2006 Election

[ChiefJoJo]

The Indy has a good story on several of the candidates, which is a pretty good place to start I think if you are a progressive voter.

I suspect that Price, Miller and Etheridge will be re-elected to Congress... and that the school bonds will pass... I'm interested to see how the Wake Co commissioners races (Koopman vs Coble ) and the State House seat 41 races (Capps vs Harrell ) will go. Remember that the Commisioners control local education and make land use decisions outside of the cities, so they are important in terms of growth issues that we often discuss on the forum.

[tjoad]

Yes, these elections are very important on both the national and local level. This election will determine the future of our county's education system, our taxes, impact fees, transfer taxes among other things.

I like how Indy is encouraging a bipartisan approach, especially because Indy has the lefty reputation. I think their endorsements are for the most part on the mark.

[RaleighRob]

Please please please God don't let Coble win a county commissioner seat. Wasn't bad enough that he goes down in history as one of Raleigh's least effective mayors, he wants to now do the same for the whole county?

[carynative]

amen to that.

[ncwebguy]

The "victory" of defeating the Wake County school bond a few years ago is now rearing its ugly head.

Why isn't the pro-bond movement hammering home the notion that two wrongs don't make a right?

If they have to appeal to the voter's wallet/pocketbook, then point out how a declining school system will erode the tax base and lead to higher taxes than the bond money will require.

One of the letters to the editor in Sunday's N&O suggested giving the new 7,000 students a $2,000 "voucher". Of course the letter neglected that in year two you have to pay that $14 million again for the first seven thousand students PLUS another $14 million for that year's new students. To say nothing about year three and beyond. Of course it would do nothing to aleviate the overcrowding already in place.

The one-two punch of "neighborhood schools" and "no funding for inner city schools, since they're built already" is pure classism, if not racism. Why no one has called the anti-bond crowd out on this I still don't understand.

I am somewhat concerned with the Miller/Robinson race. While any eductated voter can see right through "protect our borders" there are plenty of people who could latch onto that "cause" and mobilize certain voting blocks.

Also, why do our taxes need to be lower? Will the Coble crowd not be happy until we are paying them to live here? The wealthy already have received a disproportionate tax cut on the federal level -- they don't need one on the county level as well. As shown in Sunday's N&O, owners of undervalued property in wealthy neighborhoods already enjoy a tax cut at the expense of other overvalued property owners.

I know numbers bore the average voter, but they need to see just good we have it here.

[Subway Scoundrel]

I don't get the "don't waste money on remodelling of the older schools" Would one move from their home when it got old and just move into a new onw ? Let's just knock down Broughton !!!

I just wish peole could think this thing through no matter what side you are on and understand all the smoke and mirrors that is going on.

[Rufus]

i believe there are two separate proposals for Wake County Public Schools. One entails a $1 billion dollar effort to build new schools and renovate older ones, but brings a $40-75 increase in property taxes on a house worth $150,000. It also calls for only some schools to be year-round, namely elementary and middle schools.

The other proposal is around $700 million and calls for renovations/ additions first to older schools and then building new schools. this renovation clause only applies to middle and high schools as there is a huge need for elementary schools to be built. It has no property tax increase, but calls for mandatory year-round schedules in most, if not all elementary schools and most middle schools, leaving high schools to be voluntary in their choice of scheduling.

I don't know if the second proposal will come to fruition even as a proposal seeing as how many believe that the only bond is the $1 billion dollar bond supported by Ann Goodman. I also don't even know if the latter proposal has even been made to the school board. The only support I have is from an N&O/WRAL poll that I found while researching the topic online. in that poll, > 60 % agreed for the latter proposal and about 70% rejected the first proposal. If anyone has any other knowledge on this issue feel free to speak your mind.

p.s. sorry for the somewhat long post

[tjoad]

It's great to see more politicians are pushing for impact fees (ie. Rodger Koopman). They're still fighting an uphill battle against the developers/real estate industry's $ but it's encouraging nonetheless.

[wfdude]

i believe there are two separate proposals for Wake County Public Schools. One entails a $1 billion dollar effort to build new schools and renovate older ones, but brings a $40-75 increase in property taxes on a house worth $150,000. It also calls for only some schools to be year-round, namely elementary and middle schools.

The other proposal is around $700 million and calls for renovations/ additions first to older schools and then building new schools. this renovation clause only applies to middle and high schools as there is a huge need for elementary schools to be built. It has no property tax increase, but calls for mandatory year-round schedules in most, if not all elementary schools and most middle schools, leaving high schools to be voluntary in their choice of scheduling.

I don't know if the second proposal will come to fruition even as a proposal seeing as how many believe that the only bond is the $1 billion dollar bond supported by Ann Goodman. I also don't even know if the latter proposal has even been made to the school board. The only support I have is from an N&O/WRAL poll that I found while researching the topic online. in that poll, > 60 % agreed for the latter proposal and about 70% rejected the first proposal. If anyone has any other knowledge on this issue feel free to speak your mind.

p.s. sorry for the somewhat long post

[ncwebguy]

I don't get the "don't waste money on remodelling of the older schools" Would one move from their home when it got old and just move into a new onw ? Let's just knock down Broughton !!!

I just wish peole could think this thing through no matter what side you are on and understand all the smoke and mirrors that is going on.

[ChiefJoJo]

Check out this link to the N&O voters guide. There's some interesting info there, like Pual Coble raised $99,182 from individuals and $11,750 from political action committees.

Who were the top donors? John Pope, founder of Variety Wholesalers and major Republican donor, and his wife, Joyce, gave a combined $8,000. Richard Rowe, president of Wakefield Associates; and Bob Luddy, president of Captive Aire, each gave $4,000. Salisbury attorney William Graham and developer Max Barbour gave $2,000. Morrisville developers Stephen and Benjamin Ward each gave $1,500.

Who were other notable donors? Former commissioner Gary Pendleton gave $1,250. Former Raleigh City Councilman Kieran Shanahan and Kerr Drug President Anthony Civello each gave $1,000. Raleigh Councilman Tommy Craven, former school board member Tom Oxholm and Waste Industries president Lonnie Poole Jr. each gave $500.

Which political action committees (PACs) gave? The N.C. Home Builders Association PAC gave $7,000. The N.C. Realtors PAC gave $4,000. The Centex Connection Fund gave $500. Retiring Commissioner Herb Council's campaign gave $250.

Gee, I wonder if he will be for real estate transfer fees or impact fees?

[carynative]

You know that Salsibury Atty William Graham is gunning for a run for Gov. in 08? have you seen the immigration/gas tax ads on TV?

[RaleighRob]

Well, just came back from voting.

What is it with the University Park neighborhood...everyone there seems to have a last name that begins with "P-Z"?? Or at least all of them vote at the same time.

[Beth Y]

Well, just came back from voting.

What is it with the University Park neighborhood...everyone there seems to have a last name that begins with "P-Z"?? Or at least all of them vote at the same time.

[ncwebguy]

In my voting location (Roberts Park, on East Martin a few blocks east of Tarboro/Rock Quarry) there were *three* lines, but I don't remember how they divided the alphabet. There was no waiting, and the ballot "booths" were often close to full, no one waited while I was there.

At 9 am, mine was ballot #103, which I think is good turnout. I'm usually in the 60s or 70s and vote aprox the same time every year.

There appeared to be a few operatives/supporters in the parking lot, but I didn't talk to any of them, since it was raining.

[carynative]

I think the heavy rain will hamper some voting but it sounds like turnout is good so far. I was one of those who voted early.. and I'm glad I did given the weather. My precint is a fire station that is plum aggravatin to get in and out of, never mind the parking. It's also literally across the street from another precinct. Sometimes I wonder how they locate them.

[Subway Scoundrel]

Check out this link to the N&O voters guide. There's some interesting info there, like Pual Coble raised $99,182 from individuals and $11,750 from political action committees.

Who were the top donors? John Pope, founder of Variety Wholesalers and major Republican donor, and his wife, Joyce, gave a combined $8,000. Richard Rowe, president of Wakefield Associates; and Bob Luddy, president of Captive Aire, each gave $4,000. Salisbury attorney William Graham and developer Max Barbour gave $2,000. Morrisville developers Stephen and Benjamin Ward each gave $1,500.

Who were other notable donors? Former commissioner Gary Pendleton gave $1,250. Former Raleigh City Councilman Kieran Shanahan and Kerr Drug President Anthony Civello each gave $1,000. Raleigh Councilman Tommy Craven, former school board member Tom Oxholm and Waste Industries president Lonnie Poole Jr. each gave $500.

[ChiefJoJo]

Well, the results are in and I'm happy with them, except that Coble beat Rodger Koopman for Wake Co Commissioner, which will hurt the chances of anything getting done in terms of impact fees, and controlling growth. Everyone here knows how many great things Coble did for Raleigh while he was Mayor. I guess one disappointment is alright, and perhaps not surprising since Coble had much more money in his campaign. At least ultra-right-winger Phil Jeffreys is out. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I think more voters should pay attention to local politics (especially at the mid-term elections) rather than pay so much attention to national races.

[RaleighRob]

^ Yeah sucks about Coble....but glad Brown beat Jeffreys!

And I'm pretty happy about the overal results last night...nationally and state-races too!

I think if the dems had a bigger name politician against Coble, it could have turned out differently. Coble had name-recognition...plus he played on the fact that Koopman was a recent newcomer.

We really needed someone with more name recognition in that race...someone who had been a political fixture here for a longer period of time. Eric Reeves, for example?

[DanRNC]

The school bonds passed which was a biggie as well. Interesting that a national org (Americans for Prosperity) cared so much about the local educational system. I think this group's main goal is dismantling public education and it was good to see that most people didn't buy their PR.

[sax184]

Overall, this election, while not an overwhelming success, was a positive step for urbanism and growth issues in the Triangle. Why?

1. The Wake school bond passed. Despite tons of money poured into the effort by anti-tax zealots and the blunder of tying mandatory year-round schools to the bond, people in Wake County agreed by a decent margin that you indeed get what you pay for, and that we should pay for a decent school system. The school board has also learned a lesson about what to avoid to keep from negatively motivating otherwise pro-schools voters. While I don't think a transit-only referendum could pass right now, I think the school bond vote shows that a comprehensive transportation referendum might have legs. (roads, transit, bike, ped)

2. Russell Capps is out! As one of the leading anti-tax, anti-transit, community-on-the-cheap voices in the Triangle, his defeat by Ty Harrell suggests that the public is ahead of the politicians when it comes to grappling with growth issues. The public wants to deal with growth. Capps wants to stick his head in the ground and pretend growth issues don't exist. Good riddance.

3. Vernon Robinson not only lost, but got crushed. If Robinson had been elected, you can get that getting anything done with the Feds numerous issues in the Triangle (transportation, community development initiatives, etc) would have gotten much more difficult.

4. The Democrats expanded their advantage in the NC legislature. Instead of 63-57, the House is now likely to be 68-52. The Senate goes from 29-21 to 31-19. Why is this important for growth issues? The general assembly is likely to take up local option taxes for metropolitan areas in the next session. The Democratic advantage here may be key to letting the metro areas decide their own destiny when it comes to tax policy for infrastructure.

5. With the national Democratic takeover, David Price will become one of the more powerful voices on the House Appropriations Committee. This can only be good for our region.

I've got to say I'm hopeful this morning, and proud of Wake county voters. The next two years could hold many good things!

[DanRNC]

Capps got tossed? Great! I was glad to see Jeffreys shown the door as well. We are starting to see a shift from the old codger school of politics to a younger demographic which represents this area much more accurately.

[Beth Y]

Eric Reeves, for example

[Subway Scoundrel]

Overall, this election, while not an overwhelming success, was a positive step for urbanism and growth issues in the Triangle. Why?

1. The Wake school bond passed. Despite tons of money poured into the effort by anti-tax zealots and the blunder of tying mandatory year-round schools to the bond, people in Wake County agreed by a decent margin that you indeed get what you pay for, and that we should pay for a decent school system. The school board has also learned a lesson about what to avoid to keep from negatively motivating otherwise pro-schools voters. While I don't think a transit-only referendum could pass right now, I think the school bond vote shows that a comprehensive transportation referendum might have legs. (roads, transit, bike, ped)

2. Russell Capps is out! As one of the leading anti-tax, anti-transit, community-on-the-cheap voices in the Triangle, his defeat by Ty Harrell suggests that the public is ahead of the politicians when it comes to grappling with growth issues. The public wants to deal with growth. Capps wants to stick his head in the ground and pretend growth issues don't exist. Good riddance.

[DanRNC]

Raleigh Town Council is next. Would like to see Isley take a hike as well. He is in the ANTI camp but is the younger, the frat party is still going (although it ended 20 years ago) variety.