Articles by Matthew Mcgibney

Town Council postpones vote on library project funding

A vote that would increase an average resident’s taxes by $39 a year was postponed Monday.

The Chapel Hill Town Council decided unanimously to delay the vote on a proposed expansion to the town’s public library, against the recommendation of town manager Roger Stancil.

Label him a winner

10:40 a.m. Nov. 4 - The original version of this story cited election result numbers that only included Orange County precincts. The Chapel Hill mayoral and town council races also draw votes from one precinct in Durham County. This story has been updated to reflect the numbers being reported by the State Board of Elections, which reports on election results from all counties (Scroll to view the Chapel Hill race).

In a polarizing mayoral campaign between “establishment” and “pro-business” candidates, the man labeled as the embodiment of current policies won.

After serving eight years on the Town Council, Mark Kleinschmidt won the tight race with 48.62 percent of the vote.

In the aftermath of the divisive campaign, Kleinschmidt said cooperation will be necessary to build on the successes of Kevin Foy’s term.

The polls close at 7:30 tonight, and Chapel Hill’s ideological tilt for the next two years will be decided soon after.

Augustus Cho, Matt Czajkowski and Mark Kleinschmidt have been campaigning for the position since July, after outgoing mayor Kevin Foy announced in May he would not seek re-election.

With new developments proposed and progressing in Chapel Hill, the next mayor will have to balance the need for growth with the need to maintain the town’s character.

“The big issue in Chapel Hill has been the big issue since I’ve been involved, and that is, how does this town grow?” Mayor Kevin Foy said.

He said the urban growth boundary dates back to the 1980s.

Growth central to Hillsborough election

The mayor of Hillsborough said he hopes the two town commissioners elected in November will focus on sustainable growth while maintaining the small town’s character.

“The town has been around for over 250 years, so we have a long history,” Mayor Tom Stevens said. “I think we all want to see continued vitality, not the turning of the town into a museum.”

Three candidates are running for the two seats: incumbents Mike Gering and Frances Dancy, and challenger Bryant Kelly Warren Jr.

Mayor candidates debate end to homelessness

Businesses have seen fewer panhandlers, and arrests have fallen in the last couple of years. Chapel Hill mayoral candidates will have to give their ideas for continuing the trend this election season.

Several measures, like the Orange County 10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness and the Real Change from Spare Change program have reduced the number of panhandlers, said Jim Norton, executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership.

Immigrant policy to be Carrboro election issue

Carrboro Board of Aldermen candidates are carving out ideas for how to cater to the town’s dense and growing immigrant population.

At least 12.3 percent of the town is of Latino or Hispanic descent, compared to 5.6 percent in Orange County, according to El Centro Latino. And the refugee population continues to grow drastically.

Ilana Dubester, interim director at El Centro Latino, said Carrboro’s government should include more bilingual public officials.

She also said immigrants tend to lack work, language services and access to affordable health care.

Ashley competes as citizen

With radical ideas for the town of Carrboro, mayoral candidate Amanda Ashley eschews politics as usual.

She said that’s not her style.

“I’m running as a citizen,” she said, “not a politician. I’m not beholden to anyone and I’m not constrained by having to fit in. I can consequently have new ideas put before the voters.”

Her central new idea is a town size limit and population cap to keep Carrboro’s small-town character intact.

Chilton draws on experience

He may be a well-established political figure now, but almost 20 years ago, Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton started his career as an experiment.

“Some students had run for office in the 1980s and had taken control of the city government of Davis, California,” said Chilton, who graduated from UNC in 1993. “We were inspired by that idea to have a student run for Chapel Hill Town Council, and I was the guinea pig.”

He said he found that many of the concerns on campus, such as the environment and transportation, were shared by members of the community.

Voyce wants more frugality

Carrboro mayoral candidate Brian Voyce would have preferred not to run for office.

“I had hoped someone I could back would run,” Voyce said. “But you can’t complain unless you do something about it, and some things just need to be corrected in this town.”

He said one of the main problems with current Carrboro policy is spending without investigating alternatives.

He said he objects to the creation of Carrboro municipal buildings near similar Chapel Hill sites, such as a planned fire station in north Carrboro.

Articles by Matthew Mcgibney

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