This is the second of two profiles on Asheville’s mayoral candidates. See our profile on Kim Roney.
Before Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer ever ran for public office, she advised the people who held it. As an attorney, one of her first jobs was providing legal advice to the North Carolina General Assembly. The experience made her see elected officials differently.
“I guess I had this idea that politicians were like geniuses or something,” she laughed. “And I quickly learned that they really run the gamut and this was an accessible job for someone who was determined to do it.”
Years later, Manheimer and her family returned to Asheville, the place where she graduated high school. She got involved on local boards and commissions, and in 2008, was one of 47 people who applied to fill a vacancy on Asheville City Council.
She was passed over for that role – but the experience, she said, was motivating.
“I just got fired up and I thought, ‘Well, I'm going to file and I'm going to run for office.’ And I did. And I beat him,” Manheimer said, referencing one-time council member Kelly Miller. “Admittedly, I have a little bit of a competitive edge to myself.”
Now seeking her fourth term as Asheville’s mayor, Manheimer is in a rematch against two-term council member Kim Roney.
When the two candidates faced off in 2022, Manheimer won by roughly 3,000 votes.
Roney is running on a platform of change – specifically, she’s pushing for greater transparency in government and a different approach to policing.
Manheimer’s campaign, on the other hand, is focused on staying the course and finishing what she has started.
“I am glad to do this job for four more years,” she said. “I'm really good at doing this job and I want to keep doing it for our community.”
Politicking for Helene recovery
Much of Manheimer’s argument for re-election centers on the relationships she’s built and her ability to work across the aisle to secure Hurricane Helene recovery money, a process that she says is “not as black and white” as you’d think.
“I'm just going to be honest. It is political,” she said during an interview with BPR. “You've got to make the case. You can't just assume that this application that lands on a desk in Raleigh is just going to get rubber stamped because it's not.”
For Manheimer, “making the case” has meant trips to Washington, D.C. and Raleigh to advocate for recovery funding. It has also involved working with Gov. Josh Stein and giving federal officials opportunities to “be the hero,” she said.
“You've got to be able to make them understand that you have solid leadership, solid plans and you're ready to go when they give us that funding and we're going to use every dollar strategically,” she added.
Manheimer also serves as the co-chair of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery, which meets monthly to discuss recovery policy and strategies.
Helene caused an estimated $1.1 billion in losses to Asheville, according to city documents. So far, federal and state governments have directed roughly $325 million to the city, according to Bridget Herring, the city’s Helene Recovery Coordinator.
On the campaign trail, Manheimer has said she expects to see roughly $1 billion in recovery money flow into the city “when it’s said and done.” Not all of that money has transpired yet — it's tied into applications pending with FEMA and the EDA, she said.
At a May 27 forum hosted by Leadership Asheville, Manheimer called the influx of recovery money “the silver lining to this horrible storm.”
“We have the, probably, once in a lifetime opportunity to receive funding to do incredible enhancements that really, honestly, we couldn't afford to do on our own,” she added.
A “Both-And” approach to public safety
Like Roney, Manheimer has identified public safety and affordable housing as key campaign priorities. But the candidates differ on how to address them.
While Roney has long been critical about policies and funding that expand the power of the Asheville Police Department, Manheimer said she takes more of a “Both-And” approach: expanding specialized crisis response while continuing to support the police department.
“We've got to build out other and different ways to be able to respond to these types of crises, but we don't need to abandon the use of police officers,” she said in reference to community members who are using drugs and experiencing other forms of mental health crisis. “What we need to do is make sure we have the right responder to each 911 call. And sometimes that's going to be somebody who's more of a health worker or an EMT.”
To that end, Manheimer has supported two programs that attempt to address the issue. She backed the Asheville Police Department’s new co-responder unit, which is staffed with one full-time mental health professional. She also supported the Asheville Fire Departments’ Resource and Engagement Support Team, or REST, program which empowers specific firefighters and peer support specialists to handle calls related to homelessness.
Unlike Roney, Manheimer supports rebuilding the police department, which has struggled for years with a staffing deficit.
“I just swore in 20 new officers this summer, rebuilding the ranks in our police department so that we have sworn officers out there in the community to help keep people safe,” she said at an Oct. 6 WLOS debate.
She recently sided with Roney and other council members to terminate the police department's contract with Flock, citing privacy concerns. Still, she said she isn’t sold on getting rid of the surveillance technology altogether.
“When I'm talking to folks who live in public housing, they are not asking us to reduce the police force. They are not asking us to get rid of cameras,” she said. “So, I think everyone needs to be mindful that the conversation you're having in your neighborhood might be very different in another neighborhood.”
On the housing front, Manheimer has identified zoning and public investment as the two ways to create more affordable housing.
She has already backed a series of changes to Asheville’s zoning rules that reduce the hurdles and costs of building new housing. The city is also undertaking a broader rewrite of its zoning code.
“What we know in communities where building housing is expensive it's because, in part, regulations are onerous and it's harder to build or repair homes even. So we need to address that and make sure that those are not barriers to people getting into housing,” Manheimer said at an Oct. 6 debate hosted by WLOS.
Over the last few years, the supply of Asheville apartment units has surged, with an increased number of vacancies, according to the Asheville Watchdog. However, “deeply affordable housing” – units built for households earning at or below 30% to 60% of the area median income – remains in high demand.
Manheimer pointed to the city’s $45 million in affordable housing bonds, approved in 2016 and 2024, as a solution for the shortage of deeply affordable units. The first round of bond funding created hundreds of affordable units. The second round is an opportunity to support even more of these projects and also finance home repair projects for lower-income homeowners, she said.
“Maybe their home’s paid for, but they can't afford to put a new roof on it or a new HVAC unit. Those are the types of policies that I want to see furthered and I think we're doing a good job of investing in that kind of future for Asheville,” she said.
The case for continuity
Nearly 13 years into the job, Manheimer is the second-longest serving mayor in the city’s history. The number one slot belongs to Earl W. Eller, who held office from 1951 to 1969.
During her time in office, Manheimer said the role of mayor has changed a lot, and she’s proud of how she’s kept pace with the different waves of social reckonings in Asheville, a city known for its progressive values and spirited opinions.
One lesson she said she’s learned is to avoid “knee-jerk” decisions.
“One of the mistakes a politician can make, especially if you're new, is you feel like every decision you make is sort of a do-or-die moment,” she told BPR. “And I think you have to just steady yourself and remember that you know how to make good decisions, you know how to listen, you know how to learn…and you're looking at a long game and not an Instagram game.”
While Manheimer touts her experience as a strength, Roney argues that Asheville could use some fresh leadership.
“I am literally offering you new leadership after 12 years of dissatisfaction. If you want to get different results, try something different,” Roney said during a Sept. 11 campaign event hosted by the Council of Independent Business Owners.
Naturally, Manheimer disagreed.
“Changing the mayor after a major event like Helene, with a few more years to go to really, fully rebuild our city in a way that is resilient and robust and ready to go for the future is not the change that we should be making in this community,” Manheimer said.
