During its meeting on Tuesday, the Carrboro Town Council recognized Braxton Foushee, the Town's first Black council member, and presented an observance to celebrate veterans in the community.
What’s new?
- The council voted unanimously in favor of Operation Green Light, during which the Town will display green lights on the Town Hall to honor the service of veterans in the community.
- “The town council encourages residents to participate by displaying a green light in a window of their place of business or residence from Nov. 6 to Nov. 12," town council member Barbara Foushee said.
- Town council member Eliazar Posada and community historian Danita Mason-Hogans presented a resolution to recognize Braxton Foushee, the first Black member of the Town Council.
- Aside from his service on the town council, Mason-Hogans said Foushee worked with the local labor movement and advocated for fair treatment and equal pay for Black residents in Carrboro in 1961. He started his advocacy work at a young age, Foushee said, joining a voter registration project when he was around 15 years old in which he escorted older Black citizens to vote.
- Carrboro Mayor Damon Seils presented a resolution of appreciation recognizing Carrboro Town Clerk Wesley Barker. Barker was recently hired as the new town clerk for the Town of Black Mountain.
- “I've never worked with a staff as dedicated and hardworking, and probably never will," Barker said.
- Town council member Sammy Slade said he wanted to include a resolution about the Israel-Palestine conflict in the meeting agenda. Council member Danny Nowell said he agreed.
- “I think it's worth taking seriously both for the text of the resolution and for how we use our town council,” Nowell said.
- Council member Randee Haven-O’Donnell disagreed with the inclusion of the resolution to the agenda.
- “We cannot hope to represent all of our community through this resolution, and I am not here to represent my personal views, but I am here to represent community," Haven-O'Donnell said.
- The council voted against including the resolution in the meeting agenda in a 4-3 vote, with Seils, Slade and Nowell voting in favor.
What decisions were made?
- The council voted to designate Dec. 13 as Braxton Dunkin Foushee Day of Service, encouraging residents to learn about local Black history and perform acts of service to neighbors or their community.
- “I think that my service speaks for itself and I will leave it like that,” Braxton Foushee said.
- Tina Moon, the planning administrator for the Town, presented on a land use ordinance text amendment regarding residential density. The council voted unanimously that the amendment was consistent with the Town's comprehensive plan's land use chapter, and then voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance.
- Moon also presented a second draft land use ordinance amendment to modify residential parking. The ordinance will switch the minimum parking required for a development to a maximum requirement. The council voted unanimously in favor of the amendment.
What’s next?
- The next town council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
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