Tuesday evening local leaders from across Orange County gathered as Damon Seils became Carrboro’s new mayor and Randee Haven-O’Donnell, Barbara Foushee and Danny Nowell began their new terms as Carrboro town council members.
At the Carrboro Town Council meeting, Damon Seils was sworn in as the new mayor of Carrboro by State Senator Valerie Foushee. Seils said the residents of Carrboro want inclusive, equitable and accessible government.
“I promise as mayor I am going to do my best to help all of us be effective in achieving the community’s goals together and our goals as a council,” Seils said. “I’m grateful to be here with you.”
Outgoing Mayor Lydia Lavelle was honored by the council for her four terms as mayor. She compared her time serving in office to hopping on a moving train.
“Our service as elected officials is just part of the journey and in departing the train we count on others to carry on the attention that we gave to the town just as we did for those before us,” Lavelle said. “That is true for me tonight as I step off of this train. Thank you, Carrboro, for a wonderful ride.”
Randee Haven-O’Donnell and Barbara Foushee were reelected to their seats on the council. Danny Nowell claimed the third open seat and will be the only newcomer to the council.
Nowell said joining Carrboro’s town council is the honor of his life.
“Before I ran for this office, I really thought that I knew Carrboro,” Nowell said. “Now I realize I just got here. The wealth of knowledge and the open invitation to participate and continue to build that community – that I’ve received from people at this table and people in this room – has given my family a depth of community that I did not know was possible for us to have. I’m tremendously grateful.”
Councilmember Jacquelyn Gist, who lost her seat during the 2021 election, was honored for her more than three decades of service to the town. Due to COVID-19 concerns, she was not able to attend the meeting in person but prerecorded a statement.
“I love Carrboro,” Gist said. “When I first came here the very first thing I felt was a sense of place, a sense of home, a sense of community. I’ve spent the past 32 years working to make sure that everybody who came to Carrboro felt that same sense of place and home and community. We’ve done pretty well.”
After he was sworn in, Seils urged residents to keep the momentum from the 2021 municipal elections into the 2022 election cycle.
“We had record voter turn out in Carrboro this year,” Seils said. “Next year we have vitally important elections at the county state and federal levels. We must bring the same enthusiasm to those elections that we brought to this year’s elections if we have any hope of just hanging on in North Carolina.”
With Seils claiming the mayoral seat, the Carrboro Town Council is now short one member. Seils’ term was scheduled to end in December 2023. Now, the council has called for a special election coinciding with the general primary election, to fill that seat.
Photo via Town of Carrboro
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