WS Chronicle

On Jan. 1, 2025, for the first time in over 35 years Angela Carmon will not be an employee of the City of Winston-Salem. Carmon, who has served as the city’s chief legal counsel since 2008 and is the first African American and first woman to hold the position, will officially retire on Dec. 31.

“I have my second grandchild on the way, a little girl who’s due at the end of the year, so I’m going to be a full-time grandma for a while,” Carmon said. 

Long before she was named city attorney in 2008, and even before she served as assistant city attorney (1988-2008), Carmon had a passion for community service. A native of Winston-Salem and the oldest of three girls, Carmon said she grew up poor, but when she was only 12 years old, Carmon set out on a mission to make a difference. “We lived on Colton Street close to Easton Elementary, then we moved to Kimberley … and that is the point when I became very active in the community. From trying to encourage residents to register to vote, to dealing with the housing conditions, not only in Kimberley but other areas in the city.” 

Through her work in the community, Carmon was able to build relationships with several organizations in the city, including the Legal Aid Society and the city’s Human Relations Department. 

As a student at R.J. Reynolds High School, Carmon used her voice and The Chronicle to bring awareness to Black students being called racial slurs in the yearbook. In the article titled “Students Reject Slur in Yearbook,” Carmon, whose last name was Ingram back then, reported that two Black students’ names had been replaced in the yearbook with “L.B. Sambo” and “J. Darke.”

“At that time there were a number of negative things happening to Black students there and I basically decided when the title ‘Sambo’ was used beside a Black athlete … it was time to bring to light just how Black students were being treated at R.J. Reynolds,” she said. “There were a number of things going on but that in particular was one of the most egregious events occurring at the school and I just decided since I was an intern at The Winston-Salem Chronicle at the time, I would go ahead and ask the owner if I could do that story.”

The article which was published on the front page of the paper, led to the student who was responsible being disciplined and making a public apology. Students also received new copies of the yearbook. 

After high school Carmon attended Howard University where she majored in political science. After undergrad, she earned her doctorate of law from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When asked if she always had aspirations of becoming a lawyer, Carmon said when she was making decisions on her career path, she had to choose between becoming an aerospace engineer or a lawyer.  

“As a young adult I had two options, one was to become an aerospace engineer because I always had a fascination with space, and the other was to become a lawyer and try to make a difference in my community,” Carmon said. “And while I still have love for space and aerospace engineering, I feel like this was my purpose in life. … .I’ve always had in mind that I would be a public servant and that I would return after graduating from law school at Carolina to the City of Winston-Salem to become the city attorney. I felt like that was my calling.

“I don’t believe in barriers. I’m one of those who believes if there’s a will, there’s a way. And if you have a desire to do something, if you apply yourself, you can accomplish it.” 

And that’s exactly what she did. 

As city attorney, Carmon is responsible for advising the city on federal and state regulations and bond financing, drafting ordinances and legislation, negotiating contracts, and representing the city in state and federal court. She also serves as chief counsel to the mayor, city council, and city staff. During her tenure, Carmon helped shape the City of Winston-Salem into what it is today. She oversaw more than 100 legal matters involving economic development, real estate transactions, and more.

When she joined the city in 1988, Carmon said there was a backlog of housing enforcement cases and she made it her priority to make sure every case was addressed. Since then Carmon has helped city officials make changes to the housing code to make it stronger and help with code enforcement. She also helped the city pass legislation around affordable housing. 

As testament to her hard work and dedication to the City of Winston-Salem, in 2023 it was reported that Carmon was the highest paid city employee, a long way from the poor girl from Kimberley Park. Carmon said she didn’t even think about it until it was published in the newspaper. She said for her it’s always been about improving the quality of life of those in need.

“I’ve always focused on the job and doing the best job I can for the city and the residents of Winston-Salem; that has always been my focus. Yes, I’m pleased with the pay and every increase that I’ve received, but that has never been my focus,” Carmon said. “I want to be remembered as an attorney for the City of Winston-Salem who dedicated herself to doing the right things for the city as a whole. Someone who had integrity and believed in doing the right thing.”

Although she plans to trade housing code enforcement and other litigation for grandma duty, we’ve not seen the last of Carmon working in the community. “I’m going to be a full-time grandma for a while and we’ll see after that,” she said. “I’ve told people that I suspect that I will be involved in city government in some form or fashion after retirement because I’ve always been active in the community in one way or another.”

Last month it was announced that Camille French will serve as the new city attorney. Carmon has been working with French since October to prepare her for the transition. French has been serving as the senior assistant city attorney since 2022. She initially joined the city in 2018 as an assistant city attorney.