“Viewpoints” is a place on Chapelboro where local people are encouraged to share their unique perspectives on issues affecting our community. If you’d like to contribute a column on an issue you’re concerned about, interesting happenings around town, reflections on local life — or anything else — send a submission to viewpoints@wchl.com.
What Have We Given Chapel Hill? And What Has Chapel Hill Given Us?
A perspective from Deepak Sirdeshmukh
I was writing an opinion piece today for Chapelboro, when in response to my support for Adam Searing and the four others running on a shared platform, someone on a social media site asked me “how much have you invested in Chapel Hill?” The question first had me amused by its sheer shallowness, but then it inspired some thinking. Here are my thoughts, while admittedly reifying my sense of Chapel Hill.
“Investing in Chapel Hill” is not something I think of. That would be the mindset of someone (consultant, builder, businessperson, professional politician) expecting a return far exceeding the costs incurred in making their “contribution” to this town.
Instead, let me talk about the vital forms of capital that flow in a town such as ours: social, relational, and emotional capital. It is what my family and I have contributed to Chapel Hill over the twenty plus years we have lived here, without expecting a return, and what we have received from Chapel Hill, in unrelated, and non-transactional ways.
I will end with why I am voting for Adam and the four wonderful people running with him, so that attention is invested in what we have been, what we are, and what we need as citizens of this town. We, the sources of the vital capital that have built this town, should be (and should have been) the priority of those put in positions of governance, including the mayor and town council. Not highly paid consultants, builders, and urban planners, who view us as a piece of land that can yield returns for their investments.
What We Gave
My wife gave her time serving for five years each on the HOAs of the two neighborhoods we’ve lived in, one son and my wife cooked lunch, once a month for four years, at the IFC food pantry, my son occasionally played the piano for residents at Carol Woods and the Cedars, we raised $4000 for the IFC through a benefit concert my twins sons organized, when in high school. I informally helped the police department, under Chris Blue, with updates to its mission statement.
My three sons were volunteer student teachers at the Immersion for Spanish Language Acquisition classes (ISLA) at St. Thomas More for three years each, my wife served on the gifted committee of Chapel Hill schools for many years, we contributed unfailingly every year to the teachers’ breakfast during all our kids’ years at East (a small chance to say thank you).
What We Got
We have received far more than we can count or repay, when needed and unexpectedly, and in ways that have bound us to this town all these years. Neighbors helped my wife in the home when I was away traveling overseas for 3 years. A leading physician in town called regularly to help me in India with my parents’ critical health issues when I was tending to them there (he still does). A neighbor who attended UNC in the 60s educated our young boys, enamored with basketball, about events during the time when Willie Cooper and Charlie Scott joined UNC as trail-blazing African American athletes.
We built and treasure our friendships with people running local businesses — restaurateurs like Van at the top-rated Elements and Sal, proffering homely comforts at Magone in Timberlyne. We recall the peace of mind granted by physicians at Chapel Hill Pediatrics who gave us their mobile numbers to call if we had an emergency with one son who suffered from a challenging illness for some time. We are grateful for the teachers and counselors at the schools, including those at East, who served as trusted guides to our kids, for matters academic and otherwise, which meant a lot since neither my wife nor I had attended high schools in the US, growing up.
What Chapel Hill Is and Should Remain
In a large, uncertain, and somewhat stressful world, we have been blessed to count on the unique community that makes up Chapel Hill as our home. Our story is not, and cannot be, unique; this is just how this town has been. And this is what has kept us, the Chapel Hill community, growing, kept us together, and kept us unique.
I voted over multiple elections for the current mayor, and other council members and paid little attention to town governance issues — not due to apathy but due to immense trust in these elected representatives. I believed, like a lot of you must have, that these folks were like us, and knew our values, goals, and aspirations. Instead, Chapel Hill is clearly being damagingly modified, and viewed as an opportunity for investments from those far afield, based on specious arguments about Chapel Hill being elitist and lacking inclusivity. Arguments that are as laughable and shallow as the question asked of me today. Their ultimate goals are visible in plain sight.
Chapel Hill cannot continue to be an ongoing construction site, with construction trucks, blocked streets, over-crowding, and with millions paid to consultants who push for growth. The town cannot be in the hands of a mayor and majority in the council whose agenda is almost entirely focused away from those of us who live here and love to live here. Growth is just a part of the equation and should receive its due place in planning. But the arguments for rapid growth, and the demagogic approach used against this town should scare us, anger us, and get us to the polling sites on Tuesday.
I will be voting for Adam Searing for mayor, and Elizabeth Sharp, Renuka Soll, David Adams, Breckany Eckhardt for town council of Chapel Hill. You can read about their visions on their websites and learn about their opinions on Chapelboro and beyond. I have met them multiple times and heard them out. They are a group of decent people you would love to have as neighbors. They understand what this town is about, have no agendas driven by monetary gain, and I am confident they will be great custodians of our shared visions for our town. I hope you will consider voting for them.
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
