City Attorney Ronald Seeber Announces Retirement

Office of the Mayor - Sept. 10, 2007
Contact: Allen Joines, 727-2058

City Attorney Ronald G. Seeber announced today that he will retire from his position effective Dec. 1, 2007, concluding 37 years of service to the city. During his tenure Seeber successfully defended every major lawsuit challenging the governance and operation of the city.

Seeber said he is pleased to be leaving the city with an accomplished legal staff with significant tenure and expertise. Mayor Allen Joines said Seeber will be remembered as a "consummate professional with the highest level of integrity."

"It has been my pleasure to have worked with Ron, both as a staff member when I was deputy city manager and as an elected official," Joines said. "Ron has always been very helpful in devising ways to accomplish an objective rather than posing legal roadblocks. He has been instrumental in the development of many policy initiatives and projects and his legacy is assured."

As city attorney, Seeber provided key legal advice and support for the institution of special-use district zoning in 1973; establishment of the City/County Utility Commission in 1976; establishment of the Human Relations Commission in 1978; the establishment of the city’s Minority/Women’s Business Enterprise Program in 1985; and establishment of the Risk Assessment Management Corporation in 1988 to manage and defend the city.

Seeber also provided key advice and legal support for establishment of North Carolina Municipal Leasing Corp. in 1988, saving the city tens of millions of dollars, and establishment of the Citizen Police Review Board in 1993. He drafted every city economic development project since the commencement of its Economic Development Program in 1990. He was responsible for the successful defense of the city’s economic development program in the Maready case in 1996 and for the drafting and defense of every city standards and services annexation, bringing 59,000 people and more than $2.25 billion in property tax base into the city.

Seeber joined the city as deputy planning director in January 1971 and was named city attorney two years later. During his tenure as city attorney he has been honored to serve five mayors, thirty-five aldermen/council members and four of the five city managers who have served Winston-Salem.

Before coming to Winston-Salem, Seeber worked five and a half years for the Durham Redevelopment Commission and the Durham Planning Department.

Seeber has served as president of the North Carolina chapter of the American Planning Association and president of the North Carolina Municipal Attorneys’ Association. He also served on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina League of Municipalities and as chair of the Planning and Zoning Section of the International Municipal Lawyers Association. He has taught both municipal law and land-use regulation at the Wake Forest University School of Law.

Mr. Seeber said that following his 42 years of public service, he intends to engage in long-deferred travel, reading and hobby activities, and spend significant quality time with his wife, Sandy, his three children and their spouses and his nine grandchildren. He has also agreed to perform contractual work for the city, both during the time it takes for the new city attorney to arrive and thereafter, on a consulting basis.