Renee Price was elected unanimously Monday night to serve as Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners for the next year. Price served as Vice Chair for the past two years. She was elected to her third term as commissioner in November.
Jamezetta Bedford, who is in her first term as an Orange County Commissioner, was chosen unanimously to serve as Vice Chair.
"Being selected to serve as chair by my peers certainly is an honor, and I am most appreciative," said Price. "I realize that my responsibilities to the Board and to the Orange County Community suddenly have expanded, and I will endeavor in earnest to serve with, by and for the people."
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Price was honored by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) with the Outstanding County Commissioner of the Year Award for 2020. She has served on the NCACC Board of Directors and has been involved in numerous steering committees. She has also served as president of the N.C. Association of Black County Officials and held many leadership positions within the National Association of Counties, including Chair of the Arts and Culture Commission. She earned a Master of Regional Planning degree from Cornell University, worked in government in New York, and has lived in Orange County since 1990.
Before becoming a county commissioner in 2018, Bedford served three terms on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education. She has a master’s degree in accounting from UNC in 2003 and earned her CPA license in September 2005.
New commissioners Amy Fowler and Jean Hamilton joined the Board. Fowler is a native of Winston-Salem and was elected to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education in 2017. Hamilton is also a former member of the CHCCS Board of Education. She earned a Ph.D. in Economics from UC Berkeley and has lived in Chapel Hill since 2001.
 Amy Fowler |  Jean Hamilton |