William V. Bell is an American politician and engineer who served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. Formerly a senior engineer for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

, 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 o
UDI Community Development Corp.
a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a

bi-partisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition was co-founded by

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Mayor

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and

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Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

2007 Mayor Re-election Campaign

In 2007, Bell was challenged by Republican Thomas Stith, III. 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. 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. Bell was re-elected in the November 6, 2007 election, getting 58% of the vote as opposed to Stith's 42%.

Controversy

It was later revealed that Bell endorsed and donated money to now-disgraced, former district attorney

Mike Nifong Michael Byron Nifong (born September 14, 1950) is a disbarred American prosecutor who formerly served as the Durham County District Attorney. He was removed from this position, disbarred, and jailed following court findings concerning his condu ...

during his reelection campaign surrounding the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case.

References

External links

Durham Bio: Mayor William V. Bell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Bill County commissioners in North Carolina Mayors of Durham, North Carolina Durham, North Carolina, city council members African-American mayors in North Carolina Howard University alumni Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Living people 1941 births African-American city council members in North Carolina 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century North Carolina politicians 21st-century mayors of places in North Carolina

2007 Mayor Re-election Campaign

Controversy

See also

References

External links