Name as it appears on the ballot: Cristobal M. Palmer

Age: 41

Party affiliation: Democrat

Campaign website: https://palmerforcarrboro.com

Occupation & employer: Technical Director of a digital library, UNC at Chapel Hill

Years lived in Carrboro: I have lived in Carrboro 15 years and since 1994 have lived in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, or (for two years) Durham.

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 attended Carrboro elementary, I’ve been a renter and am now a homeowner in Carrboro, and I’m raising two kids here. I know this town and how it has changed over the decades. I’m deeply invested in doing the work to help us meet the challenges we now face.

I have a history of showing up and doing volunteer work that outlasts me, so my hope is to bring stakeholders together for projects that align with the Carrboro Connects Comprehensive Plan, which is a great plan that I think embodies the important values in Carrboro that we share, like a strong sense of Justice and Equity, and an urgency around Climate Action. Specifically, I’d like to see more infrastructure for safely crossing roads like Highway 54, where I see people dashing to get to bus stops every weekday morning. There are a lot of changes that have to happen to keep this town the vibrant and welcoming place we know and love, and change can be challenging, which is why we need to expand on the great engagement work the town staff have been doing to make sure everybody not only has their voice heard, but has a true opportunity to participate in Carrboro’s award-winning governance.

2) Please identify the three of the most pressing issues Carrboro currently faces and how you believe the town should address them. 

We have a once in a generation opportunity with the rewrite of our Land Use Ordinance and the development of the Greene Tract to show that we are a leader in NC when it comes to progressive values. 30 years ago on the 11th of October 1994 Carrboro became the first municipality in the South to recognize same-sex partnerships. We can and should stay a leader on issues of justice in NC and the South.

My platform is built on four pillars: Equitable Transportation, Climate Justice and Action, Better and Affordable Housing, and Anti-racist Learning and Practice. Equitable transportation means making our infrastructure safe and usable regardless of how people choose to get around town. This is closely tied to climate justice and action, as well as the housing affordability crisis, which hits racial and language minorities particularly hard given the structural ways in which they have been locked out of home ownership. If I’m elected to Carrboro Town Council, I’ll be working together with our staff, as well as regional and state partners, to prioritize safe crossings of NC Highway 54 at bus stops, as well as safe crossings to make sure families feel comfortable and confident sending their kids to school on foot or on a bike.

3) What’s the best or most important thing the town council has done in the past year? Alternatively, name a decision you believe the council got wrong or an issue you believe the town should have handled differently. Please explain your answer.

I’m proud of Carrboro for following through on a big, comprehensive, and award-winning public engagement process that really clarified why the creekside alignment is the best path forward for the Bolin Creek Greenway, and I’m excited to get to work on bringing accessible walking and biking opportunities in nice green spaces to more of my neighbors in Carrboro. Forward motion on completing our network of walking and biking infrastructure has been delayed too long, and I’m happy to see that the current Council has embraced that work. I know that for making Carrboro be an embodiment of all the things we say we value: equity, climate action, and the safety of school age children, we need to put more emphasis on the folks outside of cars than in them. When we prioritize infrastructure for getting around without a car, we’ll still find that folks in cars have a better time, because those same choices make things safer for folks in cars, and free up parking spaces for people who need them.

4) What prior experience makes you qualified for and passionate about the town council and its duties? What made you seek this position?

I have experience playing a supporting role or a facilitator role. By day I solve complex problems and manage a lab where we teach students to solve technical problems. I’ve brought that same skillset with me in volunteer work that I’ve done with various organizations locally, including two nonprofit boards I’ve served on: the Triangle Linux Users Group and the Carrboro Bicycle Coalition. Across these contexts and others,

I have two young kids that I’m raising here in Carrboro, and when I think about what I can do to make sure Carrboro is a place where they and their peers can thrive ten years from now, being engaged at the level of Town Council is the obvious answer. There’s nowhere else I’d rather raise my kids, and there’s nowhere else that my skills can have as much of an impact on our future. This is my community, so it’s my work.

5) As with most places in the Triangle, Carrboro is grappling with issues related to affordable housing. How would you like to see the town approach affordability issues over the next few years? 

I’ve been both a renter and a homeowner in Carrboro, And I know that housing costs are a major source of pain and worry for folks.However, now is the time for action. The Town Council must update the Carrboro Land Use Ordinance to achieve the vision of the Carrboro Connects Comprehensive plan. We need to incentivize the kind of housing people actually want: the kind of housing that will allow artists, teachers, and senior citizens to live in Carrboro.

Governor Cooper has been working hard to address the affordability crisis at the state but the NCGA has continued to make this a difficult problem to solve. In order for us to address this problem we need partners at all levels of government and Governor Cooper has been a great partner.

We here in Carrboro are constrained by state law, but there are still things we can do. I like the idea of providing pre-approved Accessory Dwelling Unit (or ADU) designs that property owners could take to builders. This would speed up adding units in a way that is affordable both for the town and for folks who might rent such units.

6) What should the Town of Carrboro do to increase the community’s engagement with local government?

I think a great next step for Carrboro is to build on the already adopted Language Access Plan. The public engagement process that identified the Creekside Alignment as the best path forward for the Bolin Creek Greenway had printed materials in Spanish that I really appreciated, so I look forward to working with staff on future projects like that. That includes meeting our residents in the spaces (or virtual spaces) where they already form communities, and elevating the voices of folks in those communities to help us better reach them. It also means making it even easier (shout-out to the good work of the Town of Carrboro Insta feed) to share official town content in the group texts and chat rooms.

7) For those who rent or own homes in Carrboro already, how should the town and county address tax revaluations that increase property taxes and rising rents, particularly for residents in public housing and those low-income residents who face displacement? 

Unstable housing is incredibly painful for a lot of folks, and we can’t call ourselves a welcoming community if we don’t take urgent action to adjust policy so we build the housing people actually want to rent and buy, like ADUs (accessory dwelling units), duplexes, and other housing types that just aren’t getting built in Carrboro right now. We have a great opportunity to change the incentives in Carrboro as we rewrite our LUO (Land Use Ordinance).

Housing is also a policy area where we have to work with our partners at the Orange County level, and also deal with the challenges created for us by the gerrymandered republican supermajority, which recently voted to override our democratic governor’s veto on H.B. 556, which the governor noted will make it, “harder for low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities to find affordable rental housing by preventing local governments from protecting against rent discrimination based on lawful income.” This is why I’m encouraging folks to vote for democrats up and down the ballot, because whether it’s climate change, reproductive health, or housing as we’re talking about here, Democrats are aligned with Carrboro’s values.

You mentioned tax revaluations, so I’ll close by pointing out two things here: one is that the county does a good job of including information in the mailer that points folks to assistance programs, and as with the Language Access Plan, I think that’s an area where we can help folks by better communicating the resources that are already available in a manner that the most vulnerable can easily access it. The second part of this is that Carrboro is over-reliant on its residential tax base for income, and the LUO rewrite is an opportunity to address both the lack of housing supply and the lack of affordable commercial real estate at the same time. In Carrboro we have an affordable housing fund, so part of our action plan should include reviewing options for adding to that fund.

8) Do you support plans to develop a greenway running alongside Bolin Creek? Please explain your answer. 

Enthusiastically yes. I am really grateful to the town staff for doing extensive and award-winning community engagement that showed the Creekside Alignment is popular, achievable, and an opportunity for remediation. I’m enthusiastic about an opportunity to help more of our kids get to school by walking or biking, more neighbors able to get around town without needing to use a car, and do all of that while partnering with the state, the federal government, and our neighbors in Chapel Hill. There’s a lot to love. This has been a long time coming, and I know a lot of folks are excited to have more access to green, shady spaces.

For what this can look like when it’s complete, I would encourage folks who are able to do so to visit the Hillsborough Riverwalk. 

9) How should the Town of Carrboro encourage more walking, biking, and public transit use? 

Carrboro deserves praise for recently adding crosswalks along Greensboro Street, and we should build on and accelerate that work by getting matching funds to build a separated side path along South Greensboro. anywhere in Carrboro that could be a walk zone for a school for families and their kids should be a walk zone. I think the Creekside alignment of the Bolin Creek Greenway is a good and fast way to help with this. I’ve also said repeatedly on the campaign trail that we need safe crossings on NC Highway 54 where people routinely dash across traffic to get to or from bus stops. I see this every day and we can fix this. 

10) What role does Carrboro have in developing the Greene Tract in partnership with Chapel Hill and Orange County? How do you think that land should be developed? What are your priorities for the property?

Different folks have different valid concerns that they bring to the table when talking about the Greene Tract, and among those, there’s significant risk of historically marginalized communities such as the Black communities of Rogers Road and Eubanks Road being further harmed, so it’s incumbent on those of us whose voices are commonly elevated, and as a white latino and candidate for elected office I count myself among those privileged voices, to make structured space and time for marginalized folks to participate fully and equally. That includes folks marginalized by race, language, age, disability, sex, and gender. I think good work is already being done by folks in the county and both municipalities to make sure that participation is as equitable as possible, and my hope is that Carrboro will give those folks more resources for outreach to keep marginalized communities, especially our Black neighbors, engaged in the process. Reckoning with past harms can bring up pain; it can also be an opportunity to come together as a community and build a more joyful future.

11) If there are other issues you want to discuss, please do so here.

I really want to emphasize how critical every vote is. There are races up and down the ballot, including a bond on the back of the ballot, that will have a big impact on what’s possible in Carrboro in the next ten years. I hope to see your readers coming out to vote early starting on October 17th!