The second Carrboro Town Council incumbent filed for this fall’s election cycle on Tuesday, as Danny Nowell officially entered his name in the 2025 race.
Nowell, who is in the closing months of his first four-year term as an elected official, shared the decision on his social media pages and in a press release.
“My first term was filled with firsts for me and for Carrboro,” he wrote. “We built the first municipal building in our town in decades with the Drakeford Library Complex. We adopted our first Comprehensive Plan. I’d like to put the experience I’ve gathered to work making sure we don’t lose momentum, and help Carrboro achieve its vision for progressive regional leadership over the long term.”
Nowell told Chapelboro continuing work on the town’s re-write of its Land Use Ordinance is a major priority — both in his ongoing term and a potential second one. He said establishing a framework to encourage more housing types and density that address the high demand while codifying design guidelines is a driving reason, and the re-write also provides Carrboro a chance to establish stricter stormwater requirements and affordable housing incentives.
While that opportunity is exciting, Nowell said, recognizing the constraints the town government faces from a Republican-dominated state legislature can be taxing and played a factor when considering another town council run. He pointed to recent efforts in Raleigh that, if adopted, would prevent local governments from requiring development standards stricter than the state’s.
“In Carrboro, we know that we can pursue development with state-of-the-art ecological engineering and a consideration of projects’ impact,” said Nowell, “but if we lose our ability to codify the priorities our residents care about, we’d be in the position of rubber stamping whatever projects big business thinks satisfy the bare minimum. This environment can make it daunting to serve in local government, but after experiencing this role for four years, I’m ready to stay in this fight.”
With all of those “firsts” referenced in the past four years, Nowell said he believes one the biggest lesson from his time on council has been the value of clear goal-setting by the local government staff and elected officials.
“We have disagreements in Carrboro just as any Town does, but we’re extremely lucky to share a lot of progressive vision and desire for change,” he said. “Getting there will require us to set clearer measurable targets for what progress means in race equity and climate action, which are the two pillars of the Comprehensive Plan we adopted in my first term. I want us to be defining what it looks like to succeed across departments in race equity and climate action, and for each resident to be able to quickly understand our progress.
Alongside Nowell’s seat being up for election this cycle, two others on the Carrboro Town Council will be available. Cristóbal Palmer launched his re-election campaign after earning a special election to the council in Nov. 2024 and Randee Haven-O’Donnell’s term is set to expire. Haven-O’Donnell — the longest tenured Carrboro councilor, having first been elected in 2005 — has yet to publicly announce her plans for the fall.
The filing period for Orange County and North Carolina’s 2025 local elections is open until 12 p.m. on Friday, July 18. Election Day will be Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Featured photo via Danell Beede/Danny Nowell for Carrboro Town Council.
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