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UNC Student Government and Campus Y host candidate forum: What do candidates really think about town-and-gown relations?

As a student of social justice at Chapel Hill’s largest employer, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I am acutely aware of the impact my education plays on the economic and demographic make-up of our community. With the UNC Student Government and Campus Y (the center for social justice on campus) coming together on November 3, 2011, to host a candidate forum, I had hoped students would finally have their most salient concerns heard by potential council representatives. Even more, I was optimistic that students without cars or a thorough understanding of the intricate bus system would finally gain access to the campaign process, which has built to a climax over the past weeks.

[At the March 1, 2011, meeting of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, in response to a request from the OWASA Board of Directors to facilitate greater access to water from Jordan Lake, Mayor Mark Chilton made the following remarks. The Editors of OP asked if we could publish his comments here as a blog post, and he agreed. -Ed.] 

What the evidence that was just laid out before you clearly shows is that our community is capable of living with the water supply we have now, that the water supply now is very substantial, is scheduled to grow significantly in 2035, and that water conservation efforts have proved to be more effective than—I think they've really proved to be more effective than anybody would have guessed 10 years ago, than the most wild-eyed optimists would have believed 10 years ago. We've been more successful than that. We have not even exhausted the water conservation and water efficiency technologies and policies and procedures that even possibly could be implemented within our community.