DUNN, N.C. — Dunn City Councilwoman April Gaulden made history last Tuesday night when council members voted her in as the city’s first female mayor pro tempore. As mayor pro tem, Gaulden will preside over any meetings and serve on the mayor’s behalf in his absence. Until Tuesday night, it was a role no woman has claimed in Dunn since the city’s incorporation on Feb. 12, 1887.

“I’m very grateful that my fellow council members saw a great purpose within me to serve as mayor pro-tem,” Gaulden said.

“Since I took my oath of office in 2019, my motto has always been that I do not just serve District 2, I serve the entire city of Dunn and I will continue to do that with dignity, integrity, leadership and most of all being supportive to all constituents in the city and city staff,” she said.

Dunn’s population, according to a 2023 estimate, is nearly 8,600. It is approximately 25 miles northeast of Fayetteville, N.C.

Mayor William P. Elmore Jr. recommended Gaulden for the role before the board at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

City Councilman Alan Hargis motioned for Gaulden’s appointment, an act that was seconded by both Councilmen Billy Tart and Dr. David Bradham.

“April is a very fine individual. She has worked extremely hard not only in her district, but throughout the city of Dunn,” Elmore said. “I’m happy and glad to have her serve as my mayor pro tem. She’s topnotch. … She’s worked hard throughout the city to help us accomplish the things we have done over the last couple of years and in planning for the future.”

The city council members voted Gaulden into the role unanimously.

Gaulden was humbled by the selection. On Wednesday, she looked back at that watershed moment and how she reached it in heels, perfectly wavy hair, long pink fingernails and an even longer list of service projects to her credit.

Reciting the words of Maya Angelou, she said, “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

Friends say that quote describes Gaulden well.

Her compassion for others is seen in her volunteer work with litter cleanup events in Dunn, working at food pantries during the pandemic and helping Another Barber Shop serve food to the community every Thanksgiving for the past 10 years. Her passion for service also plays out in the lives of children and, specifically, the young girls she mentors through Simply Girls Inc. and within the community at large.

“To the younger generation, especially those that look like me — you can go as far as you want to go. There is no limit to life, if you’re willing to stretch,” Gaulden said. “It doesn’t matter what you look like or where you come from, your past should never dictate your future.” To that message, she added the phrase she tells all of her mentees: “Don’t just live, but live to leave a legacy.”

The mayor pro tem title, “just gives me more drive to be that example for the city of Dunn,” Gaulden said.

Dallas “Bo” Dafford Sr., president of Dafford Funeral Home and former councilman, served all 10 of his years on Dunn City Council as mayor pro tem. He said that Gaulden’s selection for the role “was a very wise choice for the council.”

“I think it’s wonderful,” he said. “April is a very conscientious young woman and she’s very driven. She focuses on the entire city and not just on her district.”

Gaulden grew up in Hinesville, Georgia, and made her way to Dunn in 2002. She has no biological family here in Dunn, but has grown a “Harnett County village” over the 23 years she’s been here for her and her 28-year-old daughter, Kadizah Gaulden.

“To lead, you must be a servant first, and that is who I am outside of any title — a ‘servant leader,’” the new mayor pro tem said. “I’ve grown to serve others from my start at Western Sizzlin in 2002, to helping those in need of legal matters at Brent Adams and Associates Law Firm as an intake specialist for almost 13 years. But my heart is in volunteering.”

Gaulden has spoken at schools during after school programs and volunteered with the city’s Leaders are Readers events at Dunn Elementary.

“I’m there if I can be,” she said, adding that her role on the council means “more to me than a title. It’s a chance to serve, lead and inspire.”

“I am delighted to learn that the city council elected April Gaulden as mayor pro tem. I can’t think of a person who loves Dunn more than April,” said Brent Adams. “Even though she is a native of Georgia and only came to Dunn as an adult, she knows more people in Dunn on a first name basis than anyone else I know. She is dedicated to the job and takes it very seriously and works hard to serve the citizens of Dunn.”

Gaulden ran for city council’s District 2 seat in 2019 and won, beating her incumbent challenger with 63% of the vote. She secured another term in office, running unopposed in 2023.

“I strive daily to be fair to all people and to show love and compassion because that’s who God is and I have to give him all of the credit and glory for where I am at in my life,” Gaulden said. “At the end of the day, I’ll just continue to ask God to order my steps and direct my path as an elected official and to persevere and walk upright. It will come with opposition and some challenges but I’ve gotten this far and God will not leave me now. To District 2, thanks for your support and the City of Dunn residents for always knowing that I’m a phone call away.”

In 2021, Gaulden appeared in a commercial for Dunn trying to help the city win a $3 million “T-Mobile Hometown Techover” grant. Dunn was selected as a top 10 finalist, winning $50,000 and just barely losing the top prize to Woodstock, Illinois.

That same year, Gaulden was also selected among a field of nationwide contenders to be a part of the second class of Smart Growth America’s Champions Institute. The Champions Institute is a national program created to help local elected officials define, design, build and evaluate Complete Streets — activity- friendly routes to everyday destinations — in their communities.