Karen Stegman, candidate for Chapel Hill Town Council

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

Incumbent Council member Karen Stegman is running for her second term against challengers Robert Beasley, Camille Berry, Jeffrey Hoagland, Paris Miller-Foushee, 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: Karen Stegman

Age: 52

Residence: 2525 Buxton Court, Chapel Hill

Occupation: Public health

Education: Undergrad, UNC-Chapel Hill; Master’s degree, Boston University

Political or civic experience: Current member of the Chapel Hill Town Council

Campaign website: stegman4chapelhill.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.

▪ Affordable Housing:

-Increase affordable and “missing middle” housing options through innovative public-private partnerships.

-Leverage town-owned land to reduce the cost for new affordable housing construction.

-Prioritize housing for 30% AMI (area median income) through, for example, expanding our master leasing program and preserving and improving existing manufactured housing communities.

▪ Equity & Community Safety:

-Fund and implement the recommendations of the Re-imagining Community Safety Task Force, which focus on eliminating structural inequities in town public safety systems.

-Redesign community engagement approaches to ensure equitable input so that all stakeholders are represented in town decision making.

▪ Climate Resiliency & Environmental Protection:

-Update the town’s stormwater management regulations to ensure use of state-of-the-art methods, including green stormwater infrastructure, low-impact design, and other flood protection technology.

-Expedite investments that increase connectivity of our greenways, sidewalks and bike paths to make it easier — and safer — to leave your car at home.

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

The town has not done a good enough job with communicating the vision for the future of Chapel Hill. That vision is well-captured in the Future Land Use Map, the Climate Action and Response Plan, the Mobility and Connectivity Plan, and other related plans and strategies, but we shouldn’t require the public to scour those plans to understand where we are working to go. Taken together, these strategies call for a future Chapel Hill that is a sustainable, equitable, connected community. We use these plans to inform our decisions and direct us toward the best path forward. This is the right vision for the future, but we need to figure out better ways to share this with the community.

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?

I would like Chapel Hill to be known in the future as the best place to live if you don’t own a car (whether by choice or necessity).

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

I am the only out LGBTQ member of the Town Council and the first out LGBTQ woman to ever serve on the Town Council.

This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Karen Stegman, candidate for Chapel Hill Town Council."