Mary Jane Morrison will not be running for a third term as mayor of Davidson in the fall election saying she “just felt the time was right” for her to step down, but she will continue to try and make the community a better place.

“Anything that I haven’t accomplished or still would like to see happen, I still will contribute to as a citizen,” Morrison said. “That is maybe a little bit of encouragement for other people in our community too. Everything doesn’t fall on those six council members and mayor to make things happen in our community.”

Morrison said she first entered town politics eight years ago because she believed it would be “exciting and rewarding” to be a part of the growth and progress of Davidson.  She first was elected to town council in 2004 in a by-election. Two years later she ran for mayor winning by acclamation, replacing Jim Cross.

“I knew it was a big job,” she said. “I knew it would be bigger than I thought. One thing I’ve sort of seemed to find in the last six years is when something doesn’t go well or an organization or an institution or something is struggling or falling, they look to town council for solutions and sometimes that is overwhelming.”

Despite these struggles, Morrison said the town council in her time as mayor has accomplished many things including becoming more “current” on planning and the way council has formed a relationship with its staff.

“We also have a better understanding of community development,” she said. “When I first got on council eight years ago, we kind of thought there was economic development, but I think we know now that there is a lot more to it. It is the community as a whole and I think we are growing in that respect.”

Community development, physician recruitment and retention and seeing the town grow and progress have been the major interests of Morrison in her time as mayor, but the advice she would like to pass on to the next mayor of Davidson is just to keep positive.

“Keep things in perspective,” she said. “There is so many positive things that happen, so don’t let the negatives deter you. They do get more attention and more coverage, but don’t let that bother you.”