Unlike its big sister to the east, Carrboro did not see a close race. And labels, well, we throw them around here quicker than you can say tie-dye or Birkenstock, and they’re pretty meaningless.
Politics in Carrboro is still small-town, a place where the person who wins the mayor’s race is likely to be the person who gets in the most living rooms and listens to what people have to say.
As the election proved, there are many residents who are concerned about the challenges ahead, particularly in how the town will keep its fiscal house in order. But the results clearly show that among those who voted, there is a confidence in the current leadership to deal with those challenges.
There’s a difference, though, between the voters expressing confidence and the voters green-lighting every idea espoused by the winners in the course of the campaign, especially if there’s a price tag on it. Carrboro might not have been the hotbed of revolt against the current order that some have eagerly painted Chapel Hill as, but that doesn’t mean that the citizens here are devoid of the same anxieties about taxes, spending and downtown.
The voters gave the mayor and board a resounding “yes,†not a blank check. We are still in uncertain economic times, and the task of being good stewards of the public purse is paramount.