None of this is normal, and sense-making is getting harder. Stick with me for where we are and how you can help.

Last Summer, I decided my focus was going to be relentlessly local, because that’s where I was confident I could make an impact. I picked four pillars for my platform: Climate Justice and Action, Equitable Transportation, Better Housing, and Anti-racist Learning and Practice. These are challenges that Carrboro residents share as urgent priorities, and that other communities have lessons to share with us.

These are not the priorities of the current occupant of the White House, and since February of this year there has been a steady effort not only to undermine progress on these priorities, but to undermine any confidence in Truth, sense-making based on expertise or facts, and tools of accountability. It’s not enough to note this, or to simply post in an app or on the web about it. Bending towards justice requires the flexibility to pick up every tool we’re willing and able to carry. It requires collective struggle.

4th Amendment

The tool I asked my Carrboro Town Council colleagues to pick up, and that we did pick up on the 20th of May in a Proclamation, was the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution. It’s worth quoting in full:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Teaching friends and neighbors what the 4th Amendment says, and how we can change our practices at work to make sure it’s not violated, is an urgent need that Siembra highlighted for me.

My neighbors are afraid. Neighbors who just want to work and go to school. Neighbors who want to abide by the law, and are now afraid that following the law has no bearing on whether or not they’ll be separated from their loved ones and punished with no proportion or logic, but merely the whims and perceived racism and xenophobia of the executive. I won’t ignore the fear and worry of my community.

The Carrboro Town Council is hard at work on so many more things that I don’t have the time and space to summarize for you, the biggest of which is a 62.5 million dollar budget (PDF link).

Feedback

The patterns of how we hear from members of our community mean that I've gotten more feedback that seems to be a game of telephone with a misunderstanding of the budget than on the 4th Amendment proclamation, so here is my ask: Do one of three things.

1. Take five minutes to write to the whole Carrboro Town Council about your priorities for 2025-2026. Before hitting Send, use your own words and expand on my pillars or replace them with your own.
2. Take two minutes to donate to my campaign to keep my seat this Fall so I know I’m on the right track with this work. I’ve got just over 22 weeks, or 5 months, between now and the municipal elections this November. Donations are a very strong feedback signal.
3. Hit that Reply button and tell me what group(s) you’re volunteering with locally and how you’re stepping up your commitment to deal with the assaults on Truth and Justice. Maybe you could even CC one of your Progressive friends in your reply.

With warmth and hope for a better tomorrow,

Cristóbal Palmer