Kevin Foy

Kevin C. Foy (born January 28, 1956) is an American politician and professor who served as Mayor of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from 2001 to 2009. He is a member of the Democratic Party. As mayor, Foy focused on land-use ordinances and urban planning in the town. He now teaches at North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Education and early work

Foy graduated from Kenyon College in 1979 and later worked for two Democratic Ohio state senators. After several years, he attended North Carolina Central University School of Law studying environmental law. Foy paid attention to land-use decisions made by the town of Chapel Hill and noted that in 1995 the town was "a really nice place that was going to be exploited by people selling it out."

Career 1995–2001: Litigation and town council

Foy and his neighbors sued Chapel Hill in 1995 to prevent development that the town had approved of 15 houses in a floodplain of . Foy did some of the legal work to save on costs. They lost the case (Lloyd vs. Chapel Hill) at both the district and appellate levels, though the town renegotiated with the developer to keep the space open.

He ran for mayor in 1995 after he and his neighborhood had lost a second land-use case to the town. He and several other neighborhood groups opposed the then-proposed development of Meadowmont, North Carolina. The incumbent mayor, Kenneth Broun, was not seeking reelection, so Foy ran against town council member Rosemary Waldorf. Foy was labeled an "antigrowth" candidate, which he said was inaccurate, and he was seen as a newcomer to the town. He was endorsed by the Sierra Club and the Independent Weekly. Foy spent $3,000 and lost the election receiving 46 percent of the vote.

In his 1997 campaign for town council, Foy again received endorsements from the Sierra Club and the Independent Weekly as well as support from several sitting members. He received the second-highest number of votes among the eight candidates, securing a seat. He was sworn in to town council on December 1, 1997. He decided not to run for mayor in 1999, only two years into his four-year town-council term and thought Waldorf was doing a good job.

2001–2009: Mayoralty

Mayor Waldorf decided not to run for a third term in 2001, prompting Foy to enter the race. He ran against Lee Pavao, a fellow town council member. Donations from individuals were limited to $200; each candidate spent $25,000 on the campaign. Foy's campaign focused on three things: protecting the environment; inclusivity, like affordable housing; and university–town relations. Pavao, a businessman, supported Meadowmont's development, though both were in favor of "smart growth".

Foy has remarked that his two main achievements while in office were rewriting the town's land-use ordinance and renaming a main thoroughfare in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The United States Conference of Mayors awarded Foy the Climate Protection Outstanding Achievement Award in June 2008 and named Chapel Hill America's Most Livable City in June 2009. Support for incumbent senator Richard Burr, however, was greater than that of any Democrat, including Foy. Foy endorsed the 2009 campaign of his eventual successor, Mark Kleinschmidt.

Post-mayoralty

Foy teaches courses on environmental law, businesses, remedies, and torts at North Carolina Central University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctor degree.

Electoral history