It’s not often Orange County’s three mayors all are newcomers to the role – but that is the case after this fall’s local election cycle. Jess Anderson in Chapel Hill, Barbara Foushee in Carrboro and Mark Bell in Hillsborough are no strangers to elected office. In a recent conversation with the trio during the Forum on The Hill, though, they discussed the differences they are experiencing the first few months on the job and the similar learning curves each face.
Bell said despite having experience as a mayor pro temp, he feels as if he’s had to hit the ground running with many broader duties.
“The irony is after eight years of involvement in the community, then eight years as an elected official,” he said, “I thought I knew what the job was going to entail. But, boy, was I wrong.”
“It has been very busy regarding the usual stuff,” the Hillsborough mayor described. “It’s signing documents and representing the town at functions and planning agendas for meetings. But [it is also] thinking more strategically about the work of the town rather than just participating in the work of the town.”
Anderson said in the early days, she’s relishing the opportunity to think broadly and continue laying the foundation of helping improve Chapel Hill residents’ lives and wellbeing.
“The work is not just about work,” she said. “It’s about how does it move our community forward, how do we keep our vision front and center, and the people front and center. And, I think we do a really good job of that. I really like the collaboration and the strategic thinking — it’s a place I like to be.”
Foushee shared similar sentiment, saying she’s looking forward to using the role to continue helping other people and to address the community’s needs. The Carrboro mayor also echoed that busyness of learning the ropes and other transitions her town is experiencing — pointing to Carrboro’s recent hiring of a town clerk and ongoing interviews for a new town manager.
Despite the hard work in closed sessions and retreats, however, Foushee said she gets the sense this town council will strive to be efficient. She said her hope to be a unifier has already been rewarded with some early exits from meetings because of quick cooperation on business and discussions.
“I believe it’s the dawning of a new era,” Foushee said during the panel, “[a] changing in the culture of the council and how the council works. [We are] working more efficiently and not being in council chambers at 11 o’clock at night. Your brain turns off at a certain time of night.”
“Amen,” echoed Anderson — who has also pushed for Chapel Hill’s Town Council to condense its agendas and changed the meeting times to begin earlier in the evening. She said the tweaks will not only help the elected officials, but make the meetings more accessible to community members who can’t afford to show up or tune in late at night.
A collage of the swearing-in ceremonies for Barbara Foushee, Jess Anderson and Mark Bell as mayors of their respective towns in 2023.
Changes like that, however, also mean changes by each town’s staff as they already work to achieve the municipalities’ various goals. Bell said so far, having a better view and grasp of the staff’s work has been his favorite part of becoming mayor. He said he believes the “excellence” and “expertise” they bring to their positions to help Hillsborough function is inspiring.
“Getting to work with people who are really, really good at their jobs is really exciting and motivating,” said Bell, “and makes me want to work even harder to make Hillsborough the best place it can be for our residents.”
Anderson said that team of people and resources to help guide each town is critical. As much as the elected officials rely on each other, they rely on the staff even more — as highlighted by some of the adjustments made during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new Chapel Hill mayor said seeing everything a mayor had to take on during the last few uncertain years made the job seem “daunting” and affected her consideration to run.
But as she said she realized then and is learning more so now, the role does not rely on individuals’ leadership and action.
“You don’t do it alone,” said Anderson. “We have these amazing organizations set up, we have amazing collaborations, and we have the county that manages these really difficult, stressful, and scary events, and we just don’t have to take it on alone. That’s just not what the job is at all – it’s about knowing you have amazing staff and you have amazing partners.”
The three towns often cooperate on other projects beyond just emergency response. Each municipality is discussing issues like Chapel Hill’s ongoing proposal to extend water and sewer services to the southern county line, the future of the Greene Tract, and the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness. To that end, the mayors are slated to meet with the Chair of the County Commissioners Jamezetta Bedford in the coming weeks, carrying on a traditional check-in every few months between the four leadership roles.
Foushee said as everyone settles in and ramps up the work, she is looking forward to having those opportunities to touch base on projects and for it to feel less ceremonial than when the trio gets together in these earliest days of their tenure.
“Certainly there are also other common issues that we’re in communication on, either via email or through a phone call,” said Foushee. “But we’re all just kind of getting started and getting our feet wet as new mayors in the community. So, I do predict we’ll be communicating a lot more in the future — and I look forward to that.”
To listen to the full New Mayors panel from the Forum on The Hill series, visit Chapelboro’s Forum on The Hill webpage.
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