Gastonia Mayor Reid fulfills lifelong dream

Gastonia Mayor Walker Reid was expecting a mundane City Council meeting on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Instead, the meeting turned out to be a high point in his life as he was named to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor available in North Carolina.

"Total and tremendous surprise," he recalled. "My family knew. The staff knew. The council knew. Everyone knew but me."

Reid knew something was up, however, when his wife and brother walked into the council chambers and when Sen. Kathy Harrington's face appeared via Zoom on the room's large viewing screen.

The mayor, 63, said receipt of the award fulfills a life-long goal he had set for himself.

"I had always hoped that I would one day receive this award," he said. "It is a goal that I have had for a very long time. But I didn't think it was going to happen. I'm overwhelmed. Just overwhelmed."

The award was created by Gov. Terry Sanford in the spring of 1963 and is designed to honor residents for "exemplary service and outstanding contributions to the state.

In making the presentation on behalf of Gov. Roy Cooper, Harrington said, "North Carolina's highest award for service is well deserved for Mayor Reid's decades-long record as a true public servant."

Reid later talked about the award's significance and his views on public service in an interview in his office at City Hall.

"The idea of service to others was instilled in me by parents for as long as I can remember," he reflected. "Their lesson was that you get more by giving to others than you do by receiving."

Reid, who grew up in the Highland community, said his father would often instruct him to mow the lawns of senior citizens, but always with the admonition, "Don't you take any money for that."

Reid recalled that as a youth he looked up to Black educators, such as Dr. Ed Sadler, and to others who were working to improve the community.

A 1975 graduate of Hunter Huss High School, Reid joined the Gastonia Fire Department in 1976, serving as a firefighter for three years and as fire inspector for six years.

Traveling all over the city in those positions helped open his eyes, Reid recalled, to the gap in city facilities and services to some neighborhoods as compared to others.

Reid then worked 23 years as an assistant fire marshal and and fire and life safety educator for Mecklenburg County before retiring in November of 2009.

During those years, he earned an associate of applied science degree in fire science technology from Gaston College. Reid is also a graduate of the North Carolina Fire College and the North Carolina Fire Prevention School at the UNC Chapel Hill Institute of Government.

In addition, Reid is a graduate of the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and the R. Kenneth Scott Fire Prevention School.

Reid was first elected to a Ward 4 seat on the City Council in 1995 and went on to serve for 16 years. During four of his seven terms, he was also mayor pro-tem.

Reid stepped away from city government in 2011, saying that between his work in Charlotte, his council duties, and his role as a part-time instructor at Gaston College, he was "simply burned out."

After devoting time to another love in his life, music and playing in a band, Reid returned to government service in 2017 with his election as mayor, winning a two-year term with a victory over incumbent John Bridgeman.

Not long after being elected, Reid began lobbying for the office of mayor to return to a four-year term, in line with the four-year terms of the other six City Council members. A majority of his fellow council members voted in favor of that change in 2018.

Thus, when he ran for re-election in 2019 it was for a four-year term. In that vote, he defeated retired banking executive Kim Price.

"I am here by God's will," Reid said of his service as mayor, "and I am blessed by an absolutely wonderful group of council members."

Reid noted that an advantage to holding office in city government is its non-partisan nature.

"We don't talk about party lines," he said. "We don't talk about Republican and Democrat. We've got a wonderfully diverse group of folks, and we're working together to make this city better."

Asked by what standard he judges his own life and contributions, Reid answered, "That's simple. Are things better now than they were when I started?"

Bill Poteat may reached at 704-869-1855 or at bpoteat@gastongazette.com.