Here is the audio of my responses to the following questions made at the recent Chamber of Commerce sponsored forum. The audio has a bit of reverberation, many of the candidates, including me, sound like we’re talking from the bottom of a barrel.






Currently, Chapel Hill Parking services nets around $140,000 a year after expenses. In this years budget, those funds went to the Towns General Fund. Would you support dedicating those funds for the benefit of downtown including economic development? If yes, please suggest how this money might be used for downtown. If no, please explain why you dont support this idea.






The current operating cost of the Chapel Hill Public Library is around $2.5M a year. If the library expansion is completed, annual costs including debt service will rise to around $4M a year. Forty percent of library users are not Chapel Hill tax payers. Orange County is contributing $250K a year to library operations. What will your approach be to library service and how to fund it over the next several years?








The current affordable housing system is creating many new units of permanently affordable housing, but most new units are not appropriate for families. Moreover, the long term costs of maintaining these units will be substantial and currently they are not fully budgeted for. Would you promote modifying our current program, and specifically, do you believe that the Council ought to be more creative in its payment in lieu policy or in allowing affordable housing to be located in off-site neighborhoods rather than all at the site of a new development?








How would you address concerns that our community lacks opportunities and facilities for young people to safely socialize in a supervised environment after dark, and would you be willing to lead an inter-governmental task force to address this issue during your time on the Council?






In the Chamber of Commerce written survey, all of you indicated that economic development was a high priority. What, specifically, will you do to recruit and retain employers and where, specifically, would you like to see additional commercial development or redevelopment?








In the last 18 months there have been a surprising number of violent and property crimes throughout the community. Do you think that we have a problem and if so what you will do to increase safety and the perception of safety?








How as a Council member will you balance or integrate the need for successful economic development downtown with the fragility of the surrounding neighborhoods?