ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A highly charged Asheville mayoral candidate forum turned uncharacteristically negative during the latest program in the Business on the Ballot candidate forum series hosted by the Council of Independent Business Owners on Sept. 11 at UNC Asheville’s Sherrill Center.

About 75 CIBO members and guests attended.

In a rematch from 2022, the one-hour forum pitted Mayor Esther Manheimer against Kim Roney, the city’s first openly queer City Council member who was endorsed in her bid for re-election to council two years ago by the Democratic Socialists of America. 

Roney narrowly lost — by a margin of roughly 4,000 votes – in her campaign to take over the reins as the city’s mayor in 2022, but once again is challenging Manheimer in the Nov. 3 general election.

Roney’s strong baseline performance, combined with her continued presence on the Asheville City Council since 2020, reportedly establishes her as a highly competitive challenger.

At the CIBO’s Sept. 11 forum, CIBO Past President John Carroll served as the emcee and welcomed everyone to the early-morning breakfast session.

Among a number of the guests that Carroll recognized at the forum were Asheville Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley, Asheville Councilman Bo Hess, and Gary Parris, a Republican candidate for Buncombe County sheriff.

Instead of the usual forum preliminaries, wherein the candidates introduce themselves in opening statements, Carroll said CIBO instead would jump right into asking prepared questions of the mayoral candidates, as both are relatively well-known to members of the pro-business group.

Carroll began by asking, “If you’re elected as mayor, what is the single most important change you’d make to improve Asheville’s business climate?”

Manheimer, a lawyer, replied, “On 9/11, I was working in the North Carolina legislature and pregnant with my first son... To your question, we have experienced the devastation of Helene. We have already made a special effort around that....”

Roney, who is a West Asheville piano teacher and musician, answered, “I’ve been your neighbor for more than 20 years… I’m a music educator… We can try some new things rather than just expensive things that are on the shelf...”

Next, Carroll asked, “Should Asheville residents and businesses expect property taxes to increase, decrease or stay the same during your term” as mayor? He also asked: “What benefits should people expect to receive?”

Roney answered, “I espouse transparency. I did support the budget in 2025 because it was about supporting our first responders with better wages… We know businesses are still recovering from Helene. Now there will be (general obligation) bonds on the ballot. If people support the bonds,” they will help to finance large, long-term public capital projects and infrastructure improvements. 

Manheimer said, “Unfortunately, property taxes is about the only lever we can pull for more revenue.”

At that point, the mayor asserted, “I do want to address the transparency issues raised by Councilman Roney... She’s lying... She said there are 3-on-3 private meetings...”

Roney then arose abruptly from her chair and vehemently expressed her disagreement with Manheimer’s declaration. 

Following Roney’s response, Manheimer asked Carroll, as emcee, for an opportunty to respond, Carroll denied her request, but he did tell the mayor she could respond on the next question, instead of addressing the question. He added, “What we do here is totally transparent.”

On a question about the city’s transportation needs and budget, Roney said, “Let me give you the example of transportation… So we have something like the ‘transportation study’. By the time the train has left the station, your best choice is to throw your body on the tracks….”

When Carroll asked, “Downtown (Asheville) has not been as friendly and business-owners are moving out — how can things be improved?” Roney replied succinctly, “We’ve spent a lot of money and time not solving the crisis.”

 Manheimer then answered, “So Asheville has something very similar to the HART,” referring to a Holistic Assistance Response Team program, involving a dispatch team that responds to non-emergency 911 calls regarding homelessness, behavioral health, and social welfare. 

In an apparent swipe at Roney, the mayor said, “I don’t know why we keep having to disparage our first responders.” She then thanked Councilman Bo Hess “for his efforts.” She also spoke about the city efforts to be “worker-friendly.”

Roney then said, “So the business-owners who wrote a letter to City Council wrote it in November... Did you know we’re cutting transit services?”

Then, Carroll told the two candidates, “It seems a member of our audience wants to ask about socialism... Tell us what aspects of socialism you approve and those you oppose?”

Manheimer replied, “For those of you who don’t know, I actually was born in Denmark, a socialist country, Some aspects (of socialism) are good... But we are America and one of the things we love about America is capitalism, which creates the greatest amount of production.”

Nonetheless, the mayor concluded her answer by asserting, “I personally think it (socialism) has a lot of benefits.”

Roney responded, “I’m not a card-carrying socialist,” but “it (socialism) has many benefits. I support Medicare for All. Insurance provided by the marketplace is pretty expensive and not necessarily” providing the needed coverage.” 

Ultimately, on the question of her view of socialism, Roney said, “I approve of social services, yes.”

The candidates next we asked: “Should the city approve of any program to reduce costs?”

Manheimer replied, “The answer is ‘yes.’ We hired DK Wesley as city manager earlier this year. She is systematically working through all of the departments in the city, looking for ways for us to become more efficient. For example, one of the big expenses for the city is overtime pay. She’s looking for ways to reduce overtime pay...”

Roney answered, “One of the things I’d like to cut is the duplication of work between the city and the county. One of the ways we have duplication is with the transit system. By having one transit authority we could have more service” and options. “We also need a dedicated sales tax. I’d also raises the wages of those at City Hall...”

Next, Carroll asked if “the cost of fixing Asheville’s water system is going to bankrupt the city?”

Roney replied, “I just went to Puerto Rico and they’ve seen rate increases over and over again. I went without drinking water for about 52 days out of the tap...”

She added, “So if we don’t all pitch in to make sure our water system” is adequate and resilient, the consequences could be tragic.

Manheimer said, “The repairs to the water system are not going to bankrupt the city… We are receiving all the money we need to repair the water system.

“We have an application in for more than $150 million” for water system projects. “We’re also exploring building a fourth water facility to build redundancy into the sytem.”

Carroll then asked, “As a candidate, are you advocating fair water rates?”

Roney replied, “We needed to fix the water rates. Now we’re on the right track. Everyone needs to pay their fair share.”

Manheimer answered, “I’m working real hard to make sure we don’t need to increase our water rates… We also are metering all customers in the city, which will enable us to go to monthly billing, rather than bimonthly, which will make it more affordable...”

The candidates next were asked: “Are water rates here fair or unfair?”

Manheimer replied, “They’re fair.”

Roney answered, “They’re not fair, but we’re working on it.”

Carroll asked: “What about panhandling?”

Manheimer answered, “We have had about 26 percent (military) veteran homelessness, but we have one of the best VA (Veterans Administration) hospitals in the nation (in East Asheville), which does an amazing job in partnership with ABCCM (Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry).”

Roney replied, “I feel concerned, too. I ride public transit. I have a meal every week with someone who prepares meals for the homeless...   Homelessness is a result of not having affordable housing and not being able to get a living-wage job. We need to work on that.”

Carroll then asked, “Name one or two accomplishments that you got done.”

Roney answered, “You know there’s been some curiosity about affordable housing… We’re working with developers” on that.

Manheimer replied, “The job of the mayor is to essentially be a ‘whip’ and get things across the finish line. For the community to have buy-in….”

The candidates were asked: “Is there equal representation for the citizens of Asheville?”

Manheimer answered, “So the question is whether I support districts. When (U.S.) Congressman Chuck Edwards suggested it, I said we needed to move to even-year elections. For now, I’m pleased with the even year elections.”

Roney replied, “I don’t support districts and here’s why: I’m really concerned that we’d split up (as a community) when we have so many common problems,” but with representatives favoring their districts.

Carroll asked: “Give us two measurable results you expect to see in public safety under your first term?”

Roney replied, “We have a lot more need for mental health response. Maybe because we’re ordering scraps to our community. That’s the kind of partnership that will save us dollars. We’re going to have to get really serious about violence prevention.”

Manheimer answered, “Two important changes coming — the right of home project (a homelessness prevent project). We want to address homelessness prevention so it never happens in the first place. The, other thing is the real-time prevention system — an extensive camera system.”

The candidates were asked: “What technlogy should the APD have to prevent and solve crimes?”

Manheimer replied, “As you know, I wrote a resolution to ban Flock cameras. We have not had body cameras for all police in the city,” until recently. “We try to balance privacy concerns...” 

Roney answered, “I opposed Flock cameras. I do support body cam and dashboard cameras for the APD. We need to talk about community-driven responses... We can get a better return on our investment” by using other options, such as social workers instead of police responding to certain calls.

Carroll asked: “The downtown Business Improvement District … What do you believe is missing from that work today?”

Roney replied, I’m going to talk to y’all as a business-owner — what do you do if you don’t see the return on investment? I’m literally offering you new leadeship after 12 years of customer disatisfaction. If you want to get different results, try something new.”

Manheimer answered, “I think you’ve started out saying the BID has been successful. Based off surveys, that seems to be the case. I don’t think it’s accurate to say we’re not making strides. My opponent has voted ‘no’ on these things.”

Carroll asked: “What about sanitation and security in the city’s homeless encampments?”

Manheimer answered, “The City of Asheville doesn’t allow encampments within city limits. So we have an outreach team for people who are camping to encourage them to move.”

Roney responded that she considers those in homeless camps as “being neighbors… I’d tell them that you’ll have success in smaller groups. The question about (illegal) camping is what are we going to do about the problem? You’re business, your neighborhood... can be part of the Continuum of Care. And that is a data-drive solution.”

Carroll asked: “A city the size of the City of Asheville seems to have an unusual number of homeless people. What would you do to prevent this in the business district?”

Roney replied: “We talked about the Victim Protection Fund. Most of the people who experienced homelessness in Asheville” are victims. “It is most cost-effective to get a place up to standard then to build a brand-new house. Let’s get a better return and also help the neighborhood.”

Manheimer said, “I’m part of the Continuum of Care… Also, looking at diversion — maybe help them (the homeless) find a way to get back where they came from.” 

The candidates were asked: “What have you done personally to prevent homelessness and panhandling” in Asheville?

Roney replied that she has “volunteered hours and donated materials. When it comes to panhandling, we have some serious work to do...”

Manheimer answered, “So the job of a successful mayor is ‘bring home the bacon.’ Millions of dollars are going to help those who need a home. I’m co-chairing the governor’s task force. There are people aging out of foster care...”

Among several final questions, Carroll asked: “What can we do to make Asheville less attractive to the homeless?”

Manheimer replied, “Homelessness is going up — and it’s directly correlated to housing scarcity. The No. 1 way we need to address this is to address housing... We need to be able to direct modern housing laws.”

Roney answered, “It does seem to me that when I think of who is experiencing homelessness, I think of our (military) veterans... By 2030, one in five North Carolinians will be over age 65,” with homelessness among older adults expected to surge, driven by fixed incomes, soaring rental costs, and a severe shortage of affordable, accessible housing.