Early Voting Starts This Week! Will you help get out the vote?

Friends, Supporters, and Davidson Voters,

The past two weeks have been a flurry of activity in the election for Davidson's Town Board of Commissioners - three public forums, lots of door knocking, and informal gatherings with voters to talk over town issues.  Now, this Saturday early voting begins, and this is where you can make the most difference.

On the campaign trail this election season I was reminded of how fortunate we are to be able to go vote when I met someone from China studying at Davidson College.  He was fascinated at the idea that anyone could choose to run for office and that people could get together to openly discuss local issues - things we take for granted.

In past elections I have had the privilege to be a precinct judge on election day and have seen first hand the power of individuals.  In events like our municipal elections, you can actually see the streets where one person makes a difference.  Most streets have few (if any) voters who turn out, then there will be streets where many people vote.  That happens when one person encourages their friends to go to the polls.

Sometime over the next 10 days, I ask that you do the same.  Talk to your neighbors about this election.  Send them an email encouraging them to vote during early voting or on November 5th.  You can see my qualifications and positions at the bottom of this message.  I will certainly be grateful if you encourage people to cast a vote for me, but definitely encourage them to vote.

Our local municipal elections allow the individual the most influence of any aspect of our electoral system.  I truly hope you will take advantage of it.

Here are your closest early voting locations.  Polls open Saturday (10/26) at 10am.

Cornelius Town Hall 21445 Catawba Avenue, Cornelius
North Regional Library 16500 Holly Crest Lane, Huntersville

If you would like copies of the below palm card to hand out, please let me know.

Sincerely,
Rick Short

 

 

Campaign Season is in Full Swing!!! New endorsements last week...

It has been a while since the last post here at aShortChronicle, but I wanted to pass along information about some endorsements the campaign received last. week. Below is the text from an email distributed to those following the campaign's progress.



Hello Friends, Volunteers, and Davidson Voters!

I want to pass along a quick update on how the campaign is going and let you know about two endorsements that came in this week.

In a word, things are going "great!"

Recently, volunteers helped distribute over 1000 flyers to launch the campaign's outreach efforts.  Also, I have personally knocked on over 200 doors in various neighborhoods.  My message when talking to voters has been well received, and together, these efforts have reached neighborhoods all across town.  I am confident that with your help in spreading the word we have a very good chance at being successful in November.

This week, I received two endorsements that I would like to tell you about here.

The first endorsement comes from the North Mecklenburg Chapter of the Police Benevolent Association (PBA).

The PBA supports our local law enforcement officers and works to raise awareness of issues affecting members of our local police departments.  From the PBA press release it states this endorsement comes from a "willingness to be a working partner in our efforts to improve and promote the local and state law enforcement profession."  This year the PBA had only one question for Davidson candidates.  Would we be willing to help with more frequent and regular communication with senior Town Staff?  Working in a large corporate environment, I fully understand the importance of frequent and consistent communication in an organization.  I will strive to make this happen and am committed to supporting strong communication between the Town and all of the various constituencies in our community.

I am honored to have the PBA's endorsement

The second endorsement this week comes from the WidenI-77 and TollFreeNC groups working to stop the implementation of High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes on I-77 and across the State.

When picking candidates to recommend, their press release says "we’re confident these candidates are the ones ready to stand up and fight for us."  I appreciate these dedicated citizen-activists recognizing my commitment to fighting wasteful spending and working for effective decisions when it comes to our transportation infrastructure.  I am ready to stand up for the 53% of Davidson respondents who described the widening of I-77 with tolls as "not at all important" on last year's National Citizen Survey - a survey in which the Town of Davidson participated and generally scored very high marks.

With your support on election day, I will have that opportunity.

October is around the corner, and there will be multiple events where you can hear the candidates discuss and debate topics important to you.  Click here for details on the three scheduled candidate forums.

Remember, every vote counts!  Please help by forwarding this email, "liking" the campaign's Facebook page, and talking to your friends about the upcoming election.

If you would like to donate, please send a check to:

Friends of Rick Short
19819 Wooden Tee Drive
Davidson, NC 28036

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail!!!

Rick Short

Website: RickShortForDavidson.com
Like on Facebook: "Rick Short for Davidson"
Follow on Twitter: @RickShortForDav

Semi-Hiatus While on the Campaign Trail

With campaign season ramping up for the Davidson Town Board race, posting at aShortChronicle will be fairly light in the coming months. My energy will need to be focused elsewhere for the obvious reasons.  But don't worry!  This hiatus does not mean this effort has come to an end. There will likely be some posts on campaign related topics and as well as things that can be covered quickly.

If you are interested in following the campaign, the website is now up and running. You can also follow along on Facebook and Twitter. I hope you will check them out and stay tuned!  -Rick

Website: RickShortForDavidson.com
Facebook: "Rick Short for Davidson"
Twitter: @RickShortForDav

Vote "Rick Short" for Davidson Town Board

To my faithful readers, my friends, and the citizens of Davidson:

I wanted to pass along some news regarding a decision I have made with the support of my wife and family.  You may have noticed that posting here at aShortChronicle has slowed down in recent weeks.  That is due primarily to contemplating and preparing for this announcement.

Today, I filed to be a candidate for election this November to the Town of Davidson Board of Commissioners.

The primary reasons I decided to run for public office in our town are that I love this place we call home and want to contribute to its continued success.  With the opening on the Town Board, there is a need for a strong voice willing to ask difficult questions in support of the decision making process at Town Hall.  I sincerely believe I can be that voice.

Over the course of my business career, including nearly a decade in the telecommunications industry, as well as through my work on this blog, I have a proven track record of success and a history of asking those difficult questions which mitigate risk by ensuring all sides of issues are discussed.  These experiences will be valuable as Davidson makes large decisions in the future regarding Mi-Connection, Transportation Issues, Public Safety, and Tax Policy.

I am up to the task if you decide to elect me.

Since moving to Davidson, I have become deeply involved in our community and would like to continue giving back.

• I am an original volunteer with the Davidson Community Garden on Potts Street.  Last year, at my suggestion we set a goal of 1-ton of food to be donated to Loaves and Fishes at Ada Jenkins.  We met that goal.
• I spearheaded grassroots efforts in 2011 and 2012 to keep 2-year terms for our elected officials - an effort that helped ensure as much public input as possible in how our local government works.
• I currently serve as President of the Bradford neighborhood HOA where I have dealt with Town staff on issues regarding Public Works, Code Enforcement, and Affordable Housing.

Through these activities and others, I know what it means to serve in this community and how our local government operates.

I would be honored to serve you as a member of your Board of Commissioners.

As the campaign rolls out, there will be a new website and Facebook page.  Please stay tuned.  However, since I have met so many of you through aShortChronicle I thought it was fitting to make this announcement here.

Thank you for your support, and I will see you on the campaign trail!!!

Your friend,

Rick Short

Clock Runs Out on Current Red Line Finance Plan

Six weeks ago after the crossover deadline aShortChronicle reported on some quiet last minute help for the Red Line Regional Rail project from the NC Legislature  That help came in the form of S103 which would have extended the sunset provision on legislation critical to the Red Line, legislation that would allow Special Assessment Districts to fund a significant portion of the project.  See Red Line project gets quiet boost from Raleigh. More to come? for the details.

S103 barely met the deadline at crossover but appears to have come up shy in the NC House.  After an interesting series of events last Thursday evening, it now appears the sunset provision will trigger and the SAD legislation will expire as scheduled on July 1, 2013.

In the second reading of the bill on the House floor Thursday afternoon, the bill passed 95-14 at 4:59pm.  That would have possibly set the bill up for a third reading and final passage the following Monday, July 1st - the deadline date.  However, after what appears to be a flurry of activity, a motion to reconsider the second reading was brought to the floor and passed at 6:55pm by a vote of 74-14.  The bill was then sent back to the Finance Committee which effectively meant there would be no third reading by the deadline date.  However, when Speaker Tillis put the NC House "on ice" next week for all other business so the legislature can focus on the budget, that sealed the deal (or put the nail in the coffin) on S103 passing before the deadline.

As part of that flurry of activity which lead up to the reconsidering of the 2nd reading, aShortChronicle has learned from a source in Raleigh, that many legislators were informed Thursday of the impacts of passing this legislation with regards to the Red Line.  Many apparently were not aware that if this sunset provision were extended, one of its first uses would be to fund the Red Line, a project requiring a huge additional chunk of State money.  As a way to validate what this source was saying, aShortChronicle can confirm that the story from this site linked above received over 3 dozen page views between the hours of 5-7 PM Thursday evening - at exactly the time this bill was being debated.

While we're glad this site could help spread the word on what this legislation would really do and we're glad the legislature stalled it for the time being, we hope those same legislators won't let this same bill slip through in some other fashion.  Even if  S103 is now incapable of extending the sunset for these Special Assessment Districts, the same law could be reinstated as an amendment to some other bill during this legislature.

Lawmakers need to remain vigilant to ensure that does not happen.

Harvest: It's Not Just a Fall Thing

People often think of "harvest" time coming only in the fall, but in reality it goes on all year.

Remember those stunning yellow fields off of NC73 and June Washam Rd?

Last week, with the arrival of a big green harvester, they began their journey to becoming canola oil.

The same can be said for harvesting at the Davidson Community Garden.  It goes on all year.  In a recent message from garden coordinator, Connie Beach, DCG has donated over 250 lbs of produce to Loaves and Fishes at Ada Jenkins in just the past two weeks.  A huge harvest of potatoes was pulled out of the ground and the recent rains have caused the squash, zucchini, and cucumbers to just explode!  That 250lbs mentioned above does not even include the tremendous harvest of squash this week.

100 lbs of produce!!!

Yes, that's a 5lb zucchini!!!

The Davidson Community Garden volunteers meet every Saturday at 10am at the garden on Potts Street.  Come on out and help keep bringing in the unbelievable bounty this year!

With candidate filing only one week away, the surprises start...

Candidate filing for our local municipal elections starts in one week and the first surprise rolled in this Wednesday.  Cornelius Mayor Lynette Rinker sent out a press release saying she would not be entering the race for re-election.  Here's the story from CorneliusNews.net.

Mayor Rinker's stated reason for not standing for reelection is that she has her eye on higher office and didn't want to leave Cornelius in the lurch by running for Mayor if she was planning on leaving...

“If I’m looking at other options, I just couldn’t tell the people of Cornelius that I’m committing for 2 more years when I may not be,” she said. “That is my personal decision and the way (husband) Mark and I are. I didn’t feel as if I could look people in the eye and ask for their votes, knowing I was leaving.” - from CorneliusNews.net

That's an honorable position, but a somewhat awkward one considering that it almost sounds like a swipe at former Cornelius Mayor and now State Senator, Jeff Tarte, who did just that during the last round of municipal elections elections in Cornelius.   Ironically, his quest for higher office which started soon after winning reelection is what put Mayor Rinker in her current office.

However, one also has to wonder if there's more to this decision as mentioned in this piece over at the Huntersville Herald.  The Herald reminds readers that Mayor Rinker has been a solid supporter of the I-77 HOT lanes project.  She drew attention at the WidenI77.org event at Cornelius Town Hall back in January.  (See video of that here: HOT Lane Opponents Pack Cornelius Town Hall (Video))  She also drew some ire after casting the tie-breaking vote throwing the Town's support behind the project.  (See  Cornelius Commissioner Blasts Town Decision to Support I-77 HOT Lanes for details on that story.)

Adding to this story line is an email received by aShortChronicle where Mayor Rinker strongly pushes back on WidenI77.org and its intention to publish a voter guide stating where candidates stand on the HOT issue.  She obviously did not like the idea and made multiple intimidating references to "electioneering" in an attempt to get the citizens group to reveal any donors to their efforts.

One has to wonder if another reason for Mayor Rinker not defending her seat had something to do with the WidenI77.org group's efforts and that long, long list of petition signers they have been collecting.  

Regardless, stepping into the breach is another HOT supporter, Cornelius Commissioner Chuck Travis.  He immediately announced that he would be throwing his name into the Mayor's race.  So, maybe the real surprise in Cornelius will be if anyone challenges Travis for the seat and who ends up in what are now two open seats on the town Board.