Common Sense for Craven County
ET Mitchell spent years in Service to our Country.
Now she wants to serve Craven County!
Meet ET Mitchell
Etteinne "ET" Mitchell wants to continue to serve Craven County just as she has served the citizens of New Bern, and once, served her country. ET was appointed to fill an unexpected vacancy on the New Bern Board of Aldermen in mid-2016, and her year and a half serving as Alderman for the 3rd Ward was extremely productive. In less than 18 months, ET's leadership helped ensure Board approval to widen and resurface 3 major roads, a $1.5 million project to begin repairs to the City's collapsing storm water system, the installation of warning lights and the re-design on a dangerous intersection on US70, the tear-down of the Days Inn, and Columbia Development's construction of a $30 million dollar shopping center on US17 - without raising taxes.
ET's life has always been about service. Since retiring to New Bern in 2009, ET has focused on local and State issues that impact her new Forever Home. She was appointed to North Carolina's Military Affairs Commission and the Veteran's Affairs Commission due to her experience as an Active Duty Naval Officer and her family background. ET is the daughter of a career Air Force officer who was seriously wounded when he was shot down in Vietnam; her 90% disabled father lives in New Bern now as well. ET and her husband were recently appointed the Board of Visitors for the Lineberger Cancer Research Center at the University of North Carolina due to their strong advocacy for better cancer care for all North Carolinians.
At the local level, ET has served in leadership positions on the Boards of Directors of Twin Rivers YMCA, the Craven Community College Foundation, the New Bern Preservation Foundation, and the Craven Literacy Council. As Chair of the New Bern Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners, and as subsequent Chair of an affiliated non-profit, she re-structured and modernized an $14 million dollar agency. ET's leadership was instrumental in ensuring that several hundred New Bern families can live in safe, modern apartments thru the largest renovation of public housing units in North Carolina to date.
Her husband, retired CEO W. G. Champion Mitchell has been equally active in community affairs, serving on the North Carolina University system's Board of Governors, the Aquarium Foundation, the Research Triangle Institute, and various Craven County economic development projects. Champ is a native North Carolinian and a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill and UNC Law School. ET and Champ have three children and four grandchildren.
Originally from South Georgia, ET was commissioned in 1981 as a Naval Intelligence Officer in Pensacola, Florida, after graduating Magna Cum Laude from The University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. Her two-decade career in the Intelligence Community included almost ten years Active Duty, Federal service with the Defense Intelligence Agency, and recall to Active Duty during the first Iraq War in 1990-1991. Her particular areas of specialization were crisis support at the National Military Command Center during real-world events, counter-espionage and counter-narcotics.
