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Our leadership recommends you vote for Adam Searing for Mayor and Council candidates Elizabeth Sharp, Renuka Sol, David Adams, and Breckany Eckhardt for Town Council. Voting for these five will change the direction of Chapel Hill.
Listen to the vision for the future heard from each candidate in these interviews. The vision on the left is what we are getting now (going up now on MLK Blvd and Estes Drive) and the right hand picture is the kind of housing we wish for.
What’s the difference that the Mayor candidates Searing and Andersen offer and among the candidates for Town Council?
It’s really very simple: If you favor what has happened in Chapel Hill for the last 8 years under the leadership of Mayor Hemminger, then vote for the incumbent Andersen for Mayor. If you have a vision for Chapel Hill that grows sustainably, vote for Adam Searing for Mayor. Adam has a straight forward approach and as Council member has taken principled positions that have often turned out to be right and win the day, i.e. the folly of building housing on coal ash.
Eight years ago we placed high hopes in Mayor Hemminger but the promises to set a new direction did not materialize. While it is true that an earlier Council brought the fast track zoning code to Chapel Hill, Mayor Hemminger and Council member Andersen failed to make meaningful change. Thousands of new luxury apartment to 15-501 continue to be bult. What the council gave away by approving this “by right” zone was the ability to negotiate for green space, community amenities and energy efficient affordable units. The current Mayor and Council made no meaningful change. Sadly, many units of naturally occurring affordable units were torn down and displaced residents were left struggling to find an affordable rental.
As a result of this inaction, the Town Manager still uses a “check the box” approval of gigantic buildings without so much as a public hearing. In addition, this Council legacy includes an over-budget parking deck coming to downtown and Rosemary Street becoming a New York canyon of buildings. Chapel Hill’s famed reputation for listening to public input has taken a hit. This Town Council makes more decisions by meeting in small groups out of the eye of public scrutiny, advisory boards are gutted, and petitions with hundreds of signatures are ignored. The Town is not in good financial shape and we are guaranteed tax increases for the next couple of years. The Town no longer has an engineering department to oversee contractors with the result projects like the Estes Drive construction go over budget and take twice as long.
The only winners the last eight years have been developers. If you want a responsive Town Council that listens, then vote for Adam Searing for Mayor and these Council candidates. Elizabeth Sharp, Renuka Sol, David Adams, and Breckany Eckhardt.