Two Carrboro Town Council members announced their plans to run for re-election this week and a first challenging candidate announced his plans to file for election.
Jacquelyn Gist and Randee Haven-O’Donnell each announced in separate releases their plans to extend their tenures on the town council. Gist, a career counselor for UNC, has served since 1989, while Haven-O’Donnell, a diversity trainer and educator, has served since 2005.
Gist said in her release she plans to continue advocating for social justice. She said while the last year was challenging in many ways, she believes it affirmed her passion for Carrboro.
“As we all struggled to adapt to the pandemic,” wrote Gist, “our community pulled together to take care of each other. As our nation struggled to right the centuries old wrongs of racial inequity Carrboro re-committed to facing and naming the ugly truth of racism and re-committed to the active hard work of making equity and equality a reality for all members of our community. I have never been prouder of or more grateful to be a member of the Carrboro community.”
Gist said the next four years represents a period of change for the town, as the local government will see the election of a new mayor and selection of a new town manager while also finishing several significant projects.
Haven-O’Donnell shared similar sentiments in her release, saying the changes play to the strengths of her candidacy and time on the council.
“Uncertain times test our courage, our deepest moral compass, and confidence in representative and participatory government,” she wrote in her release. “You know me as a strong and solid representative and advocate for Carrboro within and beyond Orange County. Community folks and colleagues describe me as a creative thinker, who is engaged, hardworking, trustworthy, collaborative and a no-nonsense advocate for Carrboro.”
Haven-O’Donnell and Gist’s announcements mark all the expiring seats for the Carrboro Town Council as seeing incumbents run for re-election. Mayor Pro Tem Barbara Foushee announced her re-election campaign plans earlier in June.
One challenger, however, has also shared plans to run for Carrboro Town Council. Danny Nowell announced his candidacy to his Facebook followers earlier this week, with a campaign kick-off event scheduled for Sunday. A strategist and musician, Nowell said his policy platform will largely focus on affordable living and racial solidarity.
“I’ve spent the past couple years organizing for racial and economic justice with several groups in our town,” Nowell wrote on Facebook, “and that work has changed my life. It has introduced me to the solidarity that was lacking in my life, surrounding me with a much stronger community than I had found before — and showing me how far we still have to go to hold our town up to its progressive values.”
Challenger candidate Danny Nowell grew up in North Carolina before moving to Carrboro after graduating from UNC. (Photo via Danny Nowell.)
Filing for this fall’s local government elections officially begins on Friday, July 2 in Orange County.
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