Who: director of Sunshine Labs (@sunshinelabsavl), Asheville’s civic-technology and transparency shop; runs Sunshine Request, which files and publishes public records requests; led the Sunshine Over Surveillance campaign Follow: sunshinelabs.org · sunshinerequest.com
What he has done
- April 14, 2026, at council, on the $1.14M grant: the question that has never been answered publicly, “What is the ongoing operational cost after the grant runs out?” (2:28:28 · Their Claims vs The Record)
- May 12, 2026, at the vote: “we are removing citizen oversight and expanding surveillance. That is a dangerous combination… a 7-and-1/2-year, multi-million-dollar vendor commitment whose binding operational terms do not yet exist in reviewable form” (5:58:29 · The People Who Showed Up)
- May 25, 2026: on the RE:FUSUS panel with Benn Jordan and Kim Roney (Timeline)
- August 20, 2026: shared the two records releases (PRR-2026-837 and PRR-2026-840) that put Policy 1703’s drafts, the private workgroup’s notes, and the Axon contract emails into public view (The RTIC Policy · Documents)
The July 2025 records fight over Flock audit logs, and the city’s refusal, runs through Sunshine Request (Records Center).
Region: Asheville · Last updated: Aug 22, 2026