Attack Ads

This seems to be an unfortunate first in Chapel Hill elections. The Daily Tarheel reports that Dianne Bachman, that paragon of moral purity, has run ads attacking Cam Hill for insinuating that she might not be totally fair when it comes to decisions about UNC development.

A few ridiculous things about this:

Four More DAZE...

It's the day after Halloween and even though I was downtown 'til past midnight I went running early and other than the people who were still up there weren't many others about..........I found two cell phones, many shoes (no pairs), pieces of costumes, diapers and lots of beer bottles. I find that either "lite" beer drinkers litter more than traditionally caloric beer drinkers or "lite" beer has taken over the market; yet another sign of the distressing decay of the IQ level in our society.........I digress, I guess.........Four more days 'til this election is over. What I want to know is: who is going to win and why? If you post the right answer here, just think of the glory! The world will be your bivalve!

Infill, pseudo-infill, and NIMBYism in Carrboro

Let’s talk about Carrboro’s current development policy (probably the most contentious issue in Carrboro politics this month). At the risk of oversimplifying, we seem to have 3 camps here in town. One camp seems to be the majority (and vocal minority at times) and advocates the current administration’s policy of increasing commercial space downtown by allowing taller buildings to make dense development economically feasible for the developers. This camp (or at least lots of people I’ve talked to) generally approves of dense housing and commercial downtown and has mixed feelings about high density village mixed use development outside of the main part of town but understands that village mixed use has its positives and negatives and generally supports it as a way to reduce sprawl and the cookie cutter subdivisions that are its alternative. These folks also tend to be resigned to the fact that Carrboro is going to continue to add population whether they like it or not and they look for ways to accommodate that without the sprawl and increased pricing that has occurred in every other town where this has happened.

What's at Stake in the School Board Race?

Can somebody break down the school board race for us? I know this: Incumbents Gloria Faley, Ed Sechrest and Elizabeth Carter are running. Challengers Jamezetta Bedford, Mike Kelley and George Griffin are also running. There are four seats total to be filled.

Personally I have known Gloria Faley and Elizabeth Carter for a long time and I plan to vote for them, but I am having a hard time picking my other candidates. I like Ed Sechrest and I think I will vote for him, but how do I choose from among Bedford, Kelley and Griffin.

All the newspaper articles make these candidates sound very similar. About the most substantive thing I can find is that Griffin and Kelley are critical of a Board decision to eliminate "a self-contained classroom" for "gifted" students in middle schools. Is that a suburban middle-class issue that betrays something about who Griffin and Kelley are? Or is it just plain old vote grabbing? Or is there a real, live issue there (but one which I don't entirely understand)?

Now Play Nice, Y'all

Hi folks. The amount of participation and dialogue on the site lately has been amazing! It's really exciting to see so many ideas being exchanged, and to hear voices that aren't often reflected in the local media and government chambers. A lot of people have contacted me to say so - including candidates, reporters, and elected officials!

While I understand that some folks have compelling reasons for posting anonymously or under pseudonyms, I also am concerned that by not standing behind the words, writers really lessen their credibility in the conversation. I've also seen that such anonymity tends to lower the level of discourse. Speaking to strangers on the Internet is very different than speaking to folks you run into around town. Please try to write as if you were talking to your neighbor, ie: someone you have to get along with, even if you disagree or dislike her.

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