Welcome to the open thread for the Chapel Hill Mayor candidate forum happening on October 4, 2015. Comments on this post will open at that time.
There are three candidates running for one seat:
- Pam Hemminger
- Gary Kahn
- Mark Kleinschmidt
You can observe the forum at http://orangepolitics.org/elections-2015/forums/chmayor.
We hope you'll use this open thread to post your thoughts and reactions. Also, if you want to propose additional discussion topics, you can reach the editors during the forum via Twitter, Facebook, or the contact page. The forum moderator will have final say in question selection.
Issues:
Comments
Triple A Bond Rating
Given the state and national political climate, Chapel Hill leadership should be proud of our Triple A Bond Rating. The town has done well to position itself for fiscal responsibilty.
Quality of Life
The Triangle is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. People are moving here for the same reasons they did 40, 30, 20, 10 years ago, Climate, recreation, access to jobs and high quality higher education for their children. Employers are looking for commercial space near where people want to live and can afford to live. Current Chapel Hill residents would have to voluntarily agree to artifically lower the price of their homes to welcome people into the town. Or the townfolk can face the current reality challenging our town government. We need to recognize that RTP has plans to build housing within its perimeter putting more pressure on Chapel Hill.
Bond Information
To my knowledge, bus replacement is not part of the bond issue. Streetscape and sidewalks, also, to my knoweldge, is different from street maintenance. I believe your understanding of the bond issue may not be fundamentally correct.