Lisa Sorg ·
8 Jul 2009, 1:20 PM ·
Comment
Two days down, eight to go: Candidate filing for the 2009 election opened Monday, with candidates seeking the top spot as Chapel Hill mayor and duels brewing in Durham Ward 2 and on the Wake County school board.
In Raleigh Council District D, incumbent Thomas Crowder is expected to run against architect Ted Van Dyk, who had not filed as of press time, but has announced he will soon. Two at-large seats are up for grabs Bill Shakespeare, Ricky Lee Sartain and Robert Claris hope to dethrone incumbents Russ Stephenson and Mary-Ann Baldwin, who plan to run as well.
The board of education candidate list is packed. (See “Wake school board race takes shape,” June 27.) Deborah Vair and Rita Rakestraw will spar in District 1, while John Tedesco, Horace Tart and Cathy Truitt go head-to-head-to-head in District 2. Karen Simon has filed in District 7 and Ray Martin has staked his claim for District 9.
In Cary, incumbent Julie Robison is seeking re-election to an at-large seat, with Cynthia Sinkez and incumbent Jack Smith filing for District A and C, respectively.
So much for rumors that Mike Woodard would run for Durham mayor: The councilman is seeking a second term in Ward 3, which includes parts of north and west Durham. Meanwhile, in southern Durham, Ward 2 voters can choose, so far, between incumbent Howard Clement III, who’s running for a seventh term, and Durham County Libertarian Party Chairman Matt Drew.
Early voting for these races (Durham’s is a primary) begins Sept. 17. Election Day is Oct. 6, with runoffs, if necessary, on Nov. 3. The Indy’s endorsements issue will be published Sept. 16. Wake Board of Elections and the Durham Board of Elections have additional information.
This is the first year for voter-owned election funding in Chapel Hill, which adds to the intrigue, since Mayor Kevin Foy is not running for re-election. Under the pilot program, mayoral and town candidates can qualify for public funds maximum $9,000 for mayoral candidates, $3,000 for council candidates.
To be eligible, mayoral candidates must declare they haven’t collected more than $1,500 in seed money since Jan. 1; that limit for participating town council candidates is $750. Subsequently, mayoral and council hopefuls can raise and spend $4,500 and $2,250 in qualified contributions, respectively. Qualified contributions are those made by Chapel Hill residents in amounts from $5-$20. Once those requirements are met, the candidates qualify for public funds.
Vying for the top job is Town Councilman Mark Kleinschmidt, who works as an attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, is expected to run, although he has yet to file. First-term Town Councilman Matt Czajkowski, who had not attended a town council meeting before he was elected in 2007, hasn’t yet filed but will reportedly try to out-conservative Augustus Cho, a bigwig in Orange County’s small GOP circles who lost in the Congressional District 4 Republican primary to Cary’s B.J. Lawson.
For Town Council, Gene Pease has said he will run, while Penny Rich, who was unsuccessful in her last bid, has filed and will take advantage of the voter-owned election funding. A new group, Citizens For Responsible Government, composed of some top developers and longtime players in Chapel Hill—Omar Zinn, Phil Post and Bruce Ballentine—has stated it “expects to play a significant role” in Chapel Hill’s elections.
In Carrboro, incumbents Jacquie Gist and Randee Haven-O’Donnell are running for another term on the Board of Aldermen, while activist Sammy Slade is looking to occupy the seat of John Herrera, who is not running for re-election. All these candidates have pledged to raise no more than $3,000.
Just one person has filed so far for the three vacant seats on Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board: Michelle Brownstein. She has taken the $3,000 pledge.
Tom Stevens is running for his third term as Hillsborough mayor. He has pledged to accept the $3,000 limit on campaign contributions. Likewise, Mike Gering plans to run his campaign on the cheap, less than $3,000, as he for runs for re-election to Hillsborough’s town commission.
In Chatham County, no one has yet taken the plunge for Town Council, although incumbent Mayor Randy Voller is running; he will face at least one challenger, William Crawford.
Durham, Orange and Chatham counties hold early voting Oct. 15-31, with Election Day Nov. 3. The Indy will endorse in those races, and any Wake County runoffs, in the Oct. 14 edition.
The Orange County Board of Elections and Chatham County Board of Elections have additional information. Look for daily updates as candidates continue to file.
Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Orange County, Raleigh, Wake County, politics Augustus Cho, Bill Shakespeare, Citizens for Responsible Government, Cynthia Sinkez, elections, Gene Pease, Howard Clement III, Jack Smith, Jacquie Gist, Julie Robison, Mark Kleinschmidt, Mary-Ann Baldwin, Matt Czajkowski, Matt Drew, Michelle Brownstein, Mike Gering, Mike Woodard, Penny Rich, Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Ricky Lee Sartain, Robert Claris, Russ Stephenson, Sammy Slade, Ted Van Dyk, Thomas Crowder, Tom Stevens
Bob Geary ·
22 Jan 2009, 6:49 PM ·
3 Comments
It debuted in draft form on December 1 — online — which was at least a month behind schedule and hard against the holiday season. Printed copies of it are scarce to this day. The Raleigh Planning Department conducted three public briefings on it just last week, which was the first time that most of the folks who came — about 400 total — had ever seen the new Raleigh comprehensive plan.
And even there, what they saw was an outline and some broad-brush maps, not the thick document itself with its hundreds of pages of analysis, policy recommendations and minutely detailed land-use plan for the city. Folks listened politely, asked a few questions, and when the briefings ended they had a chance to grab a department staffer and pose an additional question or two, which many did.
But four members of the Raleigh City Council think the public’s had far too little chance to digest the plan, let alone discuss it with their neighbors in small groups and compare notes, as the official public comment deadline of January 31 approaches. Nor have any of the city’s 18 Citizen Advisory Councils (CACs) taken up the comp-plan draft to this point — though in theory the CACs are the principal avenue for citizen participation in city government, especially planning.
So at this afternoon’s meeting, Councilors Thomas Crowder, Rodger Koopman, Nancy McFarlane and Russ Stephenson voted in favor of Crowder’s motion to extend the official comment period to the end of February. Four is not enough, however, on the eight-member council. The 4-4 deadlock meant the motion failed. Continue reading »
Raleigh, environment, politics Charles Meeker, James West, Mary-Ann Baldwin, Mitch Silver, Nancy McFarlane, Philip Isley, Raleigh City Council, Rodger Koopman, Russ Stephenson, Thomas Crowder
Bob Geary ·
8 Oct 2008, 9:19 AM ·
Comment
Neighbors disliked them, the relevant small-area plans didn’t allow them, but no problems — the Raleigh City Council said yes to big building projects in the Stanhope community and the Cameron Village shopping center. And that “Meeker Majority” supposedly plotting to cut them down to small-area plan size? Well, the four junior members split in half. Councilors Russ Stephenson and Thomas Crowder stood with the neighborhoods and voted no; Councilors Nancy McFarlane and Rodger Koopman, backed the developments — along with the senior member, Mayor Meeker himself. McFarlane said that, in tough economic times, she felt a “fiduciary responsibility” to greenlight new construction.
Raleigh, business, politics Cameron Village, Charles Meeker, Nancy McFarlane, Rodger Koopman, Russ Stephenson, Stanhope, Thomas Crowder
Bob Geary ·
22 Sep 2008, 9:35 AM ·
Comment
How are the members of the Raleigh planning commission appointed? Well, 3 of the 11 are appointed by the county commissioners. The other eight are named, one at a time, by a majority (five votes) of the eight-member Raleigh City Council. They serve two-year terms, but the tradition is that, once on, they can serve up to three terms without any serious consideration of how they’re doing — or not doing — their jobs. (Not doing? Well, some folks do call it the Raleigh Developers’ Commission.)
And no, the eight Council members do not each control one PC appointment — though that idea has been raised from time to time. To repeat, PC appointments are made by a majority of the Council.
Thus, for the last six or seven years, every member of the PC was named by a Council voting bloc consisting of five conservative councilors who tended to green-light any and all development proposals regardless whether they made sense from a planning perspective. The five were Jessie Taliaferro, Joyce Kekas, James West, Philip Isley and Tommy Craven, plus a go-along Mayor Charles Meeker). Councilors Thomas Crowder and Russ Stephenson were shut out, as was Meeker himself to the extent he might have had nominees of his own in mind.
After the ‘07 elections, however, the conservative majority was out (Taliaferro and Craven defeated, Kekas retired) and a potentially progressive majority was in, with Crowder and Stephenson joined by new Councilors Nancy McFarlane and Rodger Koopman. Meeker would make five.
But on the first PC opening, Meeker isn’t making five. The proposed nomination of architect Heather Vance by the progressive four is currently stalled. Councilor West has his own candidate, Quince Fleming, and when the first vote was taken, it was 4 votes for Vance, 1 for Fleming, with Meeker, Isley and at-large member Mary-Ann Baldwin sitting on their hands. A blogger at NewRaleigh.com wants to know why Meeker doesn’t step up and make it five for Vance (and do read the comments–they’ll tell you a lot about the politics of this); for background on the players involved, a post at BelowtheBeltline.org is helpful.
Raleigh, politics Charles Meeker, Heather Vance, James West, Nancy McFarlane, Quince Fleming, Rodger Koopman, Russ Stephenson, Thomas Crowder
