Register for People's Alliance PAC Endorsement Meeting
MEETING: MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 6 PM
Join PA PAC on Monday August 17 at 6 p.m. for a virtual endorsement meeting for Soil & Water Supervisor.
PA PAC will also recommend a candidate to fill the vacancy on the Durham School Board.
MEMBERSHIP/REGISTRATION DEADLINE: SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 AT 6 PM
Only current members may attend the meeting. If you need to join or renew your membership to attend the meeting, do so no later than Saturday, August 15 by 6 pm here.
The endorsement meeting will take place using Zoom. You must register for the meeting no later than Saturday, August 15 by 6 pm in order to attend.
Learn about the candidates for Soil and Water Supervisor here.
Because of the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, the endorsement meeting will be virtual. The People's Alliance PAC has updated its FAQs for endorsement meetings to reflect this. The changes require that people join or renew their membership no later than August 15 at 6 p.m. to attend the meeting. Read the updated FAQs here and here.
Each individual PA member, whether part of a household membership or not, must complete their own registration.
If you are a current People's Alliance member AND register for the meeting by Saturday, August 15 at 6 p.m., you will receive an email on Sunday with instructions to attend the Zoom meeting. Please read the instructions you receive completely!
People's Alliance PAC Announces Endorsement Meeting
People's Alliance PAC Virtual Endorsement Meeting Scheduled for Monday, August 17
People's Alliance PAC members will meet virtually via Zoom on Monday, August 17 at 6pm to debate and endorse a candidate for the office of Soil and Water District Supervisor and to make a recommendation for a candidate to fill the unexpired term of School Board member Xavier Carson, who has resigned.
An email with the Zoom link to the meeting will be sent to People's Alliance PAC members who are in good standing as of August 15 at 6 pm.
Soil and Water Supervisor Candidate Questionnaires
Note that PA PAC did not create questionnaires for the position of Soil and Water Supervisor. Instead, we invited candidates to submit a resume and statement.
PA PAC reached out to all candidates (regardless of party affiliation), and offered them the opportunity to participate in the endorsement process. Those candidates with links below their names chose to participate. Candidates for each office are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Durham County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors
Anjali Boyd
Jan Cromartie
Patrick Poer
Terence Priester
Jillian Riley
A Statement About Councilmember Alston's Seat
During a regularly scheduled business meeting on April 6, 2020, Durham City Council announced the resignation of our valued councilmember, Vernetta Alston, due to her transition to the North Carolina General Assembly. We are grateful to her for her years of progressive service.
The Durham City Council must now fill the Ward 3 vacancy created by Representative Alston’s departure. People in Durham and beyond are battling personal and financial uncertainties hour by hour, day by day. We cannot let our privilege allow us to move forward without acknowledging and meaningfully responding to our current state of affairs. In light of this, the People’s Alliance PAC will not move forward with facilitating and executing an endorsement process at this time.
Under the circumstances currently imposed upon us by COVID-19 and considerations for public health, public participation in and oversight of our city government is seriously curtailed. Government operations have been reduced to a minimum and the City Council now meets virtually. It is difficult for members of the public to communicate with government officials and to watch or participate in council meetings. Given the importance of public involvement in government in Durham, the City Council should reduce to the barest minimum the business it must do while public engagement is so difficult. As a result, City Council should not undertake to appoint Councilmember Alston’s successor. In a system of representative government, the people should select their council representatives.
Under state law, the council may fill a vacancy through an appointment process. The time allowed for the process, sixty days, is, under normal conditions, sufficient to provide ample opportunity for public input and the highest degree of public scrutiny. But under the extraordinary circumstances imposed by COVID-19, the appointment process cannot be carried out with the level of public engagement necessary to make the selection of a new City Council member an appropriate exercise of democratic government.
Fortunately, Section 13.2(d) of our City Charter provides that the City Council may call for a special election to fill the Alston vacancy instead of using the appointment process: “If the council fails to choose some qualified person within 60 days after the vacancy occurs, it may not fill the vacancy by appointment, but shall call a special election under the provisions of 13.3 of this charter…” The election of Councilmember Alston’s successor may be added to the general election already scheduled for November. And while we acknowledge that it is not ideal to leave a seat on the council vacant for a number of months, we feel that it is preferable to wait and let the people of Durham -residents of Ward 3- decide who should fill the seat rather than allowing the City Council to appoint a new councilmember without full public engagement.