[Durham INC] Durham News on Tonight's Forum

[Richard Ford]

Forum sponsors hope to boost voter interest in Durham elections

Published: October 11, 2013 


The forum
The Durham County League of Women Voters and the InterNeighborhood Council of Durham co-sponsor a forum for candidates for mayor of Durham and those City Council candidates who have opponents in the November general election.

The forum is open free to the public. Questions may be submitted in writing before the forum begins

When: 7 to 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Council Chambers, City Hall, Mangum Street at City Hall Plaza in downtown Durham.

TV: DTV8, Time Warner Cable channel 8. and streamed on the City's Website

With the candidate field now set and early voting in this year’s city election opening Thursday, the InterNeighborhood Council and the League of Women Voters are holding a second candidate forum Tuesday night.
Unlike their first forum, for primary candidates at the Durham County Library, Tuesday’s forum for general-election candidates is being held in the City Council Chamber. And it will be aired on Time Warner Cable channel 8.

“We are hopeful that bringing the forum into Durham’s living rooms will drive interest,” said Richard Ford, INC’s forum co-coordinator.

Last week’s primary for mayor and City Council Ward 2 drew a voter turnout of less than 6 percent, which Ford called “disappointing.”

The forum is a question-and-answer session with the two top vote-getters in last week’s primary for mayor and City Council Ward 2, plus the two council candidates from Ward 3. Ward 1 incumbent Cora Cole-McFadden is running for re-election unopposed.

Here is Tuesday’s order of finish:

For Mayor:

• Bill Bell 8,911 votes, 87.17 percent

• Sylvester Williams 738, 7.22 percent

• Michael Valentine 573, 5.61 percent

For City Council Ward 2

• Eddie Davis 5,988, 59.40 percent

• Omar Beasley 2,174, 21.57 percent

• Del Mattioli 1,367, 13.56 percent

• Franklin Hanes 551, 5.47 percent

The mayor’s race has turned out to be a replay of the 2011 election, when Bell defeated Williams with 82 percent of the vote to Williams’ 18 percent. Beasley was the only Ward 2 candidate who had previously run for a local office, county commissioner in 2012; Davis ran for state school superintendent in 2008. Neither was elected.

“My heart is warm with the kind of support that appears to have come in my direction,” Davis said after the primary. “We’ll see if we can make sure this continues until November.”

Beasley said he has an uphill battle, “but I wouldn’t have gotten in the race if I didn’t think I could win.”

“Eddie Davis, he ran a strong race,” said Beasley, a volunteer track coach. “But I made it through and I’ve got to regroup and get ready to run another race.”

Davis was endorsed by the Durham People’s Alliance political action committee; Beasley by the Friends of Durham and the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People.

In the Ward 3 race, the self-described “progressive” People’s Alliance endorsed Don Moffitt, who was appointed to serve out Mike Woodard’s council term after Woodard won election to the state Senate. The business-oriented Friends and the Durham Committee endorsed Pam Karriker, who served the last year of Becky Heron’s term as county commissioner after Heron retired in 2011.

Past InterNeighborhood Council President John Martin is moderating Tuesday’s forum, which runs from 7 to 8:45 p.m. Audience members may submit written questions before the program starts. INC and League of Women Voters members are also submitting questions, which will be asked of all candidates.

“Our goal is to help citizens see how local government affects them, to encourage greater voting participation,” Ford said.

“Hopefully, people will get to the polls, hopefully have a greater turnout” than for the primary, Beasley said.

Last week’s 5.98-percent voter turnout was “kind of typical for a municipal primary,” said Michael Perry, Durham County elections director. The 2011 primary drew 8.83 percent; 2009’s 4.36 percent.

The 2011 general election turnout was 17.61 percent in 2011, 8.1 percent in 2009, according to Board of Elections records ( bit.ly/19loy9D).            
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