In Chapel Hill Town Council meetings, mayoral candidate Mark Kleinschmidt has restated issues and crafted positions so the rest of the council would approve them, other members said.
If elected mayor, he said he’ll keep doing the same thing.
“He did it in a way to bring everyone to table, instead of causing divisions,” said Sally Greene, who has served on the council with Kleinschmidt for six years. “He was able to use his lawyerly skills.”
Kleinschmidt, a criminal defense lawyer, said his eight years on the council would make him the most effective mayor.
“It’s a quality I don’t think the other candidates have,” he said.
His opponents for current Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy’s seat are Augustus Cho, Matt Czajkowski and Kevin Wolff.
Kleinschmidt said his role as the chairman of the Council Committee on Economic Development and his close working relationship with town economic development officer Dwight Bassett put him at the center of economic debate and would make the transition smooth.
“It’s challenging to answer questions like, ‘What are you going to do different as mayor?’” he said. “I’m going to continue to do what I do now.”
Kleinschmidt, elected in 2001, is the fifth openly gay person to be elected to office in North Carolina.
If elected, he would be Chapel Hill’s first openly gay mayor.
“I’m not just a quiet gay,” he said. “I’m the guy who speaks at Pride every year, I’m in the parade and I’m at the General Assembly, lobbying.”
Kleinschmidt was born in Belleville, Ill., and earned both a bachelor’s degree in education and a law degree from UNC.
He said that he’s the candidate most in touch with the town’s progressive ideals. He is the only registered Democrat running.
“When I have my council hat on or, in the future, when I have my mayor’s hat on, I’m still doing the same thing then as I do during the rest of my day — fighting for fairness, fighting for justice,” he said.
Kleinschmidt said his colleagues see him as the moral conscience of the council.
“I’m not a person who just holds their finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing,” he said. “I lead with principles of good government, and that’s been reflected in the way I’ve participated on the council.”
Cam Hill, who was on the town council with Kleinschmidt from 2003 to 2007, said Kleinschmidt had the right qualities and policies to be mayor.
“Chapel Hill has been lucky to have him on the council, and Chapel Hill will be lucky to have him as the next mayor,” Hill said.
Kleinschmidt is the only mayoral candidate who has qualified for public financing, though Wolff has said he also might participate.
Kleinschmidt said despite the low turnout for the public financing program — only three of 12 Chapel Hill candidates opted to join — he has seen increased participation in his campaign.
“It’s more diverse by every measure — age, neighborhood, occupation, race — and it’s just been wonderful to see,” Kleinschmidt said.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
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