Democracy & Open Government

Press release:

CHAPEL HILL HEARING ON PUBLIC FINANCING

Wednesday, May 14, 7pm, Chapel Hill Town Hall

Last year, the town of Chapel Hill became the first municipality in the state authorized to create a Voter-Owned Elections program for local races

Now, the town of Chapel Hill is introducing such a proposal. It would allow grassroots candidates to run for mayor of town council while raising only $5 and $10, and $20 contributions from local residents

The town has put together draft legislation and will solicit feedback from Chapel Hillians at a public hearing on Wednesday, May 14th at 7pm. The meeting will be held at the Chapel Hill Town Hall located 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (Note: The Voter-Owned Elections section starts right at 7pm, so try and get there by 6:45. We’ll have talking points you can use).

NC Voters for Clean Elections has been working with the town of Chapel Hill for years to make this reform possible. Now that the proposal is being considered, it’s very important that we demonstrate public support.

If you are a resident of Chapel Hill or Orange County, please come to the public hearing and speak out in support of the Voter-Owned Elections initiative.

To read the proposed ordinance click here.

More about Voter Owned Elections: The proposed Chapel Hill program would allow community-supported candidates without access to wealth to competitively run for town office. It would invigorate small dollar participation by encouraging candidates to run solely with contributions between $5 and $20. It would provide a check on the campaign money chase and the escalating cost of elections by allowing candidates to spend more time listening to voters and less time fundraising from big donors. And it would reduce the influence of money and special interest groups, by giving candidates a meaningful way to run without these groups’ support. Finally, it would allow the public to have more ownership of the process, by turning campaigns and campaign financing into a public good.

For more information about the meeting, or if you have comments or suggestions on the proposal, please call Chase Foster at (919)521-4121 or contact him by email at chase@ncvce.org.

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