Skip to content
The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen
Menu
  • Home
  • News
  • Community
  • Schools
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • Mill
  • Flora
  • Print Archive
  • About
Menu

Carrboro candidates square off at Chamber/Sierra Club forum

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Staff

By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
CARRBORO – Expressing their thoughts and opinions on economic development and the environment, candidates running for seats on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the lone candidate vying for the title of Carrboro mayor answered a number of questions at a forum on Friday.

The forum was co-hosted by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce and the Orange-Chatham Sierra Club. While the two organizations typically host separate candidate forums, this year they decided to host a joint forum.

“Candidates tell the chamber that business is the most important issue to them and they also tell the Sierra Club that the environment is the most important,” Aaron Nelson, the director of the chamber of commerce, joked.

Although turnout to the forum was small – perhaps because of the Chapel Hill High-Carrboro High football game scheduled at the same time – all candidates running attended the event.

Mayor Mark Chilton, who is running for re-election unopposed, said he wants to serve one more term as mayor because he would like to continue the work he has been doing for the past six years.

“I am feeling the need to follow through with the new town manager hiring and I want to continue to expand our sidewalks, greenways and bike lines and to also continue our planning process in places for commercial growth in the northern part of Carrboro,” Chilton said.

Candidate Braxton Foushee, who served as the first black alderman from 1969 to 1981, said that he wants to serve on the board because while he loves living in Carrboro, he believes that some of the stakeholders aren’t being well represented.

Foushee said he supports the revolving loan fund and emphasized the need for better-marked bike lanes and safe walking and biking spaces for people to travel between Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

“One of the things to enhance [the revolving loan fund] is to put more info out about how the fund operates and have an emergency component to that,” Foushee said. “I would be willing to increase that fund if elected to the board.”

Michelle Johnson, who is running for the first time, discussed creating a live-in economy for Carrboro, having more affordable-housing options downtown and increasing transit service, as well as the controversy surrounding day laborers.

“The issue of day laborers and the safety of the community – the group is being targeted as a whole for the actions of a few, and the needs of the community need to be balanced,” she said.

Incumbent Dan Coleman discussed the work he has done on the board to support local businesses while encouraging safe environmental development.

“I am a big fan of the rural buffer and the urban service zone,” Coleman said. “Having the rural buffer helps us to do smarter things, gives us a density that is smart for the environment and puts people close to destinations and jobs.”

Incumbent Lydia Lavelle discussed her work on the transit committee and the need for partnerships with Orange, Durham and Wake counties to create a light-rail system.

“We are trying to follow our sustainable goals, but we recognize we have to push our economic development. One way to try and achieve this balance is by the financing of the Chapel Hill transit system,” Lavelle said.

The public will have another chance to hear the candidates debate on Oct. 10 at Carrboro Town Hall, with the Orange County Democratic Party candidate forum.

2 thoughts on “Carrboro candidates square off at Chamber/Sierra Club forum”

  1. marilyn Kille says:
    October 3, 2011 at 11:29 am

    No one is opposing Mr. Chilton because it’s become apparent throughout year’s of off-year municipal elections that (a) it is impossible for individual candidates to successfully compete against a “slate” of carefully selected “incumbents-of choice”; and (b) few citizens think about elections in “off-years”.

    How convenient is this?

  2. John Kramer says:
    October 3, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    It is real convenient if you are the current mayor. I always like to think of Carrboro Politics like the Dukes of Hazzard- their mayor was “Boss Hogg”. I seriously think there is a lot of similarity.

Comments are closed.

Web Archive

© 2025 The Archive of The Carrboro Citizen | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme