Aldermen likely to appoint Slade to empty seat

While working as a sailor in the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas in the late 1990s, Sammy Slade was longing to right the ship to the United States.

He said he felt a responsibility to come back and become politically active.

“America is an empire. A lot of people don’t have a say in the empire,” Slade said.

Slade, a carpenter and chairman of Carrboro’s local living economy task force, was the only newcomer elected to the Carrboro Board of Alderman last Tuesday.

He earned the second highest number of votes of five candidates, according to unofficial results.

Slade might join the board as soon as tonight’s meeting. Since John Herrera resigned in August, the board can appoint Slade for the remainder of his term, which would have ended in December.

Mayor Mark Chilton indicated to him he would likely be appointed.

Slade, who is half Colombian, will take over for Herrera as the only Latino voice on the board.

“Sammy represents the values of the people of Carrboro,” Herrera said.

Herrera, who was alderman for eight years, said Latinos are an important minority that needs to be represented.

“It sends a message that we know how to participate actively in government,” Herrera said.

Maria Camargo, a Latina woman employed in Carrboro, said Slade’s election proves to Latinos that they can be involved in government.

“It shows that dreams can come true sometimes,” she said.

Slade campaigned by knocking on doors and rode a wave of endorsements from organizations, publications and endorsements from politicians like Herrera.

Slade co-founded environmentally conscious organizations like Carrboro Greenspace and the Carrboro Community Garden Coalition.

As he walked around the garden Sunday, he picked off plant leaves and tasted them.

“There are a lot of people that value the environment, and I think I’m one of them,” he said.

He also helped create the Carrboro ‘LocalMotive’ business group, which encourages a stronger local economy.

He said that politics are most representative of people’s interests on the municipal level.

Politics are more sincere when leaders are able to interact with constituents, Slade said.

Ilana Dubester, interim director of El Centro Latino, said she liked Slade’s interest in making Carrboro more of a participatory democracy.

When he was a sailor, it was too easy to disengage with normal society, Slade said. Now that he’s an activist, he said he’ll have to adjust to be a politician.

“When people tell me congratulations, I tell them congratulations, too,” he said. “I’m your servant now.”



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