Government

With another Election Day behind them, our elected officials in Orange County are now tasked to turn their attention from the challenges of the campaign trail to the challenges of governing. But following a sleepy election cycle in which all mayoral candidates ran unopposed and election results show most races were uncompetitive across the county, what message should our electeds take with them as they prepare to take their seats at the dais for new sessions?

With just 11.72% of eligible voters casting ballots in 2013, it’s unclear what message voters are sending. Was municipal turnout its lowest in over 10 years because voters simply don’t see any local issues directly affecting their lives? If so, does that mean voters are content with the status quo of the towns, which is why they didn’t get to the polls in the first place? Or are voters simply apathetic and nothing more can be discerned from the low turnout figure?

Welcome to the open thread for tonight's Conversation With the Mayors. There are three candidates running unopposed for mayor in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough:

• Alderwoman Lydia Lavelle is running unopposed for mayor of Carrboro.
• Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt is running unopposed for reelection as mayor of Chapel Hill.
• Mayor Tom Stevens is running unopposed for reelection as mayor of Hillsborough.

You can observe the forum at http://orangepolitics.org/elections-2013/forums/mayors.

We hope you'll use this open thread to post your thoughts and reactions. Also, if you want to propose additional discussion topics, you can reach the editors during the forum via Twitter, Facebook, or the contact page. The forum moderator will have final say in question selection.