City elections tomorrow

Three city council seats and the mayor's office are being contested tomorrow. I think I will vote for the incumbents (Mayor Bill Bell and City Council members Cora Cole-McFadden, Howard Clement, and Mike Woodard. I can't think of anything they have done since the last election that would make it impossible to vote for them and the challengers do not seem to offer better. I will look up more about the mayoral race before voting, but I haven't heard much about the challenger, or about the person running for Woodard's seat.

I won't vote for candidates who support the way the Jordan Lake boundaries have been handled, and I have a lot of doubts about the plan for high-density 751 South. Now it appears that the Planning Department mishandled or sabotaged the landowner petition that would have required a vote 4-1 to change the map, which would have prevented the change from being made (and note that the area could have been developed without any change, just at a lower density). The County Commissioners did what the developer wanted, yet we are still being sued, and now there could be a Haw River Assembly lawsuit too, because the government is not going to revisit the October 12th vote, even if it is found to have ignored its own Unified Development Ordinance rules on petitions. We definitely need more jobs an economic growth in Durham, but I don't believe the developer's economic figures and if developments are approved based on predicted employment growth, no development will ever be turned down, because a capitalist economy is unlikely to ever provide 100% employment here. I think Durham is already too accomodating to developers and companies seeking incentives (a comprehensive survey of the Durham portion of Jordan Lake costing less than $100,000 is supposedly too expensive, yet millions are being given to one company after votes in October). Also, there is already a traffic problem because of development in Durham and Cary, and building so much at the south end of the County will only make traffic worse on 751 and nearby roads. These issues will be discussed by the City Council before 751 South can be built, so this is not just an issue for the County Commissioners. I don't know how the incumbents will vote, but they have not publicly supported what the County Commissioners are doing.

I have voted for Libertarians before, but I am opposed to economic libertarianism and don't see a reason to get rid of Clement. I generally agree with Woodard's votes and he usually replies to constitutent emails, unlike some members of the Council.

You can see the current City Council in action tonight and on the 16th at 7pm. The County Commissioners have regular 7pm meetings on the 9th and 23rd.