Adam Searing, candidate for Chapel Hill Town Council

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

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

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: Adam Searing

Age: 54

Residence: Chapel Hill

Occupation: Attorney

Education: Chapel Hill High School (1985); Bachelor of Arts, University of California Santa Cruz (1989); Juris Doctor, UNC-Chapel Hill (1994), Master of Public Health (1994)

Political or civic experience: As a nonprofit lawyer, lobbyist and health advocate, I led North Carolina’s premier nonprofit health coalition to wins in the N.C. General Assembly that expanded coverage and improved care for millions of North Carolinians. I also helped start and run the state’s first major children’s coalition, winning new protections for kids in multiple areas, from dental care to changes for safer cars and highways.

I’ve gotten awards for my work from President Barack Obama, the American Academy of Pediatrics (NC), FamiliesUSA and even a “Tar Heel of the Week” nod from the Raleigh News & Observer! None of this I have done alone. Every single one of these legislative victories and awards came from my work together with many partners, allies and even opponents. Cooperation to find solutions that make life better for our lowest income and vulnerable residents is hard, but in my experience, we can succeed if we try.

In addition to my professional work, locally I have served on the Carrboro Planning Board, including multiple years as chair, worked with others to start a community coalition to save our last largest public forest, served on the board of Piedmont Health Services, served as head coach of the Phillips Middle School mountain bike team, volunteered in UNC’s COVID vaccine clinic, and written a local community column about biking and hiking in the area.

Campaign website: adam4chapelhill.com

Endorsements: Sierra Club, Chapel Hill Alliance for a Livable Town

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

▪ Save our parks and wild open spaces like the Greene Tract Forest, Legion Park, and our creeks and trails.

▪ Support affordable housing.

▪ Create sustainable, trail and green-focused economic development like other towns from Bentonville, Arkansas, to Belmont, North Carolina.

Economic development: This summer my 14-year-old son and I threw our bikes on the car and traveled the country for five weeks, camping and riding. We visited towns from Bentonville, Arkansas, to Oakridge, Oregon, to Boise, Idaho, and many, many more.

Many towns similar to Chapel Hill are experiencing a renaissance in attracting new visitors, with booming restaurants, full hotels, bustling bike shops and a huge ripple effect that is boosting their economies. How? By prioritizing their local open space, forests and lands to improve and maintain local trail systems that attract families focused on outdoor recreation, especially biking and hiking.

Here in Chapel Hill, we also attract visitors through UNC, through our cultural events, and through our proximity to RTP. But adding even a moderate investment in preserving our open spaces and upgrading our existing trails and greenways can result in more visitors all year — and visitors who want to spend money and support our economy. I have seen how other towns our size are thriving — we can do the same here.

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

While Chapel Hill (and, it seems, every candidate ever for local civic office) says the priority should be “smart development” and “green space,” this is not the current reality. Development pressures rule the day, with outsize projects getting approved and more coming seemingly every month.

A misguided attempt to encourage development around where I grew up along Ephesus Church Road has resulted in the demolition of modest apartment homes and the building of a multi-story complex completely out of keeping with the character of the area. And this development isn’t just on private property. Unforgivably it extends to our most beautiful public lands.

The largest public forest in Chapel Hill, the Greene Tract, is threatened with sale of a large portion to private developers and construction of huge roads through the public creeks and streams. These are two development “innovations” that never appear in over 20 years of community planning around the property. In reality, preserving 80% of the forest and setting aside 20% for affordable housing in keeping with the area’s character for have always been the top priorities.

Our next largest public property, forest and open space on Legion Road is in danger of being divided and part of it sold for commercial uses — instead of creating an amazing park as residents want. Miles of trails and acres of beautiful hardwood trees beside many creeks are now slated for removal for water retention projects to support even more building. This has to stop. Our woods, trees and wild spaces help make Chapel Hill great.

Despite our failure to prioritize the parks and open space that residents want, Chapel Hill is having success in other areas of development. After passage of the 2018 bond for affordable housing, projects are moving forward for development in character with our town. We can build on projects that Chapel Hill is doing right — like the innovative collaboration between UNC and the town on Homestead Road that is providing affordable duplexes, triplexes and other multi-family housing for lower-income families getting help through UNC Hospitals programs.

We need to carry this mindset to our approval of private development projects and use it as a basis for new joint projects that create more housing for low- and middle-income residents. Developers clearly see there is money to be made in Chapel Hill! Our challenge is to leverage that desire with the overwhelming sentiment in our town to approve new projects that are in keeping with our focus on trees and green space while also providing housing that people can actually afford.

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?

Many residents don’t know that informal, unofficial teams of volunteer mountain bikers, hikers and runners have constructed and maintain around 100 miles of trails in our area, many of which are on public open space and public land. In addition, we have hundreds of acres of beautiful forests and wetlands owned by the federal government directly adjacent to town that are used for hunting and fishing — but also contain miles of informal trails that connect with destinations like Durham’s popular Tobacco Trail greenway. Preserved and improved, this public resource can make Chapel Hill known not only the home of UNC but also known as a destination for active families looking for a place for recreation that is close to great dining, has great accommodations and also lots of other things to do, from sporting events to cultural events.

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

The value of having a part-time local government structure is that Town Council members come from various walks of life and bring those experiences to moving Chapel Hill forward. If elected, I look forward to learning more from other Council members who have greater experience than I do in efforts to improve our affordable housing policies, who have greater experience than I do in working to revitalize and rebuild our downtown, and who have greater experience than I do in important but neglected topics like stormwater management.

I have enormous experience in two areas that I can bring to the table:

▪ A proven ability to bring together coalitions of people and organizations who may disagree to work together to solve tough problems. I have sat down with people who disagreed with me, from top health insurance executives to powerful politicians from all sides of the political spectrum, and come up with solutions that all can agree on. This is something we need in these times more than ever.

▪ A deep love and knowledge of every corner of Chapel Hill. I have hiked, biked and waded through almost all of our streams, our woods, our parks and our forests. Growing up here, I know every valley, every neighborhood, and every street in our town. I hope to bring this knowledge to the table to help us make better decisions both for now and for future generations.

This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Adam Searing, candidate for Chapel Hill Town Council."