The city of Asheville has elected and put into office women of considerable rank and influence in their city’s history. There are three women who have came into power in the city government and who have made the city of Asheville a better place.
Tammy Hooper served as Asheville police chief from 2015-2019. Hooper resigned on Jan. 2, 2019, after she came under criticism for handling a case where an Asheville police officer choked and shocked an unarmed Black Asheville pedestrian with a stun gun. She … then headed the Unit One Consulting firm agency in Asheville.
Terry Bellamy served as mayor of Asheville from 2005-2013. In the year 2005, she became the youngest mayor in the history of North Carolina at age 33. She is a native resident of Asheville and since her mayoral tenure said she wanted to run for the U.S. House a second time.
The current mayor of Asheville is Esther Manheimer. She is a native of Denmark, born there to American parents. During the September 2020 protests in the city, she called for protesters to remain peaceful and for threats against police and city leaders to stop.
The women of Asheville have made remarkable achievements in their city’s history. They have been great Buncombe County teachers, policemen, judges and businesswomen. The women of Asheville will continue to make Asheville a better place.
— Steven Hawkins
Greenville, S.C.
Editor’s note: Hawkins reports that previous letters to the editor he’s written have been collected in the book Letters from South Carolina.
I’d add Leni Sitnick to that list.
I agree! AVL was also a much happier place to live then too.
Wanda Greene
AVL has never had such an incompetent city council and mayor. They are a heinous embarrassment to the ‘city’.