Serving on the Chapel Hill Town Council has been an enormous privilege. We’ve accomplished a lot over the past four years, but as residents remind me every day, there’s still a lot we can do to improve and strengthen our community.

That’s why I’m announcing the launch of my campaign for re-election to the Chapel Hill Town Council.

I’m proud of what we have achieved over the last four years. A stronger food truck ordinance, expanded access to our Community Center pool and a single-family stormwater ordinance that actually works all have had a positive impact for our community. The Glen-Lennox development agreement, new zoning in Ephesus-Fordham, as well as  exciting projects in downtown like LaUNCh Chapel Hill and a redeveloped University Square will bring new jobs and expand our economic tax base.

It’s another busy week for Orange County’s elected bodies. The Carrboro Alderfolks will consider Shelton Station after a celebratory bike ride, while the Chapel Hill Town Council will take public comment on Obey Creek. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board will review the district budget for the upcoming year, while its county counterpart will receive that district’s accreditation exit report.

The county commissioners will get an update on the transit plan and talk employee benefits for the upcoming fiscal year. The Hillsborough Town Board is on break this week

Don’t forget to join us Friday at Hot Tin Roof in Hillsborough for our quarterly happy hour.

CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERPERSONS

As I took my seat in the Paul Green Theatre last Saturday for PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of An Enemy of the People, I had no expectation that the performance would resonate with the kind of local government discourse and behavior I see right here in Chapel Hill. Yet, as the play began and the story unfolded, that is exactly what happened.

Written by Henrik Ibsen in 1882 and adapted by Arthur Miller in 1950, Enemy tells the story of Dr. Stockmann, a physician who attempts to expose an inconvenient truth about his town, only to find himself and his family alienated, alone, and in danger as a result of his actions.

As the play reaches its climax, Dr. Stockmann makes a final attempt to convey his findings and alert his community to what he has uncovered. But rather than being able to speak freely, he is silenced from speaking about the issue at hand, which causes him to dive into a monologue condemning the tyranny of the majority, the silencing of his freedom of speech, and the hypocrisy of those around him who abandon their values in the face of inconvenient truths.