(828newsNOW) — Hendersonville City Council Member Debbie O’Neal Roundtree has announced she will resign, effective May 1, a city spokesperson said in a release.
“After careful consideration, I have decided it is no longer possible for me to properly serve the needs of those who elected me,” Roundtree said in a released statement. She did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking additional comment.
A release from the city’s Communications Manager Allison Justus said, “The City of Hendersonville appreciates Council Member Roundtree’s service on City Council since 2021 and her many years of service to the Hendersonville Tree Board.”
In a recent interview, O’Neal Roundtree spoke of her past service on the Tree Board, about her role serving as a council liaison to the panel, and the need to protect the city’s natural resources and wildlife habitat in an era of rapid development.
During the lead-up to a unanimous council vote approving a tree canopy protection ordinance, she advocated for Tree Board members’ concerns to be heard. While board members generally supported limits to the amount of trees that can be removed in new developments, they questioned why the Tree Board would lose its formal, advisory role in reviewing certain development projects, and questioned the amount of in-lieu payments developers could pay to protect 20 percent of existing trees rather than 30 percent.
“She certainly has always been a big supporter of environmental issues, always been a supporter of the Tree Board and other resource management issues,” Tree Board member Glenn Lange told 828newsNOW.com.
He said he was quite surprised by the resignation announcement.
“I’m a little concerned now about what happens next,” Lange said.
In Hendersonville, “Any vacancy in the office of councilman is filled by majority vote of the mayor and the remaining members of the Council until the next election,” the city’s web site states.
“We would certainly like to see a person that wants to talk about environmental and sustainability issues on the council,” Lange said. “We’re concerned about who might be appointed by the council to fill Debbie’s spot.”
According to an online biography, O’Neal Roundtree was born and raised in Hendersonville, where her family worked in the agriculture industry “passing a wealth of knowledge and a love of public service.”
“At their feet, I learned that agriculture nourished this community, and I learned to respect the hard work people do to put food on the table and a roof over their head,” she said in the biography. “I learned that the labor of our citizens makes it possible for this community to thrive.”
She graduated from Hendersonville High School and later from Blanton Junior College with a degree in Business Administration. She also has been active with the Henderson County NAACP, Chapter 5477, and said she considered it an honor to receive the Darrin Jennings Award for Trying Hard.
In the biography, she said, “I am here to listen, to learn, and to lead from my heart and head. Together we can continue to grow our City on a foundation of love and an eye for a better future for all.”