
{"id":16023,"date":"2011-02-17T10:23:01","date_gmt":"2011-02-17T15:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=16023"},"modified":"2011-02-17T10:23:02","modified_gmt":"2011-02-17T15:23:02","slug":"a-do-it-yourself-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/02\/17\/a-do-it-yourself-way\/","title":{"rendered":"A do-it-yourself way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_16026\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16026\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/02\/17\/a-do-it-yourself-way\/shetley1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-16026\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/SHETLEY1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"SHETLEY1\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16026\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/SHETLEY1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/SHETLEY1-113x75.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/SHETLEY1-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/SHETLEY1-120x80.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16026\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY ALLISON RUSSELL. Frances Shetley sits on the lawn of Weaver Street Market on Monday afternoon. Shetley, who served on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen for eight years, is a descendant of Thomas Lloyd, one of the founders of Carrboro. <\/figcaption><\/figure><strong>By Susan Dickson<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There are few residents with roots as deep in this town as Frances Lloyd Shetley. <\/p>\n<p>Though she grew up in Calvander, Shetley has lived on Hillsborough Road in Carrboro for 50 years. Her family has been in the area since the mid-1700s, when Thomas Lloyd \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of whom Carr Mill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s original owner Thomas Lloyd is a descendant \u00e2\u20ac\u201c purchased land near Calvander.<\/p>\n<p>Shetley went to school in the same building where Town Hall is now located and attended first grade in the same room where, 60 years later, she served as a member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen for eight years, taking a stand on controversial town policies that hold strong nearly 20 years later. <\/p>\n<p>How she came to sit on that board is indicative of Shetley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s do-it-yourself way of approaching things.    <\/p>\n<p>In the 1970s, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I had something that I wanted to ask the town about,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Shetley recalls. She went to speak with the town manager, who told her he was too busy to deal with her question. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That should not happen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. So Shetley decided she would take matters into her own hands, becoming a part of the infrastructure of the town. Her first involvement in town government was as one of the founders of the Carrboro Appearance Commission. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two or three of us got together and went before the town board,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They consisted of men, old-timers.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153One of them said, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAw, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s let the women have some bushes,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she recalled, and the appearance commission was born. These days, the commission is about far more than bushes, making recommendations to the board of aldermen regarding proposed developments and other projects. <\/p>\n<p>Shetley was also instrumental in saving Carr Mill, which was set to be destroyed and replaced with a shopping center in the mid-1970s.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The community got together and said, this is something that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to be saved,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. Without it, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think the town would be entirely different.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>She also served on the Board of Adjustment and chaired the Transportation Advisory Board, but eventually she grew tired of simply advising the aldermen on how they should act and decided to run for a seat on the board. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I got on the board, then maybe I could have a vote,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Elected to the board in 1987, Shetley immediately discovered the intensity of the job.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You really have to do your homework,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, remembering the stacks of agenda materials she used to go through on weekends. <\/p>\n<p>During her years on the board, she took on issues like connector roads, development and transportation, almost always determining not to make a decision on issues until after the public hearing. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why have a public hearing if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to listen to people?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Shetley said. <\/p>\n<p>She has notebooks filled with newspaper clippings, letters and photographs from her time on the board and days gone by. Flipping through one such notebook, she came across a letter she received in 1994, when the board was considering extending benefits to domestic partners of town employees and providing a town registry for same-sex domestic partners. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t talk about this,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This makes me so mad. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 People were terribly upset, and they talked so ugly about it. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one time that I knew the public hearing wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to change my mind,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I voted in favor of it, but I never said anything about how I was going to vote.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>People were surprised by her vote, because she came from a family that might not have supported such a measure, she said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was just the right thing to do, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was not political.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Shetley was also part of heated development discussions, as she was on the board when the Hogan family was trying to sell for development the land where their dairy farm was located. Residents came out in opposition of the development.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People wanted to keep [the land] and enjoy it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Shetley said. But the Hogan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 dairy farm was no longer profitable. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They had been in the dairy business \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a long, long time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What do you want them to do?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The board initially voted down the development, 4-3, with Shetley siding with the developers, but an agreement was reached in mediation, and Lake Hogan Farms was built.<\/p>\n<p>When Shetley left the board in 1995, she found herself with some free time on her hands, but she \u00e2\u20ac\u0153filled it up real quick,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d continuing her involvement with the town and other organizations. <\/p>\n<p>As Carrboro moves forward, Shetley said, the town continues to face challenges with development and revenue.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Taxes are a real problem,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, adding that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s known several older residents who have been taxed out of their homes over the years. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The thing about it is, we want a lot. We want good police protection, we want transportation \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and yet we fuss about paying for it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need more commerce \u00e2\u20ac\u201c commercial buildings,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>These days, Shetley stays involved with the Carrboro Community Garden Club, of which she is a founding member. She also finds herself spending more time at the Seymour Center and the N.C. Botanical Garden. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are always some classes to take,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153things to learn.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>But while she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s glad she served on the board, Shetley is happy not to be in the thick of it anymore. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I must have liked it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, laughing. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Looking back on it, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure why.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are few residents with roots as deep in this town as Frances Lloyd Shetley. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16023"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16069,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16023\/revisions\/16069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}