Chapel Hill Names Virginia Administrator Theodore Voorhees as New Town Manager

After a six-month search, the Town of Chapel Hill selected its next town manager on the doorstep of the new fiscal year.

The Chapel Hill Town Council approved the selection and hired Theodore “Ted” Voorhees during its meeting Wednesday night, the elected body’s last before a summer break. Voorhees, the county administrator for the Orange County government in northern Virginia, will return to local government in North Carolina after working in Virginia for the last eight years. He will take over the role from interim town manager Mary Jane Nirdlinger starting on Aug. 11.

“I am deeply honored to work alongside Mayor Anderson, the Town Council, and Chapel Hill’s dedicated team of public servants to advance the Council’s vision of building a connected, sustainable, and welcoming community where everyone can thrive,” Voorhees in a release shared by the town. “I look forward to deepening collaborative partnerships with community organizations, the University, local businesses, and residents that will shape our shared future and strengthen the bonds that make Chapel Hill home.”

“We are very excited to have Ted joining us in Chapel Hill,” Mayor Jess Anderson said, noting his two decades of city and county manager experience. “He has experience working here in North Carolina and brings fresh perspectives from his time in Virginia. The Council is looking forward to working together with him to keep moving Chapel Hill’s vision forward.”

Voorhees became the Orange County administrator in Aug. 2020 — which is the highest level of management in the county government and equivalent to the county manager in Orange County, N.C. — and supervised the day-to-day operations of all county departments. Prior to that, he held the same position for the County of Powhatan for three years after working for several city governments in North Carolina. After working as the city manager for King and then Wilmington’s assistant city manager, Voorhees moved to Durham in 2002 and became the deputy city manager for more than 10 years. He then worked for Fayetteville as its city manager for three years before transitioning to Virginia and the county government level.

The selection of Voorhees is the result of Chapel Hill’s prior town manager — and, before that, chief of police — Chris Blue retiring from the local government in December after more than 27 years. He stepped into the role after Maurice Jones and the town government parted ways in 2022.

Voorhees holds a master of public administration degree from George Mason University after earning his bachelor’s degree at American University in 1986.

Featured photo via the Government of Orange County, VA.

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