From September 15-17, CHALT interviewed all the candidates running for Chapel Hill Town Council and Mayor. Each candidate was asked the same set of questions, copied below here.
On October 1st, we announced the following endorsements for Mayor and Council.
CHALT 2021 Review of Chapel Hill Mayor Candidates FINAL
Candidate Questions
- Introduction
- Please tell us how long you have lived in Chapel Hill and why you are running. What previous involvement in community issues or other experiences make you a good candidate?
- In recent years pooled developer campaign donations have become more common. Do you intend to accept campaign donations from developers who do business with the town?
- Plan for a Mix of Housing
- Please discuss affordable housing needs in our community.
- What are your suggestions for avoiding the displacement of low and moderate income residents, and for ensuring that additional affordable housing will not be segregated by race or income?
- How might conditional zoning be used effectively by the Town Council to further the goal of providing a mix of housing for all incomes?
- Grow a Strong Economy
- Has the form-based code, as implemented in Chapel Hill’s Blue Hill district, strengthened our economy? How or how not?
- How might conditional zoning and other policies be used to support locally owned businesses?
- The UNC/Chapel Hill Housing report was presented to the Town Council September 10th. What lessons can we learn from this study?
- What do we know about how the impact on the Town’s budget of the cost of Town services as compared to the tax revenue income generated by residential housing?
- Build a Green Infrastructure.
- What are your priorities for green infrastructure for the town (such as parks, tree canopy, transit, stormwater control, greenways, and green spaces) and how would you act on them as a council member?
- What are your ideas for how Town Council might direct the use of open tracts of lands such as Legion Road, Eastowne, Greene Tract, J Street?
- How might the Town’s Climate Action Plan be revised to address short term achievable goals. Give an example.
- What pedestrian and bike improvements would you prioritize?
- Support Public Engagement
- Town Council and staff have had many outreach planning exercises and adopted town plans reflecting that public engagement. How would you be guided by the these plans as you make land use decisions?
- Follow up: How will you handle citizen requests and comments? What efforts will you make to increase public engagement, especially with marginalized communities to meet the needs of residents.
- Final question
- Please give an example of a Town Council decision that you agreed with and one you disagreed with?
- Explain why you agreed with the former, and how you would have handled the later?