Town Council member Barbara Foushee to run for mayor of Carrboro
Carrboro Town Council member Barbara Foushee, who is serving her second term on the board, announced Monday she will run for mayor this fall.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the Carrboro community for the past 5 1/2 years as a Town Council member, and I look forward to doing more if I am elected to serve as mayor,” Foushee said in a statement. “I want to keep a seat at the local government table as mayor.”
Current Mayor Damon Seils announced this month he will not seek re-election to the top post in the town of roughly 21,000 people after his single term ends in December. He previously served eight years as a council member.
“Ten years of combined leadership feels like the right time for a transition,” Seils said previously. “There are many skilled leaders in our community, and I am excited to see who all steps up next.”
First elected to Carrboro Board of Aldermen
Foushee was first elected to the Town Council in 2017 before the name of the town’s governing board was changed from the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. She was re-elected in November 2021.
Her professional background includes a career working in clinical laboratory sciences, including in molecular oncology. She is an alumna of Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh where she studied medical technology.
“A lot has been accomplished, but we can do more as I continue to hear from community members about ongoing concerns and ways that we can improve our community,” Foushee said.
“Ranking high on the list are the town’s racial equity initiatives, a comprehensive plan, transit, inclusive climate change mitigation/environmental justice and housing affordability efforts, just to name a few,” she said. “At the core of my service are people, and my service is certainly guided by hearing community voices.”
Comprehensove plan a priority
As a council member, Foushee has served with the Carrboro’s Human Services Advisory Board and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors, where she worked to put in a diversity and inclusion program for its workers.
Her campaign website states that Carrboro’s Comprehensive Plan adopted by the town in 2022 will be one of her main focuses.
“With race equity and climate action as its pillars, we will work towards achieving our community’s vision, expectations and guidance for growth, development/redevelopment and town services over the next 20 years,” a statement on her campaign site reads.
She is the spouse of Braxton Foushee, who was the first Black alderman of the town.
