Democracy & Open Government

The Daily Tar Heel's recent article about unearthing public records strikes a contrast to the News & Observer's relatively casual handling of a potentially very serious issue regarding Chapel Hill Town Council Member Bill Thorpe. On Saturday, the N&O reported that William Thorpe Jr. approached a local developer offering his services as a "public relations consultant" on their project which was pending approval by the Town Council.

At the request of the Chapel Hill Town Council, Sen. Ellie Kinnaird has introduced a bill to allow Chapel Hill to sponsor a public financing program for its local elections, using local resources. The bill is SB 418 "CHAPEL HILL CAMPAIGN FINANCE OPTIONS." Apparently, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen have also asked for such a bill, which she will also be introducing. Needless to say, the Home-Builders-Etc. will fight these bills even though they are local bills. I hope folks will support these local efforts to create proactive solutions to the money in politics dilemma.

In other public financing news, Democracy North Carolina has launched a new website and petition in the wake of the recent Jim Black scandal: http://CleanUpRaleigh.com

Democracy North Carolina, currently based in Carrboro, but soon to be based in Durham (perhaps we can talk about the issue of affordable space for Orange County non-profits in another post) has been calling for public financing of campaigns or "Voter-Owned Elections" for years.

As if in answer to his own question ("Council hegemony" what are you talking about?), this week Councilmember Cam Hill was quoted in the Daily Tarheel insinuating that his colleague Laurin Easthom is not a "team player" because she is often on the losing end of 8-1 votes.

I will chalk up the rude tone of his comments to the DTH's patented 18-year-old filter (in which almost every direct quotation in the paper sounds as if it came out of the mouth of a college student) and instead address the substance. Ever since I have been on the Chapel Hill Planning Board, I have been on the losing end of many of the split votes we've had - usually 8-2 or often 9-1. And yet I don't believe a single member of the Board thinks I'm not working with them toward the many goals we share. In fact, my colleagues unanimously elected me as their chair last year!