Carrboro Town Manager Trish McGuire retires after 30 years of service

After nearly 30 years serving the Town of Carrboro, Planning Director Trish McGuire retired on Dec. 31, 2024.

McGuire has served as Carrboro’s Planning Director since 2011, and has worked in various roles in the planning department since 1995, where she contributed to sustainability initiatives, obtained funding for projects and designed plans for infrastructure and development. 

McGuire first came to Carrboro to live while she studied at UNC for her master’s degree in city and regional planning, and has resided in the town since. She was interested in planning due to it serving as a combination of many of her interests.

 “I love land use and landscapes and history, and I love environmental science and science generally,” McGuire said. “Planning is a wonderful field because it really combines many things about humans and their interactions with the natural world.” 

After graduation, she became a zoning specialist for the Town of Carrboro, where she reviewed development plans and permits in accordance with the Land Use Ordinance. McGuire then served as a land use planner, and then a planning administrator before becoming the Town’s planning director. 

McGuire said she is proud to have been a part of many projects during her time in Carrboro’s planning department and emphasized the communal effort of these projects. 

“It’s a combination of the efforts of people – designers applying for permits, developers with concepts and developing the funding for a project,” McGuire said.

During her time as planning director, McGuire led the development of the Carrboro Connects Comprehensive Plan, which outlines a vision of the future of Carrboro and policy strategies that work towards that vision. The plan was the culmination of efforts and feedback from thousands of Carrboro community members, she said. 

McGuire said she was committed to making a difference against historical inequities in planning through her work. She served as a member of the Town’s Racial Equity CORE team, where she identified inequities in policies and practices, trained staff of local governments in understanding issues of inequity and contributed to a plan of action to address inequities. 

McGuire also worked to engage community members with the Town and its initiatives to create more equitable representation.

“Planning, fundamentally, is committed to making sure that it is participatory and it’s represented in a participatory way,” McGuire said. “We understand that there are inequities that have occurred because of our history.” 

Mayor Barbara Foushee said Mcguire engaged with and listened to historically underrepresented communities in Carrboro. 

McGuire’s engagement with the Town was not just seen in her work, but also in her personal life. 

“She wasn’t just engaged from 9 to 5 at Town Hall,” Foushee said. “She was engaged after 5 o’clock, out in the community, attending events.” 

McGuire attended nearly every Town Council meeting, community event and festival, Foushee said. 

Town Manager Patrice Toney said McGuire’s legacy is far reaching. 

“Her legacy would be the community engagement, her commitment to sustainability efforts and her contributions to these long term comprehensive plans that will have long term impacts on our community,” Toney said. 

Carrboro’s unique, small neighborhoods, balance between the built and natural environment, and receptive Town Council make it a special place for McGuire. As a resident of Carrboro, McGuire uses many of the developments and infrastructure she worked on, including bikeways, trails and parks.

“I hope that the community will be able to work together, that people will enjoy their lives, their homes, their businesses, their opportunities,” McGuire said.

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