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Candidates for Chapel Hill mayor prepare for marathon

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Staff

By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer

Chapel Hill — When Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy opted not to seek another term, he set off a predictable wave of speculation about who would replace him.

Since mayors run every two years, there are more opportunities for contested elections, but unlike elections for the eight-member town council, there are fewer chances of there being an open seat.

This year is one of those rare open-seat years, and, as a result, a highly competitive race has started early and with a record four candidates vying for the job.

Foy’s announcement, which came in late May, is one reason interest in the campaign started early, but that announcement also combined with other factors – including new rules for public financing, the conclusion of a long negotiation over Carolina North and a newly launched initiative to review growth and the future direction of the town – to elevate interest that much more.

More than any other time in the town’s recent past, this election season opens with Chapel Hill at a crossroads and the leadership that will decide its direction in flux.

The mayor’s race already has affected the town council, with two of its members — Mark Kleinschmidt and Matt Czajkowski – running for mayor. Kleinschmidt’s council term is up this cycle, and his decision to run for mayor creates an open seat in the council race, an election that features eight candidates — including three incumbents — running for four seats.

Should Czajkowski win, a fifth council member would have to be appointed to fill out the remaining two years of his term.

Changes in leadership are not just in store because of the elections. Bill Strom’s resignation from the council last week, which came too late for his seat to be included on this year’s ballot, means his former colleagues will have to nominate and select his replacement, who will serve out the remaining two years of his term.

Depending on how incumbents fare, the change in the mayor’s office will be accompanied by no less than two new council members and possibly as many as six.

The candidates

(in order of filing)

Augustus Cho

Augustus Cho was the first to sign on to the mayor’s race. The 50-year-old writer and tae kwon do instructor said he is running because he believes it’s the obligation of citizens to get involved.

“Public service is an integral part of living in a community,” he said in a recent interview. “If the opportunity presents itself, we should all dedicate some time for our fellow citizens.”

Cho has been in the public eye as a recent chair of the Orange County GOP, a columnist for The Chapel Hill News and as a member of the town’s Transportation Board, on which he serves as chair.

Cho expects the election to be important in deciding the direction of the town.

“Chapel Hill is at a turning point where the decisions that need to be made will impact our community for the foreseeable future,” he said.

For his campaign, Cho plans to “go as green as possible and practice what I preach.”

That, he said, means relying on the Internet “instead of phone calls and unsolicited emails.” He said he also plans to get out and campaign and “press the flesh” as well.

Matt Czajkowski
Two years ago Matt Czajkowski mounted a successful and well-funded campaign for town council and edged out incumbent Cam Hill in the vote totals. Given that in two years on the council he has often challenged his colleagues over past decisions and reasoning, his run for mayor was not unexpected.

Czajkowski, 60, said he decided to make the move this year in part because of Foy’s decision, but also because he feels the time is right for a change.

He said he ran two years ago because he was concerned about the way the town was growing, the state of downtown and rising taxes.

“Here we are two years later,” he said, “and we are close to a property tax revolt.”

His elderly neighbors and others he’s met who “are the very people who gave their all to Chapel Hill” now find taxes so high they have to consider moving elsewhere.

“Many people are anxious about the future,” he said. “We’re at the breaking point on taxes.”

Czajkowski, a former investment banker who has managed financial services for local biotech and energy companies, has stressed “fiscal sustainability” while on the council and finds the need to rein in spending even more acute. He plans a vigorous campaign, and while he expects to campaign through traditional means, he’s been studying alternative ways to get his message out.

“We’re going to look for every other way possible to communicate directly with voters,” he said.

Kevin Wolff
The past two mayors of Chapel Hill were elected after losing in their first try. Of the four candidates, Kevin Wolff is the only one to have made a previous attempt; in fact, two of them. Wolff lost to Foy in 2007 and 2005, gaining 29 percent and 21 percent of the votes cast, respectively.

This time out Wolff, 50, said he is running because he is concerned that “a moderate voice is not adequately heard on the current board.”

“I want to be that voice for the people of Chapel Hill,” he wrote in an email response to The Citizen.

Wolff, a patent lawyer, singled out Czajkowski, saying that although he supported his run for council, Czajkowski would be a “lame duck” mayor from the outset “with the first act of a contemptuous council being the filling of Matt’s council seat with one of their own, perhaps Mark Kleinschmidt or Cam Hill,” he wrote. “From then on, he will be unlikely to ever have any council member give him a second on any meaningful motion.”

Wolff said if he were to win the mayor’s race, he would have at least one other “moderate voice” in Czajkowski on the council to work with.

He was not specific in how he plans to get his message out to voters, saying he hopes to run a “citizens-based campaign.”

Mark Kleinschmidt

With his second four-year term on the council coming to a close, Mark Kleinschmidt, 39, said he believes he has the experience the town needs in a mayor as it faces the challenges ahead.

“I’ve worked on eight budgets and have knowledge about the way the town operates,” he said. “I’ve also worked hard at including citizens in the process.”

“Seeing the challenges ahead convinced me I need to put my hat in the ring,” he said.

Kleinschmidt, a lawyer who is executive director of the Fair Trial Initiative, said he is excited about the opportunity to participate in the town’s Voter Owned Elections process, which provides public funding for mayoral candidates who opt in to spending rules and receive at least 150 contributions that add up to $1,500. Of the four mayoral candidates, he is the only one to apply for the funding, although the others can still opt if they qualify.

Kleinschmidt said he is worried about the influence of money on municipal races. He hopes that once he has qualified for the funding he won’t have to spend his time raising money to run.

“I can put aside fundraising and spend with people,” he said.

He plans to campaign “in the typical way — wearing out the shoe leather” and by setting up meet-ups and visits around town to get together with voters in small groups and one-on-one.

“People have a clear choice,” he said of the field of candidates. “I know if I work hard I will win this race.”

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