Carrboro Mayor to Retire

I've heard this before so I'll believe this when I see it. The Chapel Hill Herald reports that Mike Nelson began his fifth term as Mayor of Carrboro by announcing it would be his last.

The reporter gives more free press to Jeff Vanke, who had already pledged to run in 2005, but apparently she couldn't be bothered to get the opinion of anyone else in town about who else might be a candidate. Maybe this go-round Vanke will file in time to get his name on the ballot, but he certainly won't be the only one.

Who you would you like to see on that ballot?

Gonna Make a Few Changes 'Round Here

Hey folks, I have made a few changes to commenting, and I will probably make some more. The biggest difference is that the e-mail address field must be filled in to submit your comment. (This doesn't actually limit anonymity since you can put anything there you like. Shhh, don't tell.) Also, there are new and improved guidlines on the comment form. Please read them.

Also, I am going to experiment with just editing or deleting the text from problem posts instead of the whole thing. I will continue to e-mail the author whenever possible (hint, hint). You'll see an editor's message, like "[DELETED:OFF-TOPIC]," instead of the post. I hope not to have to do this often.

I invite anyone who feels this restricts what they have to say to get your own blog. Blogging is fun! But this site is taking up much more of my time than it should this week.

Super Campus


Faster than a eigth-year senior. More powerful than an 800-pound gorilla. Able to leap over local government in a single bound. Look, up on Airport Road... It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Carolina North!

Yes, tonight UNC officially unveiled it's long-awaited "draft" plans for a gigantic new campus to be built on the Horace Williams property. I have a cold and I'm tired so I'll try to be brief. Pardon any goofyness, typos, etc.

Orange Approves Benefits for Employee Partners

Bit of a no-brainer, really. The Orange County Commissioners voted last week to extend benefits to domestic parters of County employees. According to the Chapel Hill Herald, Commissioner Alice Gordon says they had wanted to do it before but couldn't afford it. The extra charge from the insurance company is gone, so they did it. It's nice to see the trickle-down effect of progressive social policies at big corporations.

Durham, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro already do it, although Durham only offers the benefit to same-sex couples. What about straight cohabitators? Apparently less than 1% of the employees in these municipalities use the domestic partner benefit. The social impact on the community of doing this is an added value. This is an inexpensive way to do something good.

All Things in Moderation

The increasing amount of participation on this site is wonderful. The site has only been up for two months, and already so many more people are engaged in this dialogue than I expected. However, with the increased traffic there are also new challenges.

I am commited to OrangePolitics.org remaining an open forum, and in making room for all kinds of voices. Anonymity often degrades the quality of our discussion, but it also allows more people to speak their minds than might otherwise do so. Anonymity will stay for now, but we may need to step up moderation of the site to ensure that conversations are safe, sane, and productive.

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