Town should.take transparency to the next level.

It is that time of year again – time for the annual request for our local town governments to be as open and transparent as possible.

In last year's New Year’s resolution column three requests were made of the towns – improve email collections for public records requests, follow the spirit of the law (not just the letter of the law) when it comes to open meetings, and respect the will of the voters when it comes to filling vacancies in local town Boards.  While none of the towns passed ordinances that explicitly addressed these, incremental changes could be seen in positive directions on all of them.

That's a very good thing.

So, in the spirit of starting the new year off on a positive note, here is something a couple of or towns did which improved transparency that was not even on last year's list.

This past August Davidson began live streaming of its public meetings using UStream.tv -becoming the first of the North Meck towns to offer this to citizens.  To date, the various videos have received a total of almost 1000 views.  That may not seem like much, but when you consider that most meetings are relatively dull having few if any citizens attending, having  video available does make a relatively significant difference.  If nothing else, it makes it easier for the media to accurately report on what happened.  The real difference is made when there is something of high community interest.  For example, the video of the community meeting on Davidson’s controversial Downtown Catalyst Project received 226 view - proving that video availability significantly improves the reach of Town Hall when there is something people really want to see.

An added bonus is that this service is very economical.  Hosting the live streaming, which also allows for commercial free viewing, costs the town only $99/month.  Soon, Davidson won't be the only local town to offer video of its meetings.  One of the first items approved by Huntersville after the last elections was to set up a similar service.  With many new faces on Huntersville’s Board, this certainly will be a good new way for residents to put “faces with names” and get familiar with the new leaders.

Adding video is definitely a positive step for transparency.

But…you knew there was a “but” didn't you?  There is always more work to be done when it comes to shining light on the public’s business.  Here are two policies all town boards could implement easily to ensure as much openness as possible.

1. Require each elected official to copy a central town “public records” email box on their communications.  This can easily be done and is particularly important if an elected official ends up communicating what should be a public record on a private eat I account.  Town Clerks are responsible for being the keeper of a town’s public records.  Their jobs should be made as easy as possible and they should not be forced to try to always track down messages from individual officials.
2. Each town should implement firm policies or rules of conduct outlining exactly when elected officials and even advisory board members should publicly disclose if they might have even the perception of a conflict of interest.  The State law is very specific about when elected officials can be recused.  It is much less often than one might think, and it leaves plenty of room for people to rationalize away why they might not need to recuse themselves from voting or participating in a discussion.  Town policies making it very clear when something should be disclosed would go a long way to strengthening public trust.  At the very least, making that thought process less ambiguous would let citizens know when someone was not following policy.

All of the activism that has gone on around various issues during the last year has stated to improve things at the most local level when it comes to transparency.  Taking these two steps would be a sign the town boards are serious about taking it to the next level.

This column first appeared in this week’s Herald Weekly at HuntersvilleHerald.com

Mayor Jill Swain's Mythical Popularity

The wailing and gnashing of teeth has been intense over at Jill Swain's Facebook page since Election Day.

One would think that Huntersville was about to fall into the abyss after Tuesday's drubbing at the polls.  One also would likely think the relentless mocking of other electeds and the future mayor shows a staggering amount of "sore loserism".

Reading it, gives the impression a supremely popular politician had just been bushwhacked by some unruly upstarts and the town would hardly be able to limp along without her.

However, a quick look at the historical numbers tells a somewhat different and more realistic story.  The below chart compiled from data available at MeckBOE.org shows Swains numbers in each of her mayoral campaigns.

In her first successful campaign in 2007, Swain won with less than half of the vote in a 4-way contest.  2009 was a very tight contest.  In 2011, she won big but turnout was way down.   In 2013, she barely squeaked out the win against Commissioner Jim Puckett.  In 2015 she lost big as her support collapsed.

Here is what one sees in the numbers.

Based on her vote total in the lowest turnout election, it looks like Swain had roughly 2150 loyal voters through her first 4 mayoral contests.  As turnout went up from that floor she got a few more votes, but she never really gained a larger loyal following.  Her relative popularity among actual voters never really increased.

All things being equal, in 2015 she should have gotten about 2450 votes based on turnout instead if the 1947 she received.  Not only did she not get the extra votes based on the higher turnout from the 2011 floor, but she saw significant erosion in her 2150 voter base.

Mayor Swain lost in 2015 not because she was bushwhacked.  She lost because she was not overwhelmingly popular among the actual voting public to begin with and a significant chunk of even her most loyal base abandoned her.

Post Election Finger Pointing Begins in Huntersville

Well, it hasn't taken long for some in the Team Swain camp to express their dismay and disappointment at their candidate's defeat at the polls on Tuesday.

This post from Huntersville Commissioner, Ron Julian, has been making the rounds on Facebook.  It exemplifies the extent of that disappointment.

Some in the media have also joined in to start subtly spinning a meme to explain away what happened to Mayor Jill Swain.  That would be the idea that Swain was not strongly pro-toll and that she was unfairly targeted by non-Huntersville residents.

The Charlotte Observer had this gem in its recent coverage...

"Swain has not been a vocal supporter of the I-77 project but has previously apologized for anti-toll rhetoric by others on the town board."

The Observer totally minimizes how Swain handled this so-called "apology".  You can see the rest of that story here.

As for Swain not being a "vocal supporter" of the HOT lanes project, well, just because she hasn't been out their saying "tolls are great" doesn't mean she has not been consistently working behind the scenes to push this project forward.

If Swain did not support the HOT plan, then how does one explain this move after the 2013 election where she sidelined the anti-toll commissioners as much as possible while sending Sarah McAulay back to the CRTPO where McAulay did everything she could to push the project forward.

If Swain did not support the HOT plan, then how does one explain her efforts as part of the HOT Lanes Bucket Brigade to stop area commissioners from asking Gov McCrory to delay the original contract signing.

And finally, if Mayor Swain was not a HOT lanes project supporter, then why did she send the below email just this past June attempting to coordinate an information campaign between I77 Mobility Partners, NCDOT and the Lake Norman Citizen?

As interestingly as Mayor Swain sending this email, why did she think the Citizen would be open to the idea?  For some reason she did.

The Citizen has made multiple references in recent coverage furthering the second part of the post election meme that is was non-Huntersvillians who were out to get the Mayor and caused the her defeat.  In its post election coverage the Citizen says "Swain and McAulay were unable, or unwilling, to counter a robust campaign mounted against them in no small part by a group of activists comprised largely of non-Huntersville residents."

How the Citizen knows the detailed breakdown of activists and members of Facebook pages focused on the toll issue is unclear.  However, they sure seem focused on the fact that there are members of these groups who don't live in Huntersville.  They also clearly ignore the fact that these groups have thousands of members and very likely have more than enough from Huntersville to easily cover Tuesday's margin of victory and probably much more than that.

Then again, the Citizen has a long history of this kind of coverage on this issue.

One of the first pieces on the I77 HOT lanes saga at aShortChronicle was a critique of local media way back in January of 2013.

"Media Watch: Is LKN Media in the Tank for the HOT Lanes?"

Word got back a few days later, that the folks at the Citizen didn't like it very much.

Doubt they will like this one any better.

The truth is this.

The incumbents in Huntersville who lost on Tuesday night lost because they were on the wrong side of the biggest issue in the Lake Norman region since the creation of Lake Norman itself.

It really is as simple as that.

Anti-Toll Candidates Achieve Crushing Victory in Huntersville, make gains in other North Meck Towns

In what will likely be one of the more memorable and important victories in North Mecklenburg local politics for a long, long time, anti-toll candidates swept to victory across North Mecklenburg towns Tuesday night.

Ground zero for the blitz was Huntersville's campaign for Mayor.  In the end, Mayor Jill Swain was unseated by challenger John Aneralla in a crushing victory.  Based on the unofficial totals, Aneralla won every single precinct in the town while cruising to the finish line with nearly 59% of the vote.

However, this victory was matched in its thoroughness by the victory of anti-toll candidates in the race for Town Board.  The top three vote getters were long-time anti toll incumbents Danny Phillips and Rob Kidwell coming in 1st and 3rd along with newcomer Mark Gibbons who came in 2nd.

In addition to Swain's loss, toll supporters and incumbents Sarah McAulay and Jeff Neely also lost reelection.  Melissa Bales who had been the top vote getter last time around fell to sixth place.

To give a sense of how ferocious the anti toll zeal was, between Swain and McAulay nearly four decades of combined electoral experience was cast aside.

These two officials became the focus of the anti toll movement due to their support of the I77 HOT lanes over the past three years with Mayor Swain working with the other local mayors to save the project on a number of occasions and McAulay serving as the Chair of the CRTPO as that body relentlessly pushed the project forward.

But the success of anti-toll candidates was not confined to Huntersville.

In Cornelius, Dr Mike Miltich gained the fifth seat on the Cornelius Board by a comfortable margin after missing in a close contest in 2013.  Also, in Davidson where all incumbents were reelected, the two who had been the most supportive of the HOT lanes project, Rodney Graham and Brian Jenest, came in fourth and fifth this time.

While all of the candidates from the anti-toll camp ran good solid campaigns, it was in Huntersville where the power of the grassroots activism behind the larger movement was really seen.  Activists from across the region focused on the Huntersville races putting in time, money, and effort to get candidates elected.

Over the course of this campaign, it became as much about seeking transparent and responsive government as much as it was about tolls.  If that effort and organization can remain in in tact it could have a lasting impact on politics in North Mecklenburg for years to come.

In the end, those efforts resulted in a resounding set of victories.

Election 2015 - This is IT!!!

Election day is finally here!

It is time to head to the polls. With the weather being what it is today turnout will probably be depressed a little bit, so if you do make it to the polls your vote will count for more.

Here are a few tips on how to supercharge your vote as well as recommendations for Davidson, Cornelius, and Huntersville.

Also, take a few minutes and reach out to friends and neighbors in any of the three North Mecklenburg towns and encourage them to head to the polls.  Give them to your recommendations that's another tangible way you can have an impact.

There are likely to be some close races and maybe a few surprises. Don't wake up tomorrow and regret that you did not vote if your candidates don't win!

North Meck early voting holds firm amid county wide falloff

Going into Thursday with three days left in early voting, it appears that totals for North Mecklenburg are almost exactly at 2013 levels while the county as a whole has fallen off considerably.

As of the Wednesday before election day, only 9,146 people had voted at the county's early voting sites.  In 2013 that total was 12,592.  That's a 27% drop!

However in North Mecklenburg the numbers seem to be holding.  The total numbers at the North Regional Library and Cornelius Town Hall are almost exactly the same as they were at this point in 2013.

1041 this year versus 1048 in 2013.

Assuming these two sites account for the vast majority of early voters from Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson it would appear there is a bit more enthusiasm in the north of the county than there is in the county as a whole.

Even so, it is hard to use the word "enthusiasm" when turnout is still this anemic.

2013 was a very close contest in a number of races in the local municipalities. With voting totals on par with that cycle, looks like we could expect the same this time around.

In the spirit of a Renaissance Festival herald...

Get thee to the polls!!!

Supercharge your vote this election

Election Day is upon us and it is time to head to the polls.  Last week’s column explained why local elections are so important.  This week provides tips on getting the most out of your vote this election season.  Here is how to super charge your vote.

First, actually go and do it.  Better yet, bring a few others with you.

That's not an attempt at humor, but a sincere suggestion.  Turnout is disturbingly low in municipal elections, so your vote and the votes of a few friends really matter.  Proportionally, your vote has greater impact in low turnout elections, giving real meaning to the old saying “every vote counts”.

Second, be selective in how you cast your ballot.

That may sound obvious, but many people often make a mistake in at-large contests like the races for municipal boards where you can vote for multiple candidates.  For example in Davidson and Cornelius, you can vote for up to five Board candidates and in Huntersville up to six.  However, just because you can vote for a full slate of candidates does not mean you must.

In this scenario, the sharpest arrow in the voter’s quiver is called the “single shot” vote.

Single shot, or bullet voting, is a tactic where you only vote for one candidate rather than a full slate.  It is a tactic often used by minority communities to get a candidate elected from the minority community even when their overall numbers are not a majority of voters.  It works by withholding votes from other candidates that would have otherwise been cast – giving that single vote a higher proportional value.

The same effect to a lesser degree can be achieved by voting for two or three candidates instead of five or six.  The basic idea is to just not give away votes to candidates that you don't agree with on major issues.

In Davidson and Cornelius most incumbents are going to win reelection anyway because only six candidates are running for five seats.  In those towns you may want to just vote for enough candidates to gain a majority on the board, or three candidates.  Alternatively, if you definitely want new blood, then only vote for one challenger.

In Huntersville, gaining a majority would require four. You could vote for three board members and make your selection in the Mayor’s race based on who you want to be the tie-breaker.  Local mayors only vote in the event of a tie.

Huntersville is the only municipality in North Mecklenburg with a contest for Mayor this year.  However, even in Cornelius and Davidson you have a “choice”.  If you are in either of those towns and don't like how your Mayor is doing things, leave the race blank.  Don't just give away your vote if you don't think they deserve it.  While the amount of the “undervote” usually does not make the news, if the percentage of blank votes or write-ins in the uncontested mayors’ races was high enough that would certainly send a message.

In truth, many of the candidates in all of these races hold similar positions on the smaller issues facing the towns.  Voting for candidates based on their stands on the big issues is where the differences lie.  Whether it be something like the I77 HOT lanes or the Catalyst Project in Davidson, voting based on these issues is where you get the most impact.

Finally, there is one item on everyone’s ballot that will impact your future votes - the referendum to extend terms from two years to four on the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners starting with the next election.  If you believe elected officials should be held accountable to the voters more often, then definitely vote “NO” on that item.

The last two times Mecklenburg voters have been   asked this question, it failed.  Keeping that trend alive, protects the power of your vote for years to come.

If you haven't done so  already, early voting continues through Saturday.   Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd.

This column first appeared in this week's Herald Weekly at HuntersvilleHerald.com.

Election 2015 Huntersville recommendations...

Election Day is upon us and it is time to head to the polls. Here are some suggestions for Huntersville based on the methodology outlined in my upcomong column from this week's Herald Weekly.  Be sure to check that out on Thursday.

This election cycle, Huntersville is where most of the big action takes place. With over a dozen candidates for the Town Board and the area's only contested mayoral election, there is more to choose from here than anywhere else.

For Town Board you can't go wrong with incumbents Rob Kidwell and Danny Phillips along with newcomer Mark Gibbons.

Commissioners Kidwell and Phillips have proven themselves to be independent voices on the board rather than always walking in lockstep with the leadership on the dias.  They deserve reelection.  Challenger Mark Gibbons also has proven his commitment and willingness to fight for what is best for Huntersville and this region, serving as a prominent leader in the effort to stop the I77 HOT lanes project.

Together, these three gentlemen can ensure Huntersville's best interests are protected as the larger region grows.  They will not reflexively cave to the constant drum beat of "regionalism" coming out of Charlotte.  North Mecklenburg needs its largest municipality to have that kind of backbone if we are to prevent being constantly pummelled by the 800lb gorilla to our south.

On the mayoral side, the choice is also clear.

While I do not know Mayor Swain personally, people who do seem to think she is a very nice person.  HOWEVER, this is not a high school popularity contest.

Huntersville needs a leader willing to go to the mat for the town on large regional issues and Mayor Swain simply is not that person.  Maybe Mayor Swain has gotten too comfortable at Huntersville town hall having been there for a long, looong time.  Her lack of much of a visible campaign effort this cycle also gives the impression of a sense of entitlement that should never be apparent in an elected official.

Regardless, it is time for new blood.

Fortunately for Huntersville, challenger John Aneralla can provide the leadership that has been missing.

Aneralla is no stranger to the political process having run for office at the state level previously.  He also serves on the boards overseeing the State's retirement system which is one of the largest in the country.

Aneralla is on record opposing the I77 HOT lanes from his previous runs for office, so he is not a "jonny come lately" to the anti-toll effort.

In the role of Mayor, voters want someone who will break ties the right way - giving thoughtful consideration to all sides of an issue and not just doing what is popular to a select few.

Electing John Aneralla gives that to Huntersville.

Just my 2 cents...

"96% of Mayor Swain's support from outside Huntersville!"

That would be the logical headline if one local weekly publication was to write a story about Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain's 35-day campaign finance report filed a couple weeks ago.

At least that is what one would think after reading the publication's most recent anonymous commentary lamenting non-Huntersville residents expressing interest in the town's mayoral race.

When the anonymous columnist took potshots at citizens, he/she described them as people "who don’t live in the town they are targeting, meddling in an election with which they have no claim to stake and are clearly actively engaged in attempting to influence."

Ironically, while this local paper seemingly wrote the piece in defense of Mayor Swain, one could certainly say the same about the vast majority of the money donated to Mayor Swain's campaign a little more than a month out from Election Day.  This election cycle, $2700 out of $2800 donated to the campaign has come from people who don't live in Huntersville.

I guess those donors are trying to unduly influence the Huntersville race, right?!?!?

In truth, saying that would be about as silly as the comments coming from that local publication.

Of course almost all politicians and campaigns have supporters and opponents coming from outside their jurisdictions.  Of course those people have a right to their opinions.

That is doubly true in the North Mecklenburg area where our multiple municipalities have overlapping interests, share state legislative districts, participate in numerous regional bodies together, and regularly strive to act as a cohesive unit to counter the influence of the Big City to our south.

The Citizens of all Lake Norman area towns certainly do have an interest in who is elected in all of our towns.  That's because the decisions made by those officials impact all of us.

There is another headline one could also use after looking at the Mayor's campaign report.  "Is Mayor Swain mailing it in this election cycle?" would also be appropriate.  That's because her report shows a whopping 3 donors and zero expenditures.

That's a shockingly small number when compared to Swain's previous runs.  Certainly, the mayor has more than a few supporters left, but one has to wonder at that low number.

As we head into the final stretch of this campaign season, we can expect a few more surprises.   Activists from across the region working to impact the top spot in the region's biggest town shouldn't be one of them.

Bonus Observation:  The local paper also scoffed at those outsiders meddling in the Huntersville election as members of a closed "echo chamber" on Facebook so they were preaching to the choir - implying they were somewhat irrelevant.   As a frame of reference, the Exit 28 Ridiculousness Facebook group has over 4500 members.  Only a little over 9400 votes were cast in the Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson mayoral races combined in 2013.  Considering that the vast majority of this group lives in one of these three towns, rather than being irrelevant it may very well be the deciding factor this time around.

Which LKN town is the most debauched and depraved?

Well, according to the data that was released by the Ashley Madison website hack a couple of weeks ago, it would appear to be...

You are going to have to read to the end to find out.

Last week, Spanish software company, Technilogica, released a map using their cartography software that breaks down over 30 million subscribers to the adultary enablement site by location.  You can check it out here .

So, which LKN town had the highest user base?  The answer depends on which way you look at it.

Mooresville (5712) had the largest number of users followed by Huntersville (3650). Cornelius (2360)  and Davidson (835) were in the middle of the pack.  Troutman (350) also had a number of folks apparently dabbling in the site's online activity.

That order is about what you'd expect based solely on population.  Though "expect" is a relative term here.  It is simply stunning (and kinda creepy) there are that many people around who are willing to sign up for a site like this.

Even if you believe the site ballooned its numbers with a lot of fake accounts, the numbers are pretty high.  Cut it by 90% and you still have over 500 in Mooresville and 360 in Huntersville.

But, raw numbers aren't the only way to slice and dice this data.  When looked at as a percentage of the population, here's what you get.  Mooresville 16.4% Huntersville 7.2% Cornelius 8.8% Davidson 7.1%. Troutman 14.2%

So, while Davidson eeks out the "moral victory" with only 7.1% of its population supposedly on the site, one has to ask - what in the world is going on in Iredell county's Mooresville and Troutman!!!

With both the highest raw number and highest percentage Mooresville takes the "prize".

Congratulations???

Pressure amps up for Huntersville HOT lanes resolution

The Huntersville Board meets Monday, and some sort of  anti-HOT lanes resolution will most likely be on the agenda unless some serious shenanigans occur.

The biggest question is will it be a strong resolution like the one Cornelius passed that explicitly asks NCDOT to negate the contact with Cintra/I77 Mobility Partners OR will it be a watered down resolution like the one passed by Davidson which only asked for "fair" alternatives.

There could also be some drama as the pressure amps up a bit over the whole idea of a resolution being needed in the first place - at least that's the perspective of Huntersville Mayor Jill Swain.

In some recent Facebook back-and-forth on the issue, Swain has been questioning why Senator Jeff Tarte is asking for resolutions from local municipalities prior to filing any legislation to stop the toll project.  Swain points out that Tarte has submitted dozens of other bills without requiring resolutions - including sometimes things the towns actively oppose.  Tarte's response is that going to the General Assembly and asking the legislators to undo a proposal that has gotten to this point realistically requires obvious support from local elected officials.  Otherwise, the bill would not go anywhere.

Tarte is right in this instance.  If he walked into the General Assembly without a stack of resolutions, any bill very likely would not go forward.  That would most likely be true even if he has a few resolutions, but not a complete set. That's just reality.

That's also why the Huntersville resolution is so important and why Swain's opposition to the idea could be so damaging.   In Davidson and Cornelius, there are odd numbers of commissioners.  In Huntersville, there is an even number and thus the Mayor is more likely to vote in the event of a tie.

What Swain does Monday will matter.

If  a strong resolution is presented, Swain's recent comments indicate she might vote against it in a tie situation.  If a weak resolution is presented and that were to end in tie, she might also vote against it because she thinks it is not needed.

Swain's former opponent for Huntersville Mayor, County Commissioner Jim Puckett, had this to say on Facebook in recent days regarding the upcoming Huntersville vote on a resolution...

"We need to make sure the folks in Huntersville know this is NOT just a resolution asking for an alternative to tolls IT IS MUCH BROADER. This is a referendum on the future of the moderate to large business community in our region. Either our boards stand with us (Cornelius and Davidson Commissioners do) or they stand against this community. If our elected officials will not at the LEAST take a stand to send the message we want an alternative, then we cannot trust that they will stand for us the next time needed. I for one will not support anyone who will simply roll over or give up because the odds are against them. Real leaders do not take the temperature, they determine the temperature. As for me I want to be known not as a thermometer, a thin fragile instrument shoved up a posterior to gauge what's going on, but a thermostat that makes the machine give me the environment the people want."

Which is it gonna be - thermometer or thermostat?

NCSEN Candidates put on a good show in Huntersville

Some great political theater came to Huntersville Thursday night.

The show was put on by the new Lake Norman Conservatives activist group with all the ingredients for a solid performance - good speakers, good organization, and a good crowd.  If they can repeat it on a regular basis, the group could be in for a long run on the political stage here in North Mecklenburg.

Over 150 people packed the main room plus overflow
to see GOP NCSEN candidates Thursday night.

A packed house with overflow seating came to hear the three GOP candidates for US Senate who were on hand to answer questions - Greg Brannon, Mark Harris, and Heather Grant.  Bill Flynn had committed to the forum but dropped out of the race all together on Thursday morning.  There was the now-standard empty chair with Thom Tillis's name on it.  Media was on hand including Jim Morrill from the Charlotte Observer as well as a reporter from the Associated Press.  An operative from a pro-Hagan PAC was even thought to be seen circulating in the audience.  Coverage of the event got some national attention   

There was a definite Tea Party vibe to the event and the crowd.  Guerrilla videographer Chuck Suter was on hand.  Multiple small cameras were taking it all in.  Christian Hine, President of CAUTION - Charlotte's main outlet for the Tea Party movement - served as the forum's moderator.  The crowd was a bit younger, a bit more diverse, a bit more casually dressed than your average Republican Party affair.  But make no mistake, they were equally as intense and interested as any you will meet in this area.

When the questions started flying all three candidates presented themselves well.  Dr Brannon has been on the stump for a while now.  His delivery and detailed references to the Constitution are delivered with ease.  Reverend Harris is as polished as you'd expect from a someone used to speaking with passion in front of a crowds.  Heather Grant more than held her own. 

Seeing all of these candidates debate alongside of Thom Tillis would certainly have been interesting.   But while Thom Tillis wasn't there in person and hardly mentioned at all during the evening, his supporters weren't going to cede any ground on social media during the event.  A quick glance at Twitter showed the #NCSEN hashtag being bombarded with several Pro-Tillis tweets right at 7pm when the event was scheduled to kick-off.  Coordinated by the campaign or just coincidence, they came mostly from a single account and appeared to be staged in advance and ready to fire from right at 7pm until roughly 7:30.  An effort to dilute the "where's Thom" tweets expected to pop up at the same time?  So, while Team Tillis seemingly wants to publicly ignore the other candidates in the primary race, it also appears they may not be taking any chances on letting the opponents have any free shots.



Sources say that 50+ people stopped by
to help open the Brannon for Senate
campaign office in Cornelius

With all sides gearing up for the final 90 day push to the May primary, ignoring the opposition will be harder and harder to do for Team Tillis.  That's a task made even more difficult with the Brannon Campaign opening an office in Cornelius on Friday - right down the street from entrance to the Peninsula neighborhood - almost literally right in Speaker Tillis's back yard.

Act One of this NCGOP primary drama is almost over with the main characters all set.  The main question is will the story of this primary season end after Act Two in May or will there be a surprise Act Three and a run-off in July?

Revenge or "healing" for Huntersville

Monday night looked like it might be "revenge"...

After a tough campaign for Mayor, one that became personal and fairly nasty at times particularly around the widening of I77 with HOT Lanes, Mayor Jill Swain was quoted in the Lake Norman Citizen as saying "my next step is to start working to help Huntersville heal from all the negativity generated in this campaign."

Things started off well for the newly minted Huntersville Board on Monday night with the unanimous selection of Commissioner Melinda Bales to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.  Bales received by far the most votes in the election for the Huntersville Board being the only candidate to break 3000 ballots.  As tradition has it she became the Mayor Pro Tem serving as Mayor Swain's "backup" even though there are other commissioners with longer tenures on the Board.

Things quickly turned south after that.

The second vote for the new Board ended in a tie when Mayor Swain put forth a recommended set of committee appointments that clearly stacked the deck with commissioners from "Team Swain" (Ron Julian, Sarah McAulay, and Jeff Neely) receiving 7 assignments including all of the most important and influential posts.  "The Others" on the Board (Melinda Bales, Danny Phillps, and Rob Kidwell) received a combined total of 3 spots.

When it came time to vote on the assignments "Team Swain" and "The Others" split 3-3 with Mayor Swain casting the tiebreaker in favor of her picks.  See below for the details.

Here are a couple of the low-lights of this set of assignments around the major transportation issues affecting our region.

Mayor Pro Tem Bales gets the LNTC post while Sarah McAulay gets sent back to the CRTPO (formerly MUMPO) post.  While the LNTC sounds important, the real transportation decisions for our region are made at the CRTPO.  Instead of sending the highest vote getter for Huntersville to CRTPO, Mayor Swain chose to send the person who tried to shut down debate at that group on the all important widening of I-77.  See this video where Chairwoman McAulay prevents members of the public from speaking at the public hearing on widening I-77.

Commissioners Phillips and Kidwell get the Arts and Sciences Council and the Huntersville Historical Society posts respectively.  They received endorsements from the WidenI77.org and Commissioner Kidwell specifically thanks that group on his Facebook page for their support and tells the Lake Norman Citizen regarding I77 "I think it clearly was the issue of the toll lanes," he said. "I believe that was the major factor in me getting elected to the board and I hope this is something we can talk about as a board and get settled." 

Sending "The Others" to these committee assignments while giving the plum assignments to "Team Swain"  seems like a strange way to start the healing process.  But then again, maybe it all makes sense in @SwainsWorld

UPDATED: HOT Lanes: Municipalities Exert Influence with NCDOT on Monday?

In a classic case of "watch what they do, not what they say" Lake Norman municipalities have for weeks said they have no real influence over the decision by the State to pursue widening of I-77 with High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes via a Public Private Partnership (P3).

As recently as Tuesday this past week Davidson Mayor John Woods told a room full of Davidson residents at a Town Community Chat...

"The community is engaged in a rather confusing and complex discussion," Davidson's Mayor John Woods said.  There has been a lot of back an forth discussion and opinions on what is right or wrong about this, but we are under the direction of the state. The town of Davidson doesn't manage I-77, nor does the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County or Iredell County." Huntersville Herald 1-31-13

Yet, two days later on Thursday the Lake Norman Citizen reported on meetings being organized for Monday Feb-4 between the LKN Towns and NCDOT...

The meetings are open only to elected officials and selected town staff, but similar public sessions are planned in the coming weeks.  Because only two elected officials from any one town will be present at any one time, the sessions are not subject to open meetings regulations.  The meetings were organized by mayors Lynette Rinker of Cornelius, John Woods of Davidson, Jill Swain of Huntersville and Miles Atkins of Mooresville. - LakeNormanCitizen.com 1-31-13 breaking news

Also, this isn't the first time Davdison Mayor Woods has exerted municipal influence in support of HOT Lanes.  Back in 2010 when the project was in its infancy Mayor Woods submitted this letter in support of the HOT lane concept on behalf of the Town of Davidson.

So either the municipalities have no influence or they do.  It would appear to be the latter.  Why they feel the need to exert this influence in meetings coordinated to circumvent State open meetings law is a different question.

Letter supporting HOT Lanes from Davidson in 2010.




































UPDATE: Scheduled Town of Davidson Attendees and Times.  Received Monday AM, after a Sunday request.  Mayor Woods responded Sunday with instructions to provide the information Monday morning.

10:30-12:00 – no representatives from Davidson

1:00-2:30 – Comm Rodney Graham, Comm Laurie Venzon, Mayor John Woods and Cristina Shaul (Town Communications Officer)

2:45-4:00 – Comm Connie Wessner and Comm Jim Fuller 

*Asst Town Mgr Dawn Blaubaum will attend either 1-2:30 OR 2:45-4:00 meeting

Under North Carolina law there was still no quorum for Davidson at the 1pm meeting even though half of the Board Members were there.  See here from the UNC School of Government for more details on that.  Comm Brian Jenest did not attend, but as the former Chair of the LNTC he likely knows the State position well.

MUMPO Presentation from January 18th meeting on I-77 project.  Unconfirmed report that Jim Ray of RayStrategies would be at today's meeting.  Mr Ray is mentioned on Slide 2.

UPDATE #2: Another unconfirmed report that Parsons Brinckerhoff gave a pro-P3 presentation at Monday's meetings as well.  PB is also the leading consulting company on the Red Line P3 proposal.

UPDATED: Media Watch: Is Lake Norman Media in the tank on I-77 HOT lanes?

The good news is that in general the answer is "no" they aren't completely and totally biased on this subject. 

Most local news outlets seem to be doing a decent job of getting out both sides of this story - covering the WidenI77.org efforts to promote investigating alternatives.  Most are at least making an attempt to give space to alternative opinions in their letters to the editor or commentary pages.  Most aren't aggressively attacking those alternative opinions when they should know better.

DavidsonNews.net & CorneliusNews.net have covered the story well - posting notifications of WidenI77.org meetings, multiple articles about the citizens group's efforts, and even giving space for a lengthy commentary on the subject by Mr Vince Winegardner.  See articles here, here, and here with Mr. Winegardner's commentary here.  DNN has even posted links directly to WidenI77.org information and links to audio and video of the Iredell County Commissioners and Cornelius Board meetings where those boards voted against the proposed toll plan.  They are doing a good job of giving citizens all sides of this important story as it unfolds.  (Note: Posting Mr. Windgardner's commentary shows a particular willingness to give hearing to all voices.  During the last municipal election in Davidson, there was a bit of tension between Candidate Winegardner and DavidsonNews.net, but the publication does not appear to let that impact it's editorial choices.)

The Huntersville Herald has also done a fair job of reporting.  It's coverage of the WidenI77.org January 14th meeting was nothing but a presentation of the facts of the event.  The publication has also allowed letters to the editor from the citizens group's members to be published.  See here and here.

Cornelius Today has had similar reporting to the Herald - covering the January 14th meeting here as well as the Cornelius Board resolution against the project here.  They also posted the announcement for the December North Mecklenburg Republican Women's (NMRW) meeting in December where this topic was discussed as did some of the other publications.

Incidentally, the NMRW hosted both Kurt Naas, founder of the WidenI77.org  group, and Bill Thunberg of the Lake Norman Transportation Commission (LNTC) at their December monthly meeting.  There was a conscious effort on the group's part to include both sides of the discussion at the meeting to ensure attendees heard as much information as possible.  For a group that's not a news organization, this effort at evenhandedness was nice to see.

Then we get to the Lake Norman Citizen.  The Citizen is one of the Lake Norman area's main sources of local news.  They have a history of poking at some of the Lake Norman area municipal governments and have regularly posted biting letters to the editor on controversial subjects.  However, on the I-77 HOT Lanes the Citizen has fallen down on the job.  In fact at times, they have veered into actively attacking those who are questioning the proposal.  They seem to have thrown objectivity into the backseat on this ride.

Here are some examples:

Citizen coverage of the WidenI77.org January 14th meeting painted a much different picture than what actually happened.  The post-meeting article focused almost entirely on comments by State Rep Bill Brawley rather than the presentation which was the reason for the meeting.  It very incorrectly painted the meeting as "tense".  If anything, the presenters from WidenI77.org did an excellent job throughout the evening of keeping what could have been a tense evening rather light.  Everyone was treated with respect including those on hand from the NCDOT and the elected officials willing to express support for the project.  The Citizen apparently didn't see it that way.  (Watch the whole presentation here if you want proof.)

They took their disdain for opposition to toll lanes a step further when they also attacked a fellow member of the media - Mark Washburn of the Charlotte Observer - for writing this piece.  The Citizen's anonymous Talkers page took a few cheap shots - anonymous cheap shots - at people who might want to speak out on the subject.  And here's the kicker, they paint Mr. Washburn this way...

"Talkers just love it when one of the Charlotte daily paper's professional pontificators practices his profundity on a topic impacting we suburban pioneers (Did you know there are towns north of Charlotte that actually are in Mecklenburg County? Astounding!)."

...as if they didn't know Mr. Washburn actually lives in North Mecklenburg himself and certainly would have an opinion on what it's like actually driving I77 every day. 

The Citizen has also refused to open it's pages to the members of WidenI77.org for commentary pieces and letters to the editor - at least since that January 14th meeting when the subject has become a much hotter topic.  Based on what members of the group have made available to aShortChronicle, multiple pieces have been turned down from multiple writers.  That's a sharp diversion from the openness to differing opinions the paper has shown in the past. 

Finally, Citizen coverage of Cornelius's vote to oppose the current toll lane plan focused almost exclusively on why supporters thought opposition should be muted, and it reinforced the status quo position that there are no other options. 

For all these reasons, the Citizen deserves 4 tanks out of 5 on their I-77 HOT Lanes coverage.

UPDATE: The Citizen has finally published a piece that is just "the facts" on the subject of I-77 HOT Lanes for their January 31 issue.  Nice to see they were finally able to get there.  See here.

HOT Lane Opponents Pack Cornelius Town Hall (Video)

The WidenI77.org activist group generated an overflow crowd at Cornelius Town Hall on Monday night to present information on the proposed High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes for widening I77 through North Mecklenburg and South Iredell.  To say the least they did an excellent job communicating some very important and useful information!

Every major local news organization was there covering the event.  Various elected officials from the North Meck towns were present.  NCDOT sent representatives.  Our state officials were represented by newly minted Senator Jeff Tarte.  Rep Bill Brawley was there as a representative of the legislature's House Transportation Committee.

The major takeaways from the meeting were these:

• HOT lanes would be a $500m project where only a small fraction of that cost, perhaps as little as only $50m - $125m, could do the job of relieving the bottlenecks in the Lake Norman area with general purpose lanes.
• NCDOT's primary motivation for doing the project is to relieve congestion in downtown Charlotte, not Lake Norman.  However, Lake Norman commuters would be the primary payers of the project's tolls.
• HOT lanes require congestion on the existing general purpose lanes to entice people to pay the toll.  This project will therefore do nothing to actually relieve congestion for existing commuters and will actually make the situation worse for many current users of the existing HOV lane since they will now be required to have 3 people in the future HOT lane to avoid the toll rather than only 2 in today's HOV lane.
• Compared to other HOT lane examples around the country, the LKN area does not contain the population to make the project work financially.  This could lead to extremely high tolls in the future or an additional State bailout.

The meeting ran over two hours with the attached videos covering about 1:45.  The first covers the WidenI77.org group's presentation itself.  The second finishes the presentation and most of the QA.  The third includes comments from Rep Bill Brawley on the Legislature's take on the project.

The videos obviously speak for themselves, but maybe the most important comment of the evening came from Bill Brawley just after the recorder ran out of space.  While recalling how he was involved in stopping an unwanted road in the Matthews area as a councilman on the Matthews town board, he said it requires citizens to work on the State Legislature.  That was also the major point of this recent post here at aShortChronicle, Understand Whole Story on I-77 Toll Lanes.  Municipal leaders can are our best and most effective channel to the Legislature.  Use them for that purpose.

For those of us here in Davidson, Commissioners Graham, Fuller, and Venzon were present Monday night.  It was encouraging to see them there after a note sent to the Davidson Board regarding the meeting seemed to fall flat with Mayor Woods.  He described the citizen effort questioning HOT lanes as spreading "errors and wrong assumptions" and effectively wasting our state officials' time.

Judging by Rep Brawley's attentive comments, the presence of numerous other elected officials, and the active participation of NCDOT, the Davidson Mayor's perception seems to be far from reality on this one.



Video WidenI77.org Cornelius Town Hall  - January14, 2013
(Please excuse the shakiness. There are also a couple places with lost audio - just skip ahead a little.)

PART 1 - Presentation
3:45 - Cornelius Tranportation Advisory Board Member Kurt Naas put on a clinic on MUMPO, HOT, and I77.



PART 2 - Presentation Cont and QA
18:30 - Cornelius Mayor Lynette Rinker defends her non-position on HOT lanes.
32:50 - Lewis Mitchell of NCDOT makes comments on state toll efforts.



PART 3 - QA Cont and Rep Bill Brawley's Comments
10:30 - Cornelius Commissioner Gilroy wants study of alternatives before going forward.
12:30 - Huntersville Commissioner Julian opposes HOT.
14:30 - Rep Bill Brawley explains how we got where we are with this decision.

Understand Whole Story on I-77 Toll Lanes

Info session Monday, 1/7. Click for larger view

I'm a daily bus rider, so if the proposed High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes are built on I-77, I will benefit.  It will make my commute shorter and reduce traffic for me and my fellow bus riders.  Because I ride the bus, I won't even have to pay the toll.  It won't cost me a thing.  That's what I'm told to think.  That's why I should support the toll lanes.  But I try to only support things only when I know all the facts...

What you have heard is that toll lanes are the only way to widen I-77 in the foreseeable future.

What you have heard is that other options do not exist.

However, that's not the whole story.

Residents of North Mecklenburg and Mooresville will be the primary funders of this project if tolls become a reality, and we should encourage our municipal leaders to have all the information before they throw their support behind this decision.  To date, that has not been done.  Only one side of the story has been presented to most local bodies.

Below are some links to an effort to get out the rest of the story.

I would encourage people to reach out to their local boards in Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson, and Mooresville.  Ask them to go into this decision with their eyes wide open.  Ask them to have all the information before they throw their support behind this effort.  Don't let them off the hook with a simple "it's a State decision, not local".  Your municipal representatives can be your most effective channel to the State representatives.  Ask them to do that job.

But first, they need the information.  Here are some resources that can provide just that.

www.wideni77.org - Citizen activist group leading effort to look at alternative solutions.

Lake Norman citizens group opposes toll lanes on I-77 CharlotteObserver.com

Opposition to I-77 Toll Lanes Grows FoxCharlotte.com




Update:  Here is another link that comes at this from a different point of view.

Unequal at Any Speed: How the Beltway's New 'Hot Lanes' Divide Us into Speed-Rich and Speed-Poor  - thebreakthrough.org

Update #2:  In a response to an email to the Davidson Town Board encouraging them to take in all sides of the story, Mayor Woods indicated that the Lake Norman Transportation Commission (LNTC) may be in the process of organizing a meeting that would bring all parties to the table including NCDOT, the Towns, and those presenting another point of view.  No date given, but it is a potentially encouraging sign that at least nobody will be able to claim they "didn't know" about other viable options.

Backdoor Spending for Red Line in the Near Future?

With the Red Line in limbo, a couple of proposed spending items in the near future could give the project a little wiggle room on the spending side if Davidson and Huntersville planners get their way.  As part of the Red Line plans on the table, the towns were supposed to get local improvements paid for by the rail project if it goes forward.  However, it looks like both Davidson and Huntersville will pick up the tab themselves for their most expensive Red Line related items if the Huntersville transportation bond passes in November and Davidson moves forward on one of the items being discussed as part of a new Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

The entire list of station area improvements found at the Red Line site lists $6.9 million for a " Huntersville Main Street upgrade" and $1.38 million for a "Potts-Sloan Connection" in Davidson.  The Huntersville Herald reported back in August that $10.275 million of the Huntersville transportation bond currently on the ballot would go to "N.C. 115/Main Street upgrades" - by far the biggest chunk of money spent from this $17.85 million portion of the bond offerings.  On the Davidson side, the Town's current CIP proposal has its largest item the Potts-Beaty corridor project which contains the the "Potts-Sloan Connection" mentioned as part of the Red Line effort.

Both of these projects would receive Federal funds if underway by 2015 according to the towns, and the argument goes that they would be leaving money on the table if they don't get started.  However, it sure looks like they will be leaving Red Line money on the table if they go ahead.  In Huntersville's case there has at least been an acknowledgement that this spending will increase taxes.  No such acknowledgement has come from Davidson at this point.

One thing seems for sure, if the towns spend their own money on these projects (subsidized by the Feds), the Red Line project would not have to if it goes forward.