It's hard to imagine a collection of elected officials choosing their words more carefully.

But, it's not often that an elected body loses its designated wordsmith.

As Margo Williams stepped away Tuesday after 16 years on the Davidson Town Board, her ghostwriting influence became increasingly obvious.

"It's now my privilege to read a resolution that you did not write," Mayor John Woods joked as he prepared to honor Williams, the former mayor who did not run for re-election to the town board in November.

Former Davidson Mayor Randy Kincaid offered his own words in praise of his former colleague — some of them sending the kind of pointed messages offered almost exclusively by former elected officials.

"The last time I spoke in this room, you were the speechwriter," Kincaid told Williams. "I got the credit, but you did all the work. And what wonderful work it was."

As a leader, Kincaid insisted, Williams is part of a vanishing breed, especially in the suburban sea where the eclectic island of Davidson sits.

"Margo, over the years, I have observed many local government officials who seem to make every decision in isolation," Kincaid said. "They tend to rely on two touchstones: never raise taxes, and always let property owners do (anything) they want with their property. These officials, of course, have a limited vision for their towns."

Williams, Kincaid said, is different.

"You always see the big picture but you also know the fiscal consequences and the property rights issues," he told Williams. "You ask if the action fits the vision, and you want to know if we will be proud of what we are passing on to future generations."

Stewardship is at the core of effective governance, Kincaid added.

"As a steward," he suggested to Williams, "you feel responsible for this corner of God's earth for this moment, and you know you must not screw it up."

Then, Kincaid ticked off what he considered to be Williams' most important efforts.

"We thank you for your contributions to building our town," he said. "For your understanding the importance of diversity to the community, and for leading an organization providing affordable housing to protect that diversity. We thank you for standing up for the library, and for making your church (Davidson College Presbyterian) a stronger community participant."

Kincaid again cited Williams' writing ability, before turning a bit more personal.

"I personally wanted to thank you for sitting beside me for a decade" at the dais, he told her, "for jotting down names of people that I could not remember, for taking on (leadership of) the Affordable Housing Committee when I as chair had taken it nowhere. I thank you for your patient dealing with farmers who were picketing, mothers who feared that connecting streets would threaten their children, citizens who worried about unconventional subdivisions, and developers who needed some education in the value of 'smart' growth."

Williams, Kincaid added, helped to distinguish Davidson from its suburban neighbors.

"We strengthened our sense of place so that when you're in Davidson, you know you are in a place, and not just in some (suburban) sprawl," he said. "... and we know that when the roll of Davidson saints is called, the first on the list will be the name of Marguerite Oldham Williams."

And for cynics who doubt an elected official's — or a town's — capacity to transcend politics, they need only look to Commissioner Laurie Venzon's tribute to the departing Williams. Though the town board is elected on a non-partisan basis, observers of Davidson's politics know that the Republican Venzon and Democrat Williams sit somewhat opposite each other on the ideological scale. Yet, in a packed Town Hall meeting chamber Tuesday night, it was Venzon speaking for the community as she thanked Williams by presenting her a bound book full of six-word descriptions of Williams, a variation on a Williams-led project to collect six-word stories about Davidson.

Also stepping down — to much less fanfare — was Tim Dreffer, who chose not to run for re-election after one term.

"I don't want to say I'm retired," Dreffer told his colleagues, "but more that I'm on a sabbatical, if you will."

Newcomers Jim Fuller and Rodney Graham were sworn in for their two-year terms, then took part in their first votes: the unanimous election of Commissioner Brian Jenest as mayor pro tem.

Also Tuesday:

• Downtown manager Kim Flemming told commissioners that the 2011 edition of Christmas in Davidson drew an estimated 30,000 people to downtown Davidson and turned a profit of more than $3,200, up from just $82 a year ago.

• Katherine Hebert was introduced as the town's new Davidson Design for Life coordinator. She will oversee health impact assessment studies and other activities under a $350,000, three-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control. Hebert spent the past year and a half as a fellow at the CDC conducting health impact assessments and training.