Bill Bell

Did the Mayor really use the city's new reverse 911 system to remind people to fill out their census forms?

I didn't get a call, but other people seem to have.

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Priceless

Venison carpaccio - $8

Signature cocktail - $10
All being served up by Durham Mayor Bill Bell at Revolution - priceless

Continue reading Priceless

Budget

I don't really have an opinion as to whether the Mayor's proposal to come up with a budget that doesn't change the property tax rate is a good thing or not. Like many of you, i'm interested in seeing just what services get cut in the name of holding taxes steady, and hoping that federal stimulus money picks up some of the slack.

On the other hand, i'm sure Patrick Baker wishes that the mayor had been more up front and public about what he was willing to see the tax rate go to during last year's budget cycle. As you'll recall, Patrick Baker, then the city manager, put forth a pretty decent budget to the public, only to have Mayor Bell ride in on his white horse to save us from a larger tax hike.

I wondered then if Bell would be willing to treat his new hire the same way.

Guess not.

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Layoffs

After seeing the story in the Herald Sun this morning, in which Mayor Bill Bell is quoted as "hinting" that layoffs are a possibility within city government, a reader emails me to ask whether Durham will be taking requests?

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What the hell is Bill Bell thinking?

Ray Gronberg, in yesterday's Herald-Sun, tells us:

Thanks to a push from Mayor Bill Bell, officials are considering a developer-backed procedural change that would allow them to vote on rezoning requests before hearing about a project's traffic impact from state road planners.

The idea could shave from one to six months off the time it takes the city or county government to review zoning requests, administrators say.

But it would also cost Durham leaders a chance to make sure developers, local officials and the N.C. Department of Transportation are on the same page about the road and sidewalk improvements new neighborhoods or buildings might need.

The change would result in a system for reviewing traffic impact that's "absolutely less coordinated" than the one Durham already has, Deputy City Manager Ted Voorhees told City Council members earlier this month.

So, what's the rush? Considering that Durham is pretty far behind the curve of growing American cities in planning for the transportation needs of the 21st century, how does not even waiting to look at the traffic impacts of new sprawling development benefit anyone except a small group of developers?

My gut instinct is to think there must be a very specific project out there on the books that will benefit from this change.

Here's the kicker:

Nonetheless, Bell said the group that initiates land-policy changes, the Joint City/County Planning Committee, should review the proposal and offer a recommendation.

The committee has looked at the idea before and refused to support it. But members like City Councilwoman Diane Catotti fret that it lost influence with the council and the commissioners. Bell isn't a member of the panel.

)Deputy city Manager Ted) Voorhees noted that the city could, theoretically, make the change on its own. He also noted that city officials in Raleigh don't wait on DOT to finish its work before acting on zoning requests.

Which should be the prime argument against adopting this policy in Durham.

There's also been some interesting conversation about this topic in the Inter-Neighborhood Council listserv today. I'll have more to say about that later.

Continue reading What the hell is Bill Bell thinking?

Welcome to Durham, Tom Bonfield

I assume that making sure bond money is spent for, you know, voter approved bond projects will be part of your portfolio.

Continue reading Welcome to Durham, Tom Bonfield

That's one way to look at it

Matt's got an interesting post over at the Bull's Eye blog about some fliers handed out by the Durham Democratic party this weekend. (Full disclosure - I handed these out in my neighborhood, along with a David Harris info piece this weekend.)

Matt notes that "Stith has strong ties to the Republican Party but has not emphasized his political affiliation, for obvious reasons. He thinks his Republican status should be irrelevant in a non-partisan race."

There's two ways to read that, i think. One is that there are reasons why Stith has remained silent about his party affiliation, and discerning readers know what they are. The other is that "the obvious reason" why Stith has not played up his Republican credentials is that he thinks it "should be irrelevant in a non-partisan race." I think the latter is what Matt is saying.

But i think the former is the case. Stith's initial foray in the race played on one of the favorite hot-button issues of Republicans nationwide - illegal immigrants. That didn't pan out so well for the candidate, and he quickly switched gears to a series of personal attacks against incumbent mayor Bill Bell. But Stith's conservative agenda, his Republican credentials (he sought the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor in 2004), his ties to Art Pope's reactionary Civitas Institute are all issues in the campaign, whether Mr. Stith wants them to be or not. His tactics in this campaign, borrowed heavily from Republican strategists, are issues in the campaign. It's a bit disingenuous of him to try to claim the high road at this point in time.

Continue reading That's one way to look at it

More thoughts on the mayor's contest

Election Day is just over a week away. This year's race between incumbent Bill Bell and City Councilman Thomas Stith verifies at least one point i've been making in private conversation for a while now: Durham isn't a small town anymore.

Read the latest campaign finance reports, filed this week, to see what i mean. It's clear that the developers and real estate lobby, not to mention folks from Art Pope's empire, many of whom hail from Raleigh and Charlotte, have a favorite candidate. And they're dropping contibutions between $1,000 and $4,000 Thomas Stith's way.

Bill Bell is listing a handful of contributions, totalling a little over $2,000, from employees of the Marcum and Kliegman accounting firm, which is based in new York, and about $3,000 from a couple of other New York residents affiliated with the Sprung Monument Company. No idea what their connection with Bill Bell might be, but it's unlikely they'll be angling for any favors from the Durham mayor's office.

There's no doubt that the mayor's race is the most partisan seen in Durham since Bell first defeated Nick Tennyson 6 years ago, and probably for quite some time before that. Stith plays down his Republican and Art Pope ties on the campaign trail, but it's important to recognize that his campaign is in many ways a petri dish for testing out 2008 themes in other Democratic strongholds in North Carolina. If he does win, expect to see a lot more mud in next year's campaigns. Not to mention another attempt at a statewide run.

UPDATE: Two things i should have noted in the post. First, i'm a contributor to the Bill Bell campaign. After this weekend, i'm in for a total of $140. I don't show up in any of the campaign filings as of yet, though.

Second, Kevin's running a contest. Whoever comes closest to picking the results of the mayor's ection race next Tuesday gets a $25 certificate to a "local restaurant." Don't know if that means you pick the restaurant or he's already got the gift card, but why not give it a shot?

Continue reading More thoughts on the mayor's contest