I?m an everyday kind of Chapel Hill resident who loves the Town I live in.? Like most, I get up each morning, go to work and try to balance my free time between my loved ones and volunteering in the community.? I am active in the Democratic Party, gay and lesbian issues across the state, and working with at-risk youth here in Chapel Hill and Orange County.? I was reared in an enlisted Air Force family in eastern North Carolina. Like many others in Chapel Hill, I have spent my entire professional life in public service ? first, as an inner-city high school teacher, and now, as a public interest lawyer representing death row inmates.?

I live in Chapel Hill for the same reasons many of you do: its unique ability to attract a diverse population, its history of embracing progressive values, its aesthetic beauty, its commitment to environmental protection, its past efforts to encourage density and walk-ability between residential and commercial areas, and its sense of community that manifests itself in a pride that no resident of any other town, city or berg in America can mimic.??

Presently though, Chapel Hill is at a crossroads.? The choices the Town will be forced to make over the next decade in response to the extraordinary growth of the University present an enormous challenge to the Town?s leadership.? These decisions will force us to define what Chapel Hill is and what we are going to be.

?It is essential that we preserve and enhance those things we hold dear about Chapel Hill.? Chapel Hill has undergone a great deal of change in the past decade, not all of it good.? I am running for Chapel Hill Town Council to ensure that principled growth policies, environmental protection, and a commitment to serve people of all walks of life, remain at the forefront of the decision making process.?

When I stand on Franklin Street, it is easy to appreciate why our town is one of the most attractive places to live in the country.? The street is alive with pedestrians, bustling commerce, robust nightlife, and excellent restaurants. Downtown is the hub of the state?s best public transportation system.? The University and the influence of the student population reflect an intellectual climate coveted by municipalities around the country.? When standing on Franklin Street, I know why I live in Chapel Hill.? We must protect what drew all of us here, this, the essence of Chapel Hill.

Unfortunately, the sense of this place is not present everywhere within the town limits.? Brave souls who continue the walk down Franklin, where it merges with 15-501, realize that at sometime in the past, mistakes were made.? Development and growth policies diverged from the principles that make the downtown area so desirable.? It suddenly becomes unsafe to be a pedestrian.? Parking lots, rather than homes and businesses line the street.? When was walk-ability replaced by Cary-like drive-ability? We cannot afford to repeat these kind of mistakes, and it takes more than just promising no more strip malls and chain stores.? Four and five lane roads connecting the by-pass to peripheral developments do not evoke the Chapel Hill that attracted most of us to our Town.?

The University?s expansion is going to force decisions, and we cannot afford to let the University alone dictate the impact of that growth.? As a student leader during the previous University administration, I have familiarity with the University?s decision-making apparatus.? I have experience with hide-the-ball negotiation tactics that are often accompanied by voluminous information dumping, yet neglect to specify the details of a development decision.? The University negotiators are highly skilled.? Like the best used-car salespersons, they know that the asking price and the price they are prepared to settle on are often leagues apart.?? I am prepared to work with the University, and at the same time keep my eye on the ball to protect residents from ?compromises? that negate the benefits of living here.? University expansion cannot be allowed to occur at the cost of losing neighborhoods and valued segments of our population, building five lane roads through town, or compromising our air quality.? Low impact University expansion can occur if we take advantage of already existing alternative transportation routes to the Horace Williams tract.? Pressure on housing costs can be mitigated by requiring the University to provide housing for its new employees as well as its new students.? Moreover, requiring neighborhood input on design plans that affect livability at the margins can ease tensions between the University and the immediately adjoining neighborhoods.?

I appreciate your support in my race for Town Council.? There is so much to do in Chapel Hill.? There is so much to protect, so much to create, and so much to look forward to.?