Upcoming municipal elections

First, a quick primer on this fall's elections, then, i want to announce something i'm really excited about, and i hope you all will be as well.

Durham has a seven member City Council. There are three ward seats, three at-large seats, and a mayor. The mayor's office is voted on every two years; the at-large and ward members serve staggered four year terms. This year we're voting on the at-large seats.

In a very real sense, ward seats are also at-large seats: these seats are voted on by the entire electorate, although candidates must reside within the ward they represent. Also, unlike the at-large seats where the top three votegetters win the election, it's possible for a losing candidate in a ward to actually outpoll the winning candidate in a different ward.

Because ten candidates filed to run for the three at-large seats, there will be a primary election on the first Tuesday in October. Voters will be able to select up to three candidates (no weighted ballots, please) from the field of ten. The top 6 votegetters will then appear on the November ballot. There are only two declared mayoral candidates, so the mayor's race will not appear on the October ballot. In November, the three top votegetters for Council, and the Mayor, will be elected.

There will also be several bonds on the November ballot, from both the city and the county. The county will be askig for around $200 million in borrowing authority, mostly for new school construction, but lesser amounts for the Museum of Life and Science and Durham Technical Community College. The city is putting up a $20 million bond for road and sidewalk construction and maintenance.

I'll have more in the upcoming weeks about Council, especially some changes that i think need to be made, but for now, i want to let you know about something i think is pretty cool.

Durham's on-line community has really started to find its voice over the past year or so. There are more good blogs than i have time to keep up with. This is the first municipal election taking place in the presence of that community. A number of local bloggers have been meeting to try to figure out how we can best use our new media to get more information about the candidates and their positions out to our readers.

To that end, we've developed a questionnaire which was sent out to all Council candidates last night. We're setting up a central webpage (link provided as soon as we go live) where we'll be posting the questions and the answers we receive from the candidates in their entirety. Additionally, each of us will also posting and analyzing the answers, especially when they fall within our areas of interest or expertise. Your participation in the form of comments and additional questions will be an important factor in whether or not the candidates take this new exercise in citizen participation in the electoral process seriously.

Blogs participating in the election questionnaire are The Archer Pelican, Bull City Rising, The Bull in Full, Dependable Erection, Endangered Durham, Fallout Shelter, Nicomachus, Toastiest, and We Love Durham.

If you write a blog about Durham and you'd like to be a participant in this project, drop a line to DependableErection AT gmail DOT com and let me know.

Check back in regularly over the next two months for election updates., and be sure to visit each of the participating blogs for a spectrum of opinions on our upcoming municipal elections.

UPDATE: Thanks to Joe, our questionnaire is now posted online. Check in to see responses from your City Council candidates.