From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — “They agree on where they are going, but they disagree on how to get there,” the Asheville Citizen Times reported on May 28

“That’s what Asheville’s mayoral candidates Esther Manheimer and Kim Roney had to say about one another” during Leadership Asheville Forum’s May 27 Mayoral Candidate Forum, the ACT added.

“Taking questions from an audience at the Asheville Country Club, discussion between the candidates addressed issues of homelessness, public safety, public transit, transparency and recovery from Tropical Storm Helene and more

“It’s a repeat of the 2022 election, with the same figures — three-term Mayor Esther Manheimer and two-term City Council member Kim Roney — again being the options in the general election.

“Manheimer is endorsed by Buncombe County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards and State Sen. Julie Mayfield. Roney is endorsed by Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger, AFL-CIO and the WNC Central Labor Council. It was the first mayoral candidate forum since the March primary, where the two automatically proceeded to the general election.”

The ACT added, “In their opening statements, both candidates took a portion of their time to address the biggest event since their 2022 match-up: Tropical Storm Helene. The storm caused an estimated $60 billion in damages across Western North Carolina, according to a North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management report. It flooded Asheville’s river districts for days.

“In describing her work during and after the storm, Manheimer pointed to her advocacy for additional recovery funding in and support for Asheville, which has included multiple trips to Congress and meetings with officials in both the Biden and Trump administrations. She is the co-chair of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on WNC Recovery.”

To that end, Manheimer said. “I left those meetings with nearly a billion dollars in funding that we are going to be able to invest in this community for our future.” 

The ACT noted, “Roney discussed her work as a volunteer with the Flush Brigade, a volunteer group that organized the flushing of thousands of toilets as Asheville remained without water for weeks after Helene. She also said she worked with a coalition of local elected officials to bring volunteer firefighters from New York City to Asheville.”

What’s more, Roney said. “I’m deepened in my belief that we can secure a hopeful future together by taking better care of each other at our mountain home.”