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The town of Danville is under the leadership of a new mayor starting this week following the Mayor’s Installation and Community Awards ceremony that marked this year’s mayoral rotation on the Town Council.
Longtime councilmember Karen Stepper, who has served as vice mayor over the past year, was selected to lead the town for the next year, with first-term councilmember Dave Fong, elected in 2020, being selected as vice mayor.
Stepper has served on the Town Council since 2002, where she was first selected as mayor in 2006, filling the position for later terms in 2011, 2016, and 2020, with the latest term marking her fifth time leading the town.
Fong was elected to fill the seat vacated by one-term councilmember Lisa Blackwell in the last competitive town council race in 2020, where he was the only new member to be elected to the council alongside incumbents Newell Arnerich and Renee Morgan in a nine-candidate race for the three seats.
In addition to announcing the town’s next mayor and vice mayor, councilmembers recognized outgoing mayor Robert Storer for his work over the past year.
“We love serving with you and now we all have to say well done Robert,” Stepper said at the conclusion of remarks on Storer’s latest term as mayor.
Storer also offered remarks and reflections on his past year as mayor, as well as looking towards the town’s future.
“I’m proud and I’m grateful and I’m humbled to stand before you and thank you for allowing me to be mayor this year,” Storer said. “I do pinch myself every single morning when I wake up. I can’t believe that I can help be a small part of the Town of Danville. And I want you to know, and you might not believe it, but this was my best mayorship ever.”
Storer said that the positive experience was due in no small part to the character of Danville and the goals of its council.
“I believe through a great deal of hard work Danville has become a model of what a successful community looks like,” Storer said. “We will continue to protect our small town charm and always look for ways to maintain our heritage and our historical preservation.”
Maintaining a sense of heritage and emphasis on historical preservation was also something Storer said he hoped would be passed onto future generations, and that he sought to give future town leaders something to be proud of.
“One day it’s going to become necessary to hand that torch over to a younger generation who will hopefully look back at our work and say that it was meaningful and it had a purpose and a direction and it made a difference and that we made good decisions on behalf of our community,” Storer said.
“It’s up to us to ensure that we turn over to our children and their kids a Danville they can be proud of,” he added.
Arnerich motioned to nominate Stepper as mayor, which was seconded by Morgan and approved unanimously by the council.
“Many of you know Karen for a lot of work, but I think what we know her best for is her work in helping build sustainable infrastructure,” Arnerich said.
Arnerich pointed to Stepper’s work early in her tenure on the council in obtaining artificial turf for the Mustang soccer facility as well as lighting and expansions to Sycamore Valley Park, as well as spearheading a renovation of the town’s Veterans Building.
“One of the things I’m most proud of, and I got to work with her a tiny bit on this, but she was the leader of the capital campaign on redoing the veterans building downtown and raising several million to help fund that facility and help create a sustainable funding source for its maintenance and upkeep,” Arnerich said.
Stepper said that she continued to be excited and passionate about her role on the council and next term as mayor, even decades into her tenure.
“We work together and we work together for Danville,” Stepper said. “I wish I could say every community does, but that’s why you don’t see us in the newspaper. Instead we work with you.”
In addition to ongoing efforts to support parks, veterans, and the arts in the community, Stepper said she was particularly excited about the upcoming changes to the town’s central core – including nighttime lighting – under the Downtown Master Plan’s implementation next year, with hopes to gain insight from a range of community members and groups on the process.
“I’m hoping that as a coalition of the community we will find new ways to make this happen – to light up the night,” Stepper said. “We want people to feel it’s safe and inviting going to restaurants both day and night in this community because we have so much to offer.”
The event concluded with a motion from Morgan to nominate Fong as vice mayor, which was seconded by Arnerich and approved unanimously by the council.
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