October 2003

Alright, let's talk about Carrboro! This was written by a Carrboro resident who would like to remain anonymous:

The campaign trail has been fairly quiet in Carrboro, but much could be at stake for the Paris of the Piedmont. Four candidates are running for three seats: Incumbents Joal Hall Broun and Alex Zaffron will meet challengers Mark Chilton and Steve Rose in this election. First let’s run through the Alderman candidates:

Joal Hall Broun, the Board’s only African-American member, has been an Alderman for four years. She’s an attorney and mother of two. Chapel Hill observers will recall the unusual spelling of Joal’s last name; her father-in-law is former Chapel Hill Mayor Ken Broun. Joal’s vote against the Pacifica Development at the end of Hanna Street is no doubt going over well with folks in that area of Town. The Sierra Club snubbed Joal in its endorsements, which helps neither her campaign for Alderman, nor the Club’s lily-white reputation. It seems unlikely that this will affect her chances much, however.

For those of us who grew up in any other part of North Carolina, moving to Carrboro often seems like moving to a different (and better) world. Carrborians have always prided ourselves in trying to keep the good parts of Southern life intact (the relaxed pace and community) while striving to be the most culturally diverse, progressive town in the state. Instead of comparing ourselves to other similar-sized cities in the state, like Brevard or Concord or Goldsboro, most folks I know now compare Carrboro to other interesting, progressive cities throughout the country. We still stack up quite nicely in terms of our schools, public transit, and leadership, but we fall quite short on a very important indicator or quality of life: pedestrian friendliness.

Just look at other towns that are often mentioned in the same breath as our own: Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor, Madison, Towson Park, MD. We are much smaller than most of these towns and have other factors which separate us, but these municipalities are ones in which you can walk around much more freely and where bike paths and sidewalks can carry you to most parts of town.

Hey folks. I don't plan to make a regular habit of this, but as you can imagine a significant investment of my time and money has gone into the contruction of this web site - not to mention the time and energy of the the authors.

Just in case you would like to make a concrete demonstration of your appreciation of our efforts, here are a few ways you can help:

The Chapel Hill News has published endorsements for Carrboro Mayor and Board of Aldermen as well as Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board.

In Carrboro, the News went with a solid slate of incumbents Mike Nelson, Joal Broun, and Alex Zaffron - plus Mark Chilton. I would certainly endorse that endorsement. Anyone want to discuss the history or odds of running as an earnest write-in candidate? I haven't seen anyone do it around here before. But even if I lived in Carrboro (which I don't) and even if he was on the ballot (which he's not), I still wouldn't vote for Jeff Vanke.)

For School Board, the News goes with incumbents Elizabeth Carter and Gloria Faley (who rock), pseudo-incumbent Ed Schrest, and over-qualified George Griffin.