From Staff Reports 

Asheville City Council member Sandra Kilgore, a native and council’s consistent outlier, was elected the new vice mayor of Asheville during a brief organizational meeting of council on Dec. 6.

In addition to electing Kilgore, council oversaw the swearing in of its re-elected and newly elected council members, including Maggie Ullman Berthiaume, the top vote-getter in the midterm election; along with incumbents Sheneika Smith and Antanette Mosley.

“Kilgore was elected to the position with support from four of her fellow council members, with Antanette Mosley being the sole ‘no’ vote,” the Asheville Citizen Times noted afterward. She replaces Smith as Asheville’s vice mayor.

“The vote, as Mayor Esther Manheimer noted during the meeting, is one electoral decision that the council makes alone,” the ACT pointed out.

Kilgore’s selection as vice mayor could be considered a surprising twist by a council that tends to vote in lockstep on many city issues, while Kilgore is widely seen as an outlier, defined by www.dictionary.com as “someone who stands apart from others.” 

For instance, council on March 22, 2021 voted to demolish the Vance Monument, a landmark in the center of downtown, on a 6-1 vote, with Kilgore as the only dissenter. (She spoke in favor of repurposing the historic obelisk so that it could “provide a new narrative” toward what she termed a much-needed unification.

Kilgore also cast the lone negative vote on May 24 against council’s plan to constrict Merrimon Avenue, explaining that she highly questioned the level of public support for the project versus the inconvenience of traffic jams created by narrowing the 1.5-mile stretch from four to three lanes to accommodate newly marked bike lanes running in both directions.

Meanwhile, Kilgore read the following from prepared remarks after she was voted in as vice mayor:

“We are a council of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints, and our constituents reflect those views. That being said, it is important that all the people we represent feel and know that their voices are heard even if their perspectives are not able to garner the popular vote with council. Democracy is, at its very best, when we agree – also, when we disagree – with integrity and respect.” 

In a press release, the city noted that Kilgore was elected to council in 2020 and announced her plan to run for N.C. Senate District 49 seat in 2021. She lost that bid to incumbent Julie Mayfield in the May primaries, but retained her seat on Asheville’s council.

The release also noted that Kilgore, whose term will be up for re-election in 2024, serves on the following council committees: 

• Finance Committee

• Public Safety Committee

• Planning & Economic Development

Also, the release stated that Kilgore serves as a liaison member of the following boards and commissions:

• African American Heritage Commission

• Asheville Area Regional Airport Authority

• Board of Adjustment

• Land of Sky Regional Council

• Planning & Zoning Commission

• Recreation Board

• Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority (ex-officio, non-voting) 

After the Dec. 6 meeting, Kilgore was quoted by the ACT as saying that “she would ‘be there to … bridge some of those gaps’ with the business community, for example.”

Further, she told the ACT,  “I am a business-owner (Kilgore & Associates Real Estate) and I have a business downtown, and I understand some of the impacts that they feel.

“I think, sometimes, voices may go unheard, and I think that sometimes when you don’t hear the other side, it’s easy to go along with the flow.

“I’m really happy that fellow council members felt confident in me to do a good job at this,” she told the ACT. 

What’s more, the ACT noted, “Kilgore will be the second consecutive black woman to serve as vice mayor, after Sheneika Smith. She will serve in the position for the next two years.”

The motion to nominate Kilgore was made by Councilwoman Kim Roney, who was quoted by the ACT as saying, “It is a common practice of this body to give first option to the person for vice mayor who received the most votes in the last election.” 

Roney also termed the election of Kilgore — to serve as vice mayor — an opportunity to “acknowledge the process of democracy” and the “importance of our voting, and the people who show up to vote,” according to the ACT, which also noted that “Mosley could not be reached for comment after the meeting.”

The Daily Planet contacted Kilgore twice, seeking a statement or a telephone interview, but did not hear back from her by this edition’s mid-morning Dec. 19 press deadline.