2005

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday July 09, 2005

To hear Carrboro mayoral candid ates and incumbent Aldermen Mark Chilton and Alex Zaffron tell it, the election of one or the other will greatly influence the path Carrboro takes with certain key issues in the coming years.

For example, last week Chilton announced his campaign with the assertion that Carrboro's Northwest Small Area Plan needs to be rewritten. He said the plan does "not adequately protect Bolin Creek and it has attracted the most expensive sort of development." Chilton refers to a planning document that is closely identified with Zaffron, one of his signature achievements on the Board of Aldermen.

Zaffron, not showing any strong attachment to his work, agreed that it should be "updated, simplified, and strengthened."

Or, to take another case, Chilton wants "to rewrite a number of rules related to affordable housing," some of which are his opponent's handiwork.

Zaffron identifies no such rewriting but does want to "add new strategies to our toolbox" for affordable housing.

Neither of these are exactly headline grabbing disagreements.