Political newbie to challenge Chilton for Carrboro mayor

The Carrboro mayor’s race has its first challenger.

Political newcomer Amanda Ashley is a 53-year-old pet shop employee who wants to keep Carrboro a small community.

“Willy-nilly growth is not the answer,” she said.

Ashley talks of limiting the population at 25,000 people. As of July 2007, the town population was 19,178, said Randy Dodd, of the Planning Department. Ashley says Carrboro can be a “western wall” against development in Chapel Hill and Durham. She also wants to keep southern Orange County “rural and green.”

Mayor Mark Chilton has been a good caretaker, she said. “I’m not running against him,” she said, but added that she sees the need to present ideas that may not be looked at. She wants more public transportation and said the town should impose a fee on vehicles “simply moving through Carrboro.”

She is concerned about Carolina North adding to the traffic moving through the town. Ashley says she walks everywhere in downtown Carrboro, and that the 25 mph speed limits are ignored. “I’m against more cars,” she said. She believes town taxes are high enough and should not rise over the next couple of years.

She also wants to look at possibilites for supporting arts, music and film.

Ashley has lived in the Carrboro town limits since 2000 and in Orange County since 1984. She works at Phydeaux pet store and earned an undergraduate degree in political science from Guilford College. She is openly transgender and has two children from a past marriage to a woman. She says she hopes that will not detract from the issues.