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Foushee says she’ll seek another term

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Staff

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Between a packed board of commissioners meeting schedule and a four-class schedule at Carolina, Orange County Commissioner Valerie Foushee said this week she plans to find time to file for re-election.

Foushee, a former chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board of Education who won a seat on the board of commissioners in 2004, said she wants to continue to work on making sure school construction and renovations proceed at a proper pace. But should she win another term, Foushee, 52, said she wants to concentrate on county responsibilities that are not as visible as schools – including affordable housing, reducing homelessness and maintaining a health and human services safety net at a time when the state’s mental health system is in crisis.

“Affordable housing is still a passion for me,” Foushee said in an interview Wednesday. The county and the towns, she said, have worked hard to make sure that there is a supply of affordable housing. Foushee said that while having a diverse supply of housing is important, making sure that agencies have the money to maintain the homes is a key part of the strategy.
Foushee said she’s glad to see the county well on its way to revising its comprehensive plan, which has not been done on a large scale since 1981.

Identifying areas where the county is likely to grow and coming up with a strategy for those areas is an important part of managing growth, she said.

Developing the county’s commercial tax base and growing economic opportunities are essential, she said, with an increase in the commercial tax base being critical to providing tax relief for homeowners.

Foushee said she has not decided whether to file for a District 1 seat or to run at large, but indicated she is leaning toward running for the at-large seat.

“In my time as commissioner, I’ve developed relationships with people from all over the county,” she said.

She said she supported the idea of district representation, but wants to make sure residents understand that those elected from the districts will represent the whole county.

When she files, Foushee will join Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board chair Pam Hemminger, who has filed to run in the District 1 primary, and Tommy McNeill, of Durham, who has filed to run in the District 2 primary.

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