Politics

Hensley announces candidacy for mayor; Volk to retire

Jennifer Hensley

By Bill Moss, Published: July 9, 2025

Dr. Jennifer Hensley, a 20-year healthcare professional, five-year member of the Hendersonville City Council and current mayor pro tempore, announced on Wednesday that she is running for mayor of the city.

“For more than two decades, I’ve had the honor of serving this remarkable community through my private medical practice and public service,” Hensley, a chiropractor who owns her own practice on Bearcat Boulevard, said in a news release. “Now, I am ready to lead Hendersonville into its next chapter as your next mayor.”

Hensley has served alongside Mayor Barbara Volk, whom she credits as a tremendous mentor and example of servant leadership.

“Mayor Volk embodies what it means to lead with heart. Her legacy of service will guide me as I step into this new role.”

“I have served on the city council for six years now, and I am ready to lead the city,” she said in an interview on Wednesday morning. “I am excited to bring kind of a younger approach. Barbara has done an amazing job. She's like the GOAT” — Greatest of All Time. “I just think so much of her, and honestly learned so much from her that I feel very confident in moving forward and maintaining good relationships and being fair and equitable, and so I'm ready for it.”

Volk confirmed on Wednesday that she plans to retire from elective office when her third term as mayor ends in December 2026.

“If Jennifer is (running), that's fine with me,” Volk said. Whether she endorses “depends on who files." Other possible candidates are Lyndsey Simpson, a current council member, and former council member Jerry Smith. “I've heard rumors, but I have not heard directly from any of them,” Volk said.

Now in her 15^th year as mayor after serving for 20 years on the council, Volk said that in retirement “I'm gonna have to figure out which nonprofits I want to get involved in.” As for the 2026 city election campaign, she hopes to see “just a good, honest discussion of where they want to see the city go.”

Among Hensley's priorities are basic services.

“They're not the flashy things but the water and the sewer and the roads” are important city services, she said. As vice chair the French Broad Metropolitan Planning Organization, “I'm very, very heavily involved with DOT road planning and infrastructure — greenways, sidewalks, Ecusta Trail expansion, Saluda Grade expansion that is coming up," she said. "I'm also am a very strong supporter of our public safety, our police and fire. I have been at the helm of every raise and every kind of like salary study to try to make sure that we have equity for our employees.”

Other topics she responded to in an interview with the Lightning included:

• Safety around water: Along with County Commissioner Rebecca McCall, School Board member Amy Lynn Holt and Hensley worked together to implement a swimming and water safety program for kids. While serving on a child fatality committee of the Social Services Board, “I was seeing accidental drownings, specifically in our minority community, and it just bothered me so much when I realized that a lot of our minority communities don't have access to swim lessons or even pools. I'm looking to expand it right now and looking at partners to do that.
• A new Patton pool:“I am a big, big proponent of the big redesign for Patton Park. Our high schools need a pool to swim in to have competition for our youth and our children. Our seniors need a place where they can exercise and gather.” Consultants the city hired will present models for a new Patton pool next week. “I am very supportive of a hybrid type model, an indoor and outdoor option. I don't want to take away an outdoor public pool but we also have got to have greater capacity” for high schools, she said. “Right now, only two high schools have a swim team, and it's because there isn't capacity.” West Henderson High School’s swim team is “currently sharing, like, two lanes for 39 swimmers at the Y.” She hopes the city can leverage FEMA money to cover part of the cost and would like to pursue TDA funding and potentially a city bond issue.
• City county water war: “We currently are submitting a kind of a plan moving forward of what the city and the county have already agreed upon, which was our joint resolution that we adopted a couple weeks ago,,” she said. “We are committed to doing the right thing. We have heard loud and clear that folks in our community do not want rural development and high density (far from the city) and we are trying to protect our area from that. But we also know that there's an affordable housing crisis that we are also trying to address, and I think Henderson County recognizes that too.” The joint resolution both the city and county adopted on June 16 can achieve much of what a bill in Legislature —which appears dead — would have achieved.
• Higher density residential zoning: “I have previously voted for dense projects, and I know that the only way to bring costs down in some situations is density. However, I'm also supportive of responsible density. The (N.C.) 191 widening project just got pulled again from the STIP (state transportation plan) for two more years, and the traffic on 191 and coming into Hendersonville from Mountain Road is not sustainable right now. It's a nightmare out there during rush hour. … We control water and sewer and that infrastructure, but a lot of these roads bill are state maintained, state owned roads, and it is irresponsible for us to expand traffic on roads that we cannot control in any way. I just do not feel like it's the best location for that high a density.”

Hensley also reflected on her experience during Hurricane Helene while working from the newly completed Fire Station One:
“Watching our first responders and city staff sacrifice so much during those critical hours was deeply humbling," she said in a news release. "Their strength and selflessness reinforced my commitment to protect and serve this community. I saw lives saved, neighbors helping neighbors, and a city coming together in love. That is the Hendersonville I will continue to fight for.”

“As a doctor, wife, and mother, I understand what our families, seniors, and business community need to thrive,” Hensley said. “I will be a voice for those who often go unheard and a leader who works every day to ensure our city remains safe, vibrant, and united."

In an appeal to voters, she said: "It would be my greatest honor to continue serving Hendersonville as mayor. I will not let you down."