The Dec. 1 meeting of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen held an almost festive atmosphere as local politicians, citizens, friends and families came to witness the swearing in of the returning Mayor and Board of Aldermen.
Board of Aldermen members Bethany Chaney, Michelle Johnson and Damon Seils all retook their oaths of office. Seils was accompanied by his parents, who came from Texas to witness their son begin his new term, and Michelle Johnson asked state senator of the Carrboro area, Valerie Foushee, to swear her in.
All three Board of Aldermen members, and the Mayor, were up for reelection, and all of them ran unopposed. There were not any new faces at the Tuesday meeting.
Mayor Lydia Lavelle retook her oath beside her wife Alicia Stemper.
Following the taking of the oaths, the board and Lavelle approved the meeting calendar for 2016.
The board also approved the committee assignments for the year. Chaney, Slade and Johnson will be leading the Affordable Housing Taskforce.
The Abstract of Votes Cast, which is the tally of how many people voted for which candidate at each voting location, was also approved.
These procedural matters all passed without dissension and with little fanfare. The meeting concluded with the returning board members and Lavelle thanking the town and its citizens for their support during this past election.
Seils and Johnson took the opportunity to talk about the political decisions facing the town.
Johnson thanked the “black and brown folks” who paved the way for her, allowing her to have a seat on the board. She also remembered the events surrounding the Michael Brown shooting. Johnson said the shooting of the young black man a year ago affected her deeply, and she voiced her support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Seils was grateful for his supporters who came out for the election. He highlighted that in light of a lack of opponents during this election Johnson, Chaney and himself decided that instead of campaigning they would give their time to a voter registration and education campaign.
Seils thanked his fellow board members and Lavelle for their support before speaking of how due to the tightening of voter registration laws by the General Assembly, voting would soon grow much more difficult.
Lavelle thanked her wife and family for their continued support and talked about various lessons she learned during her first term as mayor.
One such lesson was how she came to learn of the large support for LGBT rights in Carrboro.
Following the advent of gay marriage in North Carolina, she married her longtime partner Stemper with a large crowd of over a hundred Carrboro citizens.
Notable:
In attendance at the meeting was outgoing Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt. Lavelle thanked Kleinschmidt for his public service, and noted how much time they spent together.
“I didn’t realize how much time I would spend with Mark, even more so than with the board members,” Lavelle said. She said she’ll miss him, but is ready to work with Mayor-Elect Pam Hemminger.
Quotable:
“There’s a Chaney family tradition: If you marry, die or get sworn into office during hunting season, the family won’t be there," Chaney said.
@mrjohnfoulkes
city@dailytarheel.com
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