Commissioner Marilyn Gardner

  1. Mailing address

    134 N. Main Street, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526

    Fax number

    919-552-6994

    Biography

    A resident of Fuquay-Varina since 1986, Marilyn Ballard Gardner, was elected to the Fuquay-Varina Board of Commissioners in 2015 and re-elected to a second four-year term in 2019.

    Marilyn is currently a Real Estate Broker with Century 21 Triangle Group and has more than 26 years in the real estate industry. She graduated from Meredith College with a BS in Mathematics and received the Meredith College Alumnae Award in 2000.

    Community involvement has been a hallmark of Marilyn’s life. She currently serves on the Board of the Fuquay-Varina Downtown Association and Friends of the Fuquay-Varina Museums. Marilyn has served as the Past President of the Fuquay-Varina Woman’s Club, the Fuquay Springs Questers, Fuquay-Varina New Century, and as a founding member and Past President of the Fuquay-Varina Junior Woman’s Club.

    Prior to being elected as a Town Commissioner, Marilyn was appointed by the Mayor to serve on the Consolidated School Redevelopment Commission, the Task Force to Determine the Feasibility of a Main Street program, the Fuquay-Varina Centennial Commission, the Mayor’s Transportation Study Commission, and the Mayor’s Committee to Study Cultural Art’s Needs in Fuquay-Varina.

    Marilyn has been honored to receive the Fuquay-Varina New Century Award in 2018, Fuquay-Varina Citizen of the Year Award in 1992, the North Carolina General Federation of Women’s Clubs Clubwoman of the Year, and the North Carolina General Federation of Women’s Clubs Citizenship Award.

    Marilyn, a widow, was married to the late Charles W. Gardner for 38 ½ years. Together, they raised five children which attended public schools. She relishes being a doting grandmother to four grandchildren.

    A member of First United Methodist Church, Marilyn is very active in her church as a substitute Sunday school teacher, nursery volunteer, and member of the Women of the Church group. She participated on First UMC Mission Trips to Haiti in 2014 and 2015 and to Costa Rica in 2012.

    Board of Commissioners Duties and Responsibilities

    • Recruiting, selecting, and hiring a Town Manager and recognizing the role of a professional manager to serve the governing board as a whole
    • Establish the general framework under which the Town can meet the needs of the community
    • Appoint a Town Attorney
    • Set direction by clarifying the Town's mission and purposes and by setting goals for the short and long term
    • Adopt policies and ordinances
    • Engage in strategy development (annual retreat)
    • Understand its own legal and ethical responsibilities
    • Enhancing the Town's public image
    • Provide citizens opportunities to respectfully comment on public issues
    • Making sure that resources are adequate to serve the public and are used for their intended purposes
    • Channeling communications appropriately to the Town Manager
    • Expecting staff to make independent and objective recommendations

    Current Term

    • December 2019-2023

    Previous Terms

    • December 2015 - Elected to Fuquay-Varina Town Board of Commissioners to serve 4-year term.
    • December 2019 - Elected to Fuquay-Varina Town Board of Commissioners to serve 4-year term.

    Current Town Board of Commissioner Committees 

    • Law and Finance Committee, Chair
    • Economic Development Committee, Chair
    • Public Works Committee, Member

    Other Appointments

    • Fuquay-Varina Museums Board - Town Liaison
    • Fuquay-Varina Downtown Revitalization Assn.- Town Liaison
    More Information