Rising to the Challenge

Experience counts

With over 20 years of town service—and as the only incumbent Council member in the race—I have the experience to help lead our community during these challenging times. I’ve built a reputation as someone who listens to community members and works successfully across coalitions, relying on data and best practices, not emotion or partisan position, to balance competing interests and reach good outcomes for us all.

Why I'm running for re‑election

Chapel Hill is a special place.

We’re all about community, social equity, the environment, and achieving a good quality of life for the people who live and work and study here. That’s why most of us moved to Chapel Hill, stayed on after school, or never wanted to leave.

We're changing and evolving.

What was once a small village on a hill is now part of one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. The state university has become a top-tier research institution, the hospital a major regional healthcare center. And we recognize that ways of life that are good for some aren’t good for many others, and aren’t good for the health of our planet.

We can make change work for us.

We can remain true to our roots in the past, but train our eyes firmly on the future. We can be a place where everyone can thrive. We can continue to make our town a great place to live— in some old ways and some new. For people today, and for my kids and your kids and the generations that follow.

"Amy will work to protect our tree canopy and create a town-wide plan for connecting our parks, greenways, and natural areas."

Jeanette Bench, Friends of Chapel Hill Parks

Who I am as a Council member

Knowledgeable

After 20 years of town service, I know the people, the issues, the challenges we face. And with my master's degree in landscape architecture, I have a technical understanding of the best practices for placemaking and planning for the growth of our town.

Collaborative

Council has nine members with different backgrounds, interests, and goals. That diversity is our strength, but making it work for the town means we need to work together. I have a history of collaborating successfully with my colleagues, finding ways to effective solutions that move us forward as a town.

Detailed, data-driven

We get hundreds of pages of information each week -- briefings, reports, Council packets, emails from constituents. I'm known for doing the work, digging deep to understand the complexities we face, and using data to make good decisions for Chapel Hill.

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Key issues I'm working on for Chapel Hill

I've worked on many different initiatives during my 20 years of town service, but there are three goals that have always been at the heart of my work:

Amy Ryan and Booker Creek Trail Day volunteers

Protecting the environment

Climate change is the challenge of our time. With the adoption of our Climate Action Plan during my first term in office, Chapel Hill has re-emerged as a leader in the Triangle on environmental issues.

To achieve real results on climate action, I've been working hard to protect our tree canopy, natural spaces, and water quality. To reduce car dependency through better land use. To improve stormwater regulations and update our flood-mitigation policies. To move to net-zero in town operations.

Taking care of our environment is crucial to the health of our planet -- and to the health and well-being of everyone in town.

Planning for
growth our way

One of the big successes of the last four years was creation of the Complete Community framework for managing growth. It began with some hard truths about the path we've been on and then charted a way forward to the more affordable, equitable, and sustainable place we want to be.

I'm excited about this holistic approach, which replaces the old developer-driven model with proactive planning. It lets us ask for the kind of growth we want, the community benefits we expect, and the mix of housing types and commercial and community spaces we need. And we'll be creating an ambitious Everywhere to Everywhere greenway network to connect it all together.

Gun Violence Awareness Day 2022_edited.j

Nurturing robust diversity

A diverse community is a healthy, resilient community. Council has been working to build that diverse strength into everything we do.

For me, that means planning for a variety of housing types at different price points. Offering mobility options, like transit service and bike lanes and greenways, to give people an alternative to driving. Reaching out and reaching in to make sure all voices are heard in town decisions. Balancing denser growth with stronger protections of trees and streams, a stronger park and greenway system. And bringing new jobs and new opportunities downtown, to keep our businesses thriving, diversify our tax base, and make it an even more vibrant place to be.