Mayor Bill Bell was reelected Tuesday for his seventh consecutive two-year term as mayor of Durham. The Chronicle’s Sasha Zients spoke with Bell about his experiences so far and his plans for the future.
The Chronicle: Did you always think you would serve so many terms as mayor of Durham?
Bill Bell: First of all, I’m very pleased to be re-elected. It’s always a good experience to win something you enter in. But no, I did not expect when I was first elected that I would be in office as long as I have been. I feel very motivated to serve because I enjoy local government and the challenges of being a part of the leadership team in the city where I live. I enjoy planning projects and being there to hopefully see them come to fruition. During my time as mayor, I’ve been able to do that with a number of projects.
TC: What are some challenges that you have faced in the past and that you expect to face in the future?
BB: One challenge is not being able to be as responsive to the requests from individuals and community groups as they would like. Managing my time has been very important to me as an elected official. I’ve learned to both manage my time and to set priorities.
TC: What have been some of your priorities as mayor?
BB: Working with the City Council, I’ve really focused on the revitalization of downtown and neighborhoods. It’s been really important to develop from the bottom up, rather than from the top down and to have the support of the community. It can be tough—you have personalities, homeowners and business owners, who can be difficult to deal with. But we’ve been pretty successful, specifically in the neighborhoods of Northeast Central Durham, Southwest Central Durham, Walton and the Southside/Rolling Hills area.
TC: Do you have anything to say about the recent budget cuts in Durham public schools and throughout the state?
BB: Education is very important in Durham and everywhere, as a matter of fact. In terms of responsibility, it isn’t the City Council’s job to determine the budgets and salaries of Durham public schools. But I have always been supportive of education and I have a personal interest in it. In 1992, I led the effort to merge the city public schools with the county public schools, which was a challenging time in our county and for me as chairman of the Durham County Board of Commissioners. Ultimately, it was successful. I don’t think anyone would want to go back to the way it was before the school systems were merged. But this is all to say that schools are a very important part of our community. We have a leadership council that meets monthly and talks about issues that pertain to education.
TC: What are your goals looking to the future?
BB: With the City Council, I have developed a strategic plan, which is a vision for Durham’s short term and the long term. So I’m trying to follow this plan as best I can. It includes diversifying the economy, ensuring a safe community and thriving neighborhoods that are livable. We also want to be good stewards of the city’s physical assets.
TC: How would you say the Duke-Durham partnership is going?
BB: The partnership is great. As an elected official, I have been fortunate to work with four presidents at Duke—Terry Sanford, Keith Brodie, Nan Keohane and now Dick Brodhead. Duke has been really committed to improving its relationship with Durham and it’s working really well. We might not be where we are today as a city if it weren’t for contributions Duke has made.
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