A Conversation with Fred Joiner, Candidate for Carrboro Town Council

I spoke with Mr. Joiner recently and I want to thank him for giving his time so generously to this conversation. I've listed the questions that formed the basis of our conversation below along with narrative based on his responses.

1. What is something you would like residents to know about you and your priorities for Council, maybe something that’s not in your official statement?

“I am inspired by the idea of the ‘citizen artist’.” Mr. Joiner, a former Poet Laureate of Carrboro, believes this particular political moment needs creative, empathetic people, and that artists belong in the room where decisions are made. Adapting Toni Morrison’s famous quote, Mr. Joiner says that in crises, there’s no time for fear or pity; this is when artists go to work. He has been thinking about how artists can work in other—perhaps less traditionally artistic--ways.

He also believes strongly in the importance of running to serve in public office to show his children and others that they have to be engaged and that they can be engaged. Seeing someone like themselves engaged gives them permission to do that. Other young people of color in different bodies and of different abilities can see that they can run for public office. He observed that Black men may have “checked out” of civic engagement “in ways that may not serve their interests. I’m trying to show another option and inspire people who may not consider this kind of participation to do this.”

2.       How will you engage with residents throughout your term?

Mr. Joiner plans to engage with residents in local businesses where people can see and talk to him, holding a kind of “office hours,” which he used to do as Poet Laureate of Carrboro. “I want people to know they can engage with me.” He is a public person—with a book coming out—and recognizes that he’ll be balancing his art work and his public service work. He understands the value in being accessible and approachable and is looking forward to engaging with people on town matters.

3.       What do you hope to accomplish or contribute to during your term?

Mr. Joiner said that Carrboro is doing “a decent job” engaging with important and timely issues such as climate action, race and equity in the community, and livability. “I want Carrboro to be the kind of place that is as livable as possible for as many types of people as possible.” He would like to see and encourage intergenerational neighborhoods, noting that living in Carrboro is expensive. Meanwhile, “our elders are increasingly living alone in conditions not conducive to their total well-being,” while young children don’t have access to elders in their families or communities. “I lived in West Africa where people lived in compounds with access to intergenerational family members. And I think we are poorer without that access.” Affordable housing is a related issue he wants to work on, answering questions about how we can incentivize builders to build, and the kind of zoning needed to accommodate, intergenerational households. “And how do we do it in a way that is affordable and worthwhile for developers?”

“I would also like Carrboro to lean into its artful living.” He would like to support public art and the artists who make it, noting that many artists lost their studios and their work in Tropical Storm Chantal. He was involved in artists’ spaces and housing when he lived in Washington, DC and he will leverage that experience to work on those issues in Carrboro. “Wouldn’t it be cool if one of those artists could present a mural on the front of a (local) business saying, ‘I’m still creating’?” He wants to find more ways to capture and highlight the creativity here in Carrboro.

He believes Carrboro is doing a good job trying to figure out climate and land use but notes there’s more work to be done, and points to the neighborhoods that were badly affected by flooding after Chantal. He plans to learn more about climate change, land use, and affordability to contribute to town responses to those issues.

4.       How can Council support the business community here in Carrboro?

Mr. Joiner would like to bring activities such as writing workshops to local business spaces. He also believes that holding Town Council “office hours” in different businesses can build relationships between council, residents, and businesses. He’s looking forward to learning more about the businesses here and wants to “get creative about how to engage the public (to) think about businesses as a space for them in this community.”

 Thank you, Fred Joiner!

In the coming weeks, The Carrborean will invite other candidates for Carrboro Town Offices to discuss their priorities for Carrboro.