|
District
vote fails
By Randall Rigsbee
A referendum on whether or not to change how Chatham residents elect
their county commissioners involved a campaign waged largely
outdoors alongside the county’s roadways in the form of nearly
omnipresent “Yes” and “No” signs.
But the campaign moved indoors on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7,
when voters took their opinions to polling places throughout the
county.
It was there that the “No” proponents prevailed.
While both sides found pockets of support, the majority of voters
rejected the referendum, which proposed the county change the way in
which commissioners are elected.
According to unofficial tallies provided Tuesday night by the
Chatham County Board of Elections, 9,295 voters voted against the
referendum while 7,736 voters favored it.
That means Chatham County will retain the present method of
nominating and electing commissioners, a method by which all five
commissioners are nominated and elected by voters countywide.
A number of elected offices were also on Tuesday’s ballot.
Voters put District 4 county commissioner candidate Tom Vanderbeck
into office, favoring the Democrat over his Republican challenger,
Siler City resident Karl Ernst.
Vanderbeck received 9,770 votes to Ernst’s 7,332, according to
unofficial tallies.
Democrat George Lucier, who ran unopposed for the District 3 seat on
the county Board of Commissioners, was put into office with 11,018
votes.
Carl Thompson, also an unopposed Democrat, won election to the Board
of Commissioners District 5 seat with 11,309 votes.
more- See Thursday,
November 9
paper:
Vol 86, No.
49
Errors
result in no
Democrat
observers at polls
By Joe
Pardington
Three errors
were made by the Democratic Party of Chatham County and one by the
Chatham County Elections Office which resulted in no observers from
the Democratic party for the November 7 Election Day locally.
The Chatham
County Board of Elections on Monday rejected the party’s submitted
observers list because it did not conform to election protocol, said
Dawn Stumpf, director of the Chatham County Election Office.
"The Board
said they didn’t approve the observer list," Stumpf said. "It wasn’t
signed by the chair; it didn’t come in on time and there were not
two copies. The deadline was Thursday at 10 a.m. I had told them 5
(p.m.) inadvertently."
Don Right,
attorney for the State Board of Elections said it was the local
board’s place to make the decision.
"That was a
decision of the Chatham County Board of Elections. It’s their
decision to make," he said. "We would defer to the Chatham County
Board of Elections."
Bonnie Bechard, president of
Chatham County Democratic Women, recalled that she attempted to send
an observer list via email at least three times on the day of the
deadline—November 2.
more- See Thursday,
November 9
paper:
Vol 86, No.
49
Planning board recommends retail rezoning
By Randall
Rigsbee
A rezoning of
29.4 acres of a larger tract at the Chatham/Orange county line for a
home improvement center and other business uses received the Chatham
County Planning Board’s nod of approval Monday.
The Planning
Board voted 8-1 in favor of rezoning a 63.3 acre tract into a 29.4
acre conditional use B-1 business district and a 33.9 acre RA-40
residential agricultural district.
The property
is owned by Lee-Moore Oil Company and is off US 15-501 south of the
Chatham/Orange county line.
Planners also
voted 8-1 in favor of a conditional use B-1 business permit for the
same 29.4-acre property to allow a home improvement center, which
county officials say will likely be a Home Depot, and additional
retail and shops.
The Planning
Board serves as an advisory group to the county Board of
Commissioners, who will have the deciding vote in the matter.
Commissioners are expected to consider the proposal at their
November 20 meeting.
Earlier
Monday, county commissioners rejected an appeal by 16 county
residents hoping to keep the proposed shopping center further from
their nearby residential property.
Four of those
residents appeared before county commissioners, who convened Monday
as the Board of Adjustment to consider the appeal.
more- See Thursday,
November 9
paper:
Vol 86, No.
49
|
Jeff Davis photo
Messy day at the polls . . .
Tuesday’s rains had plenty of
umbrellas popping up at Chatham County polling sites Tuesday. While
the rain kept some folks away from voicing their opinions, voting
was still steady throughout the day. Above, voters and campaigners
endure wet conditions in Pittsboro.
Moncure-based
industry receives economic development incentive
By Randall
Rigsbee
Chatham
County’s three-year-old economic incentives policy to help stimulate
local job growth got its second taker in less than a month when
commissioners approved a proposal to apply the policy to an existing
Moncure company.
Last month,
county commissioners utilized the policy for the first time since it
was approved in 2004, approving in a split vote incentives for the
controversial ISP Minerals proposed plant near Siler City.
The latest
incentives request was, as county officials had predicted, a much
less controversial proposal.
ATC Panels in
Moncure sought a county incentive for its planned $13 million
investment in new machinery and equipment, which will create
approximately 25 new jobs.
ATC Panels
chief financial officer Rodolfo Salman recently met with now-retired
county economic development director Tony Tucker to request
participation in the county’s economic incentive plan.
"As a
relatively new employer to Chatham County, with plans to expand our
existing business, we respectfully request the financial incentives
from Chatham County based on project investment and job creation,"
Salman wrote in a September 25 letter to Tucker.
On Monday,
the Chatham County Board of Commissioners conducted a public hearing
on ATC’s incentive request.
more- See Thursday,
November 9
paper:
Vol 86, No.
49
Jeff Davis photo
What’s cooking? . . .
Five year old Caroline Newlin
helps John Wilson stir up some apple butter at the Sword of Peace
Sunday afternoon. Newlin, who is from the Snow Camp area, was there
with her family enjoying the annual Molasses Festival. |
