The “View from the Hill” blog has become the Orange Ballot, which is located at the Daily Tar Heel’s official website.

It is located here: http://www.dailytarheel.com/orange-ballot

We did this because it will be easier to incorporate with the rest of our coverage. We will be continuing to follow Orange County politics and elections there.

Thanks!

John Herrera

Part of his message, as posted on Orange Politics:
“The appreciation for community diversity and the progressive community values that Carrboro has, it is what makes us unique from most towns in North Carolina and in the United States. I am very proud and grateful for the opportunity that Carrboro granted me to be a public servant.”

Herrera, elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2005, was the first first-generation Latino immigrant to be elected to municipal office in North Carolina. His term would have expired in December.

Herrera is the second local official to resign recently, after Chapel Hill councilman Bill Strom resigned Aug. 1.

Sally Greene

The town hall meeting took place in Durham today, on the campus of North Carolina Central University. The crowd was overwhelmingly in support of Democratic Congressman Price, interrupting several speeches with cheers in favor of health care reform. There was also a vocal minority in opposition.

The strong police presence was called upon at least once, when a disturbance in the balcony area led to an ejection from the audience. Other than that, and a smattering of heckling from the crowd, there were no major disruptions of the proceedings. This is in contrast to some of the high profile incidents at town halls across the country, where critics of health care reform have been especially visible.

Following speeches by several members of the community involved with health care, including Congressman Price, there was a brief question and answer session.

Seeing as this is a major political issue of the day, it will be interesting to see what role the debate has in the Orange County elections.

Bill Strom

In an announcement emailed to local media sources, Strom said he wanted “to pursue other personal and professional opportunities outside the community.”

According to the Carrboro Citizen, rumors about Strom have been doing the rounds for a while, especially after he sold his house earlier this year, and declined to run for Mayor Kevin Foy’s soon-to-be-empty seat.

The timing of his resignation has led to indignation among some, including candidate for mayor Augustus Cho. He released a statement this morning, in which he questioned Strom’s motives.

“This is an example of why the public loses its faith and confidence in elected officials. By his questionable timing, Bill has effectively denied the voters an opportunity to express their values and preferences in choosing one of eight candidates for Council; instead, he has placed that privilege of appointment with the Town Council. This is insulting to the citizens’ intelligence and values as he departs Chapel Hill.”

Cho is referring to the fact that Strom’s empty seat will be filled by the council, instead of through the elections. Had Strom resigned while filing was still open, his seat would have been open to one of the Town Council challengers.

The council will begin the process of selecting a replacement at their September 14 meeting.

Things got kicked off when Kevin Foy declared that he wouldn’t be running for reelection as Mayor of Chapel Hill. It seems possible now that he may have an eye on Richard Burr’s Senate seat, at least according to an interview he gave with Chapel Hill Magazine.

Kevin Foy got the action kicked off

The race for his seat began the first day when Augustus Cho, who ran against B.J. Lawson in the Republican primary for the Senate, filed for the open seat (read his statement here). Chapel Hill Town Council member Matt Czajkowski threw his hat in next, followed by Kevin Wolff, who ran unsuccessfully against Foy in the last two elections. Mark Kleinschmidt, also of the town council, was the last to file, and the only to opt into the voter-owned campaign system.

The Chapel Hill Town Council race never looked like it was going to be boring. Penny Rich was the first of five challengers to file, and the only town council candidate to join the voter-owned system. Matt Pohlman, Jon Dehart and Gene Pease filed after her, followed by three incumbents, Laurin Easthom, Jim Merritt and Ed Harrison. Chapel Hill political junkie Will Raymond filed on the last day. There will be eight candidates running for the four contested seats, with incumbent Kleinschmidt focusing on the mayor’s race instead.

The Carrboro mayor race looked to be pretty boring until the last two days. Only incumbent mayor Mark Chilton had filed until the July 16, though he may have had an idea that he wouldn’t be running unopposed. The last two days saw local pet store owner Amanda Ashley and small business owner Brian Voyce both file for the seat.

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen race also waited until the end to heat up, with Sharon Cook and Tim Peck waiting until the last couple of days to file. Incumbents Jacquie Gist and Randee Haven-O’Donnell opened the running, with third incumbent John Herrera declining to run for reelection. The race for his open seat was started by Sammy Slade, co-founder and co-coordinator of the Carrboro Greenspace, followed by Cook and Peck.

Un-opposed Mayor Tom Stevens, will he be looking for a new hobby?

In Hillsborough, Mayor Tom Stevens will run unopposed. Town commissioner incumbents Mike Gering and Frances Dancy will be challenged by Bryant Kelly Warren, Jr for their seats.

The Chapel Hill/Carrboro Board of Education will have only one incumbent defending his seat, Gregory McElveen, with the three seats contested by seven candidates.

Now that filing’s done, campaign season has truly begun!

For Chapel Hill Town Council, we had Will Raymond file. Raymond has been active in town politics for many years, running for town council in the past. He also lives near the proposed site for the Carolina North expansion, the handling of which could be a big issue this election cycle. You can read his announcement here on his blog.

For the board of aldermen in Carrboro, Tim Peck and Sharon Cook both filed in the last two days. Five candidates will run for the three open seats, with incumbent John Herrera deciding not to run for reelection. Cook ran for a seat on the board in 2007, and lives in a part of Carrboro that was annexed in 2006. Cook released a statement, in which she said she worried that Carrboro residents would not be able to afford to stay in the town.

I was concerned that our town government was on an unsustainable economic path, one that would force many long time residents to move out of Carrboro. Over the past two years that’s become increasingly clear.

I’m an optimist, and I believe that it’s not too late to change our direction. I’m running for a seat on the Board of Aldermen to put us on the path that will make it possible for Carrboro’s citizens to remain in their homes as long as they choose to do so through balanced growth and development.

For Mayor of Carrboro, Brian Voyce added his voice to the contest, meaning there are now two challengers for Mark Chilton. Voyce has also run for the mayor’s seat in the past, in 2007.

Ed Harrison

Ed Harrison filed for Chapel Hill Town Council this morning, rounding out the incumbents. There are now seven candidates for the four seats. At least one of the challengers will get a seat, due to Mark Kleinschmidt’s run for mayor.

Harrison is the first council member elected from the part of Durham County annexed by the town of Chapel Hill, and said in an email that he would “serve the entire town, in both counties where it has jurisdiction.”

In his announcement today, he said that his experience on the council would be even more valuable now that Kevin Foy was stepping down as mayor.

I’ve been an active participant in our struggle to bring quality growth to Chapel Hill. This is a term whose meaning is evolving in our community, and my substantial experience is needed to help us achieve a consensus vision of what it means in the long term.

Harrison has not opted into the voter-owned system (as of today), making him the sixth not to. Penny Rich is still the only town council hopeful to join the system, and Kleinschmidt the only mayoral candidate. Augustus Cho, who is running against him, detailed his reasons for not joining the system here.

In Carrboro, Amanda Ashley filed today to run against current mayor Mark Chilton.

Filing officially closes tomorrow at 12:00 noon.

Laurin Easthom

Christine Lee and Gregory McElveen have filed for the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Board of Education. McElveen was sworn in to finish the term of Pam Hemminger, who left to join the Board of County Commissioners. There are now six candidates for three seats, and McElveen is the only incumbent to file.

Kevin Foy

Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy, who has said he isn’t seeking re-election, told Chapel Hill Magazine he’s “seriously considering” running for Richard Burr’s senate seat in 2010.

The magazine quotes Foy saying his decision is still in the works.

“You don’t just say to yourself one morning, ‘I think I’ll run for the Senate,’” Foy said. ”I would think that I would have to decide sometime later in the fall whether or not to run.”

Read more here.

Kleinschmidt is the fourth candidate to file for the mayor’s seat, which will be vacated this year by Kevin Foy. He is the youngest of the four at 39, and also the only one to opt into the public financing system (check here for a refresher on how all that works). Penny Rich is the only other candidate to take the voter-owned elections route so far.

Of the four running for mayor, Kleinschmidt and Matt Czajkowski are the only ones coming from within the town’s current government, as they are both town council members. Augustus Cho and Kevin Wolff are both challenging from the community, and Wolff has run in the past for the position.

Pease, a local businessman, joins the field of four candidates filed for four open town council seats. However, as of today, none of the four incumbents have filed. Kleinschmidt is one of the incumbents, so his seat is definitely up for grabs. At the very least, we’ll have a race on our hands.