School board candidates generally run low-profile campaigns, even though our excellent schools remain a top reason people moving to the area say they choose Chapel Hill and Carrboro over Durham, where the taxes are lower and the houses cost less. The decisions school board members make ensure that our schools serve children of all capability […]

All due respect to Tim Sookram, I approached the mayoral election expecting to support Mark Kleinschmidt. In the past couple of years, which coincides with his becoming a property owner in Chapel Hill, Kleinschmidt has grown into the job. He has developed an understanding of the need to foster commercial development and a vibrant downtown […]

An understanding of finances drove our picks from among a field of strong candidates for Town Council. The economy shows no sign of improving, and the town is close to its debt ceiling. Decisions about raising revenue and spending will need to be made judiciously. We looked for experience, maturity and leadership. Here’s what we […]

In a New Yorker cartoon, a teenage boy is lifting weights in his room. His mother walks in and says, “Here, let me do that for you.” That cartoon came to mind as I looked over Town Council candidate Lee Storrow’s 35-day finance report that showed his mother making a $381 in-kind contribution (the legal […]

Nancy and I went out Wednesday to put up political signs for our preferred candidates. We also righted signs for other candidates we would not vote for that had fallen over. Putting up signs is always hard work, a lot of walking, dodging cars when crossing streets and making sure the signs we put up […]

You might measure your Facebook friends by the dozens and Twitter followers in the hundreds. But you won’t know who really has your back until you have to find 83 people registered to vote in Chapel Hill willing to pay you between $5 and $20 to see you qualify for free money from the Voter […]

Candidates for Town Council will gather at 7 o’clock tonight at Hargraves Center to tell you about themselves and what they stand for and answer questions. It will be one of only a few opportunities to compare and contrast their positions. Segregation of the political sort is alive and well in Chapel Hill. Though the […]