
{"id":22569,"date":"2011-12-22T14:14:41","date_gmt":"2011-12-22T19:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=22569"},"modified":"2011-12-22T14:14:41","modified_gmt":"2011-12-22T19:14:41","slug":"broun-steps-down-plans-to-remain-outspoken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/12\/22\/broun-steps-down-plans-to-remain-outspoken\/","title":{"rendered":"Broun steps down, plans to remain outspoken"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_22570\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22570\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Broun122211.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Broun122211.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Broun122211-113x84.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Broun122211-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Broun122211-100x75.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Broun122211-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22570\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joal Hall Broun hugs her daughter, Rachel, at her final meeting as a member of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. Broun spent 12 years on the board.    Photo by Alicia Stemper<\/figcaption><\/figure><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><br \/>\nStepping down from her post on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen \u00e2\u20ac\u201c after 12 years on the job \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153feels good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; actually, it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153feels great\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to Joal Hall Broun.<\/p>\n<p>When Broun \u00e2\u20ac\u201c never one to hold back her true sentiments \u00e2\u20ac\u201c sought a seat on the board in 1999, she did so with purpose, something she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s carried throughout her tenure on the board, which came to a close earlier this month. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I felt like I could make a contribution,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. Prior to her campaign for alderman, Broun, who had moved to Carrboro from Salisbury in 1992 for a job as a public defender, had spent six years on the OWASA board, from which she gained experience dealing with a large budget. Her education in the law and experience in the community rounded out that knowledge; plus, she likes to participate in the development of policy.<\/p>\n<p>So she threw her hat in the ring for appointment to a seat on the board, where she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d spend more than a decade, winning reelection three times, working to determine \u00e2\u20ac\u0153how to leave the town in a better position\u00e2\u20ac\u009d than when she started. <\/p>\n<p>And with that, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s succeeded. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Joal is all about the process and is thoroughly committed to the process being fair and equitable for all citizens,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d board member Randee Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She is dedicated to that principle and consistent to that principle and without bias.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think that that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really important,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She always keeps an eye on the bigger picture as it relates to inclusiveness and that unspoken perspective, and I have always admired her forthrightness.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Mayor Mark Chilton notes in particular Broun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work related to the Carrboro Branch Library. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to miss her leadership on the board on those sorts of issues,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She certainly always has been a consistent voice for making sure that minority populations of our community are not left out of the discussion,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Chilton added. <\/p>\n<p>Broun has been vocal throughout the community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s discussion of a freestanding Carrboro branch library. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worked with the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library for years, and plans to continue to serve on the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s board of directors. <\/p>\n<p> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no reason there shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a library branch in Carrboro. There should\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been one 10 years ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Libraries are a place where you can learn a new skill, you can improve your academic success, you can have a community meeting.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>But, she added, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Libraries on the whole are underfunded in Orange County.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p><strong>A word (OK, a few) on development<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen Broun was first seated on the board of aldermen, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We had a bad [Capital Investment Plan],\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought we had to be more specific about what capital projects we were going to work on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>So she focused on the CIP, and along with other board members got the town going on projects like the Homestead Road fire station. <\/p>\n<p>Broun is also proud of her work with the board on securing the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purchases for open space, like the Adams Tract and the Martin Luther King Jr. property, as well as the joint efforts of the town and school system on the Smith Middle School fields, where her son now practices soccer.<\/p>\n<p>But as Carrboro moves forward, Broun said, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important that the board consider what types of development it envisions for Carrboro. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want a Shelton Station and you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want a CVS, what do you want?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to say what you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Economic development, she said, should be the subject of ongoing discussions, involving the county and all of its towns. <\/p>\n<p>In the \u00e2\u20ac\u212280s and \u00e2\u20ac\u212290s, Broun said, town leaders did a great job of drawing in the right kind of businesses to complement one another and support what was already there in Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s downtown.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People like Ellie Kinnaird and Mayor [Mike] Nelson had kind of a vision to make it happen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153These kinds of ideas we need to continue to see,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Broun added. <\/p>\n<p>She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d also like to see more affordable housing in Carrboro.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think there are going to be more pressures on reasonably priced housing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Broun said, adding, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think that Carrboro should work hard so that we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t price ourselves out of diversity.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The challenges for the board going forward will be to determine where to put that economic development and affordable housing, as well as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153paying for town government without raising my taxes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, laughing. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure how we can avoid [a tax increase],\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, noting the increased costs in gas and employee health insurance. <\/p>\n<p>Picking the next town manager \u00e2\u20ac\u201c finding \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the right person for Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be key to tackling those challenges, Broun said. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Moving forward<\/strong><br \/>\nAs Broun moves on, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious that her voice will continue to be heard \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0though from the other side of the podium. <\/p>\n<p>In addition to serving on the board of the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library, she plans to serve on the PTA Thrift Shop board. She also hopes to get more involved in her church, St. Paul AME. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was a good time in my life to step down,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, noting that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only got five more years before her son leaves for college. <\/p>\n<p>She plans to use the time she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s freed up to focus on her two children, Harrison, 13, and Rachel, 10, and her husband, Jonathan Broun. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good to be able to spend time with them,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, adding that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll now be spending her Tuesday nights cheering on her kids in their athletic endeavors.<\/p>\n<p>But board members can be confident that Broun will continue to share her opinions on issues facing Carrboro \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and continue to encourage them to make their opinions known too. <\/p>\n<p>Serving on the board is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153just like student council\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; board members have to make decisions and stick with them, she said. <\/p>\n<p>After all, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not making a decision is a decision in itself.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stepping down from her post on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen \u00e2\u20ac\u201c after 12 years on the job \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153feels good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; actually, it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153feels great\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to Joal Hall Broun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22569","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=22569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22571,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22569\/revisions\/22571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}