Zebulon’s next mayor will preside over an era of explosive growth for the tiny eastern Wake County town—and all of the housing, development, infrastructure, and budgeting concerns that come along with it.
They’ll also be expected to help stabilize a town hall that’s weathered a series of challenges and controversies over the past year, including a high rate of staff turnover, a lawsuit over a rejected development proposal, a commissioner’s resignation and an as-yet unsuccessful effort to replace her, and public calls for the board of commissioners to be reconstituted.
In the five-way race for Zebulon mayor, the candidates subscribe to one of two schools of thought.
Incumbent mayor Glenn York and sitting commissioners Shannon Baxter and Jessica Harrison say the town is basically on the right track, barring a few stumbles, and that they have the experience and relationships to keep it that way. In the second camp, former commissioner Larry Loucks and former town manager Gilbert Todd say Zebulon’s current board is ineffective, and they are trying to make this election about the transparency and accountability they think it lacks.
Those conflicting perspectives were on display during Tuesday’s mayoral candidate forum hosted by the Zebulon chamber of commerce, which drew an audience of about 100 people. Here are a few takeaways from the forum.
Is the current board doing a good job? Depends whom you ask.
“We have so much to be proud of here,” said Baxter, who’s been a commissioner since 2019. Her current term ends in 2027. “We are headed in the right direction. Our town is fiscally sound. We make fantastic decisions for our community every time we meet.”
She cited Zebulon’s town services—road improvements, garbage collection, and planning and zoning—as evidence that local government is chugging along as it should.
“I would just like the opportunity to continue what is already in place,” York said in a similar vein.
Yet some town residents—including 400 who signed a petition earlier this year calling for the current board’s removal—aren’t happy with what’s already in place. They feel like the commissioners are hard to reach and not accountable to their community.
“I am the only candidate in this race who has never held elected office,” said Todd, who resigned from the town manager role earlier this year after, he alleges, the board asked him to place a colleague on administrative leave without cause.
“The other candidates have had their chance to represent you,” he continued, “and many of you have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the results—the chaos, the indecision, and the lack of transparency. I am offering you a fresh start.”
“When I become mayor, you will never have to guess what my thoughts are,” he said.
Similarly, Loucks—a commissioner from 2019 to 2023 and the chairman of Zebulon’s board of adjustments for 20 years before that—told the audience he’s committed to being accessible to the public in -person, by email, and by phone.
“I will be just as accessible after the campaign,” he said. “I will try to look out for you and take care of you, and actually warn you what I see coming down the pike.”
(Loucks and Todd are the only candidates who have responded to INDY’s interview requests.)
Hiring and retaining town staff is a top priority for all five candidates.
In the past two years, Zebulon has seen turnover in the positions of town manager, town clerk, police chief, planning director, communications director, and public works director. That’s six6 out of 11 positions on the town management team, plus an assistant town manager who resigned and was never replaced.
Although the candidates’ conversation didn’t cover why this is or how it’s affected the town’s operations, all of them hinted at the turnover in their remarks, emphasizing the need to pay staff competitively and hire a permanent town manager and police chief as soon as possible (both jobs are currently filled by interim hires).
Zebulon’s mayor votes only in the case of a tie, so they have to exercise their power in other ways.
As with most local candidate forums, Tuesday’s event was not so much a debate as an opportunity for the mayoral hopefuls to take turns talking about themselves and their priorities.
One rare moment of back-and-forth came when Loucks suggested that, as mayor, he would try to meet individually with the commissioners ahead of public board meetings to make sure he knew where they stood and the board was prepared to deliberate.
“I would ask a fellow commissioner, ‘Have you done your homework?’” Loucks said, explaining that the mayor is allowed to meet with up to two commissioners at a time before it counts as a quorum and must be publicized.
Baxter disagreed: “I don’t think that having meetings outside of regular meetings is the way to go,” she replied. “Really a mayor’s job, besides running the meeting, is to represent Zebulon in the best way possible.”
York said the mayor’s main job is to build consensus, acknowledging that “with five different opinions and ideas, that is a challenge.”
He added, “I will never say that the commissioners are making bad decisions. They’ve just been not making the best decision at that time.”
The candidates tried to differentiate themselves, with mixed success.
With York, Baxter, and Harrison all running on a pitch to essentially stay the course, Tuesday’s forum offered them an opportunity to get a bit more specific.
Harrison emphasized her relationships with county- and state-level leaders and her commitment to youth and senior services.
“I have spoken many times with the county commissioners, and I believe that we are getting closer to having them work with us to create senior centers and youth centers,” she said.
Baxter spoke about existing economic development initiatives like Zebulon’s small business grants and its participation in the NC Main Street program.
York, although he is the incumbent, mentioned a few places where he thinks the town is falling short, including paying staff competitively and working collaboratively as a board. He also reminded the audience that his opponents’ campaign promises may be expensive to execute.
“I think as citizens, we depend on municipal government too much,” he said. “We as a municipality cannot answer this wish list … because anytime you come up with something, there’s a price tag, and if there’s a price tag, there’s a tax increase.”
Loucks focused on budget and taxes, pointing out that Zebulon’s budget is growing and its tax rate is the highest in Wake County.
“One of the things I’d do as mayor is forensic accounting,” he said. “At the end of the year, I’d actually show you how we spent the money.”
Todd doubled down on the importance of restoring public trust and empowering town staff to do their best work.
Turnout for Zebulon’s local elections has historically been very low. In 2021, with a total population of about 8,000 residents, 558 people voted for mayor there—an improvement from 199 in 2017. Early voting in this year’s plurality election begins on October 16 and Election Day is November 4.
Chloe Courtney Bohl is a Report for America corps member. Follow her on Bluesky or reach her at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].