See Press Release below to see why we chose these outstanding Council candidates.
Press Release CHALT Endorsements Chapel Hill September 25, 2019
Since 2015, the Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town (CHALT) has endorsed candidates for Chapel Hill mayor and Town Council. In each election cycle, we endorse those candidates who in our estimation have the best ideas for how to address the challenges that Chapel Hill will face in the coming years and who will be most effective at meeting those challenges as a member of the Town Council. Our priority issues can be found here and a list of our criteria for effectiveness can be found here.
We take our responsibility as an endorsing organization very seriously and follow a rigorous, transparent procedure for our endorsements. We conducted a one-hour interview with each candidate during which we asked each the same set of questions. Answers to five of those questions were recorded and will be available on our website by the end of the week. In addition to these interviews, CHALT sponsored a well-attended public candidate forum at the Seymour Center on September 12. During the forum, candidates answered questions prepared by the organizers as well as questions posed by audience members. A video-recording of the forum can be viewed here. On September 15, we held an endorsement meeting, open to all CHALT supporters, at which we considered the relative merits of each candidate and, as a group, decided which of the candidates were best aligned with CHALT’s goals and likely to be most effective at advancing those goals.
On the basis of this process, we are endorsing Pam Hemminger for mayor and Jessica Anderson, Nancy Oates, Renuka Soll, and Amy Ryan for Town Council. Information about our endorsees follows below.
Pam Hemminger has served two terms with distinction, particularly excelling at bringing people together on difficult problems, seeking consensus, and promoting the values of inclusion and environmental stewardship. Notable achievements of her first two terms include creating the Food for the Summer program which ensures adequate nutrition for children of low -income households during the summer months when school is not in session and acquiring the 36-acre American Legion property to serve as a new community park. She opened up town government by establishing a system for petitions to ensure accountability.
Jessica Anderson has proven to be a highly effective advocate for policies that will help Chapel Hill remain a livable town and is skilled at building coalitions to make progress in addressing the challenges facing Chapel Hill. Her record of achievement includes initiating changes to the building code for the Blue Hill District in order to promote more attractive, human scale construction and a better balance between residential and commercial development. Her advocacy has also made town governance more transparent and accessible, such as by ensuring all Council meetings are recorded and live streamed.
Nancy Oates has been an unwavering advocate for housing affordability, locally-owned business, and for protecting established neighborhoods from the adverse effects of ill-considered new development. She has also been a reliable supporter of the work of the Town’s Historic District Commission, which is responsible for safeguarding the Town’s architectural heritage.
Amy Ryan brings to Council her in-depth knowledge of urban design and town planning issues derived from her 17 years of service on Town advisory boards. Her sophisticated understanding of the rules governing land use in Chapel Hill will be a great asset to the Council as they undertake the challenging task of revising the Town’s Land Use Management Ordinance.
Renuka Soll, a daughter of Indian immigrants, has lived in Chapel Hill for 15 years. During that time she has served the community in a variety of leadership roles, including as president of the PTA and coach of a youth sports team. Having served on the Town’s Parks, Greenways, and Recreation Commission, she will work to protect our trees and natural areas and expand recreational opportunities. As an advocate against gun violence and organizer of a local Gun Give-Back program, she will work to keep everyone in our community safe.