Last week, the Town of Hillsborough unanimously passed a motion for the development of a town wide equity plan, as part of the town’s strategic plan.

The proposal from Central Pines Regional Council outlines steps for assessing the current state of inequities, identifying priority areas, and designing an actionable plan to improve outcomes, particularly focusing on racial inequities.

The plan is a continuation of the town’s efforts with the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), which Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, Orange County Government joined in 2020. The national network aims to advance racial equity in communities by providing networking tools and resources, including training modules, for elected officials to stay current on best practices. 

In an interview with 97.9 The Hill, Hillsborough mayor Mark Bell said that Central Pines will act as a consultant to assist in implementing the GARE framework in Hillsborough.

“It’s exciting to put pen to paper, so to speak, and come up with something that is very in tune with the work that the county is doing, but also very specific to Hillsborough,” said Bell. “We’re excited about it.” 

The development plan from Central Pines outlines three phases. The first includes gathering data to identify disparities, identifying teams and stakeholders, and facilitating community engagement. Next, drafting an initial plan using the identified goals and strategies. The final phase includes hosting additional community feedback opportunities and planning for implementation. 

The proposal also discusses alignment with the One Orange Countywide Racial Equity Plan (One Orange), which Bell said is a framework for advancing racial equity that came out of the GARE effort. Adopted in 2022, the formal commitment aims to uncover and address implicit bias in Orange County. 

At the Oct. 14 meeting, repeated concerns from the board centered around whether the work from Central Pines would overlap with the other town and county efforts.

“I look at regionalism and it drives me nuts when we all go off in our different paths and then things happen and we realize ‘oh my gosh we duplicated effort, we missed chances to share data, to share knowledge, to share resources,’” Commissioner Kathleen Ferguson said.

Ferguson added she is thrilled the town is working with Central Pines because she hopes the work can be a blueprint that will be shared across the region, setting a foundation for action. 

“We don’t have our guiding principles if we don’t have the tools, if we don’t have the knowledge, if we don’t have the data — we’re just shooting in the dark,” she said. “So this gives us, I believe, a strong foundation that’s needed, that betters across the region. So I’m really excited.”

To view the full Board of Commissioners meeting, click here.

Featured image via the Town of Hillsborough.

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