Town Council

Unsurprisingly, names have started to surface as possible applicants for Penny Rich's open Town Council seat once she leaves her post to join the County Commission in January. Today I heard via Twitter that George Gianciolo and Jon DeHart likely plan to apply for the position.

While I'm sure either of these men would provide a thoughtful voice for Council, the unpleasant reality is that if either were appointed, the gender breakdown of CHTC would be just two women and seven men (including Mayor Kleinschmidt). Council would be comprised of just 22% women, exactly the same representation as the NC legislature.

It's embarrassing that a municipal government we proudly consider to be a model for progressivism in our state could possibly have the same gender breakdown as our backward-thinking General Assembly.

Back in June, you may recall that I wrote a blog post (and a commentary on WCHL) about that month's planned decision by Chapel Hill Town Council on the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for Triangle Transit's proposed light-rail line connecting Durham and Chapel Hill. To recap briefly, the two choices are (a) running the light-rail line through a transit corridor reserved when Town Council approved Meadowmont in 1995, with a station right in front of the Harris Teeter on Meadowmont Lane; or (b) running the light rail line down the south side of NC-54 with a stop in the proposed Hillmont development (formerly known as Woodmont) just east of Barbee Chapel. For various reasons, the decision was delayed, but it's coming up again.

By Michelle Cotton Laws, President of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP
(Also submitted to Mayor Kevin Foy.)

On behalf of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, I am writing to express our concerns over what appears to be some post-election jockeying about who the Council should appoint to the vacant seat left by Bill Strom. Buttressing our concerns is the outcome of the recent elections which have resulted in what will be a racially homogeneous Council that does not reflect the broader Chapel Hill community. While some Council members (and their constituents) may feel comfortable with this outcome and argue that “the people” spoke through the casting of their votes, there are others—including the NAACP—who believe that the results of the election have left us in a similar place where the “Founding” American colonists were when they protested against the British Crown through the historical Boston Tea party -- “taxation without representation” for many Chapel Hill residents in particularly a relatively large and deeply rooted African American community.