Title: Mayor, City of Asheville · attorney, Van Winkle Law Firm · manheimerformayor.com In this role since: Dec 2013 (elected Nov 2013; council member 2009–2013; re-elected mayor 2017 and 2022) Current term ends: Dec 2026 Next voter decision: Nov 3, 2026: seeking a 4th term against Kim Roney; March 3 primary: Manheimer 42.27%, Roney 33.43%, top two advanced (BPR) · Election 2026
Surveillance record
Voted for and presided over every stage of the buildout: the 2023 Fusus interlocal, the 2025 consent-agenda grant, and the May 12, 2026 RTIC/Axon package, a meeting run so that the item came up near midnight and 21 signed-up speakers never got to talk. After the April 14, 2026 public turnout forced a delay, she acknowledged the issue “warrants a full conversation before moving ahead” (BPR); the conversation that followed was a committee work session with Axon and Flock sales reps and no public comment.
In her words
- The fiscal framing: the city already pays the Sheriff’s Office for Fusus access: “we received a grant from the federal government to be able to pay for our own.” (BPR debate coverage)
- On the transparency criticism, at the same debate: council members need to be able to talk privately: “That’s not a transparency issue. That’s a functioning issue.”
The check-ins
Manheimer is the constant in Asheville’s private “check-in” system: three separate small-group sessions before each council meeting, each legally sized (two members plus the mayor) to stay outside the open meetings law, with no notice and no minutes. She attends all three, privately canvassing the full council before every public meeting. When the Watchdog exposed the practice in 2023 she conceded the city might “need to move away from that process”; council voted to end it; it resumed, and in 2026 she defended it to NC Local as “permissible” per legal counsel, noting every member besides Roney supports it. Her debate formulation: “That’s not a transparency issue. That’s a functioning issue.”
Context
Her May 17, 2026 campaign launch at The Marquee drew RTIC protesters (WLOS). Faces Kim Roney in November. Open questions she has not answered publicly: whether the executed Axon contract will be released, and whether she’d support making APD’s promised safeguards binding by ordinance; see Promise Tracker.
Last updated: Aug 17, 2026