Remember John McCormick? The lawyer for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (and the money that went missing with him) hasn't been seen since his abandoned car was found at Duke Forest on July 11. The School Board fired McCormick after his disappearing act - only about a decade too late, in my opinion - and now they're hiring a replacement to advise and represent the school system.

2006 seems to be the year of new executive staff at at our local governments with the managers of Chapel Hill and Orange County retiring as well.

Representatives of the three firms will participate in one-hour interview sessions with subcommittee members on Wednesday, Oct. 11, from 4-7 pm at Lincoln Center. The subcommittee is scheduled to meet at 6 pm on Oct. 17 at Linclon Center [sic] to determine its recommendation regarding legal counsel to the entire Board. That recommendation is expected to appear on the Board agenda on November 2.

Guest Post by Yonni Chapman

I want to make sure everyone knows about the panel/debate/discussion on UNC's Unsung Founders Memorial this Wednesday, Hanes Art Center 121, 5-7pm.

Criticism has now pushed to the surface and gained momentum along the same lines that was noted here on OrangePolitics and elsewhere at the time of the dedication--the memorial to slaves is long overdue and welcome, but the implementation is pathetic. It pacifies and "midgitizes" the contribution of black workers. The biggest problem is that, once again, white people spoke for black people, and got it wrong. The descendants--actual and figurative (black campus workers)--were not consulted during the planning process. One or two black students were involved, but everyone else was a white professional. Diversity at UNC is quite superficial.

The people who frequent this blog need no further encouragement to vote on November 7.

However, if you know someone who doesn't really know who's running in Orange County's elections, or can't distinguish between Mark Martin the Supreme Court candidate and Mark Martin the NASCAR driver, please consider directing them to a new web site, www.yallvote.com.

The site contains a comprehensive list of web sites for candidates running for North Carolina state and local offices. For example, the Orange County page has candidate links for competitive races for County Commission, Sheriff, Superior Court, House District 54, and Senate District 23. Other features include links to voter registration forms, a blog to debate voter turnout issues, an "Election Alarm Clock" reminder, and other links to relevant sites.

www.yallvote.com is non-partisan, non-commercial (i.e., we accept no advertising and collect no revenue) and does not support a particular candidate or ideology.