Sierra Club endorses Greene, Hill, Strom, Ward, & Foy
sally....@gmail.com
I'm honored to report that the Sierra Club endorses my reelection
campaign, as well as those of the other three incumbents and Mayor
Foy. Below is the news release.
--Sally
Sierra Club Announces Chapel Hill Endorsees
The North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club is proud to announce its
endorsees in the 2007 Chapel Hill races. We have endorsed for Mayor,
Kevin Foy. The endorsed candidates for Chapel Hill Town Council are
Jim Ward, Bill Strom, Sally Greene and Cam Hill.
Mr. Foy has an impressive history of leadership on a number of
environmental issues. He has been endorsed repeatedly by the Sierra
Club for his advocacy of the environment. Under his leadership as
mayor, the Council has made a strong commitment to reducing carbon
dioxide emissions. He supports public transportation, energy
efficiency in new developments including affordable housing and
maintenance of the rural buffer. He strongly supported Chapel Hill
adopting the "Cool Cities" agreement. Mr. Foy wants to protect much
of the undeveloped part of the Horace Williams (Carolina North)
property and to reduce the traffic impact of that proposed UNC
development.
The Sierra Club is pleased to endorse the four Town Council incumbents
who are running for reelection. All have shown a growing commitment
to solving environmental problems in Chapel Hill in spite of local
budget constraints and the constraints of state and federal policies.
Mr. Ward was a strong voice for energy efficiency in the town's
recently approved development on Parking Lot #5. He advocated for
placing a permanent easement on the Morgan Creek Preserve and chaired
the committee responsible for the creation of this preserve. He
advocates that Chapel Hill/Carrboro/UNC agree to a certain amount of
increased transit each year. He strongly supports the rural buffer
and the Cool Cities project. Mr. Ward wants to make sure physical
structures of affordable houses are energy efficient. He also sees the
need to tie public transit to affordable housing. He supports the
town's commitment to carbon reduction. Mr. Ward advocated for the
initial funding for the SURGE urban bike program and since that time
has been an advocate for having a bicycle hub at town hall.
Mr. Strom has promoted numerous environmental issues during his long
term service on the Town Council. As a member of the Board of
Directors of the TTA and a member of Chapel Hill Town Council, he has
worked to improve public transportation throughout the Triangle, being
one of the proponents for free fare on the Chapel Hill Transit System.
Mr. Strom supports alternative fuels for the TTA. As a member of the
Council, he was a strong supporter of the Carbon Reduction plan and of
open space. He has worked to mitigate the effects of Carolina North on
local neighborhoods.
Mr. Hill is a slow growth proponent who worked hard to get UNC to sign
on to a carbon reduction (CRed) program to stop the expansion of the
university coal plant, and to codify energy conservation standards.
He supports holding the university to a high environmental standard in
the development of Carolina North, and has tried to integrate green
procedures into his private work as a home remodeler.
Ms. Greene was a leader in the protection of the Morgan Creek reserve
and is chair of the inclusionary zoning task force. She has worked to
protect the Merritt Mill Pasture open area. She supported strong
regulations for Jordan Lake, and is in favor of preventing incursions
into the rural buffer. Prior to serving on the council, she was a
neighborhood advocate and Planning Board member.
We strongly encourage Sierra Club members and any residents of Chapel
Hill who care about the environment to support candidates who have
shown leadership on these issues in the Nov. 6 election. We are
confident that these Sierra Club endorsed candidates will make a
positive difference.