Now that Carrboro's come to her, Lydia Lavelle wants a hand in the town's leadership.
Lavelle tried to get on the Board of Aldermen shortly after her neighborhood was annexed last year by applying for an open seat on the board, but didn't win the post.
Lavelle has lived in her current house for about three and a half years.
"The application process to me was more like a job interview," Lavelle said of her run for the board last year.
She said that this time around, the door-to-door campaigning and general voter outreach of an election have made it a more community-intensive process.
"I want to make some people see me not just as a candidate from the annexed area, which I think is one of the positives I would bring to the table," she said.
Lavelle, currently the assistant dean of student affairs at N.C. Central University School of Law, said she also thinks her extensive experience working in and running municipal recreation programs will give her an in-depth understanding of the town staff perspective.
"I've been on that side of the table, trying to put together the budget," she said.
"I know the process."
Lavelle also highlighted her experience working with Durham's greenways when she lived there and called for additions to Carrboro's network.
"Carrboro citizens have pretty loudly and clearly said that they support greenways and trails," she said.
Lavelle, former law partner of Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy, has also called for some increased commercial development in the downtown and for some sort of light commercial development in the northern part of town.
She said that the town's 89 percent residential tax base is a real burden on homeowners and that the commercial development could alleviate that burden, as long as it's done in the right way and the right spot.
Lavelle, who is raising two children with her partner, Alicia Stemper, said she values the town's unique character.
"It's a welcoming place for people of all types," she said.
The Ohio native lived in Carrboro for a time some years ago and kept in touch with friends in the town, even when she lived in Durham, where she transformed herself from a recreation professional to a member of the bar.
"I remember walking down to Town Hall to watch the fireworks for the Fourth of July," she said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
Lydia Lavelle
Directed the city of Durham's recreation department.
Served as chairwoman of the New Horizons Task Force, which worked to integrate newly annexed Carrboro residents.
Wants to see increased commercial development.
Wants to bolster the town's system of trails and greenways.
Find out more
Phone: 942-5640
lydia@lydialavelle.com
www.lydialavelle.com
