Bio

Former Mayor of Chapel Hill 2015-2023, former Orange County Commissioner 2008-2012, former CHCCS School Board 2004-2008, served on multiple town & county boards for over 17 years. Former chair of UNRBA, Orange Sierra Club, (vice chair) Triangle Land Conservancy, Orange Habitat (vice chair). Current Chair of Extraordinary Ventures and serving on Triangle YMCA Board, NC Environmental Defense Fund and Carolina North Committee. I have a long and extensive history of serving our community and can hit the ground running with the BOCC for the remainder of 2026. Jamezetta Bedford was a close friend and colleague, I would be honored to help fill her seat for the remainder of the year. I have worked with many of the current BOCC members & staff. This would allow the group to move forward and give time for a new candidate to be prepared to take over in December. This would also allow the staff to train all three new Commissioners at the same time.

I have the time and energy to commit to this position and know that I could be helpful with upcoming issues.

Question 1

Being an Orange County Commissioner is a significant commitment of time. In addition to attending Board Meetings, there are Work Sessions and retreats. Preparation for meetings typically includes reading packets that can be several hundred pages long. Each Commissioner serves on 5-7 Boards and Commissions, most of which meet monthly. Commissioners also attend numerous community events.

Do you have the available bandwidth required to meet the demands of the position? What approaches will you use to balance the commitment required to ensure you are effective in the role?

I have the time, energy and commitment to serve at BOCC meetings and assigned boards. I am a strategic planner and am used to balancing commitments with personal life. Knowing how to prepare for a meeting is important as well as asking questions and talking to others before a meeting.

Question 2

Orange County depends heavily on residential property taxes, while nearby counties such as Durham, Wake, and Alamance have developed larger commercial, industrial, retail, or employment-based tax bases.

What specific strategies would you support to diversify Orange County’s revenue base without undermining our environmental, educational, and community values so that homeowners are not repeatedly asked to carry the primary burden?

We need more good commercial businesses in Orange County! We have many opportunities to partner with the towns to retain and grow existing businesses and to harness the energy that is coming from UNC, Launch, the Junction and more. We have a strong entrepreneurial community and we need to find more ways to encourage them to stay and grow in Orange County. I have a history in helping partner with the county to bring good companies like Wegmans, Well Dot and commercial buildings like Glen Lennox and Carraway VIllage. We need more energy to bring more Enterprise Zones and commercial development along our highway corridors. We can grow our commercial base in a sustainable way so that it provides more local jobs (reducing transportation pollution) and takes the tax burden off the property owners. My background is business and financial forecasting which helped Chapel HIll shift its balance to more commercial tax revenue and more local jobs. I was also part of the BOCC when we decided to bring water and sewer to the economic development zones to encourage commercial development like Morinaga. Orange County is a very desirable area for companies to locate and we can develop strategies to grow and retain businesses along our commercial areas.

Question 3

Orange County supports two separate public school systems despite limited tax revenue outside of residential property taxes.

Would you support a study which gives consideration to a hybrid service model regarding the sharing of central office functions, transportation, purchasing, technology services, or specialized staff to reduce costs while maintaining or improving educational quality for all students? Please explain why or why not.

Absolutely support a study! There are many benefits from having our two wonderful school systems work together for economies of scale and sharing mutual information. The study would show what savings and benefits could be accomplished to give the information needed to make a decision that could benefit all our students & families . We could benefit from sharing bus maintenance, storage and driver training – this is just one example! There are many possibilities and great resources to be shared!

Question 4

Orange County faces a growing affordability challenge. Rising housing costs make it difficult for teachers, first responders, county employees, young families, and recent graduates to live in the communities they serve. This also contributes to declining school enrollment and places additional pressure on homeowners to fund county services through property taxes. Governor Josh Stein’s Executive Order No. 36 calls for increasing housing opportunities and affordability across North Carolina.

What specific actions would you take as a county commissioner to increase the supply of affordable and workforce housing while preserving Orange County’s environmental resources and quality of life? Where do you see access to water and sewer capacity fitting into your vision for the county?

As mayor, I led the effort to do a study of current housing supply and needs in Chapel Hill. We determined how much more affordable housing we needed and how much we had already (NOAH) that we did not want to lose. In working with our affordable housing partners (of which boards I have also served on), we came up with strategies for how to stretch our dollars and which areas work best for creating the most housing. There are many variables in creating truly affordable housing such as transportation, utilities, housing upkeep and healthy living.

Being on water and sewer is very important and building densely helps reduce those infrastructure costs. Being close transit and grocery are all key.

We used many different strategies in Chapel Hill and Orange County has many options for doing some of the same strategies with land that is close to infrastructure. Partnerships are key as building costs have skyrocketed and developers are not legally bound to help. It is a priority for our community and we have made great strides in increasing supply, but we still have a long way to go. Many of our newer affordable housing stock is built environmentally efficient and supported by groups to encourage solar, water reduction and less impervious surface. With increasing drought conditions, it is imperative that we work together to use our water resources more responsibility. I have served both on UNRBA and Jordan Lake One Water and understand the value of good clean and abundant drinking water.