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Lavelle Running for Re-Election in Carrboro, Parker Running for Council in Chapel Hill

With election filing under a month away, announcements are coming in from local candidates. Just this morning, Carrboro mayor Lydia Lavelle announced she will be seeking re-election. Earlier this week, Michael Parker, a health care consultant and Chapel Hill Planning Commission member, announced he will run for Chapel Hill Town Council this fall. (Parker also applied for the seat vacated by former Council member Matt Czajkowski.)

Chapel Hill Town Council members Lee Storrow and Donna Bell confirmed earlier this year that they will also seek re-election. Council member Jim Ward has also indicated he will likely seek re-election as well.

Have you heard of any other potential candidates or any other candidates who are seeking office this year? Or is there anyone you would like to see run? Let us know in the comments.

Town Council Delays Vote on Obey Creek

At their meeting last night, the Chapel Hill Town Council took public comment and discussed the Obey Creek development agreement, but delayed a vote on the proposal until next Monday.

The Council also discussed and enacted the 2015-16 budget and approved a revised personnel ordinance.

Public comment on Obey Creek centered around the issues that have long dominated the discussion: traffic, transit, and the size of the development. Council members seemed interested in delaying their vote a week due to new staff information, including smaller development scenario outcomes, that the Council received last Friday.

Tweets recapping last night's meeting are captured in the Storify below. Have thoughts about Obey Creek or the other items discussed? Add them in the comments.

What We're Reading: June 5

We read a lot of articles about local government, public sector innovation, open government, urban planning, and social justice. Since we often relate these articles to things happening locally here in Orange County and the Triangle, we thought we'd start sharing them from time to time. Here's what we read this week:

2016 County Bond Should Include Affordable Housing

Local governments across the state and country are struggling to meet basic needs in this era of tax breaks for the wealthy and austerity for the rest of us.

Here in Orange County, we have a variety of pressing needs from overdue school maintenance to the burgeoning senior population to general poverty and housing affordability. In response, the County Commissioners decided to put a bond referendum on the ballot in 2016.

In the discussions leading up to that decision, the needs of the school systems were justifiably a consensus priority since it would be foolish to forego needed maintenance on the school systems’ infrastructure. Yet, while most of the commissioners had also expressed support for other issues - most prominently affordable housing – they surprisingly voted with little public input to dedicate the bond solely to schools.

The issue of affordable housing is receiving more attention than at any time in recent history. We have a huge identified need. We have affordable housing providers who have a proven track record of delivering successful projects. The major missing ingredient is funds.

Sunday Open Thread: 36 Hours in Chapel Hill-Carrboro

In case you missed it (in the event that all of your Facebook friends didn't post it), the New York Times posted a "36 Hours in Chapel Hill-Carrboro" video and piece last week. The video features several local restaurants and bars, including Al's Burger Shack, ONE Restaurant, the Baxter Bar & Arcade, Neal's Deli, among others, and local attractions like the NC Botanical Gardens, Ackland Art Museum, and the Carolina Basketball Museum.

The editors of OrangePolitics thought the video was superb and truly highlighted some of the best food, drinks, and attractions in our community. But we did want to ask you: What do you think the NY Times missed that is a must-see if you're just dropping in for a few days? Let us know in the comments.

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