Bill Bell | |
---|---|
Mayor of Durham, North Carolina | |
In office 2001–2017 | |
Preceded by | Nick Tennyson |
Succeeded by | Steve Schewel |
Personal details | |
Born | William V. Bell 1941 (unconfirmed) Washington,DC |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Judith C. Bell |
Children | William V. Bell II Tiffany Anne Bell Anjanee Nicole Bell Kristen Vaughn Bell |
Alma mater | Howard University,New York University |
Profession | electrical engineer |
William V. Bell is an American politician and engineer who served as the mayor of Durham,North Carolina.
Formerly a senior engineer for IBM,Bell was first elected to the Durham County Board of Commissioners in 1972,where he served until 1994,and again from 1996 to 2000. He was the chairman of the Durham County Commissioners from 1982 to 1994. Bell was first elected mayor of Durham in 2001 and was subsequently re-elected seven more times.
Bell is currently Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of UDI Community Development Corp.,a non-profit organization. He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, [1] a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition was co-founded by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In 2007,Bell was challenged by Republican Thomas Stith,III. [2] [3] Thomas Stith attacked Bell over several city issues including violence. During the weekend of October 13 and October 14,two people were murdered in Durham. On October 15,Bell tried to calm the public about the murders,claiming the city was safe and the weekend murders were not random. The next day,Stith went after Bell,pointing out that Durham's murder rate was up nearly 50 percent over the previous year. Stith and Bell continued to argue over how to deal with Durham crime. Stith consistently claimed that he would fight crime more consistently than Bell had,while Bell said that Stith had six years on the town council to do that. Stith said he wanted to see more police officers on the streets,while Bill Bell said the current police officers are well equipped. [4] [5]
In late October 2007,after lead was found in Durham drinking water,Stith sent out a campaign mailer that said in bold letters:"Bill Bell knew and didn't tell us our water was dangerous to drink." Bell responded to this by saying,"That mailer sent out by Thomas Stith was a complete lie." Bell also said that Stith had no leadership experience. [6]
Bell was re-elected in the November 6,2007 election,getting 58% of the vote as opposed to Stith's 42%. [7] [8]
It was later revealed that Bell endorsed and donated money to now-disgraced,former district attorney Mike Nifong during his reelection campaign surrounding the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case. [9]
James Boyce Black is a member of the North Carolina Democratic Party,and a former member of the North Carolina General Assembly,who represented the state's 100th House district,including constituents in Mecklenburg County. An optometrist from Matthews,North Carolina,Black was elected to 11 (non-consecutive) terms in the House of Representatives,and served as Speaker of the House from January 1999 through the end of 2006,when scandal forced him to give up the leadership post. For the 2003-2004 legislative session Black was elected to serve as "Co-Speaker" with Republican Richard T. Morgan serving as the other Co-Speaker.
Thomas A. Stith III is a North Carolina political figure. Stith was a member of the city council of Durham,North Carolina from 1999 to 2007. More recently,he has served as Program Director for Economic Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise,and then as North Carolina district director for the federal Small Business Administration. In December 2020,Stith was selected as the next president of the North Carolina Community College System.
Michael B. Coleman is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd mayor of Columbus,Ohio. He was the first African-American to serve as the mayor of Ohio's capital city.
Ralph Bradley Miller is an American attorney,congressman and former U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 13th congressional district,serving from 2003 to 2013. District 13 included all of Caswell and Person counties,and parts of Alamance,Granville,Guilford,Rockingham and Wake counties. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Jerramiah T. Healy is an American local politician who served as the 48th mayor of Jersey City,New Jersey serving from 2004 to 2013. He ran for the unexpired term of the late Glenn D. Cunningham and was elected in November 2004. In the special election,he defeated Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith. He was subsequently elected to a full term by a record landslide.
Michael Gahan Fahey is an American businessman who served as the 49th mayor of Omaha,Nebraska. He first took office on June 11,2001. Fahey won his second term as mayor in the May 10,2005 election. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Charles Carpenter Meeker is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 34th Mayor of Raleigh,North Carolina. He was first elected in 2001 over Republican Paul Coble,and reelected for a fifth two-year term in 2009. A fifth term tied Meeker with Avery C. Upchurch as Raleigh's longest-serving mayor.
Matthew John Driscoll is an American Democratic Party politician,who served as the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation from 2015 until 2017. He served as the 52nd Mayor of Syracuse,New York from July 10,2001,until December 31,2009. Currently he serves as the Executive Director of the New York State Thruway.
Joseph V. Doria Jr. is an American Democratic Party politician,who served as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs in the cabinet of Governor Jon Corzine from 2007 until his resignation in July 2009. He is a former Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly,State Senator for the 31st Legislative District,and a former Mayor of Bayonne,a position he held from July 1998 to October 2007.
Frank George Jackson is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 57th Mayor of Cleveland,Ohio from 2006 to 2022. He was first elected on November 8,2005,unseating incumbent Jane Campbell,and re-elected in 2009,2013,and 2017. Having served four full terms,he is the longest-serving mayor in Cleveland history. On May 6,2021,he announced he would not seek re-election in 2021.
Gerald David "Jerry" Jennings is an American former politician from the state of New York who was the 74th mayor of Albany. A Democrat,Jennings won five terms as mayor of Albany and served in that capacity for 20 years. At the time of his retirement in 2013,Jennings was the second longest tenured mayor in the city's history.
Gerald Robert "Jerry" Sanders is an American former politician and law enforcement officer from San Diego,California. He served as the 34th mayor of San Diego and was chief of police of the San Diego Police Department. As of December 2012,he is the president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Frank Ervin Melton was the mayor of Jackson,Mississippi,United States,from 4 July 2005 until his death on 7 May 2009. Melton,an African American,defeated the city's first black mayor Harvey Johnson,Jr. Melton won 63 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary against Johnson,who had served two terms. Melton quickly swept into action to rid Jackson of drug-related crime,improve economic development,and improve city infrastructure. Since Melton became mayor,he touted economic-development projects totaling over $1.6 billion,creating at least 4,500 jobs in the city. Others pointed out that many of those projects were in the works when he started in office. He was embroiled in several controversies during his tenure,including questionable power breaches and criminal misdemeanor activity.
John DeStefano Jr. is an American politician who served as the 49th mayor of New Haven,Connecticut,from 1994 until 2014. He was the Democratic nominee in 2006 for Governor of Connecticut,unsuccessfully challenging incumbent Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell. He was also the named defendant in the landmark 2009 U.S. Supreme Court case of Ricci v. DeStefano. John DeStefano is the son of a New Haven police officer. John and his wife Kathy DeStefano met at the University of Connecticut as undergraduates,where he also earned a Masters in Public Administration. Kathy DeStefano is a first grade teacher in West Haven,Connecticut,and they are the parents of two adult sons.
Thomas Michael Menino was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston,from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three months in the position of "acting mayor" following the resignation of his predecessor Raymond Flynn. Before serving as mayor,Menino was a member of the Boston City Council and had been elected president of the City Council in 1993.
Thomas M. McMahon was the Mayor of Reading,Pennsylvania from January 5,2004 to January 2,2012.
The 2008 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 4,2008,coinciding with the presidential,U.S. Senate,U.S. House elections,Council of State and statewide judicial elections. Democrat Bev Perdue won the election. With a margin of 3.39%,this election was the closest race of the 2008 gubernatorial election cycle. This was the first time that the same party that was elected governor,won the concurrent presidential race since 1988. This was the first time Democrats did so since 1976.
Below are remarks and positions of Rudy Giuliani,former candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Mayor Giuliani has described himself as a moderate Republican.
Everytown for Gun Safety is an American non-profit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was formed in 2013 due to a merger between Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
The 2021 Durham,North Carolina mayoral election was held on November 2,2021,to elect the next mayor of Durham,North Carolina.