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The Omniscient
January 2022
A Chat With Pittsboro’s Returning Mayor: Cindy Perry
BY ETHAN WESTMORELAND DESIGN EDITOR
Tuesday, Nov. 16, PITTSBORO—Graphic Editor Ethan Westmoreland and Editor-inChief Grace Leonard met with Mayor-Elect Cindy Perry at Café Diem to discuss her plans and outlook for her upcoming term. What followed was an almost hour-long conversation about Perry’s perspective on Pittsboro’s state of affairs, the place of public officials in a community and the nature of governing in a small town. The Problems Prodding Pittsboro The chemical contaminants of 1,4-Dioxane and PFAS, both carcinogenic, have been observed in Pittsboro’s water supply for years. According to a 2020 Duke University study, the presence of PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—is two to four times higher in the blood of Pittsboro residents than in the general U.S. population. This is an upsetting statistic to many citizens and served as a sort of call to action for the then former mayor, Cindy Perry. “This term almost means more to me than when I first got elected in 2015, just because there are so many problems right now; the water is such an issue,” Perry said. “It’s considered generally safe if you have a 1-in-amillion cancer risk because of a chemical exposure; we’re down to 1 in a thousand.” Mayor Perry, who happens to be the daughter of a chemist, marveled at the subject’s precedence in her job as mayor. “[Contamination] is such a compelling issue for people your age,” Perry said. “Because I’m 74 years old, what’s in my body is in my body; it’s probably a bunch of pesticides and herbicides from before we even knew they were dangerous... But it’s your generation and the people even younger than you who are looking at a lifetime of exposure.” But Pittsboro’s issues continue past the water. The town is currently experiencing a housing crisis, a problem emblematic of the country at large today. Photo courtesy of Ethan Westmoreland
From left to right: Staff Writer Ray Brock, Mayor Cindy Perry, Editor-In-Chief Grace Leonard, Design Editor Ethan Westmoreland.
“The problems are already here, they’re already crying out to be dealt with,” Perry said. “Years and years ago, when Chatham Park was first coming in, there was a question at one of the political sessions about about what gentrification was going to mean in Chatham County. And to tell you the truth, at the time, I hadn’t heard the expression. I didn’t know that much about the whole process. But it’s here, it’s now. Houses in Pittsboro are going for so much that it is pricing people of even moderate income, let alone low income, out of the market. There’s so much to be done even for a town that only has 5,000 people. The footprint of this town is roughly 2 miles by 3 miles… but the surrounding area has a real stake in what happens here.”
Pittsboro’s Political Participation The 2021 Presidential election had the highest voter turnout of any U.S. election in history. But this increased participation in the democratic process was not limited to national campaigns. “We almost always come in really high–80-83%. I think we came in at 87% this time,” Perry said. “We have a really motivated community. That’s one of the things I love about Pittsboro; it’s a community that is agricultural, academic, and artistic. And the three of them together bring people together into a really studied political venue. It really is amazing how interested people are in politics.” The Pittsboro population’s continued investment in politics is important to Mayor Perry, especially that of young people. “It’s wonderful to have experienced people and people who have had great careers,” Perry said. “I had a wonderful career, 25 years as an attorney here in town. And even before that I was a legal secretary for a law group in Chapel Hill. But the truth is that we
need young people and young people’s ideas to take on the next flow of things… So one of the things that I want to do is leave students and young people with the idea that ‘politics’ is not a dirty word. If there’s that much enthusiasm about the presidency, then why wouldn’t there be more enthusiasm about local politics? Because local politics is the most impactful to your everyday lives, and it’s more accessible.” P-Town Pride Mayor Perry revels in the importance of Pittsboro’s close-knit community. With a population of just over 4,000, the issues of the small town may seem insignificant to some, but Perry doesn’t see it that way. She recounted a story from the 2018 Mayor’s Climate Change Conference, one where Pittsboro’s status as a small town was valued: “They called me before I went [to the conference] and they said ,‘We want you to be a part of a panel: you and a couple of other Mayors.’ And I said ‘Y’all, I don’t think you understand how small my town is.’ And they said ‘Oh yes, we do!’ So there was the Mayor of San Francisco, the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cindy Perry, Mayor of Pittsboro sitting on stage talking about Climate Change in front of all of these people… The idea started out being ‘Well, what can you do in a small town?’ You can do small things that really mean a lot.” This experience left a lasting impression on Mayor Perry. “A reporter from The New York Times was there and asked me if I would interview with him after,” Perry said. “A little gal from Pittsboro. Incredible! So obviously, that’s in the scrapbook.”
