Carrboro Board of Aldermen Changes Title to Town Council

***UPDATE: Carrboro’s Board of Aldermen passed a resolution to change its title to Town Council at its meeting on Tuesday November 19.***

After being known as the Board of Aldermen for 50 years, the elected officials for Carrboro’s governing board are slated to change its name at their Tuesday meeting to a more inclusive title.

When Carrboro officially became a town in 1911, its governing board was named the Board of Commissioners. In 1969, the General Assembly approved the change to Board of Aldermen.

But recently, Carrboro leadership has been seeking to make the entire town code gender neutral and changing from the title of Board of Aldermen is one step toward achieving that goal.

The board discussed and tentatively approved a name change at its meeting on November 12. The members in attendance unanimously agreed to change its name to the Carrboro Town Council after a public hearing session, which included the display of online submissions and comments about a potential change.

Randee Haven-O’Donnell said she remembers routinely correcting or reminding others of her preferred title as Alderwoman. She said her experiences are just some of many examples of why to change the group’s title.

“Some of us who have been sitting on this board have really felt the pinch as being referred to as an Alderman,” Haven-O’Donnell said. “I’m saying this because folks don’t realize that gender neutral [titles] matter.”

There was a discussion of creating an original title for the group to be named but the choice would require a submission of the idea for approval by the state general assembly.

Alderwoman Bethany Chaney voiced concern about delaying a decision further. She said also confusion about the title of Aldermen already leads to questions by residents, which a more common title would eliminate.

“People often ask us, ‘what is an Alderman,’ because it is not a well-known term,” said Chaney. “We all say, ‘well, it’s like being on a town council,’ so why don’t we just be a town council? There is value in Carrboro being unique, but I don’t think making the name unique is what [creates] that value.”

A resolution to change the group’s name to a town council is on the board’s consent agenda for its Tuesday meeting. If passed as expected, the title will go into effect at their December 3 meeting.

‹

BOA Continues Discussion On Parking

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen continued to discuss the issue of parking in Downtown Carrboro, which increased focus on overnight parking and unbundling.

BOA Sifts Through Solid Waste

CARRBORO – The Carrboro Board of Aldermen unanimously passed a motion Tuesday night suggesting the Board of County Commissioners create a Tax District to fund solid waste and recycling in Orange County. Here’s Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton “I think that given that our costs are going to spike upward very significantly with the closure of […]

BOA Hosts Public Hearing On Budget

The 2013-2013 proposed budget did not raise property taxes for the fifth consecutive year.

Carrboro BOA Discusses Parking

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen were the most recent local government to discuss the future of parking within their jurisdiction.

Shelton Station Stalls

CARRBORO – The Carrboro Board of Aldermen did not vote to approve the Conditional Use Permit, or C.U.P., for Shelton Station Thursday night, instead choosing to recess the public hearing while the developer and town staff fine-tune the plan. Here’s appraiser Rich Kirkland speaking in support of the developer. “Recently, I’ve done a new project proposed for Hillsborough Street […]

CVS Project Paused As Developers Pull Permit To Rezone

CARRBORO – The developers for the proposed CVS on N. Greensboro Street withdrew their conditional use permit Tuesday night, meaning that the current version of the project will need to be drastically altered if it comes in front of the Board of Aldermen at a later date. “They pulled their request for a public hearing on the conditional use […]

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Icons Howard and Lillian Lee, Braxton Foushee Granted Statewide Honor

Three groundbreaking Black local leaders saw their years of service awarded by being inducted into the Order of The Long Leaf Pine

University Place Has a Parking Problem. Here's What Management, Patrons Have to Say.

As University Place in Chapel Hill undergoes redevelopment, it's led to a decrease in parking spots – which culminated in the last few weeks.

Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill Honor 50 Years of Cat's Cradle

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen’s chambers were crowded with local musicians and members of the local music community to see the board pass a joint resolution with the Town of Chapel Hill to honor and celebrate the music venue Cat’s Cradle last week. The resolution declared 2019 the ‘Year of the Cradle,’ an idea brought […]

Carrboro Board of Aldermen Changes Title to Town Council

Carrboro’s Board of Aldermen passed a resolution to change its title to Town Council at its meeting on Tuesday November 19.*** After being known as the Board of Aldermen for 50 years, the elected officials for Carrboro’s governing board are slated to change its name at their Tuesday meeting to a more inclusive title. […]

›