The January annexation of several neighborhoods north of town was the finalization of long-established town expansion plans, she said.
“But it’s been hard for residents, since the annexation process leaves an odd lag time,” she said.
Until the annexation is officially executed in January, the residents of the annexed neighborhoods cannot vote or run in municipal elections.
As a leader of Friends of Bolin Creek, Haven-O’Donnell works to protect the area’s surface waters and open spaces.
“One hundred years from now, people will say, ‘They were smart, they knew what they were doing,’” she said of the town’s pushing environmental protection.
Another candidate with expertise navigating town government is Catherine DeVine.
When she moved to Carrboro from Durham eight years ago, Mayor Michael Nelson was forming a town arts committee, which DeVine and her husband joined.
Soon after, she helped found the Carrboro Music Festival, a free, annual event. She now serves on the town’s appearance commission, which helps to set building and landscape guidelines.
DeVine said she believes that the town will grow inevitably, and that downtown development is critical to avoid sprawl.
“I’m all for tall buildings,” she said. “I think it’s possible to do sensitive design.”
Beyond downtown, DeVine said she hopes to smoothly integrate the annexed areas into the rest of Carrboro.
“We need to reach out to our new neighbors, make them feel like citizens of Carrboro — not stepchildren,” she said.
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Other groups that need welcoming are students and the town’s large Hispanic population, she said.
“We call ourselves a diverse community, but that’s kind of a myth,” she said. “It’s hard for the town government to address social issues.”
While Katrina Ryan has never served on municipal boards, she has worked on national political campaigns — most recently for the John Edwards presidential campaign — and sees Carrboro in a different light.
She is running to represent the residents of several neighborhoods annexed by the town in January.
Because the annexation has not yet been executed, Ryan is renting an apartment within town limits.
“There is a fundamental feeling in my neighborhood that we are more a part of Chapel Hill,” Ryan said.
“The town has also annexed some of the last affordable homes in the (Rogers Road) area and forced them to pay high taxes.”
Ryan said she thinks aldermen have failed to follow through with smart growth plans.
“Downtown planning hasn’t worked since they’re still struggling with tax revenues,” she said.
She added that the town needs to attract a midsize retailer to sell general merchandise. “We need a Carrboro-sized box,” she said.
She said she thinks the town should slow development until the full impact of Carolina North, UNC’s proposed satellite campus, is realized.
Another student of politics also is running from outside town government experience.
David Marshall, a native of Panama, has spent 20 years in military service and is finishing both a law degree from the UNC School of Law and a Master of Public Policy from Duke University.
The town’s character is defined by the fact that the town has both progressive ideas and Southern charm, Marshall said.
“We don’t have a dearth of ideas here,” he said.
He said townspeople should direct future growth, rather than consultants, as in Vision 2020.
“If you have a talented enough board they can see the bigger picture,” Marshall said.
However, the town needs to support its burgeoning Hispanic population, he said.
“Some people think this is a purely social issue, but that’s the easy way out,” he said. “We can do more.”
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
