Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger announced on Wednesday she will not be seeking re-election this fall.
Hemminger, who has served as the town’s mayor since 2015, shared the news in a statement with Chapelboro, saying it was a difficult decision.
“It has been an honor serving the people of Chapel Hill, and I want to begin by thanking everyone for your support,” she said. “I came into this job in 2015 because I cared about our future and knew we needed to make better choices in order to be sustainable and resilient economically, environmentally, and socially. Over almost eight years we have all worked extremely hard to put our community on a better path toward that future.
“From the outset, we used data, analysis, experts, and input from the community to help us understand where we are and to determine where we need to go,” the mayor added.
Hemminger’s tenure as mayor will be defined by the efforts around improving housing stock — for both affordable housing and other brackets — and boosting economic development in Chapel Hill. She worked with council members and staff to diversify the town’s commercial tax base by either bringing in business, like Wegmans and Well Dot, or by seeking new development, like partnering with Grubb Properties to embark on revitalizing East Rosemary Street and constructing wet lab space.
Some of those goals were achieved through intensive planning efforts shepherded by Hemminger and town staff, like the Affordable Housing Master Plan, Chapel Hill’s Climate Action Plan and, most recently, the Complete Communities Framework. In her statement, the mayor said she believes “the results speak for themselves” in how the Chapel Hill government is more prepared and coordinated in addressing affordable housing shortages, effects of climate change, and creating places to connect the community.
In addition to those highlights, Hemminger also said she is proud of how Chapel Hill’s values and community have been “lifted up” during her tenure. She pointed to the work of the Historic Civil Rights Task Force to dig into the town’s history and acknowledge racial injustice, as well as extending water and sewer service to the Rogers Road Neighborhood and establishing the Reimagining Community Safety task force. With those and other efforts, the mayor said, she believes the town government is helping take “important steps toward ensuring a just and equitable future for all Chapel Hillians.”
Hemminger said although she will be stepping away from the town’s primary leadership role, she urges the local government and its residents to be “focused and committed” while maintaining those same goals.
“During my time as your mayor, we put the framework in place to ensure a future that is inclusive, productive, and that nurtures a strong, diverse community,” she wrote. “Many of the decisions we faced were hard, but we knew that this progressive vision and its implementation are crucial to the long-term health of our entire community. Now is not a time to pause or reverse course.
“Over my more than thirty plus years of volunteering and public service in our community,” Hemminger continued, “it has been my pleasure to meet and work alongside so many interesting and passionate people in our community who are working toward that better future for all Chapel Hillians.”
As of Wednesday, two elected officials are poised to run for the mayoral role this fall: sitting Chapel Hill Town Council members Jessica Anderson and Adam Searing. Anderson filed to run for the role shortly after Hemminger made her announcement on Wednesday — with the current mayor voicing support for Anderson in her release. Searing, meanwhile, made his campaign announcement on June 15, sharing his opposition to several ongoing town projects, spending priorities, and recent tax increases.
Meanwhile, the other two towns in Orange County will also see changes at the mayoral position. Carrboro Mayor Damon Seils announced he will be stepping down after one term, with Barbara Foushee running to replace him. In Hillsborough, Mayor Jenn Weaver will be leaving the role after two terms and Mark Bell is campaigning for the position. Additionally, Durham Mayor Elaine O’Neal is stepping down in the winter and her successor will be elected this fall.
Beyond the race for mayor in Chapel Hill, the town council will have four of its seats on the ballot this fall — and will also experience notable change. Incumbents Michael Parker and Tai Huynh announced they will not be running for new terms, meaning at least two of those seats will be filled by challenger candidates. As of Wednesday, Michael Beauregard, Breckany Eckhardt, Jeffrey Hoagland, Melissa McCullough, Theodore Nollert, David Adams, Renuka Soll, Elizabeth Sharp, and Erik Valera have either filed or announced intentions to run.
The filing period for candidates to officially enter the 2023 local election cycle in North Carolina runs through 12 p.m. on Friday, July 21. To see who has filed so far in other races, and to learn what is necessary to file for office, click here.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect that Town Council member Jess Anderson announced a run for Chapel Hill Mayor shortly after Hemminger’s decision was publicly released.
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She was voted in to improve development and quickly used diversity and inclusion as a shield for accepting campaign contributions from developers who then went on to ride roughshod over people’s lives.
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In Chapel hill political candidates use the plight of minorities to hide their true personal agendas.
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Let us hope the next mayor will do better; but they are likely to do more of the same as the local paper is not independent nor impartial.