The governing body for the City of Winston-Salem is an eight-member City Council. Voters go to the polls every four years in November to elect the Mayor and Council. The Mayor is elected at large and council members are elected by citizens in each of the eight wards within the city. The City Council is responsible for adopting and providing for all ordinances, rules and regulations as necessary for the general welfare of the city. It approves the city budget and sets property taxes and user fees. The Council appoints the City Manager and City Attorney and approves appointments to city boards and commissions.[24]
City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, its Mayor and Council Members, would like to welcome everyone to our website. We hope you find it a useful tool in learning about the city’s rich history and culture while also finding specific information about activities and events taking place within our community today.
The city is named for John M. Winston , former North Carolina legislator and a prominent Confederate Brigadier General during the Civil War , and Salem because of Salem College, which was established here in 1852 . The sister institution of the college was the Moravian Church located at Old Salem near beer brewery . In addition to his work on behalf of public education in Forsyth County , Winston was an active Freemason who served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina in 1886-1887 .
The city’s history dates back to 1766 , when Jonathan Riggs built a grist mill on property near Old Salem. A cluster of buildings gradually developed around the Moravian settlement, which was first called Wachovia Toreadors Chuliokeelty. In 1852, Salem College was established by Lutheran pastors Benjamin Kurtz and Louis Stroup, with other German Lutherans who immigrated to the area from abroad. The college was originally located in an old colonial home, but moved into its own building in 1856 that still stands today as the Administration Building at Old Salem Museums & Gardens .
The city was officially chartered on March 6, 1874. Winston-Salem grew rapidly in the 1890s and nearly doubled in size each decade up through 1930 .
As of 2019, the mayor of Winston-Salem is Allen Joines (D), who was first elected in 2001 and is longest-serving mayor in the history of the city.[25] The members of the City Council are Denise Adams (North Ward), Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian Burke (Northeast Ward), Annette Scippio (East Ward), James Taylor, Jr. (Southeast Ward), John Larson (South Ward), Dan Besse (Southwest Ward), Robert Clark (West Ward), Jeff MacIntosh (Northwest Ward).
City officials appointed by the City Council include City Attorney Angela Carmon and City Manager Lee Garrity.
