Two-term councilman Mark Kleinschmidt, a death-penalty defense lawyer and gay-rights activist, narrowly defeated council colleague Matt Czajkowski to remain on the panel and take its reins as mayor. Kleinschmidt had just 49 percent of the vote in the four-person mayoral race. Czajkowski, a former investment banker and retired corporate finance officer, had tried to lead three other finance experts onto the council to recruit new businesses downtown, cut taxes and reduce panhandling. Czajkowski has two years remaining on his council seat, but only corporate executive Gene Pease was able to join him in the race for four available council seats.

Sierra Club-endorsed challenger Penny Rich led the field of Town Council candidates, capturing 15 percent of the votes. Incumbent Ed Harrison took 14.8 percent and Laurin Easthom, 14.4 percent. Pease topped 13.6 percent to take the last seat, edging challenger Matt Pohlman and incumbent Jim Merritt, appointed last year to replace the late Bill Thorpe as the only African-American on the council.

The council now faces another appointment with the resignation of three-term councilman Bill Strom this summer. Retiring Mayor Kevin Foy, a close Kleinschmidt ally, has said appointing another African-American should be a priority.

Two African-Americans, Donna Bell and Aaron Shah, have applied for appointment. Both live in the historically black Northside neighborhood, where residents have criticized the council for allowing the 10-story Greenbridge condos at the edge of their traditional single-family community.

Bell serves on the town Planning Board, affordable-housing agency EmPOWERment and the Sustainable Community Visioning Task Force, which aims to plot the town’s growth over the next 10 years. Shah recently left his job as a computer analyst at UNC to care for his son who had H1N1 flu.

Kleinschmidt said he wants to hear from new council members Rich and Pease but said having at least one African-American on the council is important to him. “It’s certainly something that will enter my thoughts,” he said.

Czajkowski allies Matt Pohlman and Jon DeHart finished fifth and seventh. This summer, some residents had pushed the council to promise to appoint the fifth-place finisher, but it wasn’t clear that person would actually apply for Strom’s seat. Pohlman did. Like all the incumbents, Merritt, who finished sixth, did not apply.

A poll released Monday suggested this the election was a referendum on the council’s direction under Foy. Those who thought the town was on the right track supported Kleinschmidt by a wide margin, according to the weekend survey conducted by Public Policy Polling.

East Chapel Hill resident Marteh Bowen was among them. She voted for Kleinschmidt because of his long-term connection to Chapel Hill stretching to the late ’80s, when he was a UNC undergraduate.

“He’s been around the area for a long time,” she said.

Lisa Williams, a resident of the historically black Pine Knolls neighborhood, said she has been advocating affordable housing through the Pine Knolls Community Center and the community-organizing group Justice United. She thinks Kleinschmidt will be an ally, especially for creating more housing for police and fire fighters.

“They do not live in Chapel Hill because they can’t afford it,” said Williams, daughter of a retired Asheville cop. “When your service people do not live in the community where they serve, you do not get to know them as well.”