Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 22, 2001, edition 1 / Page 11
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®fje Saily (Ear Mppl Candidates for Carrboro Board of Aldermen Offer Platforms for Nov. 6 Election Jacqueline Gist* Serving the town of Carrboro as a member of the Board of Aldermen for the past 12 years has been a great privi- lege for which I am very grateful. By working for and with my fel low Carrboro citi zens I have been able to help lead the town through a very exciting and productive period. If re-elected I PpP V will continue to lead and serve with my focus remaining on active citizen partic ipation in decision making. I will continue to work hard to serve the entire community, not just those who support me or whose views are in line with my own. By being concerned, responsive and fair, I believe that I help my community come to long-lasting decisions that are based on reasoned comprises and con sensus. I will continue this style of leadership. My goals for my next term include: Increasing citizen participation by: ■ Forming a citizen’s agenda view committee: This committee composed of neighborhood representatives includ ing students will meet to review the board’s quarterly agenda and give input to ensure that the board’s action plan is in sync with the needs of the citizens. ■ Review and improve the process by which we appoint citizen advisory boards to better include minorities and students. ■ Continue to support and advocate for facilitated community meetings to address major issues and problems. Protect Bolin Creek: ■ Working with county, state and nonprofit agencies to purchase land along the creek. ■ Toughening enforcement of the development regulations in place to pro tect the creek. ■ Advocating for the creation of Living Lab along the Bolin Creek Corridor to be used by environmental, botany biology, anthropology and recre ation. This project could be a coopera tive effort between the towns, county, university and public school system. Affordable housing: ■ Working with the nonprofit sector to develop new resources for buyer and renter opportunities like those I have supported through working with the Orange Community Housing Corporation, Habitat, Empowerment and the IFC. ■ Working to get taxes under control in order to prevent those who worked for years to own modest houses from being overburdened. ■ Working to get enabling legislation to allow the town to require developers to build a percentage of moderate/low cost houses in each new development. TVansportation: ■ Encourage walking, biking and bus Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education Candidates' Platforms Nick Didow* My goal is to help our very good school district get better every day for every child. Major priorities include: Increase Student Achievement ■ Full implementation of the Minority Student Achievement Plan ■ Recognize the high expectations we hold as a community for the acade mic success and enrichment of every child in the district ■ Develop good character and citizen ship education in partnership with parents ■ Constructive curriculum alignment and instructional models like differenti ation and flexible grouping ■ Improve services and support for exceptional education and 504 students and their families Recruit, Support and Retain Outstanding Teachers, Staff and District Leadership ■ Aggressive recruiting worldwide for outstanding teachers, staff and District leadership ■ Full implementation of PAR teacher resource program ■ Increase district stipends to highest in state ■ Enable and reward teachers accomplishing National Board Certification End Overcrowding and Renovate Older Facilities ■ Build and open elementary No. 9 and No. 10 now ■ Acquire site and build high school No. 3 ■ Renovate older facilities to address indoor air quality, health and safety issues and equity ■ Implement the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance ■ Continue to design and build facil- usage to decrease congestion by improv ing bus service and public education as well as role modeling. ■ Support the expansion of Triangle wide effective public transit including light rail. Economic Development: ■ Work to ensure the inclusion of micro businesses in our development by continuing my advocacy for micro busi ness training and micro loans. ■ Work to bring retail stores to our existing shopping centers that will serve the everyday needs of our residents. Why go to Chapel Hill or Durham to buy socks and PJs! Human Services: I will continue my long-term advocacy for people who are in crisis or who are disenfranchised as well as for those agencies who serve them. This is the main reason I entered politics and remains at the center of what I do. John Herrera I will work tirelessly with all who wish to preserve Carrboro’s communi- ty diversity and encourage resi dent involvement with a wide vari ety of voices rep resented. I will form coalitions to address the short age of affordable housing,expand the commercial iMMaggp. f tax base to reduce the tax burden on home owners, develop an inter-con nected greenway system, and make the “Buy Carrboro” campaign a reality. Community Preservation: Carrboro is unique, not unlike the vil lage I grew up in. The Farmer’s Market, the children playing on the lawn of Weaver Street Market, the local busi nesses who go out of their way to serve their neighbors - it’s why we live here. We choose to live in a community where citizens support the diversity of eco nomic, racial, social and cultural voices. I will work tirelessly with all who wish to preserve our character. Citizen Involvement: In talking to people in town, I have learned that we are blessed in Carrboro to have a very active and informed electorate. I will succeed by encouraging and facilitating the active participation of all our residents to honor and celebrate our system of participatory democracy. Coalition Building: We have in Carrboro tremendously accomplished people in all fields - the arts, architec ture, urban planning, development. I do not claim to have all the answers, but I do know how to build strategic community coalitions to address the challenges we face. Housing: Continue to partner with state and federal agencies and nonprof its to seek creative ways to protect and expand affordable housing options. Transportation: Carrboro has the highest density in the state. As such, we should seek federal and state funding for ities that serve the community outside school hours Build effective partnership with local governments and UNC ■ Plan and partner effectively with town of Chapel Hill and town of Carrboro ■ Continue to be responsive and respectful to the Orange County Commissioners and work constructively in partnership with them ■ Collaborate with the Orange County Schools in areas that benefit our students or yield operating efficiencies ■ Expand the constructive partner ships we now enjoy with UNC students and faculty to other areas of mutual interest and benefit ■ Participate in planning and design of the UNC Campus Master Plan and Horace Williams Property development Joel Dunn We do have significant challenges that face our school system. Our community has experienced phenomenal growth, especially in the number of students in our school sys tem. The record of academic excellence draws residents from across the nation. Maintaining that excellence in the face of growth will require continual atten tion. Likewise, funding for education is under increasing pressure as economic conditions and population demograph ics shift. Education, however, is the single best investment we can make for the contin ued economic and political success of our society. That education must be for all, how ever. This is not a homogeneous com munity, and the current model serves Local Elections 2001 transportation systems that we want rather than react to the plans of others. We should lead the discussion of a future green technology public trans portation system in the county. UNC should play a significant role in its financing and development Taxes: Reduce the residential tax burden on homeowners. Diversify the tax base by encouraging sustainable economic growth in areas such as tourism and the arts, where we have earned a regional reputation. Diana McDuffee* A Dynamic Downtown: Carrboro’s thriving downtown offers an enviable mix of small businesses, living opportu- nities, social and cultural activities that add to a quali ty of life that is hard to find else where. As we make changes necessary to double the com mercial tax base, I will work diligent- ly to assure the same kind of mix that we now enjoy. Horace Williams Tract Development: Carrboro’s 2020 Vision Policies and our mixed-use and open space regulations will guide Carrboro’s conversation with the University and provide opportunities for Bolin Creek greenway preservation, shared recre ational facilities, downtown economic development and sites for a fire station and a public works facility. As Carrboro representative on UNC’s committee planning for the tract’s development, I expect to form an ad hoc citizen’s committee to help me represent our interest and would wel come student participation. Public Transportation: Having taken the lead for active participation for elected and University officials in mak ing policies for Chapel Hill Transit that led to fare-free service and scheduling improvements, I want to follow with implementing more collaborative plan ning for public transportation and assure that Chapel Hill Transit takes full advan tage of regional public transit opportu nities. Orange County/Carrboro Public Library Services: The County Task Force on which I served is recommend ing establishing OAnge County/Carrboro Public Library Services in the Century Center to com plement services at McDougle School. Orange County will provide staff, Internet basic services (NCLIVE) and limited on-site collections while Carrboro will provide needed space and the computers for this cybrary. Asa librarian, I eagerly support the development of this library space at a site able to serve populations not now easily served by current public library locations. Soccer Fields: Only one public soc cer field now serves over 2,000 partici pants in local soccer programs - some students better than others. Our goal should be to help each stu dent reach his or her potential, regard less of demographic or economic cate gory. I do not enter this contest with a sin gle item or particular set of views that I feel compelled to advance. Instead, what I hope to bring to the board is thoughtfulness, reasonability and insight. I have been a manager in the field of information technology during most of my working career, and as a manager I understand the processes of participato ry discussion, compromise, consensus and decision-making. Progress on complex issues often requires an open mind and a willingness to look at issues from many different angles. The ability to listen to reasoned argu ments, compromise, adapt, and even to admit that you can be wrong is a good way to work toward a solution that pro duces the best result for the community. Valerie Foushee* I am pleased to be a candidate for re election to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education. I have enjoyed serving on the board and feel that I better understand what is required to serve this community effec tively. I am keenly aware of many of the needs of this district, both capital and programmatic. I am willing to commit the time and effort necessary to accomplish the mis sion of our district: “to enable all stu dents to acquire, through programs of excellence and fairness, the knowledge, skills and insights necessary to live rewarding, productive lives in an ever Rainbow, Sunbow, Triangle Futbol, Durham/Chapel Hill Strikers, Hispanic Leagues. With their representatives, I have formed a group to provide community based support to raise funds to build a county field at Mapleview Farm and support the County Parks and Recreation bond referendum which includes $2 million for soccer field development Stephanie Padilla I am Stephanie Padilla, 53 years old. During the day, I am a research toxicol- ogist at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, and also a guest teacher for a cou ple of courses at Carolina. I love living in Carrboro. I decided to run for alderman because I felt that we needed debate on the issues; in the most recent elections, there had been absolutely no debate because there were no challengers. My views and visions for Carrboro are: Change the Quality of Communication Between the Town and Its Citizens: Carrboro’s citizens are intelligent, enthusiastic and want the best for the town. Let’s use that talent more often. Even though there are many public input sessions between the town and cit izens, it is not optimal communication: Often the thoughtful citizen input is ignored in favor of applying existing policy. I don’t believe that we should be rely ing solitarily on policies; the policies should be guidelines that should contin ually be revised to meet our needs. Establish a Neighborhood Advisory Board: Carrboro’s diverse neighborhoods enjoy a high quality of life, and we should ensure that this qual ity of life is not threaten by changes in Carrboro. I propose that an advisory board be established. The mission of this board would be to ensure that development, infill or trans portation changes in Carrboro enhance the quality of life in the affected neigh borhoods. Intelligent Management of Carrboro’s Growth: Revise the Connector Road Policy so that traffic is not routed through neighborhoods, which never enhances the quality of life in that neighborhood. Neighborhoods should be connected with walkways and bikeways, not with automobiles. Infill issues can also be solved by revising the ordinances so that they reflect what we want for Carrboro. Infill should harmonize with the sur rounding neighborhoods and enhance those neighborhoods. We need more discussion of the issues with as much input as possible. changing society.” Four years ago, I was concerned with providing adequate capacity in our schools, renovating our older facilities, closing the achievement gap between minority and majority students and recruiting and retaining high quality teachers and administrators. Today, the issues are the same. Although, we have opened an elemen tary school and a middle school within the past four years, we are anticipating opening two elementary schools in 2003, and additional high school space will be needed very soon. Renovations are needed to maintain safe and healthy environments for our students and staff. The board has approved and provid ed funding for implemented new strate gies to enhance minority achievement. We have been successful in providing incentives and support for teacher recruitment and retention. I seek the opportunity to continue to serve the citizens of the Chapel Hill- Carrboro community by working to provide excellent educational opportu nities for all students. Chon Shoaf My overarching goal is to deliver the maximum opportunity for success to all our students through three specific goals: facilitating achievement, support ing our teachers, and improving our facilities. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district is nationally recognized for its academic achievement. End-of-course and SAT scores con tinue to rise. However, we must continue to “raise the bar” of expectation if we are to raise achievement. Debate and discussion often lead to solutions which are far superior than those without such discussion. If you feel the same way about these issues, I would appreciate your vote in November. Thank you (Padilla4Carrboro@cs.com). Jim Porto My top priority is to address Carrboro’s high tax rate. Currently Carrboro has a tax rate 16 cents higher than Chapel Hill, and the Board of Aldermen has already adopted a planning budget that forecasts an eight-cent increase next year and anoth er eight-cent increase the following year. This tax rate affects both renters and owners. If you rent in Carrboro, you will pay more for the same apartment because of the higher taxes. I believe that merging Carrboro and Chapel Hill may be the only real solu tion that we have to control taxes in the long run. We need to look at developing economies of scale with Chapel Hill. Already, the two communities are one in fact. What we have is one community with two governments. I believe that Carrboro can maintain the unique sense of place and we can benefit in the long run by opeAting only one government My second priority would be to adopt a “neighborhood first” policy that would guide our development. This policy could include the follow ing: adopt a neighborhood first ethos in deliberations on any given project. Make sure that the question is raised and answered: What effect will this have on the existing neighborhoods, and what can we do to improve the quality of neighborhoods? Do not connect roads through neighborhoods to move traffic through them. Rather connect neighborhoods with fire lanes (gated) for access by fire offi cials, and walkways and bicycle path ways for pedestrians. Addressing the traffic problem is my next priority to make our neighbor hoods, and all of Carrboro, a pedestrian oriented town. All major thoroughfares should be striped every few hundred yards and signed for pedestrian crossings. Speed bumps should be put in any neighborhood that wants them. Speed limits should be drastically reduced and the speed laws stricdy enforced. Where possible, local roads could be made one-way and one-lane to control traffic through them. Finally, roads need to be narrowed to force slower speeds through town. By slowing down traffic, we will achieve two effects. We will give pedestrians a better chance in our neighborhood, and we will give motorists who need to turn Increasing commitment of general education teachers and transitioning to employment for our exceptional educa tion students must be a functioning part of their educational career. Reducing the minority student achievement gap will be key to future increases in achievement. My goal is to implement the Minority Student Achievement Plan to help significandy narrow that achievement gap. Teachers are our most important asset and should not be unnecessarily bur dened with nonacademic duties. Their skills should not be minimized by statewide tests dictating a large propor tion of a student’s final grade. Recruiting well-trained and dedicated teachers from culturally diverse back grounds is important to effect maximum achievement for all our students. My goal is to support teachers and pay them such that they do not want to leave the district. Forty-three percent of our space was constructed before 1980. By 2005 the acceptable level of service (110 percent) in our high schools will be exceeded. My goal is to provide the renovations required to maintain our schools as safe, inviting and invigorating places to foster learning and provide new learning space to keep pace with growth. Lisa Stuckey Our schools have a well-deserved reputation for excellence that attracts many newcomers. Asa parent of three children current ly enrolled, I have been actively involved with and on behalf of the schools for many years. I have served on numerous commit tees, helped in the classroom, and held positions of leadership, including PTA Monday, October 22, 2001 onto busy thoroughfares a chance to enter the stream safely. Allen Spait* All of my goals are interlinked in the context of managed growth: maintain ing and enhancing Carrboro’s vibrant community, work ing for affordable housing, and pro tecting our envi ronment - pre serving open spaces and enhancing envi ronmental quality. Our lively com munity is the prod- uct of a village-like approach to neigh borhood building, using the infrastruc ture we have in place to support it Despite vocal opposition, broad pub lic processes have shown support for substantially increased density down town. I support sensitive neighborhood infill in the interest of affordability, walk ability, transit and increasing residential space near the town center. Achieving our stated downtown goal of doubling our commercial space is impossible without allowing taller buildings. This will accommodate new business, give our thriving businesses room to grow, and further increase our residential capacity. I support the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, which paces development to the availability of schools as an essential tool of memaging growth. Affordable housing presents an ironic challenge. People are attracted to Carrboro because of superior schools, excellent public services, walkability and public transportation and a lively cultural scene. These attractions increase demand for limited housing and drive up its cost Having seen the obstacles to affordable housing in my first term, I see ways to overcome them. The need is so great that we must work harder to increase housing which is affordable to very poor, working poor, and middle income people. We don’t have to choose between affordable hous ing and environmental protection if we want a livable community. Environmental quality is a natural and desirable by-product of cooperative strategies to set aside large undeveloped tracts of land permanently. The long term preservation of Carrboro’s open spaces will rely on increasingly proactive measures beyond the strict enforcement of land use ordi nances. My role in this effort will be to facili tate and participate in the public/private campaign to guarantee that much open space will be protected. I see promoting the environment as an integral part of achieving social justice. I feel the same way about affordable housing and com munity-building. incumbent president at Seawell Elementary and McDougle Middle schools, School Governance Committee co-chairwoman for two years at McDougle Middle, PTA Council president, and co-chairwoman of the 2001 Orange County Capital Needs Advisory Task Force. I am familiar with the school system, its policies, governance and the con cerns of its stakeholders. My experience has prepared me to deal effectively with the following important issues: ■ Growth. Our student population continues to grow. We need two new ele mentary schools immediately and should seek funding for a third high school. ■ Existing Facilities. Our schools must be maintained and renovated, especially with respect to air quality and moisture problems. ■ Teachers. We must recruit, support and retain excellent teachers. ■ Cooperation. Increasing collabo ration with local governmental entities will lead to better use of limited funds and more options for students. Shared park and playground facilities, joint pro grams and a countywide alternative school should be pursued. ■ Parental Involvement. We must encourage parents to participate in their children’s education, at home or at school. ■ Student Achievement Pride in our schools cannot lead to complacency. We must work to enhance minority achieve ment and to make sure all children suc ceed. I would appreciate your vote on Nov. 6. Signifies incumbent Editor's Note Platforms for Chapel Hill and Carrboro mayoral candidates will run Oct 29. 11
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 22, 2001, edition 1
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