The Sierra Club’s political program focuses on electing environmental champions through nonpartisan, grassroots political action.recognizes. The WNC chaper of the Sierra Club endorses Esther Manheimer for Mayor.
A national voice on climate
Esther has represented Asheville’s climate work on the national stage, speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative and the Climate Mayors conference, and bringing city staff to statewide conferences to share what Asheville has learned with other local governments.
Why Sierra Club is with Esther Manheimer
- Water resilience: She’s working to rebuild the Swannanoa and French Broad River parks to withstand future disasters, using federal funds she helped secure, and has pushed for redundancy and filtration in Asheville’s water system so the city has safe drinking water even after severe weather.
- Recovery dollars, directed equitably: Esther champions Asheville’s recovery investment directing 70% of $225 million in CDBG-DR funds to go to low-to-moderate income neighborhoods. Esther is building resilience centers in partnership with neighborhoods.
- Parks and greenways funding: She lobbied the Tourism Development Authority to raise its infrastructure funding share from 25% to 33% of its budget, funds now used for greenways, bike infrastructure, and parks.
- Housing as an environmental issue: She supports and votes for concentrating growth in walkable, already-urbanized corridors rather than sprawl, and backs missing middle housing and denser infill, because housing scarcity is tied to both displacement and environmental impact.
