Ruby Sinreich's blog

Today is the LAST day to file to be on the ballot for this fall's election!

Filing actually closes at noon, but I will be pretty busy until about 1pm, so please keep your eyes on this page, my friends, and report what you see! Thanks.

Also, feel free to ruminate on this: what do you think of candidates who wait until the last minute to thoroughly assess the field before they declare? Are they being strategic or just chicken?

I'm interested in having one or two interns help out on OrangePolitics during the elections this year. This would be a great opportunity for a young person to learn about grassroots politics, local government, and the trendy new world of political blogging! We can't offer money, but may be able to arrange academic credit.

Here's the job description:

Local Government Watcher, Civic Engagement Specialist, and/or Local Politics Blogger

OrangePolitics is an online community which exists to encourage residents of Orange County, NC to get involved in local government and civic activities by offering progressive perspectives on local and regional issues.

Qualifications

Must be registered to vote, preferably in Orange County!
Must be interested in politics or advocacy.
Must be articulate and able to write clearly.
Must be comfortable with online research and eager to learn about about new issues.
Blogging experience is a plus, but not required.

Position description

This weekend, Eric Muller's blog pointed me to a story in the Chapel Hill News about El Centro Latino. I'm not sure whether I should write that El Centro is having trouble again, or that their struggle continues.

There's no doubt their path has been rocky. From my vantage point, it's difficult to tell how much of these problems are from working with a low-resource population on problems that the majority of people may not know exist, and how much of it stems from poor management. It's likely to be at least a little of both. But having worked professionally in the nonprofit sector for over a decade, I have a lot of sympathy for the challenges of a brand-new organization just trying to get on it's feet while the problems it hopes to address are exploding. It's certainly annoying to see people take the time to complain about them instead of volunteering or donating to make the programs better.