The Independent Weekly

Indy endorsements are out!

And I can't say I disagree with them much. (But I do have some quibbles. More about that when we post our annual Endorsements Thread soon.) Here's an overview of their picks (which you already know if you follow us on Twitter): 

  • Chapel Hill Town Council: Sally Greene, Ed Harrison, Maria Palmer, George Cianciolo
  • CHCCS School Board: James Barett, Michelle Brownstein, Andrew Davidson
  • Carrboro Board of Alderpeople: Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Jacquie Gist, Sammy Slade
  • Hillsborough Town Board: Kathleen Ferguson, Jennifer Weaver 

To learn more about all these folks see our spreadsheet of candidates at orangepolitics.org/elections-2013/candidates 

I love that the Indy now posts the full text of the candidate questionnares. Those things take a LOT of work to complete.  

Chapel Hill 2020 steamrolls ahead

2020 collage

The Independent Weekly has a new reporter on the Orange County beat, Billy Ball. He has some enormous shoes to fill since Chapel Hill native Joe Schwartz left the paper and the country.  Ball is doing pretty well so far and asking good questions. I can't help but notice a few gaps in his knowledge of local issues, but that can be rectified with time.

In this week's article "City or Town?" Ball takes a look at Chapel Hill 2020 in advance of the draft comprehensive plan coming before the Town Council for inevitable approval on Monday. Although he doesn't ask the questions I'm most interested in now, such as how will the Town answer the many outstanding questions and gaps in the plan, I do appreciate him pointing out that "Some of its harshest criticism has come from within the committees that molded Chapel Hill 2020."

The Independent Weekly has endorsed Penny Rich, Mark Dorosin, and Renee Price for County Commissioner!

Money talks

Thanks to The Independent Weekly for their recent article uncovering who is funding some of the most contentious local campaigns.

We already knew that statewide realtors and developer interests were funding the opposition to the Land Transfer Tax, including deceptive mailings and robocalls. Now we can see just how much money they are pouring in to fight this modest proposal. Fiona Morgan reports that the realtors had raised $234,239 as of April 28th.

The committee has spent $205,115 on direct mailings, polls and ads. With 95,805 registered voters in Orange County, that amounts to $2.14 spent per voter as of April 18, more than two weeks before the election.

- Independent Weekly: Orange: Sprawl lobby just says no to LTT, 4/30/08

The Independent's 2008 primary picks

Independent Weekly endorsements for the 2008 primary have just been posted online at http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A256728

They will be in tomorrow's print edition as well. Here's a summary:

  • Commissioners, District 2: Leo Allison
  • Commissioners, At-large: Bernadette Pelissier
  • Orange County Board of Education: Steve Halkiotis, Eddie Eubanks, Tony McKnight
  • Transfer Tax: Yes
  • District Court Judge: Page Vernon

 

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