way to get involved.” When he reached out to his connections, however, he did not hear back. The boards and commissions cycle came and went, and he was not appointed to one. Determined as usual, Melton decided to forgo that stepping stone altogether. “I said, ‘Well I’ll just skip that and run for office.’” In his five years on council, Melton, now Mayor Pro Tem, has an impressive list of accomplishments, many of which address the priorities that pushed him into public office in the first place. Raleigh has successfully addressed zoning changes that encourage housing affordability and is on the path to developing several bus mass transit lines. He’s worked towards attracting and retaining Raleigh’s city staff as well—one of the best municipal workforces in the country, Melton says—allowing for further innovation and service delivery to residents. He was sworn in to the League's Board of Directors in 2023. And in more administrative areas, such as construction and permitting, he’s worked to simplify processes to support small businesses. Melton often takes a step-by-step path towards these goals. Given the enormity of some of his priorities—housing and transit among them—a piecemeal approach can be difficult to commit to. But Melton says that he doesn’t concern himself with the size or scale of the fixes. He simply stays determined towards the end vision. “I try not to look at it that way. Anytime I start to veer in that direction, I instead start to look at it as one chunk at a time,” Melton says. As an example, he points to the transit improvements presently underway in Raleigh. Those upgrades comprise many different elements, from rezoning efforts to infrastructure upgrades to increasing service capacity, and more. “If you try to fix it all at once, it’s overwhelming—you won’t be able to. But incrementally, you can achieve change. We’ve had significant successes.” He found many of these successes quickly, even despite his first months in office coinciding with the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, when it was difficult if not impossible to connect with community members and even his fellow councilmembers. “You ran, you’re confident in your ideas, but you also want to get it right. Part of that is just getting your sea legs,” Melton said. Now two terms in, his effectiveness and impact on his community has only grown. “Once I was re-elected, I was more sure of myself. I understood how things work at City Hall, the cadence of decision making.” Throughout Melton’s progression—first as an outsider, then as a newcomer, and now an established voice for Raleigh— inclusiveness still guides his leadership, not just towards the residents and communities of Raleigh, but for the newly-elected officials on the City Council. “There’s no hierarchy,” Melton said. “But having been there, that confidence is important. I try to the extent that I can share information, that’s always helpful.” His plans for the future are much the same as his plans for the present: to better his community, to take on large challenges, and to achieve them bit by bit, step by step, and determined and resolute the whole way. For the growing, changing and dynamic capital city, Melton’s approach has proven to be the right one. “It’s all working together,” Melton said. “There’s a lot to be excited about.” Board Profile: Jonathan Melton I get done speaking and walk off the stage, and this person comes up to me. She says, ‘No one knows who you are and you will never win.’ There’s this feeling that you are an outsider and that you won’t be accepted by this established group involved in city affairs. When she said that, I thought, ‘Well, I’m definitely going to win now.’ I was going to prove her wrong. NCLM.ORG 13
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