INC NEWS - Mike Woodard featured in today's Chronicle

[John Schelp]

Duke employee joins ranks of City Council
Duke Chronicle, 16 November 2005

Amid all the incumbent victories in last week’s
municipal election, newcomer Mike Woodard, Trinity ‘81
and a Duke administrator in financial services,
emerged as the only new face elected to Durham office.

“Personally, it’s an exciting time to be involved in
city government,” he said.

With his successful bid for City Council, Woodard will
replace Ward 3 incumbent John Best, Jr. after
garnering approximately 73 percent of the vote.

“Obviously his record is a lot more liberal than
mine,” Best said, adding that Durham citizens tend to
lean ideologically to the left.

Best also cited negative press coverage as a reason
for his loss.

“This election was more of a negative toward me
instead of a positive toward him,” he said.

Although it is his first time elected to higher
municipal office, Woodard has served the community in
various leadership roles since coming to Durham more
than 20 years ago.

Woodard has worked as the president or director of
several state and local organizations, including the
Durham InterNeighborhood Council and the North
Carolina Jaycees.

“I’ve been very active in the Durham community for a
number of years now,” he said. “I’ve seen the great
opportunities and some of the challenges that face
Durham, and I’ve been very active in helping to meet
those opportunities.”

A native of Charleston, S.C., Woodard first came to
Durham to study economics and political science at
Duke. After his graduation in 1981, he chose to stay
in the Bull City when he received an offer to work at
his alma mater.

“I had a job offer to stay at Duke, but there have
been times over the years when I was offered a job
[elsewhere] and decided to stay,” he said.

Currently, Woodard works in the Financial Services
Division on the implementation of different financial
and administrative systems.

He said he intends to continue in his position at Duke
while working as a public servant on the City
Council—something he said would not have been possible
were it not for the support of his employer.

“They’ve been very supportive in giving me
flexibility,” Woodard said of the University.

Woodard is not the first Duke employee to venture into
the Durham political scene.

As the city’s largest employer, Duke has served as a
starting point for many of Durham’s most prominent
politicians. Recently re-elected mayor Bill Bell
accepted a brief position at the University in the
1990s, and countless professors, administrators and
their spouses have served on City Council or the
County Commissioners in the past.

Woodard said his decision to continue his work at Duke
while serving on City Council will not pose a conflict
of interest, adding that he would excuse himself from
matters in which one might exist.

“The fact that you’re a Duke employee isn’t
necessarily going to govern how you do what you’re
going to do,” said John Burness, senior vice president
for public and government relations at Duke.

Woodard said crime and the economy are two of the most
important issues he hopes to address while in office.

“I don’t think Durham is going to be a great city
until we’re first a safe city,” he said. “And until we
can fight crime and the perceptions of crime, Durham
won’t be an attractive place to locate businesses or
to have new residents.”

Woodard said more job opportunities need to be created
for the city’s poorer and less-educated residents.

“While we’re recruiting all these wonderful high-tech
firms and master-level jobs, we’ve also got to find
jobs for those folks,” he said. “That’s one long-term
solution.”

Although Woodard commended recent improvements to the
city like the American Tobacco Complex, he added that
there is still much work to be done in order for
prosperity to spread to all of Durham’s citizens.

In the recent election, Durham citizens voted to
implement eight city development bonds. Woodard said
he hopes the bonds will help in job creation.

“Our tax base has seen significant growth over the
last five to 10 years,” he said. “But I think our
challenge is going to be to find ways to expand that
to other parts of Durham.”