Damon Seils, candidate for mayor in Carrboro, NC

Two men are vying to replace outgoing Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle in the November election.

Damon Seils has served as a Carrboro Town Council member since 2013 and works as a communications specialist at the Duke University School of Medicine. His opponent, Mike Benson, is an artist, photographer and small business owner who ran for mayor in 2017.

Early voting in the nonpartisan Nov. 2 election begins Oct. 14 and runs through Oct. 30.

To find polling places and full details on early voting, visit co.orange.nc.us/1720/Elections or contact the Board of Elections at 919-245-2350 or vote@orangecountync.gov.

Name: Damon Seils

Age: 48

Residence: West Main Street, Carrboro

Occupation: clinical research communications

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Georgetown University; Master of Arts, American University

Political or civic experience: Member of the Carrboro Town Council, 2013 to present. Represents Carrboro on the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization Board (including two terms as chair); the Chapel Hill Public Transit Committee; and the Chatham-Orange Work Group. Recently appointed to the NCDOT Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Reduction Task Force. Previously represented Carrboro in the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness and the Orange County Family Success Alliance.

Served as chair of the Carrboro Planning Board and the Orange County Human Relations Commission and as a member of the Carrboro Greenways Commission.

Active in the community as a member of the Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro branch of the NAACP and as co-chair of the North Carolina chapter of Local Progress. Previously served on the board of directors of the Carolina Abortion Fund, was an advocate of the year for the N.C. AIDS Action Network, and was a longtime leader of the Duke University LGBT Task Force.

Campaign website: damonseils.org

Endorsements: Sierra Club, Equality NC, NEXT Chapel Hill-Carrboro

What do you think the town’s top three priorities should be? Choose one and describe how you will work to address it.

A few of my top priorities are:

▪ Pandemic recovery

▪ Adopting and implementing the Carrboro Connects comprehensive plan

▪ Taking the town’s racial equity work to the next level.

On the topic of pandemic recovery, we have met some immediate needs by dedicating $1.3 million in local and state/federal funds to the countywide emergency housing assistance program and more than $300,000 for emergency assistance to local businesses. We should build on these commitments by using the $6.8 million we will receive in federal rescue funds to support local nonprofit groups that are providing critical services and by giving grants to local businesses. The rescue funds also present an opportunity to identify systems and processes that should change for the long term to support community resilience and foster community engagement. For example, we should explore a pilot participatory budgeting process or other meaningful engagement in which community members participate directly in decision making about how to use the rescue funds. This experience would inform future efforts to engage community members in identifying and prioritizing public spending projects.

What is the town doing right, and wrong, about development and growth?

I have long advocated that decisions about long-term growth and development in Carrboro should be guided by a community-driven comprehensive plan. I’m glad the town is now deep into the Carrboro Connects comprehensive planning process. Once adopted, the comprehensive plan will guide decisions over the next 20 years on our greatest challenges, from growth and development to affordable housing to climate change. A key area of the plan is land use. Today, we have a land use ordinance that is outdated in many ways and that largely promotes a sprawling, suburban form of development. We need land use policies that promote more compact, walkable, transit-oriented development and that result in greater variety and quantity of housing opportunities in a community and a region that are under strong growth pressure and have become less affordable.

Climate change and flooding are growing issues and a regular part of the town’s development discussion. What do you think the town should do about it, and how would you pay for it?

Local governments should adopt and implement policies and plans that reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions. In Carrboro, these efforts should include, most importantly, implementation of the town’s Energy and Climate Protection Plan and the Community Climate Action Plan. We are making capital improvements to address local effects of climate change, such as energy efficiency upgrades to town facilities. This year, we decided on a definition for “net zero” buildings by agreeing that new and renovated town buildings will be evaluated in terms of their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. We are also developing the Carrboro Connects comprehensive plan, which should include updates to our zoning and land use policies to promote more compact, walkable, transit-oriented development that has less environmental impact. Finally, we should work with other jurisdictions to advocate for changes in state and federal laws and policies, share lessons learned, collaborate in joint efforts to achieve greater impact, and set an example for other communities. On the topic of stormwater specifically, the Town Council in 2020 approved a change in the rate structure for the town’s stormwater utility. This means the stormwater utility is now bringing in nearly $1 million in revenue annually to expand delivery of stormwater services. With access to this dedicated funding source, town staff and our volunteer stormwater advisory commission are identifying and prioritizing investments in stormwater programs and infrastructure.

What skill or life experience do you have that would bring diversity to local government?

As one of North Carolina’s small number of LGBTQ elected officials, I have been a leader in working with our statewide advocacy organizations to coordinate efforts around issues of interest to our communities, including responses to anti-LGBTQ legislation. Most recently, this work has led to the adoption of comprehensive nondiscrimination ordinances in small communities like Carrboro and in large cities like Charlotte. On a range of issues during my eight years on the Town Council, I have taken a special interest in regional and statewide policy making and advocacy. It is important not only for Carrboro to have a strong voice in regional policy making, but also for me to represent the interests of Carrboro residents in both formal and informal ways, whether through representation on regional decision-making bodies, or through participation in the Moral Monday movement, or through supporting leaders and candidates around the state who can advance a progressive agenda and help change the makeup of the General Assembly. Here at home, people know me as someone who walks the walk. For example, I have not only a policy interest in transportation planning, I also commute by local and regional bus, and I travel in town primarily by bicycle and by walking. I benefit from having easy access to our fare-free local bus system and living in a part of town with fairly good pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. Our challenge as policy makers is to find ways for more people in Carrboro and throughout the region to have more of these options.

This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Damon Seils, candidate for mayor in Carrboro, NC."