(919) 357-0333

mmccullough@townofchapelhill.org

Term of Service

2023-2027

Bio

Melissa McCullough is retired from the US Environmental Protection Agency, where she was last the Associate National Program Director and Senior Sustainability Advisor of the Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program.

Melissa moved into Chapel Hill from the County in 2011. Prior to her election to the Town Council, Melissa served seven years on the Planning Commission, with liaison roles on the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Board and the Community Design Commission, and participated actively in Town planning issues before that. She served on the Orange County Climate Council, including as Chair, and has been active for nearly two decades in the Sierra Club, including as Chair of the Orange-Chatham Group and of the North Carolina Chapter Political Committee. She has served on the board of the Bike Alliance of Chapel Hill and was a happy participant in the art pop-ups on Franklin Street during the COVID time.

Melissa earned her BS in Psychology at the University of the South, in Sewanee, TN, and a Masters of Environmental Management in Applied Ecology and Environmental Toxicology at what was then the Duke University School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences (Grad school, so not a "Dukie"). Her first professional job was for the NC Division of Coastal Management where she pioneered land use planning approaches to protect water quality. Her career at the US EPA covered a range of environmental analysis and problem solving around air pollution, water pollution and community health. She built her expertise in Community Sustainability over the course of her nearly four-decade career.

Melissa has two grown children, Nate and Anna, who both work in the non-profit world, and a pandemic-pup, Maisie. She lives in the Franklin-Rosemary Historic District and usually gets around town on foot, e-scooter or e-bike. She loves Battle Park and likes to do urban sketching, especially in the small historic downtowns surrounding Chapel Hill.

Duties

The primary mission of the Mayor and Council, as the governing body of the Town is to adopt and provide for the execution of ordinances, rules and regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to protect health, life or property, or to promote the comfort, convenience, security, good order, better government, or the general welfare of the Town and its citizens.

The Mayor and eight Council Members constitute the governing body of the Town. In accordance with the Town’s Charter, the voters elect a Mayor every two years. Council Members are elected to four-year, staggered terms on an at-large basis. Town Council duties include:

• Amendment of previously adopted policies through changes in the Town Code of Ordinances and the Development Ordinance, and by revision of policies and documents.
• Appointment of advisory boards, commissions, task forces and committees.
• Appointment of the Town Manager and Town Attorney.
• Establishment of agreements with other governments.
  
  

Duties

The primary mission of the Mayor and Council, as the governing body of the Town is to adopt and provide for the execution of ordinances, rules and regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to protect health, life or property, or to promote the comfort, convenience, security, good order, better government, or the general welfare of the Town and its citizens.

The Mayor and eight Council Members constitute the governing body of the Town. In accordance with the Town’s Charter, the voters elect a Mayor every two years. Council Members are elected to four-year, staggered terms on an at-large basis. Town Council duties include:

• Amendment of previously adopted policies through changes in the Town Code of Ordinances and the Development Ordinance, and by revision of policies and documents.
• Appointment of advisory boards, commissions, task forces and committees.
• Appointment of the Town Manager and Town Attorney.
• Establishment of agreements with other governments.