Kevin Foy
Encyclopedia
Kevin C. Foy was the mayor of Chapel Hill
, North Carolina
from 2001-2009.
During his eight years in office, Foy focused on policies that have transformed Chapel Hill into a vibrant mid-sized city. Chief among these is a fare-free transit system. With free buses, ridership grew from fewer than 3 million annual passengers to more than 7.5 million — saving citizens money and freeing the town from the air pollution of all those cars not being used. He also directed investment into the redevelopment of the downtown and preserved the character and natural setting of the community by ensuring that new parks and schools have kept pace with the town’s growth.
In June 2009, Foy’s efforts as mayor were rewarded by the U.S. Conference of Mayors which named Chapel Hill “America’s Most Livable City.”
In addition, Foy served as Chair of the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition – the organization representing the state’s largest cities – and led the effort to pass the state’s first anti-gang legislation. The group’s agenda also includes strengthening the judicial system and reducing crime, identifying and implementing transportation options, and managing urban growth.
Foy left office in 2009 and was succeeded by Mark Kleinschmidt. He considered running for the Senate nomination in 2010. Foy believes there has been a lack of leadership from North Carolina's Republican senators. Unlike the “Know Nothings” his ancestors confronted, Foy sees Republican Senator Richard Burr
and his former colleague Elizabeth Dole
as “Do Nothings,” who sat silently by and ignored the problems facing North Carolina. For example, efforts to provide light rail service to North Carolinians faltered and failed because the state’s senators refused to support it. Meanwhile, a light rail service in northern Virginia moved ahead because their senators got behind it.
, on January 28, 1956, Kevin Charles Foy is the son of the late Andrew Knight and Merilyn Snyder Foy. The first Foys arrived in America in the 1840s. Like most of their Irish brethren they quickly joined the Democratic Party for practical reasons. The alternative was the Native American “Know Nothing
” Party composed exclusively of Protestants who waged a crusade against Irish Catholic immigrants in the 1840 and 1850s. By 1860, the Know Nothings had been absorbed into the newly-formed Republican Party.
Foy’s Irish ancestors first settled in Florida and from there moved in among a large Irish community of coal miners in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
. Two of his great uncles served as Democratic congressmen from Pennsylvania.
Foy’s father started and ran a small tool and die company in Cleveland. His mother and grandmother both worked as newspaper reporters. About the time when Kevin was nine years old, his parents bought a 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) farm in the heart of Holmes County, Ohio
Amish
country.
The family raised cattle, hogs, horses and chickens on the farm. Foy was a member of the 4-H Club, participating at both the local and state level. Foy won several 4-H awards. As a teenager he competed in livestock shows, presentations, crop management, and dairy judging.
With four young boys eventually facing the draft, his mother was passionately opposed to the war in Vietnam. She took them on a bus to Washington, D.C.
to participate in the huge Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
in 1969. Foy recalls hostility toward their peace bus, encountered when they stopped along the way.
Foy had just finished his first year at Kenyon College
when his mother was stricken with colon cancer and lung cancer. “I just could not go back to college,” he says. With three younger siblings at home and his mother terminally ill, Foy decided to spend what would have been his sophomore year at home with his family. His mother died that year.
Returning to Kenyon College, he became active in student government and met his future wife, Nancy Feder. Graduating cum laude with a B.A. in history in 1979, Foy went to work in the offices of Democratic state senators Jerry Stano and Charlie Butts. He staffed a committee that looked into charges of corruption in state contracts.
Foy had planned to go to law school in the fall of 1981, but the family faced yet another health crisis with his father’s multiple sclerosis
. When a doctor told him he needed to move to a warmer climate, Kevin’s father moved the family to Hawaii
. He and the family invested in a food processing plant, producing pizzas, tortillas and burritos for stores and restaurants.
Kevin and Nancy Feder were married in Hawaii in 1985. In 1989 they moved to Chapel Hill, where Nancy enrolled in the graduate program of library and information science at UNC. Foy started working as managing editor and then editor of the Environmental History Journal published by Duke University Press
.
While working at the journal, Foy enrolled at the North Carolina Central University
Law School, a historically black university. “The philosophy of the school is to help create more justice for everybody.” In his second year of law school, Foy was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery. The operation was a success and the cancer did not return.
In 1994, Foy graduated from law school and passed the bar. He set up practice in Chapel Hill and became a prominent figure in local and state politics. He volunteered to be a guardian ad litem to protect the interests of children caught up in the court system. Among other things, he successfully fought to remove children from homes where they suffered abuse.
Foy has been interested in environmental law from the beginning. He has continued to be involved in his law school alma mater, where he serves as assistant professor of environmental law. Some of his students have pursued careers in environmental law, including with the White House Council on Environmental Quality
.
Foy’s first case was representing neighbors pro bono against the Town of Chapel Hill, which had approved the construction of 13 houses in a flood plain. Just out of law school, he found himself arguing before the North Carolina Court of Appeals
– and the property eventually became a town-owned park.
Foy continued to work with the local Sierra Club
and was precinct chairman of the Democratic Party
. In 1997, he was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council. In 2001, he was elected mayor of Chapel Hill, but then left office in 2009 and was succeeded by Mark Kleinschmidt.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
from 2001-2009.
During his eight years in office, Foy focused on policies that have transformed Chapel Hill into a vibrant mid-sized city. Chief among these is a fare-free transit system. With free buses, ridership grew from fewer than 3 million annual passengers to more than 7.5 million — saving citizens money and freeing the town from the air pollution of all those cars not being used. He also directed investment into the redevelopment of the downtown and preserved the character and natural setting of the community by ensuring that new parks and schools have kept pace with the town’s growth.
In June 2009, Foy’s efforts as mayor were rewarded by the U.S. Conference of Mayors which named Chapel Hill “America’s Most Livable City.”
In addition, Foy served as Chair of the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition – the organization representing the state’s largest cities – and led the effort to pass the state’s first anti-gang legislation. The group’s agenda also includes strengthening the judicial system and reducing crime, identifying and implementing transportation options, and managing urban growth.
Foy left office in 2009 and was succeeded by Mark Kleinschmidt. He considered running for the Senate nomination in 2010. Foy believes there has been a lack of leadership from North Carolina's Republican senators. Unlike the “Know Nothings” his ancestors confronted, Foy sees Republican Senator Richard Burr
Richard Burr
Richard Mauze Burr is the senior United States Senator from North Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, Burr represented North Carolina's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives....
and his former colleague Elizabeth Dole
Elizabeth Dole
Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford "Liddy" Dole is an American politician who served in both the Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidential administrations, as well as a United States Senator....
as “Do Nothings,” who sat silently by and ignored the problems facing North Carolina. For example, efforts to provide light rail service to North Carolinians faltered and failed because the state’s senators refused to support it. Meanwhile, a light rail service in northern Virginia moved ahead because their senators got behind it.
Background
Born in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, on January 28, 1956, Kevin Charles Foy is the son of the late Andrew Knight and Merilyn Snyder Foy. The first Foys arrived in America in the 1840s. Like most of their Irish brethren they quickly joined the Democratic Party for practical reasons. The alternative was the Native American “Know Nothing
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...
” Party composed exclusively of Protestants who waged a crusade against Irish Catholic immigrants in the 1840 and 1850s. By 1860, the Know Nothings had been absorbed into the newly-formed Republican Party.
Foy’s Irish ancestors first settled in Florida and from there moved in among a large Irish community of coal miners in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
. Two of his great uncles served as Democratic congressmen from Pennsylvania.
Foy’s father started and ran a small tool and die company in Cleveland. His mother and grandmother both worked as newspaper reporters. About the time when Kevin was nine years old, his parents bought a 140 acre (0.5665604 km²) farm in the heart of Holmes County, Ohio
Holmes County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 38,943 people, 11,337 households, and 9,194 families residing in the county. The population density was 92 people per square mile . There were 12,280 housing units at an average density of 29 per square mile...
Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
country.
The family raised cattle, hogs, horses and chickens on the farm. Foy was a member of the 4-H Club, participating at both the local and state level. Foy won several 4-H awards. As a teenager he competed in livestock shows, presentations, crop management, and dairy judging.
With four young boys eventually facing the draft, his mother was passionately opposed to the war in Vietnam. She took them on a bus to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to participate in the huge Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam
The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a large demonstration against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War that took place across the United States on October 15, 1969. The Moratorium developed from Jerome Grossman's April 20, 1969, call for a general strike if the war had not...
in 1969. Foy recalls hostility toward their peace bus, encountered when they stopped along the way.
Foy had just finished his first year at Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...
when his mother was stricken with colon cancer and lung cancer. “I just could not go back to college,” he says. With three younger siblings at home and his mother terminally ill, Foy decided to spend what would have been his sophomore year at home with his family. His mother died that year.
Returning to Kenyon College, he became active in student government and met his future wife, Nancy Feder. Graduating cum laude with a B.A. in history in 1979, Foy went to work in the offices of Democratic state senators Jerry Stano and Charlie Butts. He staffed a committee that looked into charges of corruption in state contracts.
Foy had planned to go to law school in the fall of 1981, but the family faced yet another health crisis with his father’s multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
. When a doctor told him he needed to move to a warmer climate, Kevin’s father moved the family to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. He and the family invested in a food processing plant, producing pizzas, tortillas and burritos for stores and restaurants.
Kevin and Nancy Feder were married in Hawaii in 1985. In 1989 they moved to Chapel Hill, where Nancy enrolled in the graduate program of library and information science at UNC. Foy started working as managing editor and then editor of the Environmental History Journal published by Duke University Press
Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher of books and journals, and a unit of Duke University. It publishes approximately 120 books annually and more than 40 journals, as well as offering five electronic collections...
.
While working at the journal, Foy enrolled at the North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central University is a public historically black university in the University of North Carolina system, located in Durham, North Carolina, offering programs at the baccalaureate, master’s, professional and doctoral levels....
Law School, a historically black university. “The philosophy of the school is to help create more justice for everybody.” In his second year of law school, Foy was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery. The operation was a success and the cancer did not return.
In 1994, Foy graduated from law school and passed the bar. He set up practice in Chapel Hill and became a prominent figure in local and state politics. He volunteered to be a guardian ad litem to protect the interests of children caught up in the court system. Among other things, he successfully fought to remove children from homes where they suffered abuse.
Foy has been interested in environmental law from the beginning. He has continued to be involved in his law school alma mater, where he serves as assistant professor of environmental law. Some of his students have pursued careers in environmental law, including with the White House Council on Environmental Quality
Council on Environmental Quality
The Council on Environmental Quality is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental and energy policies and initiatives...
.
Foy’s first case was representing neighbors pro bono against the Town of Chapel Hill, which had approved the construction of 13 houses in a flood plain. Just out of law school, he found himself arguing before the North Carolina Court of Appeals
North Carolina Court of Appeals
The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating groups of three...
– and the property eventually became a town-owned park.
Foy continued to work with the local Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
and was precinct chairman of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. In 1997, he was elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council. In 2001, he was elected mayor of Chapel Hill, but then left office in 2009 and was succeeded by Mark Kleinschmidt.
External links
- Bio from townofchapelhill.com
- Independent Weekly candidate profile October 2007
- candidate profile October 1997