List of mayors of Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The Mayor of Chapel Hill is the head of the governing and legislative body of the town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. As chair of the eight-member town council,[1] the mayor presides over all meetings of the council and may vote on all issues before the council.[2]

Mayor of Chapel Hill
Incumbent
Pam Hemminger
since 2015
StatusActive
Formation1869 (1869)
First holderHugh Blair Guthrie
Websitewww.townofchapelhill.org

The mayor is recognized as the official head of the town for civil processes by the courts and ceremonial processes by the public. The mayor is the principal representative of the council for relations with federal, state, and other local governments.[2]

The duties of the town council – of which the mayor presides – are "to adopt and provide for the execution of such ordinances, rules, and regulations ... as may be necessary or appropriate to protect health, life, or property, or to preserve or promote the comfort, convenience, security, good order, better government, or the general welfare of the town or its inhabitants".[3]

Members of the council are chosen in a nonpartisan election; councilors serve staggered four-year terms, and the mayor serves two-year terms.[4] Candidates must be registered voters and residents of Chapel Hill but while in office not appointed to any other paid government position.[5] Councilors and the mayor must disclose all property held in the town,[6] as well as one's business interests.[7]

As with all members of the council, the mayor may be excused from voting on matters involving the member's official or financial conduct. Otherwise, a member's lack of a vote when the member is present is deemed an affirmative vote.[8]

A vacancy in the office is to be filled for the remainder of the term. Should a quorum on the council (of a majority of members)[9] not be obtained, the mayor may appoint enough members to make a quorum, and the council shall fill the other vacancies. (In the absence of the mayor, the governor may fill the vacancies.)[10]

Before 1879, the mayor was a magistrate hired by the Board of Commissioners to exercise police powers. An 1879 amendment to the town charter formalized this role. An 1895 charter amendment established the mayor as a position elected by the town's citizens. John H. Watson became the first person elected as mayor on May 5, 1895.[11]

List
# Mayor Term start Term end
1 Hugh Blair Guthrie 1869 1872
2 John H. Watson 1872 1872
3 John W. Carr 1873 1874
4 John White 1874 1874
5 Andrew Mickel 1874 1876
6 John H. Watson 1876 1879
7 Merritt Cheek 1879 1882
8 Jones Watson 1882 1883
9 John H. Watson 1883 1884
10 A.J. McDade 1884 1885
11 John H. Watson 1885 1887
12 William N. Pritchard 1887 1888
13 A.J. McDade 1888 1891
14 John H. Watson 1891 1895
15 Algernon S. Barbee 1895 1901
16 James C. MacRae Jr. 1901 1903
17 William S. Roberson 1903 1907
18 Algernon S. Barbee 1907 1911
19 William S. Roberson 1911 1913
20 L.P. McLendon 1913 1914
21 William S. Roberson 1914 1927
22 Zebulon Council 1927 1933
23 John M. Foushee 1933 1942
24 R.W. Madry 1942 1949
25 Edwin S. Lanier 1949 1954
26 Oliver K. Cornwell 1954 1961
27 Roland McClamroch 1961 1969
28 Howard Lee 1969 1975
29 James Wallace 1975 1979
30 Joseph L. Nassif 1979 1985
31 James Wallace 1985 1987
32 Jonathan Howes 1987 1991
34 Kenneth Broun 1991 1995
35 Rosemary Waldorf 1995 2001
36 Kevin Foy 2001 2009
37 Mark Kleinschmidt 2009 2015
38 Pam Hemminger 2015 Incumbent

References
General
  • "Mayors of Chapel Hill". Town of Chapel Hill. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  • "Code of Ordinances of the Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina". Municode. December 12, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
Specific
  1. Code of Ordinances: Charter, Chapter III, Sec. 3.1
  2. Code of Ordinances: Charter, Chapter III, Sec. 3.6(b)
  3. Code of Ordinances: Charter, Chapter III, Sec. 3.5(b)
  4. Code of Ordinances: Charter, Chapter II, Sec. 2.1
  5. Code of Ordinances: Charter, Chapter II, Sec. 2.2
  6. Code of Ordinances: Chapter II, Article III, Sec. 2-49
  7. Code of Ordinances: Chapter II, Article III, Sec. 2-50
  8. Code of Ordinances: Charter, Chapter III, Sec. 3.4(b)
  9. Code of Ordinances: Charter, Chapter III, Sec. 3.4(a)
  10. Code of Ordinances: Chapter II, Article II, Sec. 2-24
  11. "History of Chapel Hill." Archived 2006-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Town of Chapel Hill Official Website. Accessed October 23, 2008.
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