By Beth Mechum
Staff Writer
Two incumbents and three challengers are vying for three seats on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. The third seat became open when John Herrera resigned after moving to Holly Springs.
The challengers are Sharon Cook, a planning board member and the lone representative from northern Carrboro; Tim Peck, a local business owner; and Sammy Slade, a community activist.
They are running against one-term incumbent Randee Haven-O’Donnell and five-term incumbent Jacquie Gist.
Early voting will begin Oct. 15, and the candidates have been out for weeks canvassing the town.
The Candidates
Jacquie Gist
This was the year Jacquie Gist, 54, thought about not running for Carrboro Board of Aldermen.
“It’s been 20 years, and there might be some other things I’d like to do,†she said.
But there are some outstanding initiatives she’s approved in her time as alderman that she’d like to see through to fruition.
“As construction happens, it is real important that it is phased and staged in such a way that it has minimal impact over the years,†she said. “Because it will take years.â€
She also wants to keep up her work with the Orange County 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, though she hates the name of the program.
And she’s developed a special interest in keeping the town money in local banks, and she’d like more time to push those efforts through.
“I want to see the money that comes from Carrboro used to support local home owners and local business instead of being shipped up north or down south, so to speak,†she said.
Gist has her “Re-Elect Jacquie†signs ready to go and she also plans to canvass neighborhoods and invite citizens to coffee meet-ups.
Randee Haven-O’Donnell
Continuing her already-established work as a Carrboro alderperson is Randee Haven-O’Donnell’s main motivation for running for re-election.
Haven-O’Donnell, 58, said her work for the Economic Sustainability Commission, the Environmental Advisory Board, the Greenways Commission, the Local Living Economy Task Force and other programs have her invested deeply in Carrboro, and she’d like to continue helping the people of Carrboro to invigorate its local economy.
“The underlying core values that are at the heart of my running for alderperson are community; social justice; environmental advocacy; and to have mindful, inclusive, representative government,†she said.
Haven-O’Donnell said keeping Carrboro affordable also is an important point in her campaign, and she’s seeking input from residents whenever she can, which is why most of her campaign activities include going door-to-door and meeting with folks in small gatherings and in forums.
“I put a lot of time into getting to know people, getting to understand things from their perspective, and I think that has been hugely informative in this process for me,†Haven-O’Donnell said. “I have found that to be the most important thing that I’ve spent my time doing, and I think it’s the most rewarding, and I couldn’t be happier to be able to continue to do it, because it matters the most.â€
Sharon Cook
Sharon Cook, 55, believes it’s important to have a bigger voice from the northern part of Carrboro, and that’s one of the primary reasons she’s running for alderman a second time, after a failed attempt in 2007.
She said some of the issues that north Carrboro faces are of importance to all Carrboro – for example, keeping the area affordable for those who already live here.
“Will our children be able to raise their families in Carrboro?†she asks. “We’re becoming such an expensive place to live that the future won’t be available to them.â€
Cook worries that those who have retired won’t be able to stay in Carrboro due to increased living costs.
Besides neighborhood preservation, Cook also has a special interest in pedestrian safety, especially students being able to walk to school. That’s one of the main reasons she’s been on the planning board the last three and a half years, but she wants to have even more input by becoming an alderman.
Cook plans to campaign by getting out and talking to the people in all the neighborhoods in Carrboro because she wants the town to have a truly representative government.
Tim Peck
Tim Peck, 54, said it was civic duty that inspired him to want to participate in town government and the shaping of Carrboro.
“I mostly want to keep Carrboro Carrboro,†he said, noting that he’s not dissatisfied with the current leadership; he just wants his voice in there too.
To Peck, that means knowing Carrboro will change but making sure it keeps the same values. Those values, he said, include staying green and encouraging a tolerant town that is diverse and full of working-class people like himself.
“I like the idea that Carrboro is a working town; it’s growing and evolving,†Peck said. “I would like to have a voice in the political aspect of the town.â€
Peck plans to campaign by talking to people when he sees them, going door-to-door and sending out some mailings.
Sammy Slade
When John Herrera resigned from the board of aldermen in August, he heartily endorsed candidate Sammy Slade to replace him.
Often seen walking around Carrboro, Slade, 36, believes enacting change locally would go hand-in-hand with his efforts at the state and federal levels, especially on issues such as climate change.
“I’ve had past experience with interacting and dealing with things on the federal scale, and it’s very frustrating,†Slade said. “I want to be part of the local-government movement.â€
Slade said some of his desire to run came out of serving on Carrboro’s Local Living Economy Task Force. He wants to establish a local living economy by promoting community. To Slade, this means shopping at locally owned businesses, supporting local businesses and creating an infrastructure that supports local entrepreneurs.
Spending money on food that is not produced locally hurts both the local economy and the environment, Slade said. He wants to minimize the amount of miles food travels.
If elected, Slade wants to use his influence on the board to affect climate change through local building ordinances in ways that would facilitate biking and walkability, as well as deal with issues of food, energy and transportation.
“I would also seek to encourage as much community participation as possible to set the agenda on how to tackle these issues,†he said.
Slade, true to his environment-friendly style, plans to campaign by walking around, visiting people and going door-to-door introducing himself.
Now is our chance to send the current Carrboro Board of Aldermen a message. We need to let them know that we care about our town, we watch how they vote on important matters, and we don’t forget. During the last year, the Aldermen, including Randee Haven-O’Donnell and Jacquie Gist, voted AGAINST improvements to Smith Level Road which would have made it safer and included a much needed bike lane. By cooperating with the state, Carrboro could could have had these improvements at little or no cost to the city.
Ms. Haven-O’Donnell’s seat and Ms. Gist’s seat are in play during the upcoming election. I urge Carrboro’s citizen’s to reflect on the actions of these Aldermen and replace them.
Thanks to Jacquie Gist and Randee Haven O’Donnell along with the other sitting aldermen, DOT was stopped from making Smith Level Road a death trap for pedestrians and bicyclists. Expanding SLR to 4 lanes for one small section of the road with sidewalks that went nowhere was not just dangerous, but was also a waste of state tax dollars.
Jacquie and Randee, along with Sharon Cook, have my support.
A death trap? It already is a death trap for pedestrians and bicyclists. DOT is too late for that. How adding sidewalks and a bike lane makes it so is hard to imagine.
By the way, can you vote in the Carrboro elections?
And, Mr Boehmke- you forgot to add Mark Chilton to the list of people who were against this improvement of the roadway.
Check your data, John. Over the past 10 years there has been one fatality on Smith Level Road. It’s not a death trap and we want to keep it from becoming one. That’s why we had such a large turnout to support sidewalks and bike paths but no additional travel lanes.
And Mayor Chilton is the only BOA member who voted to accept the DOT project.
I hope you vote for your anti-deathtrap Carrboro candidates in the upcoming election.
Bike lanes are such deathtraps, I guess that is why Carrboro does not have one on Estes.
Too funny. Except not.