November 2005

FYI

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce has updated our elections website www.carolinachamber.org/elections by adding audio from the Chamber/WCHL 1360AM/EmPOWERment forums. Now you can click to hear individual candidate responses to some of the forum questions. Special thanks to WCHL 1360AM for providing forum audio for use on the website.

Thank you,

Jason Jolley
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce

Well this has been a learning experience for me. Collecting and compiling just a little bit of information about the candidates was a lot more work than I expected. What I have so far is only what candidates provided for me, or information that was very easy to find (like endorsements).

I tried to e-mail all of them, but forgot a few in the first round (and don't have e-mail for all of them in spite of asking for it by snail mail). Any candidates who I missed, please contact me ASAP and accept my apologies. I still need to take pictures of a few more yard signs.

This Saturday morning at 10:30 at Carrboro Town Hall, John Herrera will present a proposal to develop a “yellow bike” program that has proven very successful in many communities in the US and around the world.

Yellow bike projects provide free access to bicycles for municipal transportation. The objective is to reduce the use of short auto trips, cut down on congestion and pollution, and increase mobility. It is called yellow bike because the bikes are usually painted a bright yellow color to clearly identify them as belonging to the program.

Herrera will be joinedby members of Critical Mass, a bicyclist rights organization, and the Recylcery, which repairs and gives away old bikes.

After the presentation Carrboro bicyclists are invited to join Herrera and supporters for a bike tour around Carrboro. A more detailed statement and information will be available at the event.

So I noticed that the elusive mayoral challenger Kevin Wolff suddenly has a number of yard signs around town. Then I got this e-mail from a friend:

Kevin Wolff got signs, and they're popping up everywhere. I didn't think he'd bother - he hasn't done much so far. But also, I got my Orange County Republican Party Newsletter today... and they included a link to Wolff's website: http://hometown.aol.com/kwolffmayor/myhomepage/

And Ginny recently posted this message from the College Republicans listserve:

Think you know what's going to happen on Tuesday? Here's your chance to prove it: OrangePolitics 2005 Election Predictions Contest

Anyone who predicts the winners correctly will be announced here (unless requested otherwise) and whoever comes closest to predicting the ORDER of the winners will be named the Pundit of the Year.

You can play anonymously, but don't you want to take credit for your analytical prowess? Give it a shot! (Remember: vote for who you think will win, not who you want to win.)

One of the most amusing treats of the election season is the News & Observer annual candidate guide, which asks the important question: What's your favorite movie?

Here are each candidate's selections:

Chapel Hill Mayor
· Kevin Foy: none listed
· Kevin Wolff: didn't respond

Chapel Hill Town Council
· Bill Thorpe: Ray
· Ed Harrison: none listed
· Jason Baker: American: Beauty
· Laurin Easthom: The English Patient
· Mark Kleinschmidt: Brazil, Lord of the Rings, All About Eve
· Robin Cutson: Dancer in the Dark starring Bjork
· Will Raymond: Lilies of the Field

Carrboro Mayor
· Alex Zaffron: Schindler's List
· Mark Chilton: Matewan

Tomorrow's the square dance we've all been waiting for, and since there will be people gathering in all corners of our fair village, I want to extend an invitation.

If you're so inclined, please consider coming out to WCHL's broadcast. I'll be moderating live talks at Town Hall Grill in Southern Village from 7:30 until the results are all in. Notable guests will include Neil Offen, Kirk Ross and Ryan Tuck, editors of the CHH, the Independent and the DTH, respectively.

If you've already got plans for somewhere else, hey, great - your civic interest is worth it in itself. But if you're shopping for a place to go, keep in mind that we have complimentary FOOD from the host, free WIRELESS to suit your blogging needs, and the poll RESULTS as they happen.

We'll also have interviews with as many candidates as will speak with us, so even if you can't come (and I hope you will) tune in to 1360 AM for live coverage.

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday November 05, 2005

Back in March, Moses Carey articulated an accurate argument against district representation for the County Commissioners.

"Any model that promotes or encourages parochialism will be dysfunctional in this county," Carey said. "Problems don't stop at district lines. Water flows across district lines; economic development doesn't occur all in one district. Narrowing the focus and encouraging people to care only about what happens within the lines of their district is just the opposite of what we need to be encouraging elected officials to do, which is to think more broadly and make decisions that are more broadly based."

But, it turns out that Carey was not arguing against districts per se. He was arguing for a system of districts in which the candidates must live within a district but would be elected by the entire county.

This solution, not surprisingly, does not satisfy residents of the rural sections of the county who feel that the current at-large system does not provide them with adequate representation.

Howdy, all, and thanks for this very interesting site. I have a process-related question:

The N&O voters' guide says that not only will the top three finishers in the Carrboro Board election be seated as aldermen for the usual four-year terms, but that whoever finishes fourth in this Tuesday's election will also be seated, for a two-year term, when the new mayor is seated.

Can anyone acquainted with election law tell me (and us) whether:
(a) that's correct, or whether
(b) a special election will be held for the unexpired aldermanic term of Mark or Alex, or whether
(c) the seat will be filled by appointment (and, if so, who does the appointing)?

Much obliged,
Mark H. (a newbie)

Blogging isn't just a faceless virtual activity reserved for geeks. All kinds of bloggers actually meet in person the old fashioned way. These get-togethers known as Blogger Meetups can be a safe and fun way to meet the people who live near you. And no it really isn't a new dating scene. :)

Before I went to the Triangle Bloggers Conference last year I only knew a few people in Chapel Hill. But now thanks to Anton Zuiker a.k.a. MisterSugar, the conference organizer, several neighbors meet every other week. These folks have become a very important part of my local community. Their blogs have become an important way for me to stay in touch and learn new things from them. (See blogtogether.com for details.)

Guest Post/Cross-posted by Xan Gregg
Orange Country provides timely online election results, and their HTML is friendly enough that is can be imported into JMP. Below is a graph I came up to show the Chapel Hill town council results by precinct. Precincts, along the horizontal axis, are sorted by number of total votes. [Click graph to see full resolution version.]

I’m thinking there’s a better graph using area, but this overlay is the best I can do easily. At least it shows a few interesting pieces of information:

The maps below show the percentages of votes by precinct garnered by each candidate for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen.

Let's see... tuition keeps going up... staff and faculty need raises... and the fattest cats on campus get raises based on a bigger percentage of their bigger salaries!

Raspberries to the General Assembly and UNC Board of Governors, for handing out raises to top university officials as if they had already won the lottery.

Raise your hand if you're accustomed to raises of up to 16 percent from one year to the next. That's what we thought.

The UNC Board of Governors approved raises for system presidents of 8 percent to 16 percent. James Moeser, chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill, got a 13 percent hike.

The board said the increases were necessary to keep the state system competitive with other universities nationwide. But it's an all-too-familiar slap to regular folks, including state employees with titles less lofty than chancellor, who are told the budget can't handle more than a 2 percent raise.
- Chapel Hill News, Roses & Raspberries, 11/16/05

The Question for Chapel Hill: More pollution and greenhouse gas emissions or More use of solar power and energy efficiency at UNC?

WHAT: Chapel Hill Town Council public hearing and probable vote on upgrading the UNC coal plant.

WHEN: Monday evening, November 21st. 7 PM

WHERE: Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd (formerly Airport Rd.)

WHY BE THERE: UNC is asking the Chapel Hill Town Council to permit the "upgrade of their power generation capabilities" at its coal plant. While UNC's co-generation plant is more efficient than most coal-burning power plants, the university admits that it expects to burn more coal at the plant than it does now. Burning more coal will produce more pollution and greenhouse gases. The university has not presented data on whether it could better meet its electricity demand by increasing the energy efficiency of UNC buildings and increasing its use of solar energy.

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO:

Elections are over now, and the community expression of support for the creation of the Bolin Creek Park and Preserve was overwhelming.

Thanks in no small part to Carrboro Mayor, Mike Nelson, we're on our way to making this park and preserve a reality. The 27 acre Adam's Tract is now in preservation, and last month the Carrboro BOA voted to accept a Conservation Map of the Bolin Creek Watershed.

But where do we go from here?

The planned Claremont development just west of Bolin Creek on the north side of Homestead Rd. is rapidly moving forward. UNC is in the concept stage of Carolina Commons, a development of 140 affordably priced homes for UNC faculty and staff just north of Winmore and east of Lake Hogan Farm. Much of the land targeted for preservation is developable and remains elusive. Clearly, if we are serious about making this park and preserve a reality, we must press on quickly.

Here's a really good idea from the letters to the editor of the Chapel Hill News:

Former sorority house would be ideal shelter

As Chapel Hill struggles with the issue of homelessness, shouldn't citizens of the town seize upon an opportunity that has been laid at its feet? Hasn't anyone noticed that the Delta Zeta sorority house is up for sale? It would be the perfect answer to the question of where to put the next homeless shelter.

This structure is specifically for the housing of a large group of people. It has countless bedrooms and bathrooms for the needs of unrelated residents. It also has a commercial kitchen, dining hall, a large meeting area and office space. The building is in excellent condition, needing no substantial modifications to serve its new purpose, and it is ready for immediate occupancy. It is ideally located near jobs and transportation.

Zoning of the area is obviously not a problem since it had a similar use in the recent past, and the neighbors might actually consider the transformation from sorority house to homeless shelter a move in the right direction.

OK, all of you who have been complaining about the downtown environment, time to take a hike. The Downtown Partnership is organizing "clean and safe" walking audits to survey the area for problem spots.

People interested in participating in the audits -- 90-minute guided tours -- should contact the partnership at 967-9440 or chdowntown@bellsouth.net.

There will be daytime and nighttime audits for each section of downtown:

* East End auditors will conduct audits at 8 p.m. Dec. 8 and 8 a.m. Dec. 9.

* Middle auditors will conduct audits at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 7 and 8 a.m. Dec. 8.

* West End auditors will conduct audits at 1 p.m. Dec. 7 and 7 p.m. Dec. 9.

- News & Observer, 11/29/05