Bill Bell, the longest running Durham mayor in recent years, never envisioned a political career for himself.
In fact, when he graduated from high school at age 16, he wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force-but his parents told him he was too young.
Instead, Bell attended Howard University to study electrical engineering. His participation in ROTC led him to the U.S. Army, in which he was first a lieutenant and later worked as an engineer.
In 1968, Bell came to Durham to work for IBM. "Politics was the furthest thing from my mind," he said. "At that time, my only focus was making a career with IBM and moving up in the company."
As president of his neighborhood association in Durham, Bell argued a rezoning matter, initially in front of the planning board, and ultimately before the Board of County Commissioners.
"I lost the rezoning matter, but in losing, I got a better sense of how the political process worked in Durham, and I decided to run for the Board of County Commissioners," he said.
After serving as a county commissioner for 26 years, he ran for mayor in 2000. "It was the toughest decision I've made politically since I've been in politics," Bell said.
As mayor, Bell has worked with the City Council to redevelop both downtown and inner-city neighborhoods with high rates of crime and poverty.
Most recently, Durham saw the completion of the Barnes Avenue project, which involved creating affordable housing in a formerly drug-ridden, crime-infested neighborhood.
"You don't do anything by yourself," Bell said. "None of this would get done if I didn't have the support of the council. The majority of the council was supportive enough to make this project happen."
In addition to addressing high crime and poverty rates, Bell has aimed to enrich the interaction between the city and the University, through such programs as the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership.
Bell has worked with four Duke Presidents-Terry Sanford, Keith Brodie, Nan Keohane and Richard Brodhead-during his time in elected politics.
"Each president brought a certain style, a certain strength, a certain focus and all of them worked towards improving town-gown-relations," he said.
Last Spring, in the wake of rape allegations against three members of the 2005-06 men's lacrosse team, Bell gained national attention while defending Durham's image, which was tarnished by media depictions of strained racial and socioeconomic relations between Duke and Durham.
"During the time that I have been mayor, I haven't felt those tensions, not withstanding the lacrosse case," he said. "I'm proud of the way people handled it, because it could have been a real disaster."
City Council member Eugene Brown said Bell has a quiet and introspective style of leadership.
"I wouldn't play poker with the guy because he's not loquacious, he doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve and he rarely shows a lot of emotion," Brown said. "But still somehow he manages to pull it all together and he's a very effective leader. I hope he runs again."
Bell, who said it is likely he will run for reelection in 2007, has an outlook for the future to work with the City Council to help Durham to grow as a community with meaningful reductions in crime, a healthy economy and the redevelopment of inner-city neighborhoods.
"I like being able to take a vision and bring it to fruition," Bell said. "This community has been good to both myself and my family. I feel obligated to the community to give back."
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