Nancy_Oates
Name as it appears on the ballot: Nancy Oates
Age: 63
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: reelectnancyoates.org
Occupation & employer: Writer/editor, self-employed
Years lived in Chapel Hill: 23
1) In 300 words or less, please give us—and our readers—your elevator pitch: Why are you running? Why should voters entrust you with this position? What are your priorities, and what would you want to see the town council do differently or better over the course of your term?
I’m running for re-election for Chapel Hill Town Council to continue to bring the community’s voice to the decision-making table. Voters elected me four years ago to hold council accountable for following through on what we put forth to the public and making well-reasoned decisions. I’ve done that, even when it was uncomfortable. I ask questions and follow-up on answers. I check facts and verify assertions so that all of us on council will have data on which to make decisions.
I care about what happens to our town, and my commitment shows. I started ChapelHillWatch.com a decade ago, going to every council meeting and writing about some decision or discussion that would interest residents. Every week for the past 10 years, I’ve written about something of interest to the broader community. I bring that commitment to my work on council.
I make time to go to meetings and community events so I can learn what people are concerned about. I read all emails from community members and answer my phone when they call.
For more than a decade, I’ve been advocating for affordable housing that respects people who do work we rely on that doesn’t pay much. I’m a strong advocate for protecting trees and greenspace. In light of climate change and because we need greenspace as we become more densely developed. We don’t have to pit affordable housing against greenspace. We need to live our values; that requires making hard choices to find balance.
We need to make realistic budget choices. As someone who has always lived on a budget, I’ve got this down pat.
I’d like us to fix our development process so we don’t lose out on opportunities.
Finally, I want us to move away from politics and get back to governing.
2) Given the direction of Chapel Hill government, would you say things are on the right course? If not, for what specific changes will you advocate if elected?
We’re more or less moving in the right direction, but we’ve gotten out of balance. A prior council approved a form-based code that didn’t set any expectation for affordable housing. That area became a magnet for luxury apartments because it was the only place in town where developers do not have to make a contribution to affordable housing in order to get a rezoning and permission to build. So now, we’re over-built in the expensive apartment rental market.
We’re going to grow, of course. We need to be intentional about what we want and where we want it. UNC’s master plan shows a net loss of three dorms at the same time it is increasing enrollment. The town will have to absorb that student housing. We need to funnel it along major transit corridors.
We need a variety of housing types and prices to fit the market demand from a variety of people who have different incomes, lifestyles, family units and life stages. If we build housing for only one demographic, we will skew the town toward that demographic. We will lose the balance that makes for a healthy town. If we push out families, we lose much of our vitality as a town.
We need to protect our remaining greenspaces for the sake of combatting climate change and for the physical and mental health of our residents.
We need to grow our commercial tax base, which we are doing through the light industrial zone we, on council, approved on Millhouse Road; tax incentives we negotiated that brought Wegmans to town and office space built on spec in Glen Lennox. We have a Target downtown and redevelopment of the NCNB Plaza. Carraway Village is getting new businesses, and University Place is interested in redeveloping. These are examples of us moving in the right direction.
3) What are three of the most pressing issues the town currently faces? How would you propose to address them? Please be specific.
Balancing growth. We have a rural buffer to protect greenspaces and limit sprawl, so we need to find places we can build more densely within that border. Be realistic about how development affects established neighborhoods. If we don’t protect our single-family neighborhoods, families will leave and take our town’s vibrancy with them.
Balancing our tax base to afford the things that make us a livable town. Residential taxpayers can’t pay for everything. We need to increase our commercial tax base to bring in revenue outside of what homeowners pay. We’re making progress through our tax incentive pro forma, approving a light industrial zone, negotiating with UNC Healthcare to pay taxes on land it bought at Eastowne.
Balancing socioeconomic levels and other differences to ensure we are an open, inclusive, diverse town. Create a culture that makes room for diverse lifestyles and income levels. Set realistic expectations for developers to contribute affordable units in exchange for rezoning; work private entities to create housing for their particular demographic or need population. Invest in a variety of housing options. We already reduce fees for nonprofits. Expedite approvals for the affordable units we want. We don’t have five votes on council at present to change the form-based code to include affordable housing, so we need to continue to chip away at it to fix what we can.
4) What prior experience will make you an effective member of the town government and advocate of the issues listed above? Please note any endorsements you have received that you considered significant.
My work in New York City as a foster-care caseworker showed me how some kids are hit with challenges through no fault of their own that will make it that much harder for them to succeed. My work as a probation and parole officer gave me a deeper understanding of options people have and choices they make. And I learned to talk with anybody about anything, ask hard questions and tenaciously pursue answers, even when it made people uncomfortable. I gained experience in getting the job done without worrying about whether people “like” me.
As a freelance writer in Chapel Hill, I’ve interviewed many very successful people, and I’ve learned from them. I run my own business and know that I don’t get paid unless I deliver, so I am creative and tenacious about finding work-arounds to obstacles.
My entire career has been with nonprofits or governments or as a freelancer in very expensive towns. I know firsthand the plight of finding affordable housing. I know how to live on a budget and make judicious choices, and how saying yes to one thing means saying no to something else.
As someone self-employed in the creative arts, I am innovative and flexible and have a strong work ethic, grit and determination. All of this I bring to my work on council.
As a council member, I’m on or liaison to more than a dozen boards, commissions and negotiating teams. That’s more than any other council member. I make time to go to all of those meetings because I can find out what residents are concerned about, hear the discussion board members have, and when the item comes before council, I’m better informed.
I’ve been endorsed by the Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town.
5) What concerns do you have related to short-term rentals? What regulations do you believe the town should enact? What municipalities do you believe have put in place successful models?
I see the market demand for STRs. My concern is that whole-house STRs may take homes off the market that could be rented year-round by people who want to live in Chapel Hill. Allowing accessory dwelling units and garage apartments to be STRs instead of full-time housing for grad students and others who live on a tight budget eats into our supply of affordable housing. And we, on council, approved ADUs specifically to increase the supply of affordable units.
Most ADUs are in neighborhoods that have a comfortable level of wealth, so the argument that using those as STRs helps people pay their mortgage seems flawed.
I look forward to hearing what the STR task force discovers and recommends.
6) Last year, town voters approved a $10 million affordable housing bond, but affordable housing remains a concern. UNC students consume a large portion of rental units throughout Orange County, while zoning and historic preservation rules sometimes [[missing word?]] the supply of housing. What are the next steps you believe the town should take on the affordability front?
Start with focus groups to find out what our target market wants. At my urging, town staff has done that to learn what would encourage municipal employees to live in town. We’ve started a program that would contribute to a down payment on a home or cover some startup costs for a lease.
People often tell me they don’t live in Chapel Hill because “there’s nothing to buy.” Purchasing a home is still the most reliable path to building wealth (which is different from getting rich). Community Home Trust is the best dime taxpayers have ever spent. Let’s ensure it thrives.
Before we simply build apartment buildings and expect the modestly paid to live there, we need to find out where and how they want to live. When people are slotted to living space that is not acceptable to them, they begin planning to leave as soon as they move in, and that’s not conducive to a good living environment for anyone.
We don’t want to create “poor” sections of town. Instead, create neighborhoods that include market rate and subsidized units to help offset costs of subsidies and build neighborhoods people feel proud to call home.
Be intentional about where we want student housing, ideally along a major transit corridor. Set the expectation that a “mixed use” development include a small grocery store and other retail and services that would appeal to the people living there.
Several organizations have their eye on a sizable portion of the $10 million bond. We must leverage it to its maximum potential.
We’ll never have enough affordable housing. No growing town does. But we can chip away at the problem and recognize the need for a variety of housing types to fit the goals of a wide variety of people on a budget, students included.
7) In what ways do you believe the town should seek to grow its tax base? What are the best methods to encourage business growth in Chapel Hill and attract start-ups to promote economic development?
We need more businesses to come to town, and more commercial space ready for them. We’re making progress. We developed a performance-based tax incentive pro forma. We negotiated a tax incentive that will build office space on spec in Glen Lennox. Likewise, we negotiated a tax incentive to bring Wegmans to town, which will bring in more tax revenue than the auto dealership it replaces. We created a light-industrial zone that has signed tenants before the first shovelful of dirt has been turned.
Clearly, we must fix the form-based code before rolling it out elsewhere in town. One major change would be to add in an expectation of affordable housing. Blue Hill became a magnet for luxury apartments because it was the only area in town where council could not ask for a contribution toward affordable housing.
Changing the culture of downtown will help attract and retain startups. We, on council, increased our contribution to the Downtown Partnership. We invest in Launch and should continue to do so. Carolina Coworking offers affordable next-step office space; we could promote that on the town’s economic development webpage. We need apartments downtown geared toward young professionals, including micro units that would be affordable to those just starting their careers.
Businesses look for towns that have the whole package. They want housing that appeals to their employees, and that their employees can afford. That means ensuring a variety of housing options and prices. Businesses want good public schools for employees’ children and to create a pipeline of future employees. They want good public transit and few traffic jams. So we, on council, need to take infrastructure development seriously.
8) On September 25, the town council unanimously sent to staff a Downtown Partnership petition seeking a traffic impact analysis for the restriping West Franklin Street that would add protected bike lanes and reduce pedestrian-crossing distances, and generally slow traffic. With the caveat that the analysis has yet to be conducted, how would you describe your vision for the future of West Franklin? What would you like to see happen to this part of Chapel Hill over the next decade?
To clarify, council voted to receive and refer the petition to the mayor and manager to discuss what’s next. Council made no indication of what we thought of the idea, because we had only the information in the petition.
I trust the process, and will await additional research from staff and their recommendation on possible next steps.
In the interim, I’ve talked with some cyclists about the idea and found they are divided. Some talked about delivery trucks on Rosemary parking in the bike lanes to unload. Others mentioned that traffic on 4-lane Franklin Street moves much faster, and speeding vehicles kill cyclists. We’ve slowed the speed limit on Rosemary to 20 mph, added hawk-light pedestrian crosswalks and some soft bollards to protect cyclists. I lean toward whatever is safest for cyclists and pedestrians.
We have several independent restaurants on West Franklin and West Rosemary. I want to see them flourish. I brought an idea to the Downtown Partnership, working title is Thursday Night Out, that would boost short-term revenue in the summer for west-end restaurants and build long-term customer base, and welcome people on a budget to explore and patronize businesses in that area. I went door-to-door and got business buy-in, and the Partnership plans to roll it out next summer.
We need something unique that people can’t get anywhere else in the Triangle, and this section of downtown has the potential to be it.
9) Relatedly, what changes, if any, would you like to see in the parking system downtown? Do you believe there is a more efficient way to create parking?
We need a deck on the west end of downtown. We’re actively negotiating options.
We have a program that enables employers to provide parking passes at an affordable rate to employees who work nontraditional hours, such as bartenders, wait staff and kitchen staff. Many who hold those jobs can’t afford to live in Chapel Hill, so they need to drive to work. Often they leave work with cash earnings in their pocket, and they need a safe way to get home. I want to keep that parking pass program available and expand, if necessary, to fill the need.
I’d like to see us include parking space numbers in the Land Use Management Ordinance so that we have some leverage to require developers to provide some parking as parcels get redeveloped. Some years ago, council approved an SUP for apartments and a parking deck for The Courtyard. Some council members voted to approve in large part because of the parking deck. But the owner didn’t build the deck, and the town had no recourse to require him to, because the LUMO has no parking requirements for downtown buildings.
I do NOT support charging more during peak periods. That creates a town more conducive to people who have money and can buy advantages that taxpayers on a budget can’t afford.
10) The town has environmental awareness as one of its goals. Name three ways you believe Chapel Hill can work toward this goal.
Pay attention to the unintended consequences of our council decisions that may undermine other goals. How does building height impact our ability to construct carbon neutral buildings? How much does green building cost commercial developers?
Get the community involved in saving energy, perhaps through gamification strategies.
Tailor our transit system to serve commuters. Parents ferrying children around are going to use their cars. Commuters are more likely to use public transit if it’s available. I’m on the Transit Partners board, and have successfully lobbied for transit service to match up with the nontraditional work schedules of our two largest employers – UNC and UNC Healthcare.
11) In what ways can the town foster a more inclusive environment and better engage with historically marginalized groups?
Talk with them. Learn their experiences. I served on the Chapel Hill Nine task force and learned so much from people not that much older than me how different their options and experiences were from mine. Find out what solutions they’d like to see implemented. What would they like white, wealthy people to know?
We’re making progress hiring interpreters for meetings, offering child care and transportation for members on advisory board to attend meetings. I’m on the Justice in Action Committee that raised awareness about potential bias by police making traffic infraction stops. Police now report on this. We made changes in the public housing trespass policy.
We need to welcome cultural events and not make it so difficult to organize.
Mixed income housing also helps us not to retreat into neighborhoods where people are all alike.
12) If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here.
I’m asking for your vote to bring my commitment, my abilities and my experience to work for you for four more years.
