Carol Goins, Laura Sotelo Garcia, David L. Robinson Sr., Kidada Wynn, and Sean Aardema, APD’s Deputy Chief of Operations, who made and seconded motions at the same May 20 meeting where his own chief presented the RTIC (minutes). The official who promised the RTIC “will not be sharing information with federal immigration” sits on the board of the authority whose residents are most exposed if it does.
The question for her
What does the HACA seat on the RTIC policy board do, who fills it, what footage can they see, and will residents be told which properties’ cameras feed the network? (request 8)
Region: Asheville · Last updated: Aug 22, 2026