Durham Mayor-elect O’Neal says ‘community safety is the first order of business’

Elaine O’Neal made history on Tuesday, the first Black woman to win the race for mayor in Durham.

She hasn’t processed her new role just yet, she said Wednesday. But as the dust settles, her first order of business will be addressing community safety.

“It’s surreal for me,” O’Neal said. “I’m living it, taking it all in, and my phone hasn’t stopped ringing with well wishes.”

O’Neal, who will be sworn in Dec. 6, said all parts of the city are ready to help stop the spread of gun violence. Last year 318 people were shot in Durham.

In the coming weeks, she will be meeting with each council member to begin building relationships and prioritizing community needs.

“I think it’s only prudent that I sit down and talk with everybody that’s on the council to hear their ideas and see where we need to go,” she said.

O’Neal, a former judge and interim dean of the N.C. Central University Law School, won 25,607 votes in Tuesday’s election, or 84.69% of the total.

Her challenger, City Council member Javiera Caballero, had suspended her campaign after finishing second in the primary but remained on the ballot. The first Latina on the council, Caballero won 4,388 votes or 14.51% of the total Tuesday, according to unofficial election results with all precincts reporting.

O’Neal, quoting writer Toni Morrison and giving an “Eagle Pride” shout out to alma mater NCCU, spoke to the election night crowd after her victory.

“As the first Black woman mayor of Durham,” she said, having to pause as her supporters cheered, “I know that we are closer to the American dream of opportunity for all yet on occasion we remain the closest of strangers.

“Let’s step out of the comfort zone of yesterday into something bold and beautiful and bright for all of our children.”

City Council ward races

In races for the City Council’s three ward seats, incumbents DeDreana Freeman and Mark-Anthony Middleton coasted to victory Tuesday, after far outpacing their challengers in the October primary.

The Ward 3 race, where the two candidates faced each other for the first time, proved the night’s nail biter.

Leonardo Williams, a Durham restaurant owner and former educator, narrowly defeated grassroots organizer AJ Williams.

Leonardo Williams won 14,954 votes, or 50.95%, to AJ Williams’ 14,317 votes, or 48.78%, according to final but unofficial results.

“My approach to public safety is addressing it through the lens of economic development,” Leonardo Williams said Tuesday night. “I want to get more people working and help strengthen the locally owned businesses so we can get people in jobs and not in jail.”

Williams said his main priority is strengthening local businesses not just because he has his own, but because putting people to work will a have a ripple effect on people’s intentions and motivations.

“I plan to develop a supportive apparatus so that people know that they can get a job in [Durham] that will pay decent money and not have to resort to heinous behavior,” he said.

Tackling gun violence

O’Neal said she plans to establish an Office of Gun Violence Prevention to work with communities around the city.

According to Kaaren Haldeman, who worked with O’Neal on Durham’s Racial Equity Task Force, state gun laws have prevented the council from taking direct action. The focus should be on keeping illegal guns from circulating throughout the city.

“The job will be to put the lives of the people most impacted by this violence at the center of our solutions, and that has not been the case with the [previous] City Council as much they wanted to address it,” said Haldeman.

In 2013, the state of North Carolina overruled firearms regulations enacted by Durham local government and preemptively barred the county from enacting its own rules.

“It’s not that councils did not care or haven’t focused on it, but the solutions were always like, ‘what else can we do?’ and that is not our opinion,” Haldeman said. “We can always do more.”

Her power to make change

Durham has a council-manager form of government. The city manager directs and supervises all city departments, while the council offers policy and direction to the manager, city clerk and city attorney.

The mayor has one vote, the same as the six other members of the City Council. The mayor’s power to effect change comes from gaining the support of at least three members for a four-person majority.

Freeman says she is really excited for change that’s to come with the new mayor-elect and said she now has a renewed sense of energy.

“I am so excited about this new council!,” Freeman said Wednesday. “It’s honestly her focus on the people of Durham and her love for the city, so it’s not about her — I’m inspired.”

“She was on her way to retirement and doesn’t need a career in politics,” Freeman added. “But she came to help and figure out what this city needs.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 2:43 PM.