I have had the pleasure of serving on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen for almost two years. The experience has been very rewarding, due primarily to my fellow Board members, staff, and citizens of Carrboro who generously give of their time to help shape Carrboro into the diverse, dynamic community we see today. I am running for a full term on the Board in order to continue with work I started in the last two years.

The most critical challenge facing the Carrboro Board is how the remaining undeveloped land in Carrboro's planning jurisdiction is utilized. I look on with alarm as farms, fields, and forests are turned into standard subdivisions with large, expensive houses. The community is in danger of losing not only its greenspace, but its diversity. We lack housing for small families at different life stages. In addition, we are creating a commuter community where our residents commute to work outside of Orange County while the workers in Orange County cannot afford to live here. No wonder that we have gridlock traffic on I-40 and the Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard.

Providing for diversity of housing types, preservation of greenspace, public transportation, and appropriate commercial development, while maintaining Carrboro's character are critical issues which that will take guidance by the Board of Aldermen. I served on the steering committee which held a two day meeting last Spring where over 100 residents and local officials reached consensus on a plan for future development. Now my job will be to help guide implementation of the plan.

The purchase of the Carrboro Baptist Church building for a community center and police station provides a unique opportunity to contribute significantly to an already vibrant downtown business district. I believe that the community center with its recreational and cultural activities in close proximity to restaurants and shops, will be a boon to our downtown. Guiding the renovations will be a major effort of the Board in the coming year.

Carrboro's tax rate reflects the high level of service our town provides to its residents and is heavily dependent on residential property taxes. North Carolina local governments are very limited in the options they have for raising revenues locally with property tax being our most progressive source of revenue. Fixed fees have a greater impact on those at the lower end of the economic scale and for those on fixed incomes; their use should be limited. By applying strategic planning to town government functions to in order to be more efficient, I feel we could limit tax increases.

As a professional librarian, my heart is in the development of the Carrboro Public Library. I hope to continue to foster its development and growth in our community. I will continue to advocate for Carrboro to be a community where our citizens can live, work and play now, and in the future.

Experience and Qualifications: Incumbent on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, serving as liaison to the Planning and Human Services Advisory committees; Librarian in the Health Sciences Library at UNC-CH; Twenty-three year resident of community and employee of UNC-CH. Homeowner in Carrboro. Community organizer on issues of social justice particularly in regard to Latin American community. Co-founder of Chapel Hill/Carrboro Sister City program and La Fiesta del Pueblo community festival.