Heaven help us, we have elected a hatemonger as our next president. The day before the election, I accompanied some foreign journalists, many of them from the Asia Pacific, to a Donald Trump rally in Raleigh. It felt like we were on a movie set for a gladiator film. With lies and innuendo, Trump kept […]
All posts in category Elections
How we can win
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 14, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/11/14/how-we-can-win/
Add to pre-vacation to-do list: Vote
Your vote in the June 7 primary for N.C. Supreme Court candidates matters more than you might think. The seven-judge panel at present has four Republicans and three Democrats, and their votes on civil rights and quality-of-life issues have followed party lines. The top-two vote-getters in the June 7 primary will vie for the seat […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 30, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/30/add-to-pre-vacation-to-do-list-vote/
#WeAreNotThisEither
Years ago, Chapel Hill adopted a campaign contribution policy to encourage voter-owned elections and make it harder for donors to “buy” elections. Individual campaign donations were limited to $336, a sharp contrast to the $5,100 limit for county commissioner, U.S. president and other partisan elections. Given the recent news about campaign finances of council member […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 4, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/04/04/wearenotthiseither/
Council leads whole community
Usually it’s the victors who write the histories, but in Chapel Hill politics lately the losers are busy scribbling and publishing and mischaracterizing the outcome of the most recent election, as does a column in The Chapel Hill News Nov. 29, “New council must lead divided community.” Molly De Marco and Travis Crayton wrote that […]
Posted by Don Evans on December 7, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/12/07/council-leads-whole-community/
Crossing over
Come Wednesday, I will cross over, moving from the spectator side of the council dais to Participant Row. And that means Chapel Hill Watch must undergo a metamorphosis of its own. No longer will I be able to critique content after the fact. If I disagree with a colleague or hear a council member behaving […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 30, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/11/30/crossing-over/
Winding down or unraveling?
I’ve heard tales of people, upon receiving an eviction notice, vandalizing the very place they call home. At the Nov. 16 meeting, we saw a bit of that behavior by some council members wrapping up their terms and others anxious about the change that newly elected officials might bring. The meeting opened with a developer […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 23, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/11/23/winding-down-or-unraveling/
The Council Show
At the election night party I attended last week, the wife of a supporter mentioned that she’d gotten so caught up in the excitement of the campaign that she might even tune into what she called “The Council Show.” Certainly campaign and post-election coverage in the popular press loads expectation that episodes of The Council […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 9, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/11/09/the-council-show/
The big money at stake
This election boils down to economic theory. One theory, held by the incumbents and a challenger who as an advisory board member voted in lockstep with them, aims to add enough luxury housing filled with high-wealth individuals that national chain stores will open branches in town. This group is banking on sales tax revenue and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 2, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/11/02/the-big-money-at-stake/
A not-as-long goodbye
On 60 Minutes last night, President Obama talked about how he felt coming to the end of his legally allotted two terms and whether he wished he could serve a third. He said, as all incumbents do, that he was proud of what he had accomplished so far in office and that there was more […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 12, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/10/12/a-not-as-long-goodbye/
Ask, and get real answers
Someone needs to tell the town’s Planning Department staff that Chapel Hill already has an ordinance that governs bed-and-breakfasts. Oh, wait. Someone already has. Several someones, in fact — the former director of planning, the town attorney and multiple people in the community, including Chapel Hill Watch — going back more than 15 years. And […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 5, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/10/05/what-problem-is-solved/