Summary: Asheville City Council must appoint someone to fill the seat Kim Roney will vacate when she becomes mayor. This decision should be made through an open, fair, and transparent process that allows qualified residents to apply, gives the public a meaningful opportunity to participate, and ensures that all applicants receive fair consideration. Council will discuss the vacancy at Tuesday’s Policy, Finance, and Infrastructure work session, where public comment is not permitted. Council should not move toward a predetermined outcome without first hearing from the community.

The Facts: Kim Roney’s election as Asheville’s next mayor will create a vacancy on City Council when she takes office December 8. Under North Carolina law and the Asheville City Charter, the remaining Council members must appoint someone to serve the remainder of her Council term.

According to the City Attorney, Council has broad discretion in determining how to fill the vacancy. There is no prescribed application process or legal deadline for making the appointment, although the final decision must occur in an open meeting.

At Council’s November 5 agenda briefing, members began discussing how to approach the appointment. Further discussion was deferred until the November 10 Policy, Finance, and Infrastructure work session at 3 p.m. Although the meeting is open to the public, public comment is not permitted.

You can read the memo by City Attorney Brad Branham on the legal process for filling a vacancy here.

Our Assessment: The public deserves a voice in choosing who represents them.

An appointment to elected office should not be treated as a formality or a decision made before the community has an opportunity to participate. The responsibility to fill a vacant Council seat carries an obligation to ensure fairness, transparency, and public accountability.

Qualified Asheville residents should have an opportunity to apply and present their experience, qualifications, and vision for the city. The public should be able to review those qualifications, hear directly from applicants, and express its views before Council makes a decision.

The election sent a message about how Asheville residents expect their government to operate. Honoring the voters’ wishes means respecting their call for transparency, accountability, and meaningful public participation. That commitment should begin with an open and fair appointment process where anyone qualified can apply and the community has a voice before any decision is made.

An open meeting alone does not constitute meaningful public participation. Transparency requires more than allowing residents to observe a decision. It requires giving them a genuine opportunity to help inform that decision.

We are not advocating for or against any individual seeking the appointment. Nor should this discussion begin with assumptions about who deserves the seat. Our responsibility is to advocate for a fair opportunity for all qualified applicants and a meaningful voice for the residents they would represent.

The question should not be who has already been identified as the next Council member. It should be whether Asheville residents have been given a fair opportunity to participate in determining who will represent them.

Council should establish clear application requirements, publicly announce the opportunity, allow applicants to present their qualifications, provide time for public comment, and deliberate openly before making its selection.

Let people apply. Let the public be heard. Let the decision be transparent.

Anything less risks undermining public confidence in the appointment and the commitment to accountable government that Asheville residents deserve.

Disclosure: Three members of GAP’s Strategy Team were candidates in the 2026 Asheville City Council election and could potentially seek appointment to the vacant seat. GAP does not endorse any applicant. Our position is that every qualified resident deserves fair consideration through an open and transparent process with meaningful public participation.

Things to do: Email Asheville City Council (using our template below) before Tuesday’s work session and urge members to establish an open, fair, and transparent appointment process that includes:

• A publicly announced opportunity for qualified residents to apply.
• Public access to applicants’ qualifications and priorities.
• A meaningful opportunity for residents to speak before a decision is made.
• Open deliberation and a transparent final selection.

Council should use Tuesday’s meeting to establish how residents will participate, not to effectively determine the appointment before the public has been heard.

Email Template: You can send an email to the Asheville City Council by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent. 

Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.

To: ashevillenccouncil@ashevillenc.gov

CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org

Subject: Give Asheville residents a voice in filling the Council vacancy

Dear Mayor Manheimer and Members of City Council,

I urge you to ensure that the appointment to Asheville’s vacant City Council seat is open, fair, transparent, and includes meaningful public participation.

Qualified residents should have the opportunity to apply, present their qualifications, and receive fair consideration. The public should have an opportunity to hear from applicants and express its views before Council makes its decision.

Transparency and public participation were central to Kim Roney’s campaign for mayor. The appointment to the seat she vacates should reflect those same principles.

Please do not move toward a predetermined outcome without first giving Asheville residents a meaningful voice.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Name]

[Neighborhood, optional]