Fresh off a solid victory against Dist. 5 incumbent Johnny Dawkins, in Fayetteville City Council’s most contentious race this election cycle, Councilmember Lynne Greene made her way to the podium Wednesday night to take her oath of office.
In her swearing-in remarks, she expressed gratitude for her campaign team and family, and breathed a sigh of relief — the months leading up to the campaign, she said, were “probably the longest four months of my life.”
Greene said she was overwhelmed, but excited for the future.
“You have a vision for yourself when you start running and you think, I can see myself doing this, but yet when you get here, you're like, ‘Wow, my team and I really did this,’” she told CityView after the inauguration. “It's overwhelming and humbling all at the same time.”
Earlier in the night as she took her oath, with her mother by her side, Greene placed her hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the national and state constitution. She was sworn in by N.C. state Rep. Diane Wheatley, a Republican representative for Cumberland County’s Dist. 43.
“We know that you're no stranger to service to this community,” Wheatley said to Greene. “And we know that you’ll work with all of the folks in the city council to make this a better place to live.”
Greene is a realtor, broker and real estate developer in Fayetteville. According to her campaign materials, she has served on multiple governmental advisory boards, including as a Public Works Commissioner from 2012 to 2015; she currently serves on the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation board.
Greene's top priorities upon taking office include bolstering public safety through increased police funding and community engagement, fostering economic growth through job creation and business incentives and enhancing the city's overall livability through increased green spaces and cultural events.
Wednesday evening, Greene highlighted the need for the council’s collective action in addressing city-wide issues while representing individual districts. She also called on citizens to take a stand for positive change by getting involved in boards and commissions in Fayetteville.
While Greene said she doesn’t yet have concrete actions planned for the first few months of her term, she wants to prioritize learning more about the council’s existing work on issues brought up by constituents.
“I've had a lot of calls already about things that are concerning to citizens, so I'm going to really look at some of those things first and see where they fall, and see if it's something we're already working on,” she said, referring to the council’s actions.
“Because when you're running a campaign,” she continued, “you can't be focused on every single thing they're [city council] doing. It's going to be a really large learning curve, but it's OK. I'll get there.”
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
