Media
Last Sunday in the Chapel Hill Herald's letters column, the Community Action Network's Fred Black took issue with a column by Dan Coleman, which took issue with the Community Action Network. Surprise, surprise. The roots of the animus between CAN and Coleman (and, it should be said, the Sierra Club the Greens, and most of the town's New Left) are long, and not worth describing here. Let's just say they have a difference of opinion.
In Black's letter he went on to impugn Coleman's ethics as a columnist this way:
"Mr. Coleman alleges that CAN has not clarified its policy interests and endorsement procedures; we have. What hasn't been clarified is Mr. Coleman's tap dancing on the line of endorsing candidates in his columns, his active endeavors in support of "his" candidates, and his ethical standards as a columnist. He needs to clearly disclose these things to the readers of The Chapel Hill Herald."
The Chapel Hill News has published endorsements for Carrboro Mayor and Board of Aldermen as well as Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board.
In Carrboro, the News went with a solid slate of incumbents Mike Nelson, Joal Broun, and Alex Zaffron - plus Mark Chilton. I would certainly endorse that endorsement. Anyone want to discuss the history or odds of running as an earnest write-in candidate? I haven't seen anyone do it around here before. But even if I lived in Carrboro (which I don't) and even if he was on the ballot (which he's not), I still wouldn't vote for Jeff Vanke.)
For School Board, the News goes with incumbents Elizabeth Carter and Gloria Faley (who rock), pseudo-incumbent Ed Schrest, and over-qualified George Griffin.
The Independent Weekly published a trio of articles about Chapel Hill and Carrboro Races this week.
The articles are good. I appreciated coverage of Dianne Bachman's uncomfortable position, but I think calling it a "conflict of interest" really misses the mark. It's more like a conflict of perspective or conflict of loyalty. They also failed to look past her campaign slogans to investigate where her ideas came from and whether she actually understands them.
"Four for Town Council"
When Chapel Hill voters cast ballots for Town Council in a couple of weeks, theyll be doing more than filling open seats on the towns governing board. Theyll also be deciding the course of development of UNCs Horace Williams tract, the future of downtown revitalization and other key issues.
This years Town Council race has been a fairly low-key affair because, unfortunately, no candidates emerged to challenge the mayor for re-election. But the issues couldnt be greater, particularly town-gown relations and the development of Carolina North. The outcome of those negotiations will require a combination of firmness and accommodation on the part of our elected officials.
Given that context, The Chapel Hill News endorses the following for election to the Town Council on Nov. 4:
This week, the Chapel Hill News tried to draw some distinctions between Town Council candidates. It got some stuff right, but what a lot of B.S.! And there's at least one inaccuracy in there. I'll buy a beer for the first person to spot it and post here.
The Chapel Hill Herald's coverage of their own candidate forum was interesting, especially since they raised the issue of conflict of interest for UNC employees. They also wisely didn't ask every question of every candidate. Unfortunately these two good factors appear to have conspired to let Diane Bachman off the hook on this crucial question.
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