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Board limits campaign contributions

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Staff

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously on Tuesday to limit campaign contributions to $250 for candidates for town elected offices.

According to the ordinance, anyone accepting a contribution from an individual for more than $250 would be fined the amount in excess of $250. Exceptions to the ordinance include contributions from a candidate’s spouse, partner, parents, brothers or sisters.

No one spoke against the limits in the public hearing or in board member discussions.

“I think that participatory democracy is good democracy, and I think that if you have a small cap then you will have more people involved,” resident Jenny McMillan said.

Board members said they strongly supported the limits.

“I’m very much encouraged by limiting the cost of democracy,” board member Joal Hall Broun said. “We don’t want to be a democracy that you get what you pay for.”
Board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell agreed.

“It keeps overall campaign costs down,” she said. “To me, that’s really important…. When you neutralize the costs, then you have everyone on a more level playing field and the entire campaign season doesn’t get out of hand.”

Under North Carolina law, campaign contributions are limited to $4,000. The North Carolina General Assembly approved a charter amendment last summer allowing Carrboro to limit campaign contributions to $250.

“The more I think about this, the more I enthusiastically support it,” board member Jacquie Gist said. “I think we’ve seen some things happen in neighboring counties where big money has come in in order to influence elections in a way that’s really against the best interest of the grassroots and the community.”

Also at the board meeting, town attorneys provided board members with an update of a case involving a dispute over a residential apartment that town officials say they never knew about. Mayor Mark Chilton said that the board would not normally discuss litigation publicly, but chose to do so after an article in the Herald-Sun addressed the issue.
The town contends that Marilyn Kille, a resident of Peppermint Spring Farm on Old Fayetteville Road, installed an apartment in a barn built in 1997 without getting the proper permit or paying required impact fees.

Kille maintains that the town knew about the apartment and inspected the building during construction.

Following the update, Chilton and Kille engaged in a sharp exchange.
“This was nothing but a charade to deceive the people of the town of Carrboro,” Kille said. “You know that. I hope you can sleep well tonight.”

Chilton replied, “You are the person who has deceived the people of the town of Carrboro and cheated the taxpayers of Orange County…. I paid the school impact fee when I built my house.”

1 thought on “Board limits campaign contributions”

  1. Sophie King-Lowe says:
    March 5, 2009 at 6:32 pm

    The Town of Carrboro seems to really want that property that Kille owns. What else would explain the nasty way she has been treated? Someone should do some digging to see what is really behind this issue, it certainly is not about a horse barn.

    And congrats to the BOA for working to keep out well funded political opponents. Good job, folks.

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