2 say council not so united

The Chapel Hill Town Council usually makes unanimous decisions.

But two departing members say that unified front belies some fractured relationships.

As they prepare to step down Monday night, Dorothy Verkerk and Edith Wiggins say they're leaving the dais proud of their accomplishments but a little bitter.

"From the very beginning, I thought naively that serving on the council meant bringing your perspective, your life experience, your expertise and together discussing and hammering out what needed to happen in our town," Wiggins said.

"I was really disappointed to find that serving on the Chapel Hill Town Council was about gaining control and having things your way all the time," she said.

Neither Wiggins nor Verkerk, who served nine and four years, respectively, named names. They said much of the infighting is kept private; council meetings are not noted for public blowups.

But both cited one brouhaha that left bruises.

In 2003 and early 2004, council members debated whether to install and then whether to keep a camera system that photographed cars running red lights.

Verkerk and Wiggins supported the cameras and wound up on the losing end of the 5-4 vote that got rid of them.

Opponents cited concerns about privacy and suggested the cameras had been placed at intersections where they would generate the most money.

Both Verkerk and Wiggins were criticized as being too close to Affiliated Computer Services, the company that provided the system, charges the two thought were unfair.

Verkerk, a UNC-Chapel Hill art history professor who championed traffic safety, presented data that came from a trade association with a vested interest in seeing more cameras installed.

Wiggins, accused of being unduly influenced by ACS, said a lobbyist did call her repeatedly at home. But she said she told him he wasn't helping his case.

"My opinion had to do with my own reasoning and understanding of how [the cameras] changed behavior, and so did Dorothy's," said Wiggins, a former UNC-CH administrator and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board member.

"If you had a certain opinion, you were only concerned about the big people," she said. "If you had another opinion, you were too close to the university. Your opinion couldn't be based on reason."

Verkerk said her vote to support a controversial air conditioning "chiller plant" on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus also created bad blood.

Committee labors

A year later, a committee she led that looked at needs of a historic campus cemetery was sent back to the drawing board several times. UNC eventually agreed to pay for repairs as part of the agreement on the chiller plant.

Verkerk called the graveyard grilling "payback" for her chiller plant vote.

Mayor Kevin Foy doesn't buy that theory, but he said some debates did get personal.

"Yeah, the council and the community haven't always comported themselves well," he said. "I think those kind of fights have left some hard feelings. When people question your integrity, that doesn't go away real fast."

Unanimity illusory

Foy and others pointed out that most votes are 9-0.

But former council member Pat Evans said that doesn't always mean there's unanimity. "You get to the point where you have to pick your battles," she said.

Evans predicts tension will remain as the council undergoes a two-person turnover.

"There's an issue of power," she said. "Certain people want it and show that they have it. Certain people want to control the majority of the council. One of the things you learn when you first get to council is to count to five. You need to get five votes. On some issues that will continue."

Council member Bill Strom said the council, while voicing strong views, has "left personalities and the like out of the debate."

"It's not about the feelings of individual council members," he said. "It's about serving on a body that effectively carries out what it believes is the best thing to do for the community. We all win some and lose some. You put one battle behind you and you look for allies and support on the next issue."

Verkerk and Wiggins said their experience was positive in many ways. But they also said they are looking forward to no more Monday nights filled with spoken and unspoken tension.

"I've been smiling all week," Verkerk said.