Candidates for school board get far less attention than the mayoral and town council races. Yes, yes, providing quality education to the next generation, those who will be in charge of generating revenue to fund your dotage, is important to all of us, whether or not we have children. But the decisions the school board makes could directly affect your wealth.

We’d like to think, perhaps, that people want to move to Chapel Hill because of our independently owned restaurants or our art galleries or our soon-to-be-fancy library. But what motivates many people to spend $400,000-plus for a house in Chapel Hill is the reputation of our schools. Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools consistently show a higher percentage of students achieving proficiency at or above grade level on state end-of-course exams than the state average and Durham public schools. Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools also record higher graduation rates than either the state average or Durham schools.

Good schools keep our property values high and in demand, even when homes outside town limits where property taxes are lower are selling for less. Parents with high-paying jobs and high expectations for their children’s success flock to our district, filling the schools with students who are genetically loaded for brains and create peer pressure to do well.

But the school system has navigated budget cuts that require the board to make tough choices. And more choppy waters are ahead. Parents have filed suit over allegations of bullying at Phillips Middle School. New No Child Left Behind standards kicked in this year, and only four schools in our system met the mark. The achievement gap between white and minority students is closing, but very slowly. New schools can’t be built fast enough to alleviate overcrowding. A new superintendent was appointed recently to succeed Neil Pedersen, who held the post for 17 years, and change at the top always brings a certain amount of turmoil.

Current board chair Jamezetta Bedford, a CPA who has served on the board since 2003, is running unopposed for a two-year term, so she will remain on the board and provide continuity, among other strengths. But four four-year seats will be on the ballot. Bedford’s four-year seat is open, and the three board members who hold the remaining seats now – Mia Burroughs, Mike Kelley and Annetta Streater – are running for re-election. They will face challengers James Barrett, Kris Castellano and Raymond Conrad. Brian Bower is also running, but admits that his campaign is a stunt to convince the UNC bursar that he is a Chapel Hill resident and should be eligible for in-state tuition.

Look closely at all the candidates, and choose wisely. Your future is at stake.
– Nancy Oates

Voters have three choices for mayor in November. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Watching Mark Kleinschmidt shake off his Gang of Five mentality and open himself to learning from all of his colleagues has been refreshing. He has held a seat on the dais since he was first elected to Town Council in 2001. As a council member, he could be counted on to vote the ruling party line. And that’s how he began his term as mayor. But then he started listening to others on the dais and at the podium share their opinions and expertise. He began to understand finances and economics and how they affected diversity and quality of life. Two years later, he is just as apt to vote with those who favor smart growth and to heed the counsel of staff and advisory boards as he is to support a Brigadoon version of Chapel Hill. He’s even shown the ability to compromise. A lawyer, Kleinschmidt is executive director of Fair Trial Initiative.

The mayoral race marks Tim Sookram‘s inaugural run for political office. A native Texan, he moved to Chapel Hill a year ago. His impetus for joining the race was to spark debate and give voters a choice; until Sookram entered, Kleinschmidt was running unopposed. But Sookram is taking the campaign seriously and brings a newcomer’s perspective to issues of urban development, walkability and smart growth, as well as ideas for boosting the local economy and decreasing government inefficiencies. As an independent web designer, he is used to looking at problems through the eyes of the user to come up with solutions. Sookram is in tune with a segment of Chapel Hill’s economy that is known nationally but rarely mentioned in local political debates: the indy music scene. He plays guitar and sings in the band Gentle Robot.

If the fourth time is to be the charm for Kevin Wolff, he’ll have to overcome some history. When he ran for the first time in 2005, against incumbent Kevin Foy, Wolff garnered 21 percent of the vote without campaigning. In 2007, he put forth effort and won 29 percent of the vote against Foy. In 2009, the year he ran against Kleinschmidt, Matt Czajkowski and Augustus Cho, Wolff ostensibly dropped out of the race after it was too late to remove his name from the ballot, but he did not send a resignation letter to the Orange County Board of Elections. He kept his campaign signs up all over town, and a local newspaper published a letter from Wolff’s wife asking for votes for her husband. Things turned ugly after he was misquoted by The N&O, and he threatened to sue the paper. He received 1 percent of the vote in the election in which Kleinschmidt beat out Czajkowski by less than 1 percent of the vote. Wolff is a patent lawyer in private practice.
– Nancy Oates

In alphabetical order, here are the non-incumbents running for Town Council:

Jason Baker brings experience from serving on the town’s Planning Board, the Comprehensive Plan Initiating Committee and the Transportation Board. Previously, he served on the board of the Orange Chatham Sierra Club and was an officer in the Orange County Democratic Party. In 2008, he supported the 0.4 percent land transfer tax property sellers would pay Orange County, a measure that failed at the polls. Expect a polished campaign: Baker handles public relations and outreach for Weaver Street Market. With an undergraduate degree from UNC, he’s now working on a graduate degree in geospatial information science at N.C. State.

Don’t interpret lack of yard signs as tepid support for Augustus Cho; as an environmentalist (and Presbyterian minister, taekwondo instructor and author), he has pledged to forgo the traditional campaign advertising. His focus is on increasing business investments by making Chapel Hill more business-friendly, which should create more jobs and broaden the business revenue tax base, to prevent residential property taxes from rising. Born in Korea, Cho stands to be the first Asian-American elected to Town Council, yet he pledges to make decisions best for the entire town, not pander to special interest groups. He serves on the town Transportation Board and the Community Design Commission and previously on the Northern Area Task Force and the Downtown Parking Commission. Cho’s campaign experience includes a run for mayor of Chapel Hill in 2009 and as a candidate for U.S. representative for District 4.

A transplant from Los Angeles, Laney Dale wants to preserve the small-town atmosphere that drew him east. One of the main planks of his political platform is maintaining proper growth limits for the town. As co-founder and CEO of a technology startup that designs mobile apps, he understands what drives future growth and can plan for the future. He’d like to make Chapel Hill easier to do business in, so as to reduce the tax strain on residential property owners. He serves on the Parks & Recreation Commission and supports the IFC men’s shelter relocating to Homestead Road.

The manager of a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage branch, Jon DeHart understands finances and how to put money to work. He’s lent his expertise to the Community Home Trust Finance Committee, Habitat for Humanity, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA and various committees at his church. While other teens were being teenagers, DeHart showed himself at a young age to be a leader with the heart of a servant, by earning the rank of Eagle Scout. He’s committed to transparency and restoring public trust in town government. He’s a member of the Transportation Board and belonged to the inaugural class of the town’s Citizens’ Police Academy. He ran for council in 2009.

Carl Schuler’s focus is on growing the local economy. A nurse consultant who runs clinical trials at the UNC Center for Heart & Vascular Care, Schuler has held leadership positions in professional associations and the Vineyard Square Homeowners’ Association. Perhaps because he was born in Canada, he knows something about being a good neighbor; in Chapel Hill he belongs to the Good Neighbor Plan Advisory Committee. He’s also participated in UNC’s employee forum and regularly attends Town Council meetings to observe the action.

Lee Storrow’s passion is affordable housing. (So why he took a stand against Aydan Court, which would have put more than $1 million in the affordable housing coffers, is a story to explore.) In his conversations with people in the community, he’s learned that residents are being squeezed out by the high cost of living in Chapel Hill. He says the town needs to make a commitment to affordable housing to stay a diverse community. A UNC alum, he is managing director of the N.C. Alliance for Health and has done advocacy work on the state and local levels. A volunteer in health-related organizations and a tutor with Orange County Human Services, he also serves on the town’s Comprehensive Plan Initiating Committee.

In an earlier post I said that Donna Bell had missed more council meetings than anyone on the dais. But I received the official attendance record today from the town, and Gene Pease won the contest by a long shot. Since January 2010, when Pease and Bell joined the council, through June 27 of this year, Pease has missed 13 meetings; Bell has missed only four and left early due to illness on two other meetings.

My sincere apologies to Donna Bell.

And Gene, what’s up, dude?
– Nancy Oates

Let’s dispel rumors right from the get-go: Sally Greene’s decision not to seek a third term on Town Council probably had nothing to do with freeing up her Monday nights to watch “The Bachelor/Bachelorette” series. Rather, Greene said she has accomplished what she set out to do: convening the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness; voting for the inclusionary zoning ordinance; creating seven Neighborhood Conservation Districts since 2004; and preserving 92 acres of open space under a permanent conservation easement. One memorable moment came recently from her “no way, no how” comment as she argued against an urban archery program to reduce the deer population. The remark was the closest thing to an outburst the otherwise even-keel council member has uttered. We’ve appreciated that over the years she has rid her voice of an early peevish edge, and we wish her well in her future endeavors.

Three incumbents are running.

This will be the first campaign for Donna Bell, whose name was put forth after the 2009 election because incumbent Jim Merritt did not get enough votes to stay on council, and council members wanted a black member. Initially, Bell brought a fresh perspective to council and asked interesting questions. But as time went on, she had less availability and displayed less independent thinking. She has missed more council meetings than anyone on the dais.

Matt Czajkowski has done a yeoman’s job of trying to turn around the Titanic. Before he was elected to his first term in 2007, council votes routinely ran 9-0. After he was elected, we began seeing votes of 8-1 or 7-2, and in recent years, as the town has struggled with the sagging economy, council members are listening to his financial acumen, and some votes have gone 5-4. He has taken common-sense approaches, remained steadfast despite sniping and sarcastic comments from other council members, and urged council members to heed findings and recommendations from the experts on staff and advisory boards. With plenty of hair left to pull out, he’s willing to take on another term.

Jim Ward is seeking his fourth term on council. We’ve watched him become less didactic and more thoughtful in recent years, and we respect his ardent protection of plant life. Not known for rabble-rousing, he nevertheless pushed hard for the county to pony up more money for the library and spoke out against the railroading of two sanitation workers fired after lobbying for a union.
– Nancy Oates