Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

For the last eight years I have served Chapel Hill as a member of the town council.  I first came to Chapel Hill 21 years ago to attend the University.  After receiving my degree in education, I spent five years in Charlotte teaching social studies.  I returned to Chapel Hill in 1997 to receive my law degree.  During law school I became a leader in student government and began to get involved in issues surrounding civil rights, transportation, and environmental protection.  In 2000 I joined the Center for Death Penalty Litigation as a staff attorney. In 2006 I joined the Fair Trial Initiative as the executive director.  I have been an active member of the Democratic Party, having served as a precinct chair and a member of the state executive committee.  I have also served on the Equality NC board of directors, and am the immediate past president of the board of the ACLU of North Carolina.

As the child of an Air Force chief master sergeant and a registered nurse, and the first in my family to receive a University Education, my upbringing has given me a broad and diverse perspective of community.  My service as a counsel member and leader on statewide issues including gay and lesbian rights, criminal justice reform, and environmental protection have allowed me to forge strong trusting relationships with regional and statewide leaders.  I currently live in Chapel Hill with my partner Joey and our dog Elmer.  My twin sister Michelle also lives in Chapel Hill with her daughter Asia Marie and her husband Greg.

Over the last eight years I have been a strong and effective advocate for affordable housing, economic development, environmental conservation, transportation, and responsible growth.  I am looking forward to continuing my work on these issues as the next Mayor of Chapel Hill. 

While Chapel Hill has not been impacted as intensely by the current economic downturn as some communities, we have not been able to avoid the consequences of the national economic crisis. We will face tough economic decisions over the next two years.  We have made budgetary decisions in order to protect the high quality of life we have come to enjoy, but it is unlikely that we will be able to maintain this without having to make some community sacrifices. I am prepared to guide our community through these challenging times.    

I am proud our tradition of community participation in development and growth decisions.  Together, we have crafted tools to protect what is special about Chapel Hill.  Our unwillingness to sprawl presents us with challenges that few other towns are forced to confront.  Decades ago we committed ourselves to a growth boundary that has kept Chapel Hill from becoming indistinguishable from any other town along the interstate.  Now we must decide how our town will accommodate growth into the future.  My experience and leadership will help our community decide how and where we want re-development to occur so that instead of diminishing our quality of life, we enhance it.

Chapel Hill is the best place in America to live, work and play.  It is the people that have made it what it is.  I look forward to celebrating with you all that is great about our Town, and to working with you to face the challenges that confront us in the years ahead.