Elections

The Chapel Hill Herald reports on the second of two public hearings about establishing some kind of geographic districts for electing the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

One option calls for five commissioner seats to be nominated from districts. Voters countywide would then vote on the candidates in the general election.

Another option has five commissioner seats nominated from districts in the primary, with two additional at-large seats. Voters would elect candidates in the general election.

The final option would split the county into a northern and southern district. The northern district would have two seats; the southern district would have three. Nominations would be district-based, with voters choosing candidates from both districts in the general election.
- The Chapel Hill Herald, 9/1/05

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday August 20, 2005

Political observers appear baffled by Carrboro's mayoral race. None seems willing to go out on a limb to characterize how the race may play out. But all agree that it will be tough to find clear-cut political differences between aldermen Mark Chilton and Alex Zaffron.

Current Mayor Mike Nelson told a reporter recently that he could not recall any time that Chilton and Zaffron were on opposite sides of the issue. He characterized their opposing votes on the northeast area annexation as a disagreement on timing and procedure rather than on outcome. Alderman Jacquie Gist, herself seeking re-election, said "they both come from the same progressive base."

Chapel Hill political veteran Joe Herzenberg concurred, offering that, "As far as the issues are concerned, there is not a great deal of difference between the two. It has a great deal more to do with style and what kind of person you want as your mayor." Nelson added that "as aldermen, their role is different from what their role as mayor would be."

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday August 13, 2005

Now that the candidates are known, Chapel Hillians can expect a different kind of Town Council campaign this year. The old green/green split that has marked town politics for the past decade has not emerged in this year's field. By "green/green," I mean environment vs. profits.

Among this year's challengers, only Laurin Easthom is explicitly running on bread-and-butter environmental and neighborhood protection issues (although her campaign Web site lists a raft of other concerns). At this juncture, no candidate is clearly identified with a business constituency.

Another difference in this year's race is the weakness of the field. Along with 2001, when only one incumbent sought re-election, this is the least experienced group of candidates in many years. Only two incumbents are on the ballot and, among the challengers only Easthom and Will Raymond currently serve on town advisory boards.