Bill Strom
There has been a lot going on and I can scarcely find a moment to blog about it. Maybe in 6 years when my son starts school and I don't have to work to pay for daycare so I can work so I can... where was I? Oh yeah, so last night three important things happened in local government - we took 2 steps forward and one step back for social justice.
1. The Orange County Commissioners rejected both door number one (a new, expanded landfill) and door number two (a waste transfer station). Instead they will be shipping our trash to Durham, an idea which I never years in literally years of debate about this issue. In any case, this seems to be a huge victory for the historically African-American Rogers Road neighborhood, which has shouldered Orange County's landfill for nearly four decades and which is ready to move on the the next phase of their lives, that is: not being neighbors to any major waste handling facilities.
Here is a commentary I contributed to WCHL last week (it ran last Friday, but I can't find links to their recordings anymore). It was a little too long so the bit in gray was not on the air.
Much has been said about the abrupt departure of Bill Strom from
the Chapel Hill Town Council. Whatever frustrations we may have had
with him, at least we can take comfort in the fact that Strom will no longer have
any influence on Orange County politics.
As they have done with
all other mid-term vacancies in recent history, the Town Council will
appoint a replacement to finish Strom's term. The Town Council also has
a long-standing tradition of using the appointment process to ensure
that there is at least one African-American sitting at the table.
During the election season we heard a lot about why Voter Owned Elections (VOE) were needed in Chapel Hill and how it would put power in the hands of the voters instead of some unnamed "big money forces." We now have had the election and the next test is the appointment to fill the Strom seat.
So for those who say the voters should have control, will they now re-frame their arguments to preclude the voters from engaging in a Voter Owned Appointment (VOA)? The facts are simple; there has not only been a debate over when to have the Council make their decision but also who should be appointed. Some wanted the newly elected Council to make the decision. Some want the candidate on the ballot who came in fifth to be appointed.
With the election mercifully in the rear view mirror Chapel Hill political observers will now shift their focus to the appointment of a replacement for Bill Strom.
Our poll found voters in town evenly divided on whether one of the losing candidates in yesterday's election should be appointed to fill the Strom seat- 38% in favor, 38% opposed, and 24% unsure.
Trumping that finding with the loss of Jim Merritt though is probably the question we asked about whether Chapel Hillians thought it was important to have an African American on the Town Council. 57% of voters said yes to that with just 28% dissenting, and I imagine given the strong support from the community that's the direction the Council will now go in with the appointment.
Two other key findings from the poll, neither of which is particularly surprising given the returns. 51% of Chapel Hill voters support publicly financed elections with only 31% opposed. Given Mark Kleinschmidt's win and Penny Rich's first place finish it's clear there was no backlash from that and it's even possible the opposite was true.
The most recent posts on OrangePolitics are about HOV lanes, Joe Herzenberg, and the Herald-Sun redesign. What's missing is the lawsuit Carrboro won against Marilyn Kille, reports on recent voter forums, discussion of Monday night's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting and the unresolved issue of appointing Bill Strom's replacement. There's not even any mention of the highly contentious chicken slaughter. Ruby's pre-occupied with a new baby and a career. There was a recent post asking if OP is a public resource or Ruby's private playground. The answer may be in how people use the site rather than Ruby's intention.
As reported by Kirk Ross of the Carrboro Citizen on OP and on the CC site, Chapel Hill Town Councilmember Bill Strom has announced that he will be resigning as of August 1, and will be leaving the area.
The interesting political implication is that I think the Council will now be expected to appoint a replacement since this resignation did not happen within the 40-day window before an election candidate filing period which would have led to an automatic appointment of the 5th vote-getter.
Today's DTH reports that Bill Strom is the 2005 winner of the Jim Goodmon Award for regional leadership by an elected official in the triangle.
The award will be presented by Leadership Triangle at a luncheon next week.
Bill has been a strong leader on the TTA Board of Directors, helped broker the purchase of Erwin Trace, and has worked on regional affordable housing initiatives with the Triangle J Council of Governments.
Bill is the first elected official from Orange County to receive this honor.
It's nice to see folks from around the triangle recognize the quality of one of our own elected officials!
Right now I'm listening to Jim Heavner's WCHL-sponsored "forum" on Carolina North featuring Jim Moeser, Roger Perry, Kevin Foy, Bill Strom and Michael Collins. What a bitch fest! What began as a relatively civil conversation has devolved, yet again, into a cacaphony of whines. Moeser is bragging is about how someone somewhere gave the folks from the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center a standing ovation (deservedly, I have no doubt; FPG is something the university can be proud of); how I pray that Chancellor Moeser could channel more of the dignity and fairness and progressive attitude of Frank Porter Graham, at least on this issue. Chancellor Moeser has taken a conversation that began with the intent of talking about development at Carolina North in a direct and forward-thinking way outside conference and hearing rooms, and has spent the better part of an hour pointing the finger at the town about its process.
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