There are two people running for town council in Carrboro, Cristóbal Palmer and Isaac Woolsey.
On September 20th, 2024 we sent both candidates the same set of basic questions and asked for them to be returned by October 1, 2024. You can see Cristóbal Palmer’s answers here.
We also sent Isaac Woolsey additional questions based on information available through voter records and his public Facebook and YouTube pages. This is not specific to Woolsey; we asked a school board candidate last year to explain why she had switched her voter registration from Republican to Democrat and gave her additional room to respond. She did.
Woolsey has attended recent council meetings in both towns to advocate for more accessible transportation for the disabled. We like some of the ideas Woolsey is campaigning on – we were intrigued by his campaign’s emphasis on increasing bus service and housing opportunities.
We are publishing Woolsey’s unedited answers in the interest of transparency and bringing information to voters, but we also want to make clear several of his statements are false, including that we attempted to access his medical records or had any interaction with Disability Rights North Carolina. Those things never happened.
Can you briefly explain your political beliefs and why you’re running?
I believe in equity for all marginalized groups including the disabled community which I am a part of. I believe everyone should own a home and have reliable transportation and employment. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) of 1990 states that all disabled Americans are entitled to employment, accessibility, and transportation to and from work and doctors appointments and recreational activities. Carrboro has fallen short on the ADA mandates because most of the disabled low income residents don’t have jobs, or reliable transportation (because the CHT and EZ Rider have limited operating hours), or houses of their own. I had trouble getting a job where I lived because of the bus schedule and some businesses wouldn’t hire me because I was disabled (ableist discrimination). In fact, according to my sources Mel Kramer of the Triangle Blog Blog and Owasa board was trying to go through medical and court records to see if I’m competent to serve on the town council and was using ableist language until the Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC) told her that I could run.
(Ed note: This is false. Tammy Grubb published a piece yesterday in the News and Observer that goes into detail concerning Woolsey’s court records. We have never accessed or attempted to access medical records. That’s illegal. No one from Triangle Blog Blog has looked into Woolsey’s competency to serve. No one from the Disability Rights North Carolina organization has reached out to us, nor us to them. They were quoted in Tammy Grubb’s piece.)
You changed your political party to No Labels from the Republican Party on September 5. When we briefly chatted about your party affiliation last month, you said you became a Republican to vote against Donald Trump in the 2024 primary – but you were a registered Republican since September 2019, attended Liberty University, and follow many conservative voices online on both Facebook and Twitter. Carrboro is a town that prides itself on welcoming everyone and the vast majority of our town are registered Democrats and vote Democrat. Can you briefly talk about this?
I am an independent at heart and I was only registered Republican for Primaries which a lot of Democrats vote in. I only attended Liberty for a year because I was recruited and did not have to apply for other colleges. I never graduated. I now attend Central Carolina Community College. I also checked my personal facebook for these alleged “conservative voices” were Catholic groups which the Catholic Church has been subject to more than 200 years of stigma and persecution in America by anti immigrant sentiment and racism (against migrants).
Ed note: As of October 2024, Woolsey follows Donald Trump, Trump’s archived account, and a number of right-wing accounts on Twitter, including one that lists their pronouns as Smith and Wesson. He has voted in the last three Republican primaries.
The No Labels Party is shutting down next February. Why did you choose this party?
Because the NC Board of Elections didn’t have an option for Independent.
Ed note: The NC Board of Elections has an option for unaffiliated. This answer differs from the answer Woolsey gave in Tammy Grubb’s interview.
On your Facebook page, you belong to pro-life groups and groups in support of Donald Trump, and you have YouTube videos up that make jokes about using the n-word, Black history month, and trans people. You also posted “I wonder if American white women secretly fantasize about being the victims of a violent crime.” Carrboro recently passed a proclamation that reproductive rights are human rights, and has issued similar proclamations on racial equity and LGBTQ+ issues. Do you agree?
I do not belong to any pro-life or Trump groups. I do comedy as a hobby and apparently you didn’t watch any of it because I never used the n-word in my life. I did tell a story of how one time a black comic tried to give me an n-word pass and I refused. The joke was “an n-word pass to a white person is like an American Express Card. It’s not accepted everywhere”. Meaning it’s best if you’re not black to not say it. I only mentioned Black History Month briefly in a setup to an unrelated joke. I made only one joke mentioning trans people and it was from Danny (a ventriloquist dummy who says offensive things as part of the joke) who was asked if he was transphobic and he said “I don’t hate trans women because they’re trans I hate them because they’re women”. A lot of my trans fans love that joke by the way. I did not post that I think white women fantasize about being victims of violent crimes. I made a post criticizing True Crime fandoms and Netflix documentaries fetishizing serial killers because it’s offensive to the actual victims of the crimes. I never once publicly or privately spoke out against reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, or racial equity. I am for all those rights.
Ed note: As of September 2024, Woolsey was a member of Facebook groups including: an “I Am Pro-Life” group, the “Mitt Romney” group, the “Faith and Freedom” group, and the “Stand with Liberty” group, which is “dedicated to empowering our families, our communities and our nation to thrive once again under the banner of liberty and limited government.”
After we sent him these questions, Woolsey responded by immediately blocking one of our writers on Facebook – our other writers can still access his page, which remains public – and emailing us the following message: “My lawyer says I can’t answer any questions relating to my private Facebook page and that if you try to publish it will be grounds for a lawsuit.” He then answered the questions and sent us his answers.
Again, Woolsey’s Facebook page remains public and was public when we accessed it several times this summer and fall. At some point after receiving our questionnaire, he removed his membership from the groups mentioned above. Here is a screenshot from July 25, 2024 showing his membership in these groups.
This is a public post from January 27, 2023:
What is your vision for Carrboro in 10 years?
Probably more homes being fully owned by marginalized residents with 24/7 transportation (maybe use those old train tracks that UNC uses for coal to power the power station and turn it into an electric powered light rail system) and more affordable places to eat and shop in Carrboro
What are three things that you believe the town could be doing better?
- Transportation
- Affordable Housing
- Raising Disabled Equity
What are the things you think the town currently is doing right?
Building greenways and the 203 project are what come to my mind.
We know that feedback the Council receives does not reflect Carrboro’s population. How will you ensure your decision making process takes into account the perspectives of people who may not have the time or resources to attend council meetings?
I plan on having local Q&A sessions at local businesses and briefly going over the latest meetings with residents both on and offline
Our school system is experiencing a decline in elementary school students. Are there any policy changes Carrboro could make to help with that?
Maybe we can take a chapter from Tim Walz and make school lunches free for students.
Small cities like Asheville and Evanston IL have implemented reparations program to help address past discriminatory government actions that contributed to racial homeownership and wealth gaps. Should Chapel Hill/Carrboro implement a reparations program? Why or why not?
This may seem controversial, but I think we could implement reparations. For instance we could do grants for new minority home buyers and business owners. Right now the local housing market is keeping out minorities and I think that is awful.
Given the urgency of the issues that face Carrboro—including the lack of housing, and the threat of climate change—do you think Carrboro’s decision making processes are effective? If not, how would you change them?
I think to solve the housing problem the Town Council should have the Accessible Town Affordability Program (ATAP) where new home buyers can pay for homes for a fraction of the cost while the town pays the rest as part of a grant as long as the recipient contractually agreed that for 5 years after the home is purchased the property cannot be made into an Airbnb or Verbo rental and if it is made into a leased property the rent cannot be over $1500 a month and we can offer incentives for solar panel installation and incentives if can be made into a group home for housing insecure residents. Also more bike ways and public transit.
Should council have term limits? Why or why not?
I think all elected officials should have no more than two terms. As Mark Twain said, “politicians are like diapers and should be changed out for the same reasons”.
If you could design a pair of Crocs for yourself, what would they look like?
I cannot wear crocs because I have fallen arches but if I did, my design would be black with blue flames.
Questions for candidate interviews were compiled by a group of people, including Stephen Whitlow, Martin Johnson, Melody Kramer, and John Rees.