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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

Mayor Broadhurst Prepares to Pass the Gavel

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/whqr/local-whqr-519778.mp3

Wilmington, NC – Broadhurst's two-and-a-half years as mayor officially come to an end at tonight's City Council meeting. Looking to the future, Broadhurst said he expects the council to continue functioning efficiently, and not just in terms of shorter council meetings.

"The things we've accomplished over the past three years have been a team effort from a city council choosing to work together," Broadhurst said when reached by phone Monday. "Not agreeing all the time, but agreeing to pool our ideas to make better ideas. And I think you'll continue to see that kind of focus and that kind of effort going forward."

There has been some criticism of the process by which the Council filled the vacancies created by Broadhurst's departure. In their June 5th meeting, the City Council appointed a former councilman, J.C. Hearne to take Saffo's seat. Only one other candidate was considered and the decision was made with little debate. Broadhurst defended the process, saying the Council discusses its hardest decisions in private and "then when it comes time to vote in public... a lot of the hard work is done."

Broadhurst says he intends to keep in touch with his replacement, Mayor-select Bill Saffo, but that he's leaving the city in good hands, although he stressed that the council must keep long-term considerations at the forefront in their decisions.

"The legacy I hope to have left is that a lot of the momentum we've built over the last two or three years carries on into the future, a lot of the things we have done become a process instead of an event. You know, P.P.D. revitalizing downtown is an event, but economic development and creating jobs is a process that can continue on and on," Broadhurst said.

Broadhurst announced his resignation in May, to take a promotion with SunTrust bank in Greensboro. He was the first Wilmington mayor to win re-election in the last 10 years.