ORANGE SLICES
By Laurie Paolicelli
Guest Columnist
Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell out and about with his dog Theo.
There’s something genuine about Hillsborough’s mayor, Mark Bell. In his fifties, he’s earned the admiration of a broad and loyal community, drawing friends and supporters from all walks of life. It might be his warm smile, his unwavering commitment to his family, or the way he lights up when talking about his dog, Theo — but whatever it is, he leaves a lasting impression.
Mayor Bell is dedicated to protecting the narrative of Hillsborough’s role in North Carolina and he has been inspirational in shining the light on the prominence Hillsborough held during colonial times. Hillsborough, the county seat of Orange County from the 18th century, was poised to become the colonial capital. “Can you imagine how different this town would be if that had happened?” laughs Mark. “Instead of our historic downtown and meandering trails, we’d have a state capitol and much different role in North Carolina.”
And there a little kismet involved as well. “My hometown of Nashville, Tennessee was established here in Hillsborough on April 19, 1784 by the North Carolina General Assembly, one block away from where I live now. And I have multiple direct ancestors who lived here at that time, so I feel I’ve returned to where I belong and I love the way this has worked out.”
Alongside his full-time role in healthcare management consulting, he remains deeply engaged in shaping Hillsborough’s future — championing thoughtful growth, preservation, and essential infrastructure projects that protect the town’s character and resources. He has led and served on numerous advisory boards over his 20 years in Hillsborough and leverages that experience as the 110th person to serve as mayor.
Mark and Virginia Bell on the Riverwalk in Hillsborough.
He has also developed a life skill he never wanted: surviving a rare brain tumor. But since 2021 that’s exactly what he’s had to do. It’s called a neuroma, a type of tumor that grows on nerve cells, and in Mark’s case, it was classified as large and it grew on three of the twelve nerves in his head, including the brain stem. Approximately 2,500-3,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the US.
The good news? It was benign. Even so, it’s a tumor, and it was in his brain and causing problems.
“I wasn’t in pain, but I developed tinnitus (loud ear ringing), and then I noticed in my daily walks that my gait and stride was changing and I couldn’t walk in a straight line. When I was out somewhere with loud sounds or in rooms with poor acoustics, I felt exhausted, as if my brain didn’t have the bandwidth to carry on conversations with all the noise around me.”
He said these environments often led to greater fatigue. “I saw several doctors and there was not a definitive diagnosis until I suddenly lost hearing completely on one side and one of my legs gave out while I was walking across the room.”
After an ENT ordered an MRI, he got the call immediately. A 3-centimeter mass was located on his hearing and balance nerves, facial nerve, and brain stem, and it had to come out right away.
Mark had surgery for what is called an acoustic neuroma, also called a vestibular schwannoma, in 2021. Dr. Ali Zomorodi at Duke University performed the 9-hour surgery. Released after several days in the hospital, recovery began, including vestibular therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, steroids, and lots of rest.
So far, so good. From the minute Mark had arrived in Hillsborough, in 2006, he started giving back to the community; a brain tumor didn’t change that at all.
Mark Bell with Renee Price and Allen Buansi.
“When we first came to Orange County, I joined the Cedar Grove Volunteer Fire Department. That was my first foray into volunteering in North Carolina. Once we were settled in Hillsborough, I joined the Historic District commission. And then the Alliance For Historic Hillsborough. There was a Town Clock Committee before that. The clock in the courthouse is pre-Revolutionary War, and the clock predates the building. People would be assigned duties to go there and wind it. There’s actually a kind of big crank on it. That was the first thing I did. I got to hang out with a 250-year-old clock — how cool is that?” In 2019 he ran for and won a seat on the Hillsborough Town Board of Commissioners and has served on 20 advisory boards in all since coming to Hillsborough.
Fast forward to 2023, when Mayor Jenn Weaver announced she would not seek the Mayoral seat again, Mark started getting calls.
“My surgery was behind me, and my commitment to Hillsborough was in front of me. Once I realized that the work I’d been doing for the past eight years had truly prepared me for the role of mayor, the decision became much easier.”
Today, Mark remains dedicated to leading the town he loves.
“A brain tumor changed my life in ways I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” he says. “But when you face something like that, it becomes much easier to focus on what truly matters — and to let go of the things that don’t.”
River Park, Hillsborough
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Laurie Paolicelli
Disclaimer: Published by Orange County’s Tourism Department through its Public Relations team, this story includes interviews and repurposed content from websites and partner press releases. For more, visit www.visitchapelhill.org or contact Laurie Paolicelli.
Laurie Paolicelli is executive director for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, a position she has held since 2005. Laurie has worked in tourism and marketing for twenty-five years, having served in leadership roles in Houston and California convention and visitor bureaus. She is a native of the Twin Ports of Duluth, MN/Superior Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Communications from the University Wisconsin-Superior and graduate certification in Technology In Marketing from the UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. This reporter can be reached at Information@TheLocalReporter.press
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