Chapel Hill Town Council
The North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club proudly announces its endorsements for the 2011 Chapel Hill town races. The Sierra Club supports candidates with demonstrated knowledge of local environmental issues who will provide strong leadership on matters including growth and conservation.For mayor of Chapel Hill, the Sierra Cub endorses incumbent Mark Kleinschmidt. For Chapel Hill Town Council, the Sierra Club endorses incumbents Donna Bell and Jim Ward and challengers Jason Baker and Lee Storrow. Mayor Kleinschmidt, who has held the mayor’s office since 2009, earns the Sierra Club’s continued support for his leadership on mass transit, solid waste management, and carbon reduction.Jason Baker has a long history of interest in and passion for environmental issues and has served on the town Transportation, Planning, and Comprehensive Plan advisory committees. He is a strong supporter of transit-oriented development and strengthening the local economy in environmentally appropriate ways.
Homelessness in Chapel Hill is an issue that, unlike what happens in many communities, reaches headlines in our local media and often the agendas of our Town Council. However, as residents of Chapel Hill seek to safeguard business interests downtown, and as the worsening economic climate continues to find more and more in need, the topic has become increasingly contentious. In too many cases, our most needy citizens are seen as eyesores, barriers to business development and told to get out of town.
With local food pantries stretched to their limits and the current downtown shelter falling into decay, the Chapel Hill Town Council, after lengthy hearings and deliberations, approved the Inter-Faith Council (IFC) Men’s Community House Transitional Shelter Special Use Permit (SUP) in 2011 subject to the IFC satisfying several conditions, including the creation of a Good Neighbor Plan (GNP).
Thursday, September 22, 2011, members of the Orange County Democratic Women (OCDW) gathered together, along with the UNC Young Democrats, concern citizens, members of the press and Democratic candidates for both the Carrboro Board of Aldermen and the Chapel Hill Town Council to have a conversation about their communities. The OCDW forum at the OWASA Meeting Room in Carrboro, co-sponsored by the UNC Young Democrats, gave both the Chapel Hill and Carrboro communities the opportunity to press their respective candidates on the issues they feel matter most during this election cycle including affordable housing and the recnet budget cut-backs.
However, candidates differed in discussing their tangible platform points relating to the topics. Moreover, over the course of the evening, candidates highlighted their various personal strengths and unique perspectives on a wide range social justice issues, ranging from environmental degregation to living-wages for all UNC employees.
Isn't it nice when politics is easy? When the town council had to make a decision on who to appoint to the vacant seat they had to consider many factors including:
1) Minority representation on the council
2) Someone experienced enough to help come up with real solutions in these difficult economic times
3) Someone who could help begin the healing process after a divisive election
Lucky for them and all of us in Chapel Hill, Donna Bell fit and exceeded these requirements. In a time when politics is all too often made up of making difficult decisions over the lesser of evils (do we fire teachers or shut down hospitals) it sure is nice when there is an easy solution. Good first move Mayor Kleinschmidt!
There has been a lot going on and I can scarcely find a moment to blog about it. Maybe in 6 years when my son starts school and I don't have to work to pay for daycare so I can work so I can... where was I? Oh yeah, so last night three important things happened in local government - we took 2 steps forward and one step back for social justice.
1. The Orange County Commissioners rejected both door number one (a new, expanded landfill) and door number two (a waste transfer station). Instead they will be shipping our trash to Durham, an idea which I never years in literally years of debate about this issue. In any case, this seems to be a huge victory for the historically African-American Rogers Road neighborhood, which has shouldered Orange County's landfill for nearly four decades and which is ready to move on the the next phase of their lives, that is: not being neighbors to any major waste handling facilities.
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