Archive for the ‘2011 Municipal Races in NC’ Category

Once again, the Republican members of the Wake County Commission have failed the taxpayers of North Carolina’s capital county.   Red Hat, one of the Triangle region’s most successful companies, came hat-in-hand, to the public trough, asking for $650,000 and the GOP lead group, came through.  This is a group that the Wake County Republican party worked tirelessly to elect and we feel certain that they won’t be happy.

Republican Commissioners Paul Coble (running for Congress), Tony Gurley (running as “the conservative candidate” for Lt. Governor), Phil Matthews, and Joe Bryan all voted FOR this measure.  Liberals Betty Lou Ward and James West also joined in.

According to Board Clerk, Susan Banks, only Erv Portman  cast a vote against.  All conservatives should drop Commissioner Portman a note of thanks for standing alone to protect the taxpayers of Wake County.

Red Hat wants to leave its longtime home on North Carolina State University’s Centennial campus, and move to downtown Raleigh into the recently vacated Progress Energy building.  Progress Energy was recently acquired/merged with Duke Power and those employees have either lost their jobs or have been relocated.

In the name of “jobs”, Red Hat deemed that the “needed” this money to bring more jobs, not only to Wake County, but to lawmakers’ precious downtown, that has already received more than its fair share of public financing.

KCC understands that Red Hat, a successful manufacturer of the Linux computer operating system, would have been fine without the money.  We like to call this effort, the Red Hat Poverty Fund.

Former NC Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, quoted by the News and Observer in a North Carolina Lawyers Weekly article, said

politicians have become afraid to oppose the practice of luring companies with the promise of tax breaks.

It’s time to get companies off the public dole in the ole’ North State. However, it won’t be happening anytime soon. Both the State of North Carolina and the City of Raleigh are expected to vote to chip in to the Red Hat poverty fund. After all, no self-respecting politician wants to appear to oppose jobs, even in the face of principle!

Editor’s Note:  According to the News and Observer, Commissioner Paul Coble said it’s written into the policy of the county commission.  With a Republican Leadership, this policy MUST be changed!

It was another big win for the Democrats in North Carolina this year, and a win that Republicans desperately wanted.  Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx won a second term Tuesday, driven largely by the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Foxx won 67% of the vote, over Republican challenger Scott Stone.  Democrats also took all four of the city council seats that were up for election, making it a clean sweap over the Republican candidates.

Conservatives  wanted  to have the mayoral seat, as a sort of “bully pulpit” in which to welcome the Democrat guests to Charlotte next autumn.   Democrats and other groups out-organized and out-worked the Republicans.  In an election that saw one of the lowest turnouts ever, only 16 %, the liberal groups got their people to the polls, while conservatives did not.

This goes along with some of what was said at the Defending the American Dream Conference, held last weekend in Washington.  The event was sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity, a group founded in North Carolina and greatly disliked by President Barack Obama.

During a breakfast on Saturday morning for the North Carolina delegation, Dallas Woodhouse told the attendees that the opposition is organized for eight, ten, and twenty years out.

Just like the Wake County school board races, held a month ago, there wasn’t just one Democrat office running the efforts, there were four.  Each one was run by a different liberal organization, all working together and trying to undo the progress that members achieved the last two years, when forced busing was removed and the county saw a return to neighborhood schools.

Republicans, conservatives, and their allies, must get on a track towards the long term, instead of just looking to the next election, then sitting on our laurels.

Sure it’s fun to celebrate victories, but the Democrats have our number.  They don’t like losing either and they have turned those efforts into victory.  This state and nation has much to lose, and gain, in 2012.  Let’s get together, recruit your friends and neighbors and get active.   It’s almost too late.  Join your local conservative group, tea party, or Republican party.

 

See also: Big labor favor: DNC may replace local workers with out-of-state union labor for convention

by Matthew Boyle at the Daily Caller

 http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/07/big-labor-favor-dnc-may-replace-local-workers-with-out-of-state-union-labor-for-dnc/#ixzz1dE2mS7Rl

GREENSBORO NC – According to former Guilford County Republican Chairman, Marcus Kindley, the GOP  Headquarters there have been vandalized.   Kindley reports that the letters “KKK” were spray painted on the building in a number of places.  Kindley told Katy’s Conservative Corner  that the incident  happened either late last Saturday or early this Sunday morning. (All photos by Jeff Cox.)

Both the outside white brick and several windows were spray painted in black letters.  Yet as usual, the mainstream media has made little mention of the event.  As of this writing, only local television stations WGHP and WFMY had reported the story.

According to current Guilford County GOP Chairman, Al Bouldin, this incident is the second time that vandalism has happened recently.   Kindley told KCC  that ”last  time, they only defaced a sign out front, so we didn’t make much of it”.   This time, the city police are involved.

Kindley said “this looked like a hit and run.”  The shopping center where the headquarters is located is fairly busy.  ”They had to get in and get out quickly without being seen, he added.” The headquarters are located at 3950 West Market Street.

Greensboro is no stranger to Klan activity, but ironically, the Klan has been traditionally run by Democratic operatives.  The city continues to be a hotbed of liberal activity and Kindley suspects the culprits may be students at either nearby Guilford College or UNC-Greensboro.

Kindley is afraid that his party will see more of these attacks.  In a speech last week, President Barack H. Obama exhorted his followers “to put your marching boots on” and some within the Guilford County GOP feel that this a local result.

In North Carolina, municipal elections are held in odd years.  Greensboro, located in Guilford County, is in the middle of hotly contested city council and county commission races.  At issue is a landfill which has been closed for decades. The City of Greensboro has been paying to have the trash transported away during those years.   During that time a housing project was constructed nearby.  The NAACP and other liberal groups want to maintain the status quo, due  to the vicinity of the projects.

The conservatives maintain that the landfill should be re-opened to save the city and county money.  The city, which  has been long divided by race, has found itself in yet another such divisive issue. Thus, tensions are  high in 2011, as the Democrats want to take back the City Council and the Mayor’s office.

Kindley told KCC that he lived near the landfill, in the years while it was open, and it caused his family no problems.

EDITOR’S NOTE: All photos by Jeff Cox, Guilford County Republican Men’s Club chairman.

Recently, a group supporting labor “marched on” the North Carolina Republican Party Headquarters.

In 2004, the same State GOP headquarters were vandalized by a  mob of out-of-town anarchists.  Locals attending NC State University grabbed three of the hoods.   They then became known in liberal circles as “the Raleigh Three”.

 

MORE PHOTOS:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Board of the Wake County Republican Party has endorsed the following candidates in this years’ municipal races.  There are 11 municipalities in Wake County.  Please note that some elections are in October and some are in November.  An (i) by a name designates the candidate is an incumbent.

Wake County 2011 School Board Candidates

OCTOBER 11, 2011 Election

District        Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

#3               Heather Losurdo       Click        Click            Click 

#4               Venita Peyton           Click                            Click       

#5               Cynthia Matson         Click         Click           Click

#6               Donna Williams          Click         Click          Click

#8               Ron Margiotta (i)      Click          Click          Click

Raleigh City Council Races

OCTOBER 11, 2011 Election

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

Mayor         Billie Redmond         Click          Click            Click

At-Large      Paul Fitts                 Click        Click          Click

A                 Gale Wilkins             Click        Click          Click

B                 John Odom (i)         Click        Click          Click

C                 Paul Terrell              Click        Click          Click

Cary Town Council Races

OCTOBER 11, 2011 Election

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

Mayor       Michelle Muir        Click        Click          Click 

At-Large   Zeke Bridges        Click        Click          Click

B             Don Frantz           Click        Click          Click

D             Don Hyatt            Click          

Apex Town Council Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

Mayor        Keith Weatherly (i)Click        Click          Click

Council        Darren Eustance   Click        Click          Click

Council        Scott Lassiter       Click        Click          Click

Fuquay-Varina Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

Commissioner  Charlie Adcock (i)

Commissioner  Sean Hearn           Click        Click          Click      

Garner Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

Council        Becky Matthews    Click       Click          Click   

Holly Springs Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

Council        Cheri Lee               Click        Click          Click

Knightdale Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

Council        Dustin Tripp          Click        Click          Click

Council        Doug Taylor                           Click   

Morrisville Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate             Website    Facebook   Donation link

At-Large      Mark Stohlman      Click        Click          Click

#1              Michael Schlink       Click        Click          Click

#3              Gary Martin

At-Large     Tara Mylenski         

Rolesville Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office                   Candidate            

Mayor                   Frank Eagles (i)          

Commissioner           Gill Hartis (i)            

Commissioner           Shannon Whitley (i) 

Wake Forest Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate                            Facebook   

Commissioner Ann Hines (i)               

Commissioner M. Greg Harrington  

Commissioner Zachary Donahue                    Click     

Wendell Races

NOVEMBER 11, 2011

Office         Candidate            

Commissioner Tillie Turlington      

 

 

It’s time for our annual North Carolina Republican Party convention, on the waterfront in beautiful, downtown Wilmington.  If you can’t be there, please follow Katy’s Conservative Corner.  We will be there blogging it live for you. During the live blogging sessions, update your browser often so that you can keep up with the latest.

You can also follow us on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/katysconservativecorner Feel free to follow us on Twitter, too at http://www.twitter.com/katys

If you are at the convention, please stop by and say hello.

We also appreciate the New Hanover County Republican Party for hosting us this year!  Also, we would like to issue a giant thank you to the staff at the North Carolina Republican Party for working so hard to make this happen.  These staffers work hard behind the scenes so that our party runs smoothly.  Thank them if you see them.

For the schedule, and all the details, click here.

Some of the highlights include:

*A Friday evening Salute to our Veterans, with Rep. Allen West (R-Fla)

*Breakout sessions on one of three tracks including discussion on NCGOP and the Tea Party, using social media, and more.

*A Saturday Luncheon with Rep. Mick Mulvaney, Rep. Renee Ellmers, Andrew Breitbart, and Scott Stone (candidate for Charlotte mayor)

*Saturday afternoon elections for State Party Chairman and Vice Chairman, Appearance by NC Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby, and more

*A Saturday evening Grand Banquet to “officially” close out the festivities.

Your blogger is a veteran of over 20 state GOP conventions.  After the banquets conclude, the hospitality suites begin. Some hospitality suites run all day long on Saturday.   These free events often  include food and “adult” beverages, so these are not for the kiddies.

Usually the Young Republicans and the Federation of Republican Women host hospitality suites, along with all of the major candidates for public office in 2012.  These are great ways to informally meet friends from across the state and discuss major events, get to know one.

Sunday morning State Executive Committee meeting

PLEASE CHECK YOUR SCHEDULE FOR EXACT TIMES AND EVENTS.

See you either there or online, or both!

 

So much is happening in Raleigh, its difficult for any mortal human to keep up.  Fortunately, KCC has a lot of help:

First, is a Raleigh  City Council candidate named Lent Carr II.  He claims to have been an ordained minister since the age of 12, and recently came out of “nowhere” when he attempted to lead a taxi driver strike in Raleigh.  WRAL TV says he doesn’t own or even drive a cab, but made himself the head of the brand new North Carolina Taxi Workers Alliance Inc.

Lent  hopes voters will give him a second chance.  Why?  His political hero is former Washington mayor Marion Barry. Like the shamed former Mayor, Lent has served prison time for all  arson, bank, and mail charges.  He also apparently had problems with illegal drugs.

WRAL reports:

Carr’s profile on LinkedIn.com touts his experience as a law clerk at a federal correctional institute from 1996-2006, in which he supervised 21 employees. However, it does not mention that he was an inmate at the time.  He was released from prison on Jan. 22, 2009.

Apparently he doesn’t like telling the truth, either.

Check out the story on WRAL.com

Second, this week’s Elephant Express, posted by the Wake County Republican Party, states that a woman named Jennifer Mansfield attempted to get the local party to endorse her run for Wake County School Board as an unaffiliated.  That’s not the scary part.   Mansfield further informed the Wake GOP  that she usually sides with Democrats, yet she still wanted the endorsement because she supported “neighborhood schools”, as do conservatives in Wake.

The Wake County Republican Party only endorses Registered Republicans, and registration as a Republican should not imply an endorsement.  As a former member of the Wake County Republican Executive Committee, your blogger knows that possible endorsements are discussed at length and with all sincerity. The Elephant Express is e-mailed to anyone who wishes it.  Sign up here.

State Senator Bob Rucho (R-Mecklenburg)

Finally, Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC-13) should just go ahead and pack his bags.   According to the John Davis Political Report, Miller should realize his fate and embrace it, as he is about to get redistricted out of office.

Davis essentially says its a case of a one upmanship.  Ten years ago, when Miller was in the NC General Assembly, he drew the new 13th District for himself.  Davis says he “double-bunked” Sen. Bob Rucho out of office.

 

Double-bunking occurs when two incumbents from the same party are drawn into the same district.  If you are double-bunked you have two choices:  run against each other in a brutal and expensive primary, or someone has to agree to go home.

Rucho chose not run against former. Sen. Robert Pittenger. Now, Sen. Rucho is back and head of the powerful NC Senate Re-Districting Committee, just like Miller was ten years ago.  Touche’ to the Senator from Mecklenburg!

Read the entire post here and subscribe to Davis’ report.  It’s always interesting and worth the read!

 

Editor’s Note: Though KCC doesn’t always agree with Davis, she’s been a big fan since his days at NCFREE when she was with the Cary Chamber of Commerce in the early 1990s.  Congrats on your hard work, John.

In North Carolina this Fall, our municipalities and counties have local elections.  What better way to get to those liberals than to hang Obama around their necks like the albatross in Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

With apologies to Mr. Coleridge, here is what KCC hopes our local liberals will be saying in November 2011 and in 2012:

Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks
Had we liberals from old and young !
Instead of the cross, the Obama failures
About our necks were hung.

Here are the latest fun and games that the Barack Obama administration is having with our tax dollars, brought to you by the Republican National Committee. This post is a “week’s best” from other media outlets around the country.  Enjoy…or scream, but make sure it motivates you to get active now.

Waste Not “The simple fact is that Obama’s spendthrift ways produced the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression, with GDP growth far below, and unemployment far above, the trend set in previous recoveries.”  (Editorial, “A Shovel Empty Waste of $787 Billion,” Investor’s Business Daily, 5/18/2011)  Never Enough Government? Obama Democrats push for another federal agency, more government employees, more taxpayer funds wasted, nothing useful achieved.  (Charles Gasparino, “More Useless Government: New Fed Agency Won’t Solve Anything,” New York Post, 5/22/2011) Half of ObamaCare Waivers to Unions… The lion’s share of ObamaCare waivers go to Obama’s Big Labor supporters.  (Mark Hemingway, “Over Half of All ObamaCare Waivers Given to Union Members,” The Weekly Standard, 5/16/2011) …And One Fifth for Pelosi Apparently $60 steaks don’t generate enough restaurant revenue to provide healthcare.  (Matthew Boyle, “Nearly 20 Percent of New ObamaCare Waivers Are Gourmet Restaurants, Nightclubs, Fancy Hotels in Nancy Pelosi’s District,” The Daily Caller, 5/16/2011) California = Bust? California Republicans try to save their state from Democrats’ bloated spending, taxes, and waste.  (George Will, “Golden State Blues,” The Washington Post, 5/20/2011) Just Another Wealth Transfer to Obama’s Allies Courtesy of your taxes, Obama’s “Stimulus” preserved 450,000 public sector union jobs while quashing one million private sector jobs. (John Hinderaker, “A Verdict on Obama’s “Stimulus” Plan,”Powerline, 5/15/2011) “Funnyman” Colbert is Butt of Own Joke Comedian Stephen Colbert finds the joke is on him when he gets snared in arcane campaign finance laws.  (Steve Simpson & Paul Sherman, “Stephen Colbert’s Free Speech Problem: The Comedian Runs Up Against Campaign-finance Law in an Attempt to Lampoon the Supreme Court,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/19/2011) GOP’s Big Tent Republican candidates display true diversity — the diversity of ideas.  (S.E. Cupp, “The Left’s Fake Rainbow Coalition: When it Comes to Ideas, GOP is Far More Diverse,” New York Daily News, 5/18/2011) With Friends Like These… Barack Obama’s hard line stance concerning Israel is having a chilling effect on his former supporters.  (Eli Lake, “Obama’s Speech Doesn’t Sway Some Key Donors,” The Washington Times, 5/22/2011) Criticize Obama at Your Peril Want your newspaper to have access to Obama’s media entourage?  Better toe the leftist, pro-Obama party line…  (Hillary Chabot, “White House Shuts Out Herald Scribe,” Boston Herald, 5/18/2011) Weekly Republican Video Address View this week’s message from Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as she discusses the Republican Party’s efforts to lower soaring energy prices and the Obama Democrats’ unwillingness to cooperate.

 

Katy’s Conservative Corner Adds  Support

Michelle Muir with longtime former Mayor, Koka Booth. Booth is still beloved in Cary.

Michelle Muir has announced the endorsement of Mr. and Mrs. Koka Booth for her candidacy for Mayor in the October 11 municipal election.

Booth, for whom the Koka Booth Ampitheatre is named, served as Mayor of Cary from 1987-1999. His work developed a quality of life and sense of community that continues to draw businesses and residents from around the world, pioneering Cary’s role as a leader in the region and state.

Your blogger was personally fond of him, especially during her days working at the Cary Chamber of Commerce, from 1993 -1995. He was a fair and able leader.

Mayor Booth said, “Muir will be good for Cary.  If you are not moving forward you are moving backwards.”

Booth appreciates Muir’s full-time commitment to working for the citizens of Cary. In addition to common sense and responsible spending, they have a shared understanding of the critical role that police, fire, and public works play in meeting the needs of Cary citizens.

Michelle Muir is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, a small business advocate, and leader of Cary’s downtown wireless network. She currently serves in bipartisan appointments in Cary and Wake County.  Michelle and her husband, Steve, have four children and have lived in the Triangle for over 25 years.

 

Editor’s notes: Follow the Muir campaign on Twitter here or join them on Facebook, here.

Katy’s Conservative Corner proudly endorses Michelle Muir for Cary Mayor. We urge everyone in that city to look at Mrs. Muir’s record and consider voting for her.  More information is available at her website.

REMINDER: Municipal elections are October 11 this year.  Turnout is expected to be low, so you vote will count even more!  Put Michelle over the top and join former Mayor Booth, & KCC, in supporting Cary by supporting Michelle.  Cary has become THE leading voice in Wake County. A vote for Michelle is a vote for Cary.