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Candidate Endorsement Letters: Carrboro

Posted on October 25, 2007 by Staff

Elect Coleman

During the 18 years that I have been privileged to serve as a Carrboro Alderman, I have shared the board table with many dedicated members of our community. Of all of the aldermen I have worked with Dan Coleman, stands out as among the best.

As an alderman I judge my colleagues with a different set of standards than I do as a voting citizen. As a citizen my main concern is that those I vote for to represent me share my values and my goals for our town. The standards I use to judge my fellow aldermen include: coming prepared to board meetings, being actively involved with and attending the meetings of assigned committees and work groups, treating staff and fellow board members with respect, being mindful that in a democracy, public officials are servants not aristocrats and being true to their word. During my time on the board I served with some fine people with whom I had strong policy disagreements but respected and appreciated as co-workers.

Dan Coleman has earned both my vote as a citizen with his intelligent approach to economic, social and environmental issues and my respect as a colleague whom I can count on to approach his job with integrity and a strong sense of responsibility.

I ask the citizens of Carrboro please to vote for Alderman Dan Coleman so that I may continue to work with him to serve our town.

Jacquelyn Gist
Carrboro Alderman

Get real

Fellow Carrboro voters: the time has come to make town finances a major part of your thinking about who should get your vote this November. Simple facts: Carrboro has the highest municipal tax rate in the state, its present five-year budget plan requires a 50% increase in that tax rate to maintain bare-bones services, and a group of elected officials (and BOA candidates) is hell-bent to quadruple the planned density in northern Carrboro. If approved, town finances will deteriorate and the tax rate will rise even more because Carrboro-style development raises town costs more than revenues. You can’t run your household like that, and Carrboro can’t either.

I urge you to vote for the candidates who understand the financial ruin that is coming Carrboro’s way. Sharon Cook, Katrina Ryan, Brian Voyce and Joal Broun can collectively reverse the path to financial disaster that the mayor and others on the BOA have been blazing. The way forward begins with recognizing the problem: all of these candidates understand how serious the problem is. They also understand that unless Carrboro’s mayor and BOA apply common sense and foresight to the town’s budget problems, the Carrboro that you know and love won’t be that same town in five years. Please do not make the mistake of believing the town can tax its way out of this mess. Take the problem seriously, as these four candidates are, and vote for them on Nov. 6.

Bob Connolly
Assoc. Prof. of Finance
UNC-Chapel Hill

Cook says thanks

Thank you to so many wonderful Carrboro citizens for the time and energy you’ve already given to my campaign. With only $200 of my contributions coming from outside of Carrboro, I am proud to be doing my part to keep local elections local. I trust Carrboro’s citizens to make the best choice for our elected leadership.

Thank you to the Carrboro Police Officers’ Association for endorsing me. Also thanks to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce for noting that “…Ms. Cook is a strong candidate for Carrboro and Carrboro businesses.”

Early voting has begun. Please visit my website at www.CookforCarrboro.org, or Katrina Ryan’s website at www.katrinaryan.com for locations and times.

Katrina and I want to help maintain Carrboro’s unique charm in the midst of development pressures. We will work in harmony with the school board to plan responsible development to prevent school overcrowding and encourage walkable schools.

We will work to modify current zoning to include commercial development in order to balance existing residential development, especially in northern Carrboro, to provide needed amenities to area residents while keeping local dollars in the local economy.
We will work to promote downtown Carrboro as an arts and entertainment destination, and support the development of local artists and musicians.

Together we will continue to protect Bolin Creek, and limit construction in Carrboro’s designated conservation areas, along with connecting northern Carrboro to downtown and Chapel Hill via the Bolin Creek Greenway. And we will work to develop a comprehensive transportation and transit plan for Carrboro to ensure all roads are safe with easily accessed pedestrian and bicycle paths.

Katrina and I will work to keep Carrboro affordable for current and future residents by better managing our financial resources while providing essential municipal services. See you at the polls! Thanks,

Sharon Cook
BOA Candidate

Elect Cook

Sharon Cook is currently a member of the Carrboro Planning Board, and is seeking to further serve the Carrboro community as an alderman.

As a citizen of Carrboro, I know that Sharon has tirelessly served the community for the past 10 years, and has advocated for pedestrian and bicyclist safety, keeping growth in line with infrastructure, preserving our natural environment, and much more.
Please join me in voting for Sharon Cook for Carrboro alderman to ensure Carrboro’s ability to meet the many challenges it faces without compromising the many unique things that make Carrboro such a great place to live.

David Deutsch

Local money

As a longtime participant in campaign finance reform issues, I was delighted when Alderman Dan Coleman worked with state Senator Ellie Kinnaird and Rep. Verla Insko on a campaign finance bill for Carrboro. Dan’s bill, modeled on one used successfully in Chapel Hill since 1999, is designed to protect Carrboro from what happened to Chatham County in 2002, when out-of-county developers effectively bought three seats on the County Commission.

I was disappointed when I learned the disturbing news that Katrina Ryan and Sharon Cook, both running against Dan for alderman seats, had induced Rep. Bill Faison to quash Carrboro’s campaign finance bill. This unfortunate episode helps at least to illuminate the five-way race for three seats on the Carrboro Board. The choice couldn’t be clearer: Coleman who allies with progressive legislators Kinnaird and Insko on democracy-protecting reform, or Ryan and Cook who ally with Faison against it. Kinnaird and Insko received perfect scores of 100 from NC Voters for Clean Elections. Faison scored 45, worse than any Democrat and many Republicans. (Re the other two candidates: Dan’s fellow incumbent Joal Hall Broun voted for the bill, and Lydia Lavelle expressed her support of it.)

Dan’s been a force in local progressive politics for longer than the 18 years that I’ve known him. I have tremendous confidence in his commitment, his foresight, his judgment — impeccably sound in political matters — and his considerable, strongly analytical, intelligence.

Please keep Carrboro moving in a progressive direction: vote for Alderman Dan Coleman.

Fritzi Ross

Elect Coleman

For the past year and a half I have been part of a group that has been attempting to preserve the site of the old Sparrow Pool and turn it into an ecology and community center. I write because throughout this process Alderman Dan Coleman has been absolutely invaluable to our efforts. In fact, I think we might have given up long before if it were not for his support — both in terms of his knowledge of the town and area and his moral support — because of his true commitment to the livability and sustainability of Carrboro.

Throughout this time, Dan has taken the time to meet with us repeatedly, explaining and even researching the zoning and relevant land use ordinance provisions. In addition, Dan brought other aldermen and community leaders to the site to introduce them to us and to our project.

What was so impressive to me was that this was all “extra-curricular” in terms of Dan’s responsibilities as an alderman. But it is yet another instance (and many friends of mine have had other similarly positive experiences) that attest to not only how committed he is to both community life in Carrboro and environmental issues writ-large, but how much he is willing to give of his own time and effort in order that we residents can actively participate in making this town the special place it is. (Considering the state of democracy surrounding us, this access was almost startling!)

Please join me in voting for Alderman Dan Coleman on November 6, I really can’t think of anyone who better embodies what such a job can and should entail!

Michal Osterweil

Coleman & Chilton

We have been residents of Carrboro for more than 20 years, and add our support to re-elect Mayor Mark Chilton and Alderman Dan Coleman. Their vision and leadership has made Carrboro a great place to live. Through their hard work and public service, Carrboro has developed new parks and playgrounds, expanded child care for working parents, increased affordable housing, promoted the arts and supported local businesses.

We have found them to be public officials who are smart and have a heart. While committed to diversifying our local tax-base through creative multi-use developments, they care about the local neighborhoods and the impact of downtown expansion on nearby residents. We have very knowledgeable, skillful, compassionate and respected leaders in Carrboro and urge voters to re-elect Mark Chilton and Dan Coleman.

Michele Rivest and John Alderson      

3 thoughts on “Candidate Endorsement Letters: Carrboro”

  1. Editor says:
    October 25, 2007 at 8:07 am

    Editor’s Note: This is a response to Bob Connolly’s letter sent to us via email:

    I was shocked to read in a letter to the CC from a professor that
    Carrboro has the highest municipal tax rate in NC so I did a little
    research of my own and learned that we DO NOT have the highest tax rate
    in NC. There are THIRTY EIGHT municipalities in NC with tax rates higher
    then Carrboro. Interesting what facts you can learn when you research.
    This does not mean that we should not continue of efforts to decrease
    the residential tax burden, the re-development on Main St and Greensboro
    St are good steps in the right direction.

    Jacquie Gist

  2. Katrina Ryan says:
    October 25, 2007 at 7:23 pm

    I know Bob Connolly to be a “big picture” thinker, and an expert in public finance. I am sure Bob is referring to the tax burden born by Carrburbans, since we must include the school district tax, which none of those 38 municipalities pay. If one wants to play “angels dancing on the head of a pin”, the appropriate phrase is Carrboro citizens bear the highest tax burden per $1000 of assessed valuation in the state.

  3. jacquie gist says:
    October 26, 2007 at 5:55 am

    Sorry Katrina, Bob said and I quote “Fact:Carrboro has the highest MUNICIPAL tax rate in the state” It is not angels dancing on the head of a pin to point out a false fact in such a pointed letter
    Best
    Jacquie

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