Lisa Sorg ·
10 Aug 2009, 4:11 PM ·
Comment
Raleigh City Council candidate Bill Shakespeare is withdrawing from the race for the at-large seat, he told the Indy today. That leaves Lee Sartain, Champ Claris and incumbents Mary-Ann Baldwin and Russ Stephenson competing for two seats.
And a hat tip to The News & Observer, which reported that Chris Augustine is leaving the District 2 Wake School Board race. It sounds like Augustine didn’t have the political appetite for the job. Here’s his statement, as reported by The N&O:
“The task to implement the cuts imposed by the State will be onerous to whoever is elected to the Wake County Board of Education district #2. Even to a person with an MBA like me, he or she would have to be insane to want this herculean task, especially this year. The position has no revenue authority but it has mandates from the County, the State and the Federal government to cut costs in a draconian fashion. I can only imagine what will be cut: foreign languages, art, and/or music. The sizes of classes will undoubtedly be increased and programs for the gifted as well as challenged will be sliced. And I wouldn’t be surprised if magnet schools were cut. I for one would have liked to have questioned some of the Federal unfunded mandates. I would have liked to have increased competition between the schools by allowing parents to choose their own schools. And I would have liked to have fought to get the social policy agendas out of our school system. But alas any new ideas will probably be drown out by the upcoming pain. My name will remain on the ballot, but I am not going to actively campaign. I wish the best for whoever wins; they will surely need it.”
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Raleigh, Wake County, politics Add new tag, Bill Shakespeare, Chris Augustine, Raleigh City Council, Wake School Board
Lisa Sorg ·
9 Jul 2009, 11:48 AM ·
Comment
Is that the sound of a cash register? First term Chapel Hill Town Councilman Matt Czajkowski has filed for mayor of Chapel Hill; like fellow mayoral candidate Augustus Cho, he has not opted to participate in the voter-owned election program, allowing them to raise large sums for their campaigns.
Czajkowski loaned himself more than $17,000 for his 2007 town council campaign.
Town Councilman Mark Kleinschmidt is also expected to run, but has yet to file.
Update at 5 p.m.: Matt Pohlman has filed for Chapel Hill Town Council. He has not enrolled in the voter-owned election program. Mark Chilton has filed for Carrboro mayor
In other Orange County filings, Gary Wallach and MaryAnne Gucciardi are running for Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board.
In Durham, the Ward 2 race got more interesting as a third candidate, Sylvester Williams, a minister, is running against incumbent Howard Clement III and Libertarian Matt Drew.
Update at 5 p.m.: Incumbent Cora Cole-McFadden has filed for Durham City Council in Ward I.
And in the No Big Surprise department, incumbent Mayor Bill Bell is running for a fifth term, effectively dousing Mike Woodard’s mayoral aspirations this year. Woodard is running for re-election to City Council.
In Wake County, candidate filings for District 7 are popping up like mushrooms after a rain: Deborah Prickett and Jerry Ballan are running against Karen Simon.
Meanwhile Rodger Koopman is running for re-election in District B and Anthony Integlia is the sole person seeking the District C seat.
Update at 5 p.m.: Chris Augustine has filed for Wake School Board District 2, bringing the candidate total in that race to four. In Cary, Jennifer Robinson will face Cynthia Sinkez in District A.
In Raleigh, incumbent Mayor Charles Meeker filed for re-election; he’ll face Mark Enloe, who also filed today. Nancy MacFarlane is running for another term in Council District A; currently, the only district without a candidate is District E.
Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Wake County, politics Anthony Integlia, Bill Bell, Charles Meeker, Chris Augustine, Cora Cole-McFadden, Deborah Prickett, elections, Gary Wallach, Jennifer Robinson, Jerry Ballan, Mark Chilton, Mark Enloe, MaryAnne Gucciardi, Matt Czajkowski, Matt Pohlman, Nancy MacFarlane, Rodger Koopman, Sylvester Williams
