- Title
- City Council member · climate/sustainability consultant · chairs the Planning, Economic Development & Environment Committee (sometimes appears as Maggie Ullman Berthiaume)
- In this role since
- Dec 2022 (elected Nov 2022, top vote-getter)
- Current term ends
- Dec 2026
- Next voter decision
- Nov 3, 2026: seeking re-election, having co-led the March 3 primary field with ~16% (BPR) · Election 2026
Record on cameras and surveillance
- May 12, 2026. Voted for the RTIC grant and the Axon contract and seconded both motions; each passed 6 to 1. The meeting record. No public statement between May 12 and Aug 20, 2026 was found in council recordings or the DSA, BPR, or Chamber questionnaires.
- August 20, 2026. At the agenda briefing on the Flock termination resolution (attribution confirmed by watching the video): residents are saying “get rid of all surveillance… specifically, get rid of Axon,” but “the call for ‘get rid of Axon’… starts to hit a wall where I can’t fathom pulling back on our transparency tools.” Her question to Interim Chief Stepp established that everything APD runs besides Flock, body cameras and in-car cameras included, is Axon. The Axon contract also pre-authorizes fixed plate readers, which a staff memo read at the same briefing described the city as “expanding.”
- August 25, 2026. Voted for the Flock termination, which passed 5 to 2. Asked the manager directly whether the city had signed for Axon plate readers: “Do we, have we signed a contract with [Axon] for [ALPRs]?” The mayor answered yes, with none installed. Her statement: “I feel like the tenor of the conversation is that all cameras, all surveillance, any data captured is bad, and I just kind of reject that… I will support getting rid of these Flocks. I’m glad to hear the manager lay it straight that we’re going to have a conversation before any other action would happen. This isn’t a bait and switch.” She did not second the moratorium on new plate reader purchases that failed moments after the vote; no member did. The meeting record.
- Sept 16, 2026. Answered the surveillance and check-ins questions at the West Asheville council candidate forum; her words and audio are in the forum section below.
- Sept 28, 2026. At the WLOS council candidate forum, asked what the city should prioritize for public safety amid “ongoing questions about the use of surveillance and investigative technology and the protection of privacy and civil liberties”, her answer covered behavioral health and a mental health treatment court and closed: “I would love to talk about voting out [Flock] cameras, but I ran out of time. So talk to me afterwards” (forum video, 29:02).
At the Sept 16, 2026 candidate forum
Words are from an audience recording this site holds, with ums and repeats removed and nothing else changed; times are minutes into it. Every candidate’s answers are on the Sept 16 forum record.
On surveillance and the Flock vote (0:00; the recording begins part-way through her answer)
“I think people should be safe from crime, safe in a crisis, and safe from unchecked government surveillance. That’s where I start.”
“So jumping into the Flock dialogue, I voted and was happy to vote for ending Flock because the tool can solve crimes but it can still go too far. And that’s what it feels like at this point.” (0:22)
“I’m okay pausing or stopping this and pulling out from the city’s 11 so that we can have a lot more time to discuss this.” (0:40)
“I think that unchecked surveillance that is networked nationally to companies we don’t know is very concerning.” (1:30)
She also said body cameras are called surveillance too, and that “now both the public and officers think it’s the safest way for officers to engage” (1:06). Beside the record: the city’s 11 Flock cameras were still up pending removal as of Sept 8, and no motion on the Axon contract has followed her Aug 20 statement above.
On three-person check-ins out of public view (53:39)
“That actually hasn’t happened as a routine, routinized practice since early 2023 … The last three-by-three I was in was around the budget process this spring … We have had ad hoc ones that have come up.”
“As someone who stewards a $250 million budget with 1,400 people and their families, I thought that was appropriate to have that as a private conversation instead of on the headlines … I think that felt appropriate to be more discreet.” (54:54)
Beside the record: council voted in February 2023 to replace the check-ins with public work sessions, and reporting in 2025 and 2026 documents that the practice resumed, including budget check-ins (the pre-meeting check-in sessions).
In her words
- “I can’t fathom pulling back on our transparency tools.” (agenda briefing, Aug 20, 2026)
- “I will support getting rid of these Flocks… This isn’t a bait and switch.” (council, Aug 25, 2026)
What is pending with her
- Whether she would require a separate council vote before any fixed Axon plate reader goes up (demand 7). As of Sept 8, 2026, no position.
- Whether she supports posting the itemized Axon quote and the Fleet contract, and publishing the quarterly audits (Promise Tracker). As of Sept 23, 2026, no public position.
- Her seat is on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot (Election 2026). Contact: maggieullman@avlcouncil.com.
A statement from the Aug 20 briefing once attributed to her on this page belongs to Sage Turner; see Corrections, Aug 26, 2026.
Region: Asheville · Last verified: September 8, 2026