Elections

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday October 29, 2005

Judging by the news coverage, this year's municipal elections have been a pretty dull affair. The papers have provided an outlet for candidates to express their views through guest columns, web profiles, and articles on forums. But there is a lot more that could have been reported on their backgrounds and positions and on campaign events.

Let's start with Will Raymond. He claims to be a dotcom success story, promising to bring strong business and financial management skills to the Town Council. The news media could have looked into Raymond's background and informed voters of the reality behind these claims.

Robin Cutson has called into question the adequacy of our water supply to meet the needs of growth. OWASA chair Mark Marcoplos has rebutted some of her charges on orangepolitics.org. This too could have led to an informative news story.

Alderman candidate Katrina Ryan has spoken of her intention to help launch a private company that will take advantage of energy tax credits to promote solar energy in Carrboro. Is that a flaky idea or a good one? You'd have to know the details to decide.

One stop voting is open NOW! Friendly volunteers are waiting for you to record your preferences.

Orange County Board of Elections Office
110 East King Street, Hillsborough, N. C.
October 20, 2005 – November 5, 2005: Monday – Friday , 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Three Saturdays, October 22nd, 29th, and November 5th: 9:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.

Chapel Hill Morehead Planetarium
October 24, 2005 – November 5, 2005: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Two Saturdays, October 29th, and November 5th: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Carrboro Town Hall
October 24, 2005 – November 5, 2005: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Two Saturdays, October 29th, and November 5th: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday October 22, 2005

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was a brief moment in which the long-neglected problem of environmental racism received some attention. Katrina exposed the racism in state and national efforts to aid victims, in who lives near Superfund sites, in who lives in the most vulnerable areas and in who has the means to evacuate.

It also laid bare the difficulty in disentangling questions of race and class particularly in a city like New Orleans. In the flooded Lower Ninth Ward, more than 98 percent of residents are black and more than a third live in poverty.

Katrina made manifest the nature of American poverty. Suddenly, we could see, as Duke professor Mark Anthony Neal put it, that the poor are "already dying a slow death, brought on by a concentration of financial limits, inferior housing, dilapidated educational structures, violence, environmental decay and systematic state neglect."