Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver visited with 97.9 The Hill’s Brighton McConnell on Tuesday, June 7th. This is a transcript of her discussion of the town’s gun violence proclamation, bike and pedestrian facilities and budget work. Listen to the full interview here.
Brighton McConnell: Even though it’s been a quieter few weeks, we still have a lot to catch up on, including a proclamation that you sent out last week. We had a chance to talk with some of our other elected officials about Gun Violence Awareness Day. That was Friday, June 3rd, and you shared a proclamation for the town of Hillsborough to recognize that day, too. I wanted to get your thoughts on it since we’ve been having a lot of discussions recently in the wake of some awful mass shootings.
Jenn Weaver: Well, thank you for asking this question. I think like many other people with the Buffalo shooting and then the shooting at the Texas elementary school coming just a few days after that, I really felt off-center for several days because both of those were so incredibly sad. And speaking from a personal level, I was feeling the same emotions as everyone else, just a lot of deep sorrow and also really profound anger that we allow this to continue because these shootings have not always existed. They do not have to exist at all. And just the fact that the people who have the power to make the policy changes that could have an impact refuse to do so is very, very hard to deal with.
As elected officials, we get into this because we want to help people. We want to make our communities better and we’re feeling a little bit powerless, I’ll be honest. I heard from constituents who were saying, what can we do? What can the town board do? And you know, we have little to no power on that as a unit of government in a town. In fact, some of that power has been eroded by the general assembly over the past decade. So, passing the proclamation really felt important and like it’s the least we can do to pass these proclamations and contribute to the awareness and just let it be known that this is important to our community. We really need the folks in power who are able to act to do so.
McConnell: We heard at the violence at the rally against gun violence on Friday here in Chapel Hill a lot of testimonies talking about how important it is to balance honoring victims of gun violence with advocacy for change. In your mind how do the aspects of honoring the victims of gun violence and the people who are affected by it go hand in hand with the advocacy for change?
Weaver: They absolutely go hand in hand. Knock on wood, but this is not something I have experienced on a very personal level. What you hear over and over again from the loved ones of people who have been victims of gun violence is that they do not want other people to experience this, that it is a pain that they would not wish on their worst enemy and that they wish that measures had been in place that would be able to protect their loved ones better so that they didn’t meet this fate. The biggest tragedy is the loss of life, but then it shatters the lives of a large number of other people around them who are affected by it as well.
McConnell: Yeah. We know that it is a conversation and a balance that unfortunately, we’re going to continue to discuss and keep having for these coming weeks and likely months and potentially years. But if you want to read the town of Hillsborough proclamation declaring last Friday Gun Violence Awareness Day and some of the thoughts that are shared in that you can head to HillsboroughNC.gov. That is the town government’s website. Let’s pivot to some more positive news. Jenn, I saw on the town government website that there’s a survey going around for community members to weigh in on a new greenway name. What can you tell us about this?
Weaver: That’s right. We have got a feasibility study that will be happening soon to study what we hope to eventually have as a north-south bike/ped connection that goes from down around Waterstone all the way up to the future train station. We used to call it the Kate’s Creek Greenway, but then we realized the route needed to be changed, so it wasn’t, wasn’t going to be going alongside Kate’s Creek. So then the staff has been referring to it as the Ridgeway Greenway and before that got put on too many documents they thought it would be a good idea to check in with the community and see if that name resonates with people or if we should think up something else. And so that’s what our survey is about.
McConnell: Is there any particular kind of meaning behind Ridgeway?
Weaver: Yes. The new Collins Ridge neighborhood is up there and it is actually on a ridge. If you’re looking at a topographical map you’ll see that is where the ridge part of the name comes from.
McConnell: Well if folks have any ideas beyond that or want to share their support for Ridgeway Greenway, I know that that survey’s on the town government website and that was something that caught my eye too. You mentioned having that connection between Waterstone and then the future train station and more. It just that it seems like in Hillsborough, there are tons of different, great walkways and greenways, but not a lot that go north to south in the community. So, it seems like at the very least whatever the name ends up being, it’s going to be a pretty important addition.
Weaver: That’s right. And this potential greenway is the quintessential example of the change in thinking that needs to happen around these kinds of bike/ped facilities. I think for so long most of us have become really used to thinking about these as recreational assets. And they certainly are that, but we really need to start thinking of bike/ped facilities as a means of getting people to the places they need to go, whether it’s work or school or visiting people or going to the grocery store or whatever it is. It’s another way of getting to the places we need to go and that can replace car trips. So instead of adding to car trips, we’re actually replacing car trips as a way of having a more sustainable community. And this is also ultimately really one of the major ways that we are going to have an impact on South Churton Street traffic, because due to the pure volume of through traffic going through there, there are no great measures other than getting cars off the road that are going to have a substantial impact there.
McConnell: Anything else that’s happening around the town government that you want to flag for our listeners, or happening around the Hillsborough community that you want to take a moment to highlight?
Weaver: Well, June 13th will be our regular June meeting and that is also when the town board is expected to adopt our budget for the next fiscal year. And so this is certainly some of the most important work we do. We have already had the bulk of our discussions around that and so we should be ready to make that vote on Monday, but it’s something that I certainly hope that our community is paying attention to.
McConnell: We’ve talked about it a good bit, but it can’t be said enough that the community feedback on the town budget process definitely does play a part in what the commissioners decide to allocate money towards. So if you’re interested in that, be sure to head to HillsboroughNC.gov. Anything else you want to highlight, Jenn?
Weaver: Sure. On June 12th, there is a Hillsborough food truck rodeo, and that is going to be on the afternoon and evening of June 12th at the Farmers’ Market Pavilion, and more information on that can be found on the Visit Hillsborough website.
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