Women win big in local Asheville elections; What's next for 1st elected school board?
ASHEVILLE - Election night ended in historic Asheville fashion: with newly-elected school board members, all of whom are women, ready to begin transitioning the Asheville Board of Education to an entirely elected body, and with City Council clinching its second iteration of an all-woman council.
The reelection of incumbent Mayor Esther Manheimer, Vice Mayor Sheneika Smith and council member Antanette Mosley, as well as newcomer Maggie Ullman Berthiaume, spelled big wins for women in local Asheville elections.
In the same night, Amy Ray, Sarah Thornburg, Rebecca Strimer and Liza English-Kelly became the first elected members of Asheville's school board.
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"I think it’s important. In some ways I’m surprised that it hasn’t gotten more attention," said Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University. "The problem of not enough women in office is a durable one, and one that is hard to move, yet the city of Asheville seems to have it figured out."
Also notable is the city's transition from a five-member school board to a body of seven. As of December 2021, Asheville school board was one of only two districts to appoint representatives in the state. The newly-elected board members will replace outgoing members Shaunda Sandford and Martha Geitner in December.
Chair James Carter, and board members George Sieburg and Peyton O'Conner will remain until 2024, when all members will be elected to staggered four-year terms.
All board members receive an annual salary. ACS spokesperson Dillon Huffman said the board chair is paid $950 a month, or $11,400 annually; the vice chair is paid $850 a month, or $10,200 annually; and everyone else is paid $750 a month, or $9,000 annually.
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Election coverage:
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Asheville council race: Ullman wins night, incumbents Smith and Mosley retain seats
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“Elections are not perfect, and we’ve certainly seen that, but it is a way to make schools more responsive to the people. That’s the point of elections," Cooper said of the transition to an elected board. "It’s an imperfect vessel for that, but it’s also the most perfect vessel I know to achieve some sort of responsiveness in representation."
Asheville Mayor Manheimer said this was a change she supported. Prior to the legislative change, Asheville City Council appointed the members.
"The frustration I had heard in the community was, the community wants to participate in electing who is on the school board, and I don't think it's all that satisfying to do that through electing a City Council who then selects a school board. That feels like too distant a participation," Manheimer said.
"I think also the sense of accountability is greater when you have an elected body and there was a lot of discussion around that being a positive thing."
Priority 1
Though the newly-elected members will not be seated until December, most immediately know the first step they hope to take: hiring the new superintendent.
Asheville City Schools has had six superintendents in the last 10 years, and many blame the ever-shifting leadership for many of the system's issues.
“What’s it going to look like this time? We’ve obviously done it a lot over the past several years. We have a lot of experience hiring superintendents and then they leave, so I do think there is a real energy to getting it right this time," Thornburg said.
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“I feel like we have one shot at this to get it right, and so that will certainly be a primary focus,”
Thornburg, 53, is an attorney and partner in the law firm of McGuire, Wood and Bissette. A former public high school teacher, her children attended ACS grades K-12.
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This intent was echoed by both Ray and Strimer. English-Kelly could not be reached for comment Nov. 9.
“Without a doubt, the first priority is that we start the process of finding and hiring a new leader and superintendent. That’s what’s been missing for so long in our district, that’s what’s been at the root of all the challenges, the fits and starts," Strimer said.
“It’s not hard to see that’s the missing piece, and it has been for years in our district.”
Strimer, 44, is a housing counselor and program coordinator at OnTrack WNC. She is the mother of two Asheville Middle School students.
In the first weeks and months of the new board, Ray she also hopes to prioritize a "shift in culture" towards one of trust and transparency.
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Currently, she said many teachers feel "discouraged and disempowered," and though interim Superintendent Jim Causby has helped begin the shift, she wants to make the board and administration to make it clear that all teacher concerns, questions and ideas are welcome and "not subject to retaliation."
Ray, 54, is an assistant United States Attorney. Ray has been a parent of at least one ACS student for the last 19 years, and will continue to be for the next nine, she told the Citizen Times in the lead up to election day.
Other of Ray's priorities include school safety, both between students and peers and from outside threats, and "leading from the perspective of support."
Strimer said after the work of hiring a new superintendent comes the most exciting part: "We go about the work of building the culture that our students deserve, through the leadership.”
“The system wasn’t working and people said, 'we’ve got to make a fundamental change,'" Strimer said. "We’ve moved to an elected school board, and for this moment, this is a catalyst."
'There's a lot of work to be done'
While notable that election night brought in all-woman victors on the school board ticket, Ray pointed out they are joining the three current members, two of which are men and one woman.
“How do I feel generally about the fact that four women were elected? That’s exciting," Ray said. "And I can say that I believe that the continued empowerment of women in leadership positions is welcome."
Strimer pointed out that that there were also strong men in the running who were great assets to the race, such as Pepi Acebo, Jesse Warren and Bill Young, Jr.
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“It’s not my impression that people picked us because we’re women, but I know that the women who were just elected are strong candidates,” Strimer said.
Ray, Thornburg, Strimer and Warren, a retired Marine and former Asheville City Schools ROTC instructor, ran "collaboratively," often working together, supporting one another and attending the same events.
Thornburg said in some ways, the election felt like a double-edged sword. While she said it was a healthy process, eight candidates moving forward from the May primaries, she also noted that neither of the ballot's two Black candidates were elected.
“Moving to an elected board was important and it worked and it served a lot of good purposes, and certainly we’re never going back," Thornburg said. "But I am dismayed the two Black candidates didn’t end up on the board. And I don’t know what to do about that.”
Having worked closely with Warren, she said they need candidates like him − people who have worked in Asheville City Schools and have strong connections with students and the community.
“It is a very fragile vessel that we need to hold in our hands and acknowledge that we don’t represent all the families (in our school system)," Thornburg said. "We've got to be really careful that when we struggle with decisions and are making considerations, that we remember all families in our community because we're not going to reflect them simply on our backgrounds.”
Similar frustrations have been voiced on social media in the wake of the election, many upset that Warren didn't clinch a spot on the board.
Warren could not be reached for comment Nov. 9.
"Everyone who ran for school board ran an excellent campaign and all eight of us want what’s best for this school system,” Thornburg said. "There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Historic election: Asheville elects all women school board, city council
