12
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005
BOARD EDITORIALS
3 FOR ALDERMAN
Jacquelyn Gist, Randee Haven-O’Donnell and Katrina Ryan make up
the trio that can best lead Carrboro through the next four years.
"▼"T Tith Election Day fast approaching and half of
l/l/ the seats on Carrboro’s Board of Aldermen
▼ V up for grabs, the next few weeks could prove
to be decisive in shaping the town’s future.
The town, North Carolina’s most quirky enclave
of liberalism, has a lot at stake. It must maintain
its long tradition of protecting the environment,
including the Bolin Creek corridor. It needs to find
a way to keep the town affordable for lower-class
—and increasingly, middle-class residents. It
must continue to reach out to its growing Latino
community. It needs to re-establish a downtown
identity as developers look skyward. And as UNC’s
plans for a satellite campus push forward, Carrboro
will be an important partner in helping to build a
compromise that pleases as many as possible.
The six candidates running all bring good ideas
to the table. But three of them are best equipped to
address Carrboro’s concerns in the coming years.
That’s why the editorial board endorses Jacquelyn
Gist, Randee Haven-O’Donnell and Katrina Ryan for
the Board of Aldermen.
Jacquie Gist
With 16 years as an alderman under her belt, Gist
has proven that she knows Carrboro and the issues
that the town must address. Her experience will serve
Carrboro well, especially as the board loses long-time
members Diana McDuffee and Mayor Mike Nelson.
And she knows enough to realize that there are
no easy solutions for groups such as the Inter-Faith
Council, which recently drew backlash from the busi
ness community when it suggested that it might con
solidate its services for the homeless in downtown
Carrboro. Her solution to the issue balancing
protection for the homeless with the needs of the
business community shows that her long tenure
has attuned her to all of Carrboro’s needs.
Gist also is pushing for an improved public transit
system meaning more routes at more times —and
has said she’ll look at Carrboro’s budget to find the
money. She also wants to ensure that UNC works
with the town to make sure that the southwestern
part of the tract the portion that’s in Carrboro is
beneficial for all involved; her track record shows
she’ll be able to do so. Gist isn’t willing to rest on her
laurels and deserves another four years.
Katrina Ryan
For sheer business and political experience alone,
Ryan could prove an important member of the board.
But it’s her fresh ideas on various topics that make
her an exemplary candidate.
ZAFFRON FOR MAYOR
The Carrboro mayoral race is a win-win proposition, but Alex Zaflron
however slightly has set himself above opponent Mark Chilton.
It’s turned into a bit of a joke: Whenever Carrboro
aldermen-cum-mayoral candidates Mark
Chilton and Alex Zaffron go anywhere, they’re
asked, “How are you guys different?”
The truth, of course, is that on most of the major
issues facing the town on business, on the recent
forced annexation of out-of-towners, on the environ
ment there just isn’t much of a difference to point
out. Both have a long record of public service, Chilton
beginning in Chapel Hill as a UNC student and Zaffron
as a long-time member of the Board of Aldermen.
Either would be a successful mayor. But Zaflron’s
experience in Carrboro —and his strong push to
continue the work of the current aldermen give
him the edge.
For better or worse, Zaffron who has been
on the board much longer than Chilton will be
identified with the work of the last decade-plus.
We think it’s for the better. Zaffron is unabashed
about his push for taller buildings downtown in an
effort to bolster the town’s commercial tax base;
he’s taken heat for that decision, but it will make
Carrboro a better place to do business and won’t
require too much of a sacrifice of its small-town
EDITOR'S NOTE: The above editorials are the opinions solely of The Daily Tar Heel editorial board and were reached after open debate. The
board consists of four board members, the associate opinion editor, the opinion editor and the DTH editor. The 2005-06 DTH editor decided
not to vote on the board and not to write board editorials. Address concerns to Public Editor Elliott Dube at dubee@email.unc.edu.
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Ryan’s work in the business community will give
her a unique perspective on how to make Carrboro
run as a business streamlined, with high revenue
and fewer (or at least reduced) expenditures.
She also demonstrates a strong understanding of
student concerns. Her proposal to reduce the term for
town advisory boards to one year in order to make serv
ing more amenable to students might not be practical,
but her insistence that safety and crime are the No. 1
issues for students is dead-on, and she’s pledged to look
into bolstering the police force. And her insistence that
UNC should look into “desirable” campus housing
though something she doesn’t have much control over
is a wise one insofar as it could reduce the student
influence on the affordable housing market
Randee Haven-O'Donnell
Perhaps the most “Carrboro” of all the alderman
challengers, Haven-O’Donnell boasts an impressive
resume that includes the town planning board, Friends
of Bolin Creek and the Recreation and Parks Master
Plan Committee. Her learning curve isn’t as steep as it
would be for other candidates.
And in a town that has made the environment one
of its key concerns, Haven-O’Donnell’s record is just
about impeccable. Her insistence on protecting Bolin
Creek and widening buffers around the area if not
purchasing the land outright gels with the values
of her community, and she’s put her money where
her mouth is through her work with the Friends.
We’re not entirely sure how Haven-O’Donnell will
work with the University, and that gives us pause.
But given her record of getting things done in other
arenas, she deserves the benefit of the doubt.
The rest of the pack
David Marshall shows practicality by pushing for
tax credits for developers to get affordable housing
built. And as an active member of the town, Marshall
—a native of Panama would be a strong advocate
for the Hispanic community.
But he faces considerable time constraints as a
father, a grad student at Duke University, a law student
at UNC and a reservist in the military.
John Herrera, an incumbent, has proven a strong
advocate for underprivileged and minority populations.
But this campaign season in which he failed to show
up for many election forums and skipped out on the
DTH endorsement project calls into question his
desire and ability to serve.
Catherine Devine has a long track record of service
which is greatly appreciated by all. But she hasn’t
given any fresh ideas on any major issues.
feel. Carrboro’s residents already pay the highest
municipal taxes in the state, so anything that can
ease that burden is a good idea.
That’s not to say Chilton fundamentally opposes
the ideas. But Zaffron played a key role in putting
them into play, and he’s the man to see them out.
Of course, Zaffron also played a major role in draft
ing policies that need to be updated notably, some
of the town’s affordable housing rules and parts of its
small area plan for the northwest part of the town.
Chilton has pointed out Zaflron’s involvement, but—
to his credit Zaffron has called for updates to just
about all of those documents. He’s willing to admit
mistakes and seek ways to move Carrboro forward.
On the issue of affordable housing, Chilton has
done much work with nonprofits. But substantively,
he’s not much different than Zaflron; both want to, as
the vernacular goes, expand the town’s toolbox when
it works with developers.
The bottom line is this: Chilton is a fine candidate.
If you like him, vote for him. But if you like the look
and feel of Carrboro now, with a vibrant downtown
life that has become the hallmark of the town, then
we think that you should vote for Zaflron.
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READERS' FORUM
Baker's campaign transcends student issues
TO THE EDITOR:
Since yesterday’s Daily Tar Heel endorsements
were released, I’ve received dozens of e-mails and calls
from my supporters saying that I should respond by
explaining why I’m more qualified than candidate X,
Y or Z, or to lash out at the DTH editorial board.
But that’s not what I’m about l’m not running for
Town Council to oppose any person or organization.
I’m running to bring a better quality of life to the
50,000 or so of us who call Chapel Hill home.
I’m running because environmental preservation,
sound transportation policies, affordable housing,
responsibility in the budget and a comprehensive plan
for downtown development need a strong advocate.
I’m running because town-gown relations could be
greatly benefited from including the perspective of
a qualified student council member, especially as we
look forward to the plans for Carolina North.
I’m running because I think it’s more important to
take a principled stand than to follow the whims of
the moment and throw to the wayside the very quali
ties that make our town unique.
I’m running because adding diversity to the coun
cil should include socio-economic status, age, back
ground and stature as much as anything else.
And I’m very grateful for all of the praise and assis
tance my campaign has received. I’d like to publicly
thank Students for a Progressive Chapel Hill and
Democracy for America for supporting my candidacy.
But although I appreciate any endorsement, I have
faith that the people of Chapel Hill are independently
minded enough to make their own decisions about
their leadership, and I humbly ask that they consider
me to represent them for the next four years.
Jason Baker
Chapel Hill Town Council Candidate
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Opinion
FROM THE DAY’S NEWS
I m doing OK. It takes more than a botched carjacking to
keep me down.”
CAM'RON, RAPPER, ON BEING SHOT IN HIS LAMBORGHINI ON SUNDAY
EDITORIAL CARTOON
"OBJECTION OVERRULED'"
COMMENTARY
Drug war s focus on grass
obscures addictions power
Marijuana, apparently,
loads unloaded guns.
That’s what the public
service announcements would
have you think, with dramatized
scenes and stem voice-overs near
ly culminating in a satire of them
selves. The 30-second plot lines
are familiar by now: Teenagers get
high in a father’s office, one finds
a gun and in his cloudy cannabis
haze is somehow able to acciden
tally shoot the other.
Never mind, of course, that
marijuana-related deaths are
almost unheard of. And overlook
the fact that while the “war on
drugs” spews forth public service
announcements such as bitter
drafted soldiers, the war’s true
casualties remain bleeding in the
shadows, their addiction spawn
ing disease.
The Office of National Drug
Control Policy has appropriated
nearly S3B million for the 2006
fiscal year not to treat recover
ing addicts or safeguard youth,
but to “collect and analyze drug
trafficking and related financial
investigative information.” The
strategy appears to be one of
nipping drugs in the hydroponic
bud, with drug agents bustling
like angry nannies into Central
America and beyond. An inter
national slap on the wrist, it
seems, will cure the nation’s
fondness for mind alteration.
But while blameless voices waft
from the White House, citing
ruined lives and troubled youth,
those lives are still lying in min
—and the youth have yet to find
solace or salvation.
The iron fist of current drug
policy has adopted a zero-tolerance
approach that wastes time and
resources on the harmless, deflect
ing desperately needed attention
from the already harmed.
Some of the nation’s finest are
persecuting marijuana mules
while heroin addicts drift beyond
the narrow scope of bureaucratic
SARA BOATRIGHT
KEEP'EM ON THEIR TOES
concern, leaving fading trails of
dirty needles. And when a single
pinprick can deliver any number
of death sentences, teenagers
with bongs seem the least of our
national worries. Still, the war on
drugs has attacked image before
importance, lumping marijuana
and methamphetamines together
into an incoherent, forbidden stew.
The first step toward an
unscathed nation, however, is not
to cover its scars but to prevent
new wounds. The shields could be
as simple as clean syringes.
North Carolina is among the
states contemplating needle
exchange programs, which, if
approved in selected counties,
would allow injecting drug users
to trade used syringes for clean
ones. For opponents, the proposi
tion is little more than a permis
sion slip, a measure not only
approving of drugs but making
them easier to administer.
Yet for all the years that the
drag war has been raging, the
only certainty is that some addicts
will remain addicts, despite hand
cuffs and handholds alike. If they
must be drag users, the preven
tion of infectious diseases among
them is a logical first step.
It also could be an effective
step, as a 1997 survey demon
strated that HIV rates among
injecting drag users in cities
with needle exchange programs
dropped nearly 6 percent per
year. For an addict, the preven
tion of HIV and other diseases is
not merely a precaution it is a
chance for redemption.
A life left unlimited by deadly
Speak Out
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alip tiaily (Ear lirri
By Doug Marlette, Tribune Media Services
infection is a life that might yet
recover and revive, potentially
gathering others in its ascent back
toward normalcy. The possibility
for such a chain reaction, or at
minimum the containment of a
pandemic, does not require mil
lions of dollars’ worth of “investi
gation.” It begins, amply and sim
ply, with a box of fresh needles.
Similar hope lies buried in the
red tape of recovery resources,
overworked nonprofits and harried
volunteers often limping along
without a federal support system.
The chances for effective heal
ing are often predetermined by a
grim equation: Those with money
can rehabilitate, those without it
cannot.
The Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services
Administration estimated out
patient drag treatment costs to
be more than $1,400 per course,
a sum that low-income families
simply cannot afford.
The only way to be guaranteed
affordable treatment by the federal
government is to go to prison,
where both methadone and tax
dollars often disappear to no avail.
Still, the “investigative” bud
get of the war on drugs outpaces
that of disease prevention and
treatment programs, and federal
agents chase trafficking ghosts
while addicts go on dying. There
is no moral redemption in this,
no tangible justice to offer to
America’s drag-torn families.
Those who see their children,
their parents, their siblings and
their spouses fallen beneath dirty
needles and fractured federal sys
tems cannot fathom the logic of
chasing paltry marijuana dealers,
nor should they. In its tunnel
vision obsession with the war on
drugs, the American government
has forgotten how to battle.
Contact Sara Boatright,
a junior public relations major,
at scb4l9@email.unc.edu.
www.dailytariieei.com
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