Sally Greene, at-large candidate for Orange County Board of Commissioners
READ MORE
Orange County Board of Commissioners candidates
Who are the candidates running for the Orange County Board of Commissioner? Get to know your candidates with our Voter Guide.
Expand All
Jamezetta Bedford, candidate for Orange County Board of Commissioners, District 1
Sally Greene, at-large candidate for Orange County Board of Commissioners
Earl McKee, candidate for Orange County Board of Commissioners, District 2
Anna Richards, candidate for Orange County Board of Commissioners, District 1
Three Orange County commissioners are headed to new four-year terms in this year’s election, while a fourth commissioner could be elected to finish serving a two-year term.
No Democratic challengers or Republican candidates have filed for the partisan commissioners race.
Commissioner Sally Greene will be seeking a second term representing the at-large district, which covers the entire county. Incumbent commissioners Jamezetta Bedford and Earl McKee also are seeking another term, respectively, to represent District 1, which covers Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and District 2, which is the rest of the county.
Commissioner Anna Richards was appointed to her District 1 seat last year when former Commissioner Mark Dorosin left for a job in Florida. She is running to fill the remainder of his term, which expires in 2024.
Early voting in races with primaries begins April 28 and runs through May 14. The general election, when the commissioner candidates will appear on the ballot, is Nov. 8.
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: Sally Greene
Age: 66
Occupation: Orange County commissioner
Education: Juris Doctor, George Washington University; Doctor of Philosophy, UNC-Chapel Hill
Political or civic experience: Elected county commissioner in 2018; Chapel Hill Town Council, 2003-11, 2013-17; two decades of policy advances in housing and homeless support, including creation of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness; advancement of criminal justice reform initiatives; co-chair, Orange County Broadband Task Force; chair, revised Orange County Transit Plan policy steering committee.
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign website: sallygreene.org
Who are your top three campaign contributors?
Geoff Green $250, Jane Stein $200, Daniel Clark $200 (all others $100 or below)
What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.
▪ Seeing the county broadband project to implementation.
▪ Continuing to push for housing solutions by fostering collaboration and coordination among county jurisdictions to meet the greatest needs most efficiently.
▪ Supporting efforts to create a county climate action plan, in coordination with municipal governments.
Right now, my top priority is to complete the work of the county’s broadband task force, and gain BOCC (Board of County Commissioner) approval, to use ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to secure an ISP provider that will bring fiber to the more than 5,000 county residences whose access to broadband is either nonexistent or too weak to serve their needs.
What will you do as commissioner to address countywide affordability and cost of living?
Limit tax increases; continue the property tax assistance program for low-income households; advocate that new investments in subsidized housing be near public transit, to minimize the expense of automobile use.
What will you do as commissioner to address a backlog of school repair and renovation needs?
Support the work of the Schools Capital Needs Work Group established by the BOCC last fall. The work group, consisting of Board of Education members from both districts, members of the BOCC, school staff from both districts and county staff, is charged with developing a plan to address both districts’ ongoing capital needs, repairs and renovation projects.
What suggestions do you have for better transportation options in Orange County?
The process of revising the Orange County Transit Plan has completed its second round of public engagement. With current funding, improvements to existing services are all that can be prioritized, and numerous improvements are included in the draft plan. Nonetheless, concepts for future regional enhancements (anticipated as bus and/or bus rapid transit), depending on future funding, are also included. The public response has been positive, with the most support being for expanding the mobility on demand project in the Hillsborough area. This plan will come to the county for approval in the fall. I’m especially pleased that the plan will emphasize the importance of combining transit planing with land-use planning, to maximize resources going toward co-locating new housing and transit.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 12:07 PM.