Missing Joe
There are a lot of reasons people miss former Chapel Hill Town Council member and greenways champion Joe Herzenberg around election time.
For poll organizers and precinct captains, a big reason is that he could always be counted on to lend a hand. For journalists, he was a kind of institutional memory of local elections. Joe could have quickly answered one of the big trivia questions floating around about the four-way race for Chapel Hill mayor. So we’ll put this one to our readers: When was the last time four people ran for mayor of Chapel Hill?
Just over the line
Carrboro, with a three-way race for mayor, almost matched Chapel Hill in number of mayoral candidates. Almost.
Marilyn Kille, who has been in a long legal battle with the town over an apartment on her property on Old Fayetteville Road, tried to file for the mayor’s race, but was not permitted to do so since her home was on the unincorporated side of the street.
Several cycles back, University Lake warden Bob Glosson had a somewhat similar problem. He was allowed to file, but a subsequent review of the town limits showed that the lake warden’s house, where he resided, was not in town.
Where’s Bill?
Many observers expected to see longtime Chapel Hill Town Council member Bill Strom make a run for mayor someday. With the decision by Kevin Foy not to seek another term, this seemed like a probable year for that.
His decision not to seek the office, coupled with a recent move, has led to more than a little speculation about his current plans. Several attempts to contact Strom, who is doing some traveling, have not been fruitful.