Coffee and Conversation with Camille and CHT

Published On: March 20th, 2023|Categories: Events|

On Sunday, March 19, Chapel Hill Town Council member and former CHT staff member Camille Berry met with CHT residents to talk about how and why to engage with local government. Over coffee and muffins, residents asked questions and shared their concerns, and Camille provided insight and encouragement about ways all citizens can make sure their voices are heard.

Camille’s first and most important recommendation was to vote. “Every single American that has the right to vote — whether they exercise it or not — has the privilege of doing so thanks to someone giving their life for that right. This was taught to me by my grandfather and father, and I have passed that lesson onto my children,” shared Camille. She talked about how small the margins often are in local elections, sometimes just a matter of a dozen or so votes, and she emphasized how much that means each individual vote really does matter.

She also talked about how important it is for local elected officials to hear from the people they represent. Because representatives of organizations like Community Home Trust often write to officials or speak at Council meetings as part of our work, Camille shared that it can have a very different impact when an individual citizen chooses to speak up from their personal experience.

If you want to make your voice heard, there are many different ways to do that. One option is to send an email or mail a letter. Camille encouraged those in attendance to consider writing directly to an individual Council member rather than sending a group message or cutting and pasting the same message to all members. She said that she tries to respond to all messages that are directed to her personally, and she pays careful attention to those personal letters and emails she receives. If you want to write to your Council representatives, here’s how to contact them:

In Chapel Hill:

In Carrboro:

It’s important to note that you can also speak at a Council meeting anytime! In Chapel Hill, conversation about housing development often happens toward the end of the meeting agenda, which can sometimes be as late as 10 p.m. But at any Council meeting, any citizen can speak on a topic that is not specifically on the agenda at the start of the meeting. That means you can choose to speak to thank the Council members for their work or share your own reasons for supporting affordable housing at any meeting. Each person who speaks is allotted three minutes, and if you come with more than one person, you can choose for one person to speak on behalf of your group – and then that person can use each group member’s three minutes as well. Again, Camille shared how impactful it is for her as a Council member when an individual chooses to make time to share their story or opinion, so it’s three minutes very well spent!

If you’d like to speak about affordable housing at a Council meeting, CHT is happy to send a staff member to support you! That staff member can help you get signed up to speak at the start of the meeting, can stand alongside you as you speak, and can even allot you their three minutes to give you more time to share. We’d love to support you in using your voice in this way! Just email Daniele at dberman@communityhometrust.org and we’ll make a plan to join you.

You can find a downloadable document about ways to engage with local government here. It includes links to Chapel Hill and Carrboro Town Council members’ contact information as well as meeting schedules and board and commission engagement information.

Many thanks to our hosts at Caribou Coffee for opening your space to us — and for the delicious coffee!

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