Board of Elections

I sat quietly listening in the back of the room at the August 16 Chatham County Board of Elections meeting. I hoped to observe a respectful, data driven discussion about how our County will efficiently and effectively conduct the November elections in a non-partisan manner.

Not so much. 

I was surprised that twenty one citizens signed up to speak in front of the board. Most speakers demanded that Chatham County open early voting sites in northeast Chatham County for 17 days of early voting, with extended hours, plus 3 more Sunday voting days. 

Some of the arguments for extended hours were that people just do not have time to vote; that more voting sites need to be opened because of voter lack of interest; that voters can only get to the polls if they are driven by their churches, and that people just do not have enough time, in 17 days, to vote. One person said we need to open more voting places to shorten long time-consuming lines because voters will no longer be able to vote a straight party ticket. Funny how the states to the north and south of North Carolina can get by with just absentee voting. 

A minority felt that individuals should take personal initiative to make it to the polls, and that those who wish to vote in the upcoming election could do so with the same early voting hours as in past elections, plus absentee ballots, plus the day of election itself. 

The county Board of Elections consists of three members; two from the sitting governors party, one from the opposition. Board decisions must be unanimous or the State will determine the County procedures. Our county board seems to be three reasonable and informed individuals who seek to do the right thing. The Board Chair should be commended for his position that to be fair, all early voting places across the county need to be open the same times. Some in the audience wanted the northeast polling location to be open for many more hours than those in Siler City or Goldston, or at the Board of Elections office itself.

After the public comment period ended, members of the audience heckled the Elections Board as they debated among themselves the merits of various early voting locations, whether funds were available for additional hours, or how to equitably distribute voting options across the county. The hecklers were, without exception, upset about not having greatly increased early voting hours over the previous elections. They were intrusive on the Board members deliberations and abusive to anyone who disagreed with them.

One of the problems with expanding voting locations in Chatham County is finding suitable and willing locations. The Board of Elections Director said owners of several potential early voting locations refused to rent space to the County because of the rude campaigning behavior of political activists in the past. One of the speakers complained about this happening in the March elections, and I have heard that Democrat activists have intimidated voters at polling sites in the County. Intimidating behavior seems entirely likely given that very behavior I witnessed Tuesday evening. 

How can the citizens of the county assist our voting process? Chatham County needs unbiased and honest volunteers to ensure fair and open elections. Please volunteer with the County Board of Elections. Contact the Board of Elections at http://www.chathamnc.org/Index.aspx?page=110.

Chatham County is now Zoned

Do you feel more protected from your neighbors and friends now that the entire county is zoned? County-wide residential zoning was implemented Monday at the Commissioners meeting. Did anyone really expect that the outcome would be different? Early in the process an interim solution was proposed by some of the more conservative county commissioners, but their approach was overruled by the more left-leaning commissioners. Recall that the Chatham Democrat Committee went so far as to actively campaign against a sitting Democrat Commissioner who was not sufficiently supportive of zoning. This was a done deal, regardless of any public input from the people being zoned.

At the Commissioners meeting fifteen citizens spoke about zoning; twelve stood against the zoning plan as presented, while three speakers were pro zoning. Just coincidentally all three are registered Democrats, and two of them live in areas that were already zoned, residing miles away from where the meeting was held in Bear Creek. One pro-zoning speaker who lives in northeast Chatham County spoke as if the County would not survive another day without zoning. By her way of thinking we all need protection and only the Commissioners can provide that protection. Another supporter has spoken at least nine times before the Commissioners in the past year regarding zoning or environmental issues. Both these folks are already zoned; why are they so insistent on zoning those who are not, and why the rush? In fact, Commissioner Petty questioned the other commissioners about why now, and received no answer.

Jason Sullivan, the County Planning Director, stated that 300 businesses will need to be looked at (but I am not quite sure exactly what that means) and that the process will take many months. Then County staff will return to the Commissioners with an offer to rezone those business at no fee to the property owners.

Brian Bock presented the minority report from the Planning Board against zoning. He stated that the Planning Board was given only one option to review - that of straight up all or nothing zoning, with no other options other than the one desired by the Commissioners.

George Lucier presented the Planning Board recommendation, which he called The Commissioners Initiative, and gave 10 reasons to zone the entire county. I could not follow the logic with some of his presentation. His point number 4 was that farming needs protection, yet his point number 5 was that bringing in business was critical. I fail to see how blanket residential zoning achieves either of those goals.

Commissioner Hales made the motion to zone the entire county, and Commissioner Howard seconded the motion. That those two sponsored the zoning motion is not surprising given their history getting to the present vote. Remember that Commissioner Howard is up for re-election this November.

Pen Name

Dr. Dykers, in a recent post, asked if Raymond Gastwaite was a nom de plume, or pen name.

I confess that Raymond is not this writers legal name as shown on my Chatham County voters registration. However, that really should not matter much for readers of the Chatlist or of my blog. Who I am is unimportant. I am trying to stimulate reasoned discussion around politics of interest in our wonderful County, and plan to continue researching, seeking out information, and summarizing my findings. I will post facts, and identify my personal opinions, to the Chatlist and to my blog when they are relevant to our citizens.

I thought about using the pen name Richard Saunders - but that pen name was already taken by one of our forefathers, Benjamin Franklin.

Chatham County Comprehensive Plan Survey

We should all know by now that Chatham County is in the midst of developing a Comprehensive Plan. Some of the plan inputs will come from a survey of residents to gather information about what we want for our county in the future.

I have a problem with the phrasing of survey questions. Almost all of the questions are How Do We Spend More Of Your Money questions, and seem to be implying that the only way to continue having this wonderful Chatham County is to have More Government Involvement in our lives.

I took the survey, and I strongly encourage the readers of the Chatlist to that also. Respond as you see fit, but read each of the questions carefully. You can add inputs to the questions that more closely meet your personal hopes for the county.

Take the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5FYXTWB before August 5.

County dollars for a hotel???

Take a look at the last three paragraphs on the last page of this weeks Chatham Record. That is where Chatham County very quietly gives notice of a plan to distribute county dollars to a private developer for a hotel somewhere in Chatham County.

According to the notice a public hearing for this cash giveaway will be held during the Commissioner's meeting on August 15 at 6:00 pm at the Historic Courthouse in Pittsboro.

Now, a hotel in the county might be nice. But is this something that you want your tax dollars going to support? I do not recall reading about expending public funds for this project in the latest county budget.

Is there an analysis that shows this is an investment and not a giveaway to some developer? If it is an investment, will our tax bills go down in the future? Is this another case of the open and transparent government our current county commissioners profess, or just a case of taxing and spending?

It is OUR money. Vote in November.

Who is running for County Commissioner?

We should all know by now that two county commissioner seats are on the ballot this fall. I was curious about what public information each of the candidates has provided about their positions on the issues. We should all watch for evolving positions over the next four months.

Seeking District 1 Commissioner

Karen Howard is the incumbent Democrat. Howard's mailing address is Chapel Hill and is a former attorney. She ran unopposed in 2014 to fill a position vacated by Sally Kost and is now running in an opposed election.

Ms Howard has published almost no information about her positions on Chatham County. Her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/Howard-for-Commissioner-2016.

I cannot find a reelection website for her.

Emmett (Jay) Stobbs is the Republican challenging Karen Howard. Stobbs' mailing address is Durham. He is a West Point graduate and a retired Army officer and was a manager at Northrop Grumman. Stobbs has information on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/jay4chathamnc/, and he has a website at www.jay4chatham.com.

Seeking District 2 Commissioner

The incumbent commissioner for District 2 is Mike Cross. Cross was defeated by Mike Dasher in the Democrat primary. Cross lost the support of the Chatham Democrat Party leadership after voting against county-wide zoning which is supported by the other Democrat commissioners (Howard, Hales, and Crawford). Read about that at http://www.chathamforward.com or here.

Mike Dasher is the Democrat seeking the District 2 Commissioner position. He has degrees in political science and finance, and runs a business developing residential properties. Dasher  lives in Moncure. His Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/DasherForChatham/ and he has a website at http://www.mikedasher.org.

Peyton Holland is running as an Independent (placed on the ballot by petition of county voters after the Primaries). In the past Holland has voted as a Republican. Holland lives in Moncure and has a graduate degree in management from NC State. He works as the Executive Director of SkillsUSA North Carolina. His Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/OurChatham/ and his website is http://www.ourchathamnc.com.

Personal opinion follows
I chuckled when I saw a post on Dashers Facebook page stating that Howard and Dasher encourage citizen participation in a government that is thoughtful, deliberative, and transparent. I have not seen those qualities displayed yet by Commissioner Howard in the discussions about county-wide zoning.

Also interesting is that Mike Dasher runs a business developing residential properties. Will that be a conflict of interest for him during zoning discussions around residential development?

Anyway, (with the exception of Karen Howard who has seems to have no published political position) check out the political promises on each candidates Facebook page and website, and watch how those pledges evolve until the election. Remember to vote in November, and after the election try to hold your representatives to the commitments they make.

Zoning and the Ag Advisory Board

A few days ago Dr. Dykers mentioned on the Chatham Chatlist that the Ag Advisory Board had voted to recommend against county-wide zoning. Wanting to read the minutes for myself, I looked to the County website and found that the minutes for Ag Advisory Board meetings were not posted. 

After I submitted a formal records request, the County posted some of the Ag Advisory Board minutes at http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=1795 (January 2016 not yet posted as of this writing). 

From the Ag Advisory Board minutes, this is the timeline of their zoning discussions in 2015:

March 10, 2015 - Ag Advisory Board notified that the Planning Board and Commissioners are looking at zoning restrictions and countywide zoning. George Lucier and Brian Bock from the Planning Board agreed to seek Ag Advisory Board input on County issues regarding agriculture.

April 14, 2015 - Ag Advisory Board was told that the Planning Board is considering four zoning options, and that the entire county does not need to be zoned at this time. Commissioner Hale said that the county needs zoning as another leg to the County comprehensive land use plan. The Ag Board requested more information about zoning and its impact on agriculture. Commissioner Petty supports an open zoning approach that names the industries that cannot be allowed in the County without due process.

June 9, 2015 - Ag Advisory Board told that that County Commissioners have charged the planning board to develop land use regulations. Commissioner Hales stated that zoning is a comprehensive process and can take a long time, and that a comprehensive plan is ideal but there are short-term needs that are immediate.

September 8, 2015 - A report to the Ag Advisory Board stated that the Planning Board votes on zoning were tied, and that nothing was passed; also that the Planning Board defeated a motion to define western Chatham County as that west of US 421.

November 11, 2015 - the Ag Board voted to support the Planning Board recommendation not to zone the entire County. Voting for that proposal: Dr. Dykers, Chip Price, Terrill Ellington, Ronnie Vaughn, Larry Hicks. Voting against the proposal: Cathy Jones, Sharon Day, Bobby Tucker, Esta Cohen. 

So what? 

Two items are worth noting. First is that the meeting minutes of the Ag Board were not available to the County citizens until I made a formal request to County staff. That begs the question of how much other County business has not been made widely available. The County has been forthcoming when directly asked about meeting minutes; if they are available, why not post them? The result of not posting is to wonder what the County does not want widely known.

Second, and more disturbing, is that again a County board of citizens voted against the blanket R1 and R5 zoning process and the County Commission appears to ignore that input. Are the County advisory boards merely window-dressing? If so, lets either get rid of them or change their charters.

Finally, thank you Dr. Dykers for bringing this to our attention!

And finally, if you are not registered to vote, do so. Study the candidates positions for local, state and national elections. Put a circle around November 8 on your calendar and vote for those who best represent your values.