I’d like to thank the Carrboro voters for honoring me with another term in office on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. The position is both very challenging and deeply rewarding and I look forward to the coming term.
One aspect of my campaign that did not get much public attention was my decision to limit fundraising and spending. As an incumbent, I felt that my record was well known and that I had the means to communicate with the voters with minimal spending. After deciding to spend less than $1,000 ($852 in the end), I turned away many offers of contributions. I was pleased that this decision was born out, and that I received 42 percent more votes than in 2007, despite facing opponents each of whom raised two to four times what I did. In Carrboro, at least, money need not play a primary role in political campaigns.
It is worth noting that the winners this year each surpassed the previous high vote mark for an alderman candidate set by Jay Bryan in 1995 (based on board of elections records going back to 1981). There are many factors that account for this, but I like to think that one of them is a high level of citizen satisfaction with current leadership and the direction the town has been heading.
I am pleased to be serving again with Lydia Lavelle as well as the addition of Michelle Johnson to the board. And I look forward to continuing to work with Carrboro residents on the many issues we discussed during the campaign.
Dan Coleman
Carrboro Board of Aldermen