Change likely in council race

This November could see the addition of a few fresh faces to the Chapel Hill Town Council. Just exactly who those faces will belong to remains to be seen.

Incumbents and challengers can begin filing Friday for this November’s municipal elections.

Last week Mayor Kevin Foy kicked off the process when he announced that he will seek a third term as mayor.

But the decision was not an easy one. Foy said he had to balance a steady income in the private sector with life as a public servant.

“The primary thing in favor of running was that there are a lot of things still hanging around that I have initiated that I wanted to see through,” Foy said.

While Foy intends to hold his post, one position was made available Tuesday when council member Dorothy Verkerk announced that she will not run for another term. In a press release Verkerk, an art history professor at the University, said political demands strained her ability to conduct research and advance her academic career.

“The decision was not an easy one, but once I had my priorities set it became clear that politics needed to take a back seat to my family and my career.”

In 2001 Verkerk came in second place, finishing behind only incumbent council member Edith Wiggins.

Wiggins has said she will conclude her nine-year term on the council this year but has not made a formal announcement.

The remaining council members up for re-election — Ed Harrison and Mark Kleinschmidt — have both said they intend to run again. Kleinschmidt is expected to file this Friday in Hillsborough while Harrison said he expects to make an announcement after July 4.

Resident Robin Cutson and transportation board member Laurin Easthom also have said they will run.

Joining them in pursuit of the vacant seats this November will be UNC sophomore Jason Baker, a 20-year-old political science major.

Baker said he is strongly considering filing July 18 ­— his 21st birthday. He said students, who comprise 32 percent of the town’s population according to the 2004 Data Book, deserve to have a say in community affairs.

“I feel that if you look at the council, it is not nearly as diverse as the Chapel Hill population on a whole,” Baker said.

His campaign will depend heavily on the student vote, which former student body president candidate Tom Jensen said is historically about 1.5 percent.

But Jensen said he hopes to have a turnout approaching 20 percent this year. The ability to get out the vote and utilize existing student political networks will add legitimacy to Baker’s campaign, Jensen said.

“We came up with some really sophisticated techniques for getting people to vote last year, and we’ll put those to use for Jason this year,” Jensen said.

Baker, whom Jensen referred to as a “voter registration fanatic,” solely registered 3,000 new student voters last fall as a part of the UNC Young Democrats voter drive.

Mark Chilton was the last student to be elected to the council in 1991.

Thus far no one has emerged as a contender against Foy in the mayoral race, prompting some speculation he might run unopposed.

Council member Bill Strom was seen by many as a potential mayoral candidate, but he told The Daily Tar Heel in April he would endorse Foy if he chose to run for re-election.

While Cutson says she is still undecided about whether she will run for the mayor’s office or a seat on the council, she lamented the idea of an election without opposition.

“It’s a sad thing for democracy.”

During budget discussions this year, Cutson was critical of the town’s decision to fund nonprofits and to increase the public art budget in a year when a tax increase was needed to fund rising debt payments.

She has also been an outspoken critic of smart-growth and new urbanism, claiming that high- density developments can be more damaging to the environment than low-density developments. In her blog and Web site articles she has called for halting high-density residential development.

“Common sense would dictate that any area is limited by water and land supplies,” Cutson said.

“Once we are built out, we are built out.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.