Endorsements
Hundreds of supporters lent their name to the Mark Kleinschmidt for Mayor Endorsement advertisement appearing in papers this weekend. The list includes current and former council members, mayors, business people, university people, and new and old Chapel Hill residents.
We know there are many more who we weren’t able to contact and we’re very sorry if we inadvertently left you out. Click the link above to add your name.
Historically one of the most politically influential publications in the triangle, the Independent Weekly strongly endorses the Kleinschmidt for Mayor campaign.
It’s clear that Kleinschmidt is the sensible choice because of his track record of bringing together diverse interests, protecting the environment and creating economic opportunity. Kleinschmidt has a history of thinking through the issues and listening to residents. With Foy leaving, Kleinschmidt provides the best option to continue Chapel Hill’s success. He is a proven leader who first served our community as speaker of UNC’s Student Congress and has been an asset to Chapel Hill since. His experience during the last eight years working on Carolina North and a host of other issues with state and regional leaders is too vital to let go.
One of the things that makes our community so unique is the value we place on protecting our natural environment. In Chapel Hill being green isn’t just part of a national fad, we have been integrating our commitment to holding back sprawl, promoting energy efficiency in both public and private development, promoting public transit, and reducing our carbon footprint for years.
Hank Anderson – Bill Thorpe Breakfast Club
The Anderson-Thorpe Breakfast Club was founded by Hank Anderson, the first Black Recreation Department Director in the South in the 1970’s to help analyze and remedy the issues faced by African-Americans in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro communities. After Hank’s death, Bill Thorpe, who served on the Chapel Hill Town Council for 11 years until his death in 2008, led the Club. The Breakfast Club spearheaded the efforts to name Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, and to improve the pay and working conditions of African-American and Latino employees at the University, hospital, schools and municipalities. The Breakfast Club’s political agenda is a progressive and inclusive agenda that supports the State NAACP’s 14-Point Agenda, with particular emphasis on justice for young people in our schools, fairness in employment and housing, and dismantling institutionalized racism.
This endorsement has the potential to be very significant. Last year they worked tirelessly to register thousands of new voters in Orange County toward the successful effort to turn North Carolina Blue! Thank you for the supporting us UNC YD!