Full Legal Name: Braxton Dunkin Foushee
Date of Birth: 12/13/39
Home Address: 100 Williams Street, Carrboro, NC 27510
Campaign Web Site: www.foushee2011.com
Occupation and Employer: Retired from UNC Hospitals; currently employed at Culbreth Middle School
E-mail: dunkin322@hotmail.com
The most important issues facing Carrboro are economic development and workforce housing. We need to increase the availability of workforce housing so that fast food workers, janitors and public works employees can enjoy the benefits of home ownership. We must provide the infrastructure for our economic development sites to attract a variety of jobs.
Having been a former Alderman for the town of Carrboro, I am very familiar with the inner workings of local government. I was Mayor Pro Tem of the Board of Alderman, which put me in a position to negotiate for the formation of the Hank Anderson Park. I was also instrumental in bringing the bus system to Carrboro and assisting in the preservation of Carr Mill Mall. I have served on the OWASA Board of Directors for several terms which gave me insight on budgeting, human relations and contract preparation. My community service includes: Life Member of the NAACP, Volunteer for the National Kidney Foundation of Georgia and Alabama and North Carolina for 30+ years and I have been involved with the Rogers Road Environmental Justice issue to bring water/sewer to that community.
I would define myself as a liberal because the causes that I continue to support cover a diverse group of citizens. My continued involvement in the Rogers Road environmental issues, recipient of the Charles M. Jones Social Justice Award and a recipient of the NAACP Citizenship Award. In my present campaign platform, I am still striving for fairness and equality for the Carrboro community, which is why my platform includes environmental and social justice issues.
The 2 issues that I am willing to stand up for that may cost me some votes are my support of the WSMBPA agreement and my continuing support of the repeal of the anti-loitering ordinance.
What makes Carrboro unique is its diversity. We have a wide range of people living in this area and that provides many opportunities for us to learn from each other. We can help to preserve Carrboro by providing workforce housing so that citizens do not have to live outside the jurisdiction of Carrboro. The biggest misconception about Carrboro is that it opposes “big” economic development, such as Wal-Mart, Target, etc. As mentioned earlier, we must continue to improve on existing economic sites; providing the infrastructure is key.
What was learned from the recent construction on Weaver Street is that we should have kept one lane of traffic open at all times. There was a lot of congestion. Town government did not do enough to assist the affected businesses; it was not planned out effectively.
In dealing with Carrboro’s limited growth, we should look at infield first and in the northern transitional area. High-density housing, in my opinion, should not be in residential areas. It should be on the outskirts of town.
I support the cent sales tax because it is good for the health of Carrboro and the school system. It will help to relieve the burden on property taxes. I would be in support of the transit tax as well.
We need to increase the funding for the revolving loan program and include emergency loans for incidents such as the F&F fire incident. It has been successful to a limited degree.
I do not believe that there has been enough citizen participation in Carrboro. We live in a diverse community and all of these voices need to be heard. If I am elected, I would personally have monthly meetings with the citizens of Carrboro and hear their concerns and relay this information to the Board.
