Don Quarles selected to city council

Roy Watts swears in Councilman Donald Quarles. Photo by Lisa Nocerini

By Sarah Shurge – After Mayor Pro Tempore Tom Porter resigned from his seat on City Council, the council needed a new member. On Tuesday, July 17th, Don Quarles was voted in. Quarles was officially sworn in after the council meeting and then ceremonially sworn in on Tuesday, August 1st.
“When Tom resigned, I started thinking about going on council. With all the changes going on, I thought this is where I needed to be,” said Quarles.
Quarles is a long-standing resident of Wayne with a love to serve, a passion for the city, and a desire to move things forward.
“I absolutely love our city. I can’t say it enough, we have a great city,” said Quarles at the council meeting.
Quarles has been involved with the City of Wayne for years, including being a Wayne County Sheriff Reserve Officer for 14 years, being on the City Planning Commission for five years and the Zoning Board for six years, volunteering with the parks clean-ups, attending all of the city events, and more.
“I’ve been living in Wayne for 28 years. I’ve seen it grow. We are on the right path,” said Quarles. “We are one of the up-and-coming cities. We’re growing. We have to grow and be progressive. We need to think outside of the box but we have to hold on to our roots. Our roots are what made our city such an awesome city.”
Quarles is stepping into his role with a specific goal in mind already.
“Bringing unity to our city. I don’t feel we’re all divided, but unity, peace, and harmony is a vital part in life,” said Quarles. “It starts with respect. We, as a council, have to respect each other’s voices and opinions. We all have different opinions and that’s what makes us a great city. We can agree to disagree and still move forward to make choices that’s best for our residents and city.”
Members of the city council are required to make difficult decisions, but Quarles wants the people of Wayne to feel involved too.
“I’m here for them. I want to make sure that their voices are heard”, said Quarles. “It’s important for residents to get involved. Without residents, we can’t have a city. It takes a village. It takes everybody in the city to be involved with each other, to have harmony, and to make a city a great city.”
Quarles has been a logistics manager at PADNOS for 10 years, a member of the Wayne Masonic Lodge 112 for 20 years, an amateur radio operator for 20 years, and a DJ since he was 13 years old.
As a hobby, he is a paranormal investigator on The Ghost Whisperer’s team for four years. He has been married to his wife for 25 years, they have five children, and 11 grandchildren.
“My big thing is, at the end of this term, I want our residents to think ‘this is a good guy.’ I did what I said I was going to do and I listened,” said Quarles. “I hope that I am even a quarter of the councilman that Porter was. If I am that, I’ve achieved my goal.”