
{"id":19689,"date":"2011-07-14T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=19689"},"modified":"2011-07-14T12:55:50","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T16:55:50","slug":"candidate-fields-grow-crowded-in-local-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/07\/14\/candidate-fields-grow-crowded-in-local-races\/","title":{"rendered":"Candidate fields grow crowded in local races"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Sookram will challenge Kleinschmidt in race for mayor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/07\/14\/candidate-fields-grow-crowded-in-local-races\/elections\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19690\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/elections.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"elections\" width=\"151\" height=\"57\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-19690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/elections.jpg 151w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/elections-113x42.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/elections-150x56.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 151px) 100vw, 151px\" \/><\/a>As the filing period for this fall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s municipal elections draws to a close, more candidates have signed up for the races, including Tim Sookram, who will challenge Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt.<br \/>\nSookram, a web designer, moved to Chapel Hill about a year ago.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I saw that \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Mark Kleinschmidt was running unopposed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought that I could have a shot and try to change things for the better here in Chapel Hill.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nSookram said he would like to see expanded public transit service, improved parking downtown and more affordable housing in Chapel Hill.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just generally interested in politics and local politics in Chapel Hill and North Carolina in general,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<br \/>\nCarrboro Mayor Mark Chilton has also filed for reelection, but no one has announced an intent to run against him.<br \/>\nFor Carrboro Board of Aldermen, former longtime board member Braxton Foushee joined the race this week. Foushee, who has recently served as Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s representative to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority board of directors, said he has disagreed with some of the board of aldermen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decisions.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My take is if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not of their persuasion, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to get them to hear you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the impression that I get.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nFoushee said items at the top of his agenda include rethinking development on North Greensboro Street and identifying solutions for the day laborers who gather at the corner of Jones Ferry and Davie roads.<br \/>\nCarrboro Board of Aldermen incumbents Dan Coleman and Lydia Lavelle and newcomer Michelle Johnson have also filed to run for seats on the board. Board member Joal Hall Broun has said she will not seek reelection.<br \/>\nFor Chapel Hill Town Council, incumbents Donna Bell and Matt Czajkowski announced this week that they would seek reelection. Jon DeHart, who ran for council two years ago, has also filed for election.<br \/>\nDeHart has lived in Chapel Hill for seven years and has served on the Chapel Hill Transportation Board and was a member of the Chapel Hill Citizens Police Academy. He is a manager with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.<br \/>\nDeHart said he wants to focus on three issues: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Housing affordability, sustainability \u00e2\u20ac\u201c both environmental and economic \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and public trust in our leaders and increasing transparency in local government.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nBell, who was appointed to the council in December 2009, said she wants to focus on the economy, making sound decisions for the future and harnessing the power of diversity.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have 15 years experience as a nonprofit leader and educator listening and learning from communities to work with people to help solve problems and build collective capacity,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bell said in a statement. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is the role I want to continue to play on the council.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nCzajkowski said the economy will be a greater challenge for the council in coming years.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think that the demonstrated ability and willingness to address fiscal matters and other issues head on, to explain the logic of one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision, are criteria that every voter in Chapel Hill should be examining in regard to the candidates because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be doing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<br \/>\nIn addition, Czajkowski wants to focus on getting a variety of residents involved in the revision of the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comprehensive plan, especially those who have never participated in town boards and committees before.<br \/>\nThe candidates join Jason Baker, Augustus Cho, Laney Dale and Lee Storrow in the race for town council. The terms of Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ward and council members Bell, Czajkowski and Sally Greene will expire this year, leaving four open seats. Ward has not announced his plans, while Greene said she will not seek reelection.<br \/>\nThe filing period closes Friday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the filing period for this fall\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s municipal elections draws to a close, more candidates have signed up for the races. . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elections","category-news","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19689","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=19689"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19716,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19689\/revisions\/19716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}