Elections

News and opinions related to local elections.

Fred Black Threatens the Status Quo at The Herald; Waldorf Makes Her Endorsements

Last Sunday in the Chapel Hill Herald's letters column, the Community Action Network's Fred Black took issue with a column by Dan Coleman, which took issue with the Community Action Network. Surprise, surprise. The roots of the animus between CAN and Coleman (and, it should be said, the Sierra Club the Greens, and most of the town's New Left) are long, and not worth describing here. Let's just say they have a difference of opinion.

In Black's letter he went on to impugn Coleman's ethics as a columnist this way:

"Mr. Coleman alleges that CAN has not clarified its policy interests and endorsement procedures; we have. What hasn't been clarified is Mr. Coleman's tap dancing on the line of endorsing candidates in his columns, his active endeavors in support of "his" candidates, and his ethical standards as a columnist. He needs to clearly disclose these things to the readers of The Chapel Hill Herald."

More Endorsements by <i>The C. H. News</i>

The Chapel Hill News has published endorsements for Carrboro Mayor and Board of Aldermen as well as Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board.

In Carrboro, the News went with a solid slate of incumbents Mike Nelson, Joal Broun, and Alex Zaffron - plus Mark Chilton. I would certainly endorse that endorsement. Anyone want to discuss the history or odds of running as an earnest write-in candidate? I haven't seen anyone do it around here before. But even if I lived in Carrboro (which I don't) and even if he was on the ballot (which he's not), I still wouldn't vote for Jeff Vanke.)

For School Board, the News goes with incumbents Elizabeth Carter and Gloria Faley (who rock), pseudo-incumbent Ed Schrest, and over-qualified George Griffin.

Breakfast Club Endorsements

The Hank Anderson Breakfast Club's endorsements were published in the Chapel Hill Herald on Monday.

The Breakfast Club endorsed Joal Broun, Alex Zaffron, and Mark Chilton in Carrboro; Elizabeth Carter, Gloria Faley, and Ed Sechrest for School Board; Thatcher Freund, Sally Greene, Bill Strom, and Jim Ward in Chapel Hill. They also endorsed both incumbent Mayors.

The Breakfast Club pretty much contains the leadership of the local NAACP, so this tell us where they stand. Sadly, they don't pull many votes in local elections. But they do know how to get things done. I wonder why didn't do a "South Orange Black Caucus" endorsement as they have in the past?

The only surprise for me was that they endorsed Thatcher Freund instead of Cam Hill. Thatcher's pretty progressive, but I think Cam's got a much better understanding of Northside's issues since he lives near it, and has a working-class background. I guess they were more impressed by Thacher's politics than by Cam's residency.

The Indy Does Orange

The Independent Weekly published a trio of articles about Chapel Hill and Carrboro Races this week.

The articles are good. I appreciated coverage of Dianne Bachman's uncomfortable position, but I think calling it a "conflict of interest" really misses the mark. It's more like a conflict of perspective or conflict of loyalty. They also failed to look past her campaign slogans to investigate where her ideas came from and whether she actually understands them.

Pedestrian-(un)Friendly Carrboro

For those of us who grew up in any other part of North Carolina, moving to Carrboro often seems like moving to a different (and better) world. Carrborians have always prided ourselves in trying to keep the good parts of Southern life intact (the relaxed pace and community) while striving to be the most culturally diverse, progressive town in the state. Instead of comparing ourselves to other similar-sized cities in the state, like Brevard or Concord or Goldsboro, most folks I know now compare Carrboro to other interesting, progressive cities throughout the country. We still stack up quite nicely in terms of our schools, public transit, and leadership, but we fall quite short on a very important indicator or quality of life: pedestrian friendliness.

Just look at other towns that are often mentioned in the same breath as our own: Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor, Madison, Towson Park, MD. We are much smaller than most of these towns and have other factors which separate us, but these municipalities are ones in which you can walk around much more freely and where bike paths and sidewalks can carry you to most parts of town.

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