The Central West Focus Area steering committee starts work next week, on Dec. 19. Only 16 members will gather in the first-floor conference room at Town Hall that night at 6 p.m. Seventeen people were recommended for appointment, but a little political gerrymandering went awry, and council members, in a vote by secret ballot, approved […]
All posts in category Elections
Who chooses?
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 10, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/12/10/who-chooses/
Choose wisely
Some countries have mandatory military service for all its citizens. I wish the U.S. required every one of its citizens to do one week of census work among neighborhoods that make up the left side of the housing price bell curve. We would make better decisions in the voting booth if we had a sense […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 5, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/11/05/choose-wisely/
No vacancy?
Town Council holds its season opener this Wednesday, Sept. 12, and I can’t seem to rally the excitement I usually have for local politics. It’s not that the decisions council makes aren’t important – in fact, council members are set to vote once again on Charterwood, and the outcome could tip council’s hand for what […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 10, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/09/10/no-vacancy/
See the world
Come see the world with me, and all it will cost is a couple of gallons of gas. Granted, with the supply chain disruptions in the Midwest – a ruptured pipeline in Wisconsin and equipment problems that shut down refineries in Indiana and Illinois – that’s nearly the cost of a couple of lattes a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 13, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/08/13/see-the-world/
VOE now DOA
For now, at least, beleaguered Chapel Hill taxpayers have one less expense to fund. The state General Assembly adjourned in July without enacting House Bill 1132 that would extend statutory authority for the town to continue its taxpayer-financed political campaigns, also known as the Voter Owned Election Program. The lack of action will have little […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 23, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/07/23/voe-now-doa/
Rich no more
Soon we won’t have Penny Rich to kick around anymore. In yesterday’s primary, Rich edged out county commissioner incumbent Pam Hemminger and came in second behind Mark Dorosin. Because no Republican candidate is running for a seat on the Board of County Commissioners, Rich and Dorosin will fill the two open seats come December. A […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 9, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/05/09/rich-no-more/
Election deadline nears
If you haven’t made up your mind about whom to vote for, you’re running out of time. Tomorrow, May 8, is Election Day, and you have many decision to make. Don’t go into the voting booth unprepared. Access a sample ballot online at the Orange County website: http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/precincts.asp. You’ll need to know your precinct (and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 7, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/05/07/election-deadline-nears/
2011 highlights
A sign in the window of the tax office at Town Hall, where about a dozen of us were waiting to pay our taxes yesterday around lunchtime, lists various products the town sells to market itself: flags, tote bags, books and ball caps. As I totaled up my various tax bills – vehicle, business, real […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 29, 2011
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/12/29/2011-highlights/
What we won and lost
Jon DeHart didn’t lose last night. All of us in Chapel Hill lost. DeHart has the financial expertise, knowledge of debt and ability to analyze risk that Town Council will need for the foreseeable future. He is a coalition builder and team player who ran a clean, transparent campaign. He can rise above snarkiness. We […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 9, 2011
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/09/what-we-won-and-lost/
Vote today
Lattes seem to be the budgetary benchmark in Chapel Hill these days. During the public comment period last year about whether to proceed with the library expansion, a Friend of the Library brushed off the tax increase that the extra operating expenses would require as “the cost of a couple of lattes a week.” Jason […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 8, 2011
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/08/vote-today/