RALEIGH – A local mayor has gain a lofty position among his statewide peers.

The North Carolina League of Municipalities elected Murfreesboro Mayor John Hinton to its board of directors during the League’s annual conference in Hickory. Hinton becomes one of nine new board members.

“It’s an honor just to be considered for a position such as this,” said Hinton. “I had no idea that I would be elected.”

Hinton has served since 2010 as Murfreesboro’s Mayor.

“Richard Hicks (a former interim Town Administrator in Murfreesboro) had a lot to do with this. He probably sang my praises to the League and now I’ve got to live up to whatever Richard told them,” Hinton chuckled.

Hinton, who will attend his first League board meeting in Raleigh next week, said he has already been tasked with being a member of the organization’s Risk Management committee.

“I guess that’s due to my work here at Chowan,” said Hinton who serves as the university’s Vice President for Human Resources and Special Assistant to the President. “Whatever they ask me to do, I’ll give it 100 percent. I will represent our town, our county and all of northeastern North Carolina to the very best of my ability.”

During Hinton’s tenure as Mayor he has seen the town recognized as a “Main Street Community,” led the charge to expand and update the water infrastructure, and inspired council to purchase the historic “Kings Landing” on the Meherrin River.

Passionate that Murfreesboro maintains its historic character in order to promote tourism, he has also worked closely with the town’s Chamber of Commerce (having served as an officer for five years) and is currently a member of the Peanut Belt RPO, a Transportation Advisory Committee, in pursuing economic development and the multi-lane highway promised in 1999 to lure Nucor to Hertford County.

A graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Hinton served as a Calvary Officer in Korea and as an aide to the Director of Instruction, US Army Armor School at Fort Knox, KY.

Hinton has been at Chowan for 16 years and raised his family in Murfreesboro with his wife, Deborah. She teaches 2nd Grade for Northampton County Public Schools. The couple has two sons, John, a Chowan graduate who is currently a graduate student at Old Dominion University obtaining an advance degree in order to teach at the college level, and Michael, a UNC Chapel Hill and Campbell Law Graduate, who is a practicing criminal/civil attorney with Revelle and Lee Law, LLP in Murfreesboro.

The board of directors is comprised of municipal officials from across the state who are recognized as leaders among their colleagues. The board is responsible for representing the opinions of members when deciding the direction of the League.

“I’m pleased with the new board our membership selected,” said Ellis Hankins, executive director of the League. “The board has capable public servants that will serve the League and our state well.”

The League’s new officers are President Al King, mayor of Goldsboro, First Vice President Ronnie Wall, mayor of Burlington, Second Vice President Lestine Hutchens, mayor of Elkin, and Immediate Past President Art Schools, mayor of Emerald Isle.

Along with Hinton, the other new board members are Wilmington Mayor Pro Tem Earl Sheridan, Rocky Mount Council Member Lamont Wiggins, Southern Pines Mayor David McNeill, Winston-Salem Council Member Denise Adams, Washington Council Member William Pitt, Elizabeth City Manager Rich Olson, St. James Clerk Josann Campanello and Durham Attorney Patrick Baker.

The North Carolina League of Municipalities is a membership association of more than 540 great hometowns. For more than 100 years, the League has promoted – and continues to promote – good government by offering non-partisan advocacy, insurance and other services — as directed by its membership.