Welcome to the open thread for the Chapel Hill Town Council candidate forum happening on October 1, 2017 at 7pm. Comments on this post will open at that time.
There are seven candidates running for four seats:
- Allen Buansi
- Hongbin Gu
- Ed Harrison
- Maria T. Palmer
- Rachel Schaevitz
- Carl Schuler
- Karen Stegman
The link to observe will appear on the homepage just prior to the start of the forum.
We hope you'll use this open thread to post your thoughts and reactions. Also, if you want to propose additional discussion topics, you can reach the editors during the forum via Twitter, Facebook, or the contact page. The forum moderator will have final say in question selection.
Issues:
Comments
Comments
Question 1
Is it true that majority are under 30 when you remove UNC students? While they are absolutely important for some things, I doubt we'll ever solve how to get them involved in decision making for the rest of the town.
Why would you remove UNC
Why would you remove UNC students?
Re: Question 1
that was just in context of the question
sorry for any offense -- the question was about engagement with town business. All I was saying is that trying to solve an inherently transient community's participation in the nitty gritty of town work is extremely difficult. To the point of being futile. I do plenty of futile things, so I'm not saying it isn't valuable work, but I just question whether the question (lumping students in with others under 30 to get a majority) is really answerable.
Hey James - I'm a current
Hey James - I'm a current student at UNC and wouldn't consider myself "transient." I live here, and things that happen in the community affect me. Appreciate that you're not saying it isn't valuable work, because it *is* valuable to engage students. Students keep town businesses thriving and some of us are interested in the nitty gritty of town work. And it should be the responsibility of the town to bring in those who aren't necessarily interested, just as they focus efforts on the rest of the town community to bring them in as well.
for the record
I'm taking a 1st year to an affordable housing panel now
Question 2
Tough questions start early! Partly this is easy to answer definitively given town's limited ability to influence it, but also requires a lot of background (Carr's awful statements) and ability to explain all the steps well.
McCorkle place
btw, bonus points for any candidate who is willing to take on UNC to allow more public use of McCorkle Place. We struggle with the plaza at 140 West being sufficient open space for events while McCorkle is an underused asset as the University's front porch.
Question 4
At my downtown church, we often encourage members to "give the gift of parking" when trying to encourage those who can easily walk to park in lots further from the building, freeing up parking close to church. Simply encouraging good behavior can be useful. At the Chamber event on Friday, we talked about a coupon-like program with our local businesses to encourage 100% literacy by 3rd grade.
Louisiana
My mom was driving through Louisiana on our way back from Arizona years ago when she was pulled over by a trooper. While she was nervous about why, he let us know that he pulled us because we had out-of-state license plate and if we stopped at the next rest area, there was a free meal with Louisiana delicacies. It was stressful for a while, but also a lunch we'll never forget!
Question 5
I'd love to see candidates address NCDs (No Change Districts) in their answers to this question.
PeeWee Homes duplex
In addition to the partners mentioned, the tiny home duplex at 601 Craig Street in Northside is a project of PeeWee Homes. They will be hosting an open house on October 13 4:30 to 6:30!
unfortunate name
Sure, it's been 26 years, but that guy was creepy even before he was arrested
Question 7
Thanks Rachel for bringing up the point about integrating affordable housing throughout our community.