
{"id":7413,"date":"2009-10-09T10:06:37","date_gmt":"2009-10-09T18:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=7413"},"modified":"2009-10-09T10:07:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-09T18:07:00","slug":"election-%e2%80%9909-carrboro-aldermen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/10\/09\/election-%e2%80%9909-carrboro-aldermen\/","title":{"rendered":"Election \u00e2\u20ac\u212209: Carrboro Aldermen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Beth Mechum<br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Two incumbents and three challengers are vying for three seats on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. The third seat became open when John Herrera resigned after moving to Holly Springs.<\/p>\n<p>The challengers are Sharon Cook, a planning board member and the lone representative from northern Carrboro; Tim Peck, a local business owner; and Sammy Slade, a community activist. <\/p>\n<p>They are running against one-term incumbent Randee Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell and five-term incumbent Jacquie Gist.<\/p>\n<p>Early voting will begin Oct. 15, and the candidates have been out for weeks canvassing the town.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Candidates<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jacquie Gist<\/strong><br \/>\nThis was the year Jacquie Gist, 54, thought about not running for Carrboro Board of Aldermen.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been 20 years, and there might be some other things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to do,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>But there are some outstanding initiatives she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s approved in her time as alderman that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to see through to fruition.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153As construction happens, it is real important that it is phased and staged in such a way that it has minimal impact over the years,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because it will take years.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>She also wants to keep up her work with the Orange County 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness, though she hates the name of the program.<\/p>\n<p>And she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s developed a special interest in keeping the town money in local banks, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like more time to push those efforts through.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to see the money that comes from Carrboro used to support local home owners and local business instead of being shipped up north or down south, so to speak,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Gist has her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Re-Elect Jacquie\u00e2\u20ac\u009d signs ready to go and she also plans to canvass neighborhoods and invite citizens to coffee meet-ups.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Randee Haven-O&#8217;Donnell<\/strong><br \/>\nContinuing her already-established work as a Carrboro alderperson is Randee Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s main motivation for running for re-election.<\/p>\n<p>Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell, 58, said her work for the Economic Sustainability Commission, the Environmental Advisory Board, the Greenways Commission, the Local Living Economy Task Force and other programs have her invested deeply in Carrboro, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to continue helping the people of Carrboro to invigorate its local economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The underlying core values that are at the heart of my running for alderperson are community; social justice; environmental advocacy; and to have mindful, inclusive, representative government,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell said keeping Carrboro affordable also is an important point in her campaign, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seeking input from residents whenever she can, which is why most of her campaign activities include going door-to-door and meeting with folks in small gatherings and in forums.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I put a lot of time into getting to know people, getting to understand things from their perspective, and I think that has been hugely informative in this process for me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Haven-O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Donnell said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have found that to be the most important thing that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spent my time doing, and I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the most rewarding, and I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be happier to be able to continue to do it, because it matters the most.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sharon Cook <\/strong><br \/>\nSharon Cook, 55, believes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to have a bigger voice from the northern part of Carrboro, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the primary reasons she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s running for alderman a second time, after a failed attempt in 2007.<\/p>\n<p>She said some of the issues that north Carrboro faces are of importance to all Carrboro \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for example, keeping the area affordable for those who already live here.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Will our children be able to raise their families in Carrboro?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she asks. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re becoming such an expensive place to live that the future won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be available to them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Cook worries that those who have retired won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be able to stay in Carrboro due to increased living costs.<\/p>\n<p>Besides neighborhood preservation, Cook also has a special interest in pedestrian safety, especially students being able to walk to school. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the main reasons she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been on the planning board the last three and a half years, but she wants to have even more input by becoming an alderman.<\/p>\n<p>Cook plans to campaign by getting out and talking to the people in all the neighborhoods in Carrboro because she wants the town to have a truly representative government.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tim Peck<\/strong><br \/>\nTim Peck, 54, said it was civic duty that inspired him to want to participate in town government and the shaping of Carrboro.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I mostly want to keep Carrboro Carrboro,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, noting that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not dissatisfied with the current leadership; he just wants his voice in there too.<\/p>\n<p>To Peck, that means knowing Carrboro will change but making sure it keeps the same values. Those values, he said, include staying green and encouraging a tolerant town that is diverse and full of working-class people like himself.<br \/>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I like the idea that Carrboro is a working town; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growing and evolving,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Peck said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would like to have a voice in the political aspect of the town.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nPeck plans to campaign by talking to people when he sees them, going door-to-door and sending out some mailings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sammy Slade<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen John Herrera resigned from the board of aldermen in August, he heartily endorsed candidate Sammy Slade to replace him.<\/p>\n<p>Often seen walking around Carrboro, Slade, 36, believes enacting change locally would go hand-in-hand with his efforts at the state and federal levels, especially on issues such as climate change.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had past experience with interacting and dealing with things on the federal scale, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very frustrating,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Slade said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to be part of the local-government movement.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Slade said some of his desire to run came out of serving on Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Local Living Economy Task Force. He wants to establish a local living economy by promoting community. To Slade, this means shopping at locally owned businesses, supporting local businesses and creating an infrastructure that supports local entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>Spending money on food that is not produced locally hurts both the local economy and the environment, Slade said. He wants to minimize the amount of miles food travels.<\/p>\n<p>If elected, Slade wants to use his influence on the board to affect climate change through local building ordinances in ways that would facilitate biking and walkability, as well as deal with issues of food, energy and transportation.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would also seek to encourage as much community participation as possible to set the agenda on how to tackle these issues,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Slade, true to his environment-friendly style, plans to campaign by walking around, visiting people and going door-to-door introducing himself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Beth Mechum Staff Writer Two incumbents and three challengers are vying for three seats on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. The third seat became open when John Herrera resigned after moving to Holly Springs. The challengers are Sharon Cook, a planning board member and the lone representative from northern Carrboro; Tim Peck, a local&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7413","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7413"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7415,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7413\/revisions\/7415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}