UNC, Chapel Hill share politicians

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton became the youngest elected political figure in the state’s history when he joined the Chapel Hill Town Council at age 21, but he started his political career even earlier as an undergraduate student at UNC.

Chilton, a 1993 UNC graduate, is one of many candidates in this year’s local elections who got their political start during their time at the University.

His example is just one instance of the interplay between UNC and local governments.

Much like Chilton, Jason Baker ran for town council while he was a 21-year-old undergraduate. And though he lost the 2005 election, he will run for council again this year.

Lee Storrow, also 21 and a recent UNC graduate, is running for Chapel Hill Town Council after years of involvement in the Campus Y and Student Congress.

Baker said he decided to run for council as a student because he was interested in representing student interests on issues that directly impact them, like affordable housing and public transportation.

Chilton said he too decided to run for town council to help represent the student opinion on issues such as transportation.

He said at first, many people doubted his candidacy. But after he began his campaign, many realized he might have a chance at winning one of the four available seats.

“I probably seemed like the least likely to win at first, but people realized I was serious about candidacy,” he said.

Chilton said after he was elected, many of the board’s older members did not take him seriously, but he was eventually able to achieve some of his goals with public transportation and recycling programs.

Chilton was re-elected to the board in 1995 and has since been a Carrboro Alderman.

Baker said his experience in student government and Young Democrats at the University helped him when he ran for the council.

“I was an activist on campus before I became an activist in the town,” he said.

Baker said he thinks it’s important for University students to have a voice on the board since they compose such a large portion of the town’s population.

Student Body Vice President Zealan Hoover agrees.

Hoover was appointed as a voting member to the Chapel Hill Transportation Board this year to serve as a student voice.

He said students have different public transportation needs and should be represented.

“Students have very different hours from normal working adults,” he said. “It’s helpful to have a student perspective.”

Although he said a key goal of his administration is to involve students in town government, he said he at first experienced backlash from some local officials.

“There were some who would have preferred to have a non-voting student on the board,” he said.

Baker added that since his first campaign, his views on many town issues have changed.

“While I do have some of (the student) perspective from my history, I have a much broader history with the town.”

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