With less than a week until Election Day, The Daily Tar Heel spoke with the Carrboro Board of Aldermen candidates to discuss major issues facing the board. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Candidate name: Al Vickers
Age: 68
Daily Tar Heel: What are the biggest issues facing Carrboro during this election?
Vickers: Affordability of living in Carrboro. The tax rate has grown tremendously and it’s affecting people. It relates to housing and all aspects of the city and county government
DTH: You served on Orange County’s Solid Waste Advisory Board. Clearly, the county and Carrboro and Chapel Hill are still struggling to find ways to deal with waste. Using the waste transfer station in Durham is costing Chapel Hill and Carrboro about $750,000 a year. Is this sustainable? Do you think we should find a site in Orange County?
Vickers: It’s apparent that after 20 years of looking, politically, finding a new site has not been a viable solution for us. It requires that we make a difficult decision. I don’t think that it would be good to transfer the station. Essentially the issue is that there is too much political cost for us to go forward, and it’s still that way today. I hope that Chapel Hill and Carrboro cooperate so we can lower the cost — there’s been discussion of it.
DTH: Why are you the best candidate for the job?
Vickers: I think I’m qualified. I’ve had a rich life experience in many areas and I have many areas of expertise and I think I can use that to make effective decisions.