Paris Miller-Foushee, candidate for Chapel Hill Town Council

Seven people are competing in the November election for four seats on the Chapel Hill Town Council.

Community advocate Paris Miller-Foushee is running against incumbent Council member Karen Stegman and fellow newcomers Robert Beasley, Camille Berry, Jeffrey Hoagland, Vimala Rajendran and Adam Searing.

An eighth candidate, Andrew Creech, told The Daily Tar Heel last week that he’s dropping out of the race to focus on his business interests. He will still appear on the ballot. The News & Observer’s efforts to reach Creech were unsuccessful.

The council is guaranteed to get at least three new council members, since incumbent member Hongbin Gu passed on a second run to join this year’s Chapel Hill mayor’s race, and former Council member Rachel Schaevitz resigned last year, leaving her seat vacant.

Council member Allen Buansi announced this summer he would not seek a second term, freeing up a third seat. Buansi recently announced plans to run for N.C. House District 56 when state Rep. Verla Insko retires next year.

Early voting in the nonpartisan 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: Paris Miller-Foushee

Age: 46

Residence: 223 N. Roberson St., Chapel Hill

Occupation: Teacher, advocacy trainer at Inter-Faith Council for Social Services

Education: Bachelor of Arts in English and literature, UNC-Greensboro; Master of Arts in English and school administration, N.C. Central University

Political or civic experience: As a young girl growing up with a single mom in public housing, I learned the impact that local government has on our lives early on. This experience has pushed me to serve my community in multiple ways. I currently serve on the boards of EmPOWERment Inc. and the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. These are two organizations that are providing affordable housing to, advocating for, and documenting the lives of marginalized folks in our community, especially in my neighborhood — the historic African-American Northside neighborhood. I work for the Inter-Faith Council, training the next generation of leaders to advocate for local, civic issues. I serve as the secretary for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP, where I help organize events to advocate for restorative justice, holistic public safety, environmental justice, and affordable housing. Most recently, I served on the town’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, where I worked with stakeholders across the community to recommend steps the town can take to ensure safety in our community.

Campaign website: paris-millerfoushee.com

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.

Leveraging town-owned land to meet our community’s housing needs, green space needs, and needs for amenities.

This should all be planned using the Land Use Management Ordinance (LUMO). Our town needs to prioritize engaging the community and finishing the LUMO that will guide our vision for our town. We cannot keep working project to project, and hope that our planning meets the needs of our community. On council, I will work to set a plan for smart, yet comprehensive community engagement that will fuel our land-use planning. By prioritizing this, we will be able to plan for affordable housing and preservation of green space, alongside purpose-built development and amenities that serve our community.

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

The town is doing well by moving toward mixed-use developments along transit-corridors that will balance our tax base, increase connectivity, and decrease car-dependency. However, the town is doing this without a cohesive vision. With a detailed canvas of community needs and a robust plan for land use, the town would be able to ask for more creative projects that look good, serve a vital purpose, and don’t detract from our environment.

What is special about Chapel Hill now that people don’t know or what you would like the town to be known for in the future?

Chapel Hill, especially my neighborhood of Northside, has a long history of civil rights advocacy. I wish our history of advocating and planning for a better, brighter future was more well known. Chapel Hill is historic in many ways, and there’s a culture of fighting for what’s right here in our town. More people should know about this history and be attracted to be involved in such a place and cause.

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

I’m a teacher by profession, but I’m really a student. I’m a lifelong learner, ready to dissect issues, and welcome diverse (even competing) perspectives. What that really means is that I’m a listener. I know what it’s like to be marginalized, to live not knowing if I’m going to be housing-secure. I’m a Black, Muslim woman in Chapel Hill, on the front lines of restorative justice, public safety and affordable housing in our community. I will bring that experience and my instinct to listen before speaking to local government.

This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Paris Miller-Foushee, candidate for Chapel Hill Town Council."