Elections

[Editor's note: Alison is a new OrangePolitics volunteer who will be blogging about her journey to figure out the Carrboro races. We look forward to a new perspective on issues from someone who isn't already a politico or activist. -RS]

Someone once told me that the sign of a good government is one whose actions go mostly unnoticed by its people. I supposed he meant that if people could go along with their lives and not have to think about whether the city will suffer a blackout or the garbage will be picked up, things were running smoothly and the job was getting done.

I have lived in Carrboro for 7 years, and been a home owner for the last 3 years. According the definition above, Carrboro's government is a good one for me. I have hardly thought about it in all the time I have lived here. I have always known the Mayor and some of the Aldermen socially, but as for their political beliefs or platforms I have been completely ignorant. I plan to make a change this election season.

The DTH has announced its endorsements in the Chapel Hill Town Council Election. They are: Kevin Foy for Mayor, and Laurin Easthom, Mark Kleinschmidt, Will Raymond, and Bill Thorpe for Council.

You can read the endorsements here.

UPDATE: Carrboro endorsements announced.

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday October 15, 2005

One of the most compelling comments of election season so far came from Carrboro Alderman Jacquelyn Gist at the Sierra Club candidates forum. "Grass makes you stupid" Gist said in reference to Carrboro's many acres of lawn. "Grass is one of the biggest problems facing our community."

Knowing Gist, I did not take her words to be a New Urbanist rebuke of suburban living. They seemed more an indictment of the manner in which modern society relates to nature, and how an alien landscape -- in this case, the lawn -- interferes with our ability to understand the ecosystem that is our home.

I'd been thinking along similar lines this summer, each time I stepped out my front door and walked over to the nearby forest by Bolin Creek. Along the sidewalks and street it was awfully hot, the pavement throwing the sun's heat back at me. But as soon as I stepped under the canopy of trees, it felt 10 degrees cooler. Clearly, the way we live, the way we build, the way we develop -- none is well attuned to our natural environs.