William (Bill) Terry isn’t afraid of challenges — in work or at play. Having reached an envied level of employment with the Town of Chapel Hill as the Sustainability and Facilities Management Superintendent in the Department of Public Works, he could have been content. Instead, he threw his hat into the ring for the position of Pittsboro Town Manager in 2007, and from a national search and hundreds of candidates, Bill was selected.

When asked why he applied for the position, Bill laughs. "My friends tease me that I put the internship at the end of my career instead of the beginning." All kidding aside, he had actually worked very hard for a position such as this. He took after-hour classes for five years while working in Chapel Hill to receive his Masters of Public Administration degree.

It takes a certain level of discipline to work, go to school, be a good family man and husband, but for Bill it was hardly avoidable. "I was raised in a military family. My father was a marine, and I was actually born in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina." Bill enlisted into the marines after he graduated from Carleton College in 1970.

Bill was selected for Officer Candidate School, but it was a book that prompted him to take the training. "I had read the book about Lt. Calley and the Mi Lai Massacre," he explains. "Calley is the epitome of under-educated military that ended up in a leadership position. He had to make a moral decision but was not able to do so. I felt the military deserved better-qualified leaders." Bill ended up staying in the service for 20 years.

During his time in the military he served as a facilities engineer, the experience that was most directly responsible for his position with the Town of Chapel Hill. Plus, it was time to quit moving around. "I had made a deal with my wife Jennifer that after my military service was up, it would be her turn to concentrate on her career." And concentrate she did — Jennifer is now a senior officer with Paragon Bank.

It was that commitment to his wife that prevented Bill from applying to other town manager positions. "So, I bided my time and continued to look for opportunities locally. When the position opened up in Pittsboro, I applied. I was fortunate enough to be selected."

Photo taken by Bill on recent fishing trips to northern Minnesota and Canada. The eagle was about 100 miles north of Red Lake, Ontario.

Hardly fortunate: by all accounts he was perfectly suited for the job. Bill is a proven and effective leader and manager. "I will never forget a slogan I heard when I was in the service… ‘If you take care of the people, the people take care of the stuff.’ I have always tried to do that with my people." When asked what he meant by that, he explained, "You give your people the tools and the training, and provide them with an organizational structure so they can do their job, and then you get out of the way."

Bill is not only a good manager he leads by example, and he has been an innovator in finding efficient ways to oversee operations. Somewhat of a computer whiz, he has built software programs that help him perform data analysis on efficiency models — from vehicle performance to facility construction projects.

Outside of the office, Bill was a very active player on the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition for four years, serving as the Chair 2003-2004. The Coalition is a Federally funded program that is working to improve air quality and reduced dependence on petroleum by promoting alternative transportation fuels. (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill received a Clean City Designation in 2001.)

An active outdoorsman, Bill loves to fish and hunt. More recently, he has taken up wildlife photography. When not out in the wild, he loves spending time with his family. Son Kenneth is a civil engineer and has two daughters, son Marcus is an architect and has a son.

It’s apparent that Bill is not slowing down, but rather is excited about living each day. "I always found the phrase, ‘I can’t wait until’ to be a negative. I tell people — and I try to live my life by this — is to find something about your life RIGHT NOW that you can enjoy." Sounds like good advice to me.