Town Council should heed calls to appoint Pohlman

TO THE EDITOR

Matt Pohlman should be appointed to fill Bill Strom’s seat. If Strom had resigned two days earlier, there would have been a fifth seat up for election.

Some argue an African American should be seated in Strom’s seat, but such notion is undemocratic and racist.

Imagine if someone said, “A white person should fill Strom’s seat”? There would be national outrage at such a statement! So why is there not outrage over the comment that “an African American should replace Strom”? The ballot offered an incumbent African-American candidate, Jim Merritt, but he placed sixth.

Yes, Chapel Hill has long had an African American sitting on the council, but that does not mean we should set aside our democratic principles because the process did not result in an African American being elected to the Council this year.

Racism is not in play; two of the three newly elected School Board members are African Americans.

Our system ultimately determines who is most qualified for public office through the content of one’s character and not by the color of his skin.

Democracy depends on people’s ability to elect those who they wish to represent them; as such, Pohlman should be seated on the Council for the remainder of Strom’s term.

If the council fails to do this, they jeopardize the legitimacy of our democracy, the democratic process, and the credibility of the Town Council.



Kendall Law
Junior
Business