Ashley competes as citizen

With radical ideas for the town of Carrboro, mayoral candidate Amanda Ashley eschews politics as usual.

She said that’s not her style.

“I’m running as a citizen,” she said, “not a politician. I’m not beholden to anyone and I’m not constrained by having to fit in. I can consequently have new ideas put before the voters.”

Her central new idea is a town size limit and population cap to keep Carrboro’s small-town character intact.

Ashley said she felt compelled to run after seeing the plans for the Carolina North development, which she said will increase traffic and expansion in Carrboro.

“I am not anti-Carolina North,” she said. “But it needs to be cooperated by a 50-year plan for Carrboro so that we can maintain our town and lifestyle.”

If elected, she plans to cap population and halt annexations.

Carrboro would be capped at 25,000 people, an approximate growth of 40 percent from the current population of around 18,000. Ashley said this would keep the town financially stable.

More importantly, she said, annexations would be stopped to preserve southern Orange County’s agricultural heritage, which faces the threat of town expansion.

Ashley said the approximately 10,000 people living in the rural outskirts of Carrboro, or what she calls “Phantom Carrboro,” may not want to join the town.

“Why can’t they remain rural and as farmers?” she said. “We have to ensure that southern Orange County stays rural. Carrboro has no reason to grow outside of its boundaries.”

A native of Philadelphia, Pa., Ashley first moved to Carrboro in 1984. She has lived in the area off and on since then, and currently works at Phydeaux, a pet shop in Carrboro.

Ashley began a male-to-female gender transition after she and her wife were divorced. She said her gender identity would not be an issue in the race because of Carrboro’s open-mindedness.

“I’ve been accepted as a woman and as a person in Carrboro,” Ashley said. “I’m not running on a transgendered rights platform, I’m running to present the ideas.”

When Ashley first filed for mayor, residents picked up on her description of herself on her MySpace, which included that she is Wiccan and practicing witchcraft. She owes $20,000 in child support, which her ex-wife has forgiven, she said.

Ashley said her name will appear on the ballot in all lowercase letters.

Though she wasn’t born in the town and has never held a position on a town board or committee, Ashley’s friend Melissa Kruger said she truly understands Carrboro.

“She wants to preserve the integrity of the community,” she said.

Lindsay Wilks, another friend, said the personality of Carrboro is a major reason Ashley is running.

“Her heart is in the town, she really cares about what happens to Carrboro,” Wilks said. “She has a very deep sense of place and the character of Carrboro.”

Ashley said supporting musicians in Carrboro is part of preserving the character.

She said she supports a government-run health insurance co-op for artists based on a plan in Austin, Texas.

“Carrboro is an arts town, and more than that it’s an artist’s town,” she said. “But what is a town going to do to nurture the people that make art?”



Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.