More News From Lydia
More on Campaign Finance
I wrote a column for The Chapel Hill Herald that ran on Saturday, August 4, 2007, about why I chose to file without the initial $3,000 threshhold (as is explained elsewhere on this site). Here is the content of the letter I sent to the editor:
"On
July 30, 2007, The Chapel Hill Herald had an article about candidate
financial reporting. The article noted that several local
candidates had signed a 'pledge' not to raise or
spend more than $3,000 for their campaigns, thereby waiving their
requirement to file 'detailed donor-by-donor'
finance statements. The article indicated that I was the only
Carrboro candidate to not file this waiver. I would like to
clarify some information in the article, and explain why I made this
decision.
North Carolina law
requires that candidates are asked to declare within 10 days of filing
if they intend to spend more or less than $3,000 on their election
campaign. This is a 'certification of
threshold', not a pledge. If the candidate later
determines that he or she intends to spend more than $3,000 they file
further paperwork. As Barry Garner, Director of the Orange
County Board of Elections, indicated when I filed to run for a seat on
the Board of Aldermen, candidates often make this less burdensome
declaration and then later make the amendment, at which time they
detail all of their financial information.
To call this a 'pledge'
implies a moral intent the candidate may
or may not have. In fact, Mr. Garner explained to me that many
candidates choose the lower threshold initially while they decide what
to do, as they can easily amend their selection later. In other words,
a candidate that later chooses to indicate that they may spend more
than $3000 should not necessarily be viewed as one who is failing to
hold to an earlier pledge. He or she may have merely chosen that option
to take advantage of the lesser documentation requirements that come
with it and to give them additional time to assess how much they need
to spend. Likewise, my choice to declare at the over $3000 limit does
not necessarily indicate an intention to spend that much money
– it just means that I have chosen to keep my options open
from the outset and that I am willing to meet the additional
documentation requirements at all points in the campaign.
Candidates who
previously ran for aldermen positions in Carrboro told me they spent
anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 on their campaigns. The
figures seemed to vary for various reasons, such as whether the
candidate was an incumbent, or whether a candidate was
opposed. In addition to being a challenger at the
time of filing, I did not know how many people would be
running. Although I have prepared a preliminary budget, it is
difficult to know how much I will need to spend between now and
November, because this is my first run for office. Because I
did not know, I chose the option that allowed me the most flexibility
as the race developed.
The article did not
point out that since the day I filed to run, I have had a voluntary
$100 limit per person on contributions to my campaign fund.
This is an affirmative statement I have made regarding contributions to
my campaign and more accurately represents my approach to campaign
financing."
The same week, an article ran in The
Carrboro Citizen about Carrboro's unsuccessful effort to
establish
a Campaign Finance Act this session: Link
to Article at The
Carrboro Citizen
Recreation Partnerships
I took a vacation to Acadia National Park in Maine last week – what a fabulous place! There are 47,000 acres in this preserve and miles of hiking trails and old carriage roads in this park located on the Maine shore. It is a shining example of the 20th century private/public partnerships that resulted in so many parks, recreation areas and open space in our country. We should continue to seek such outcomes in our area.
Thoughts on Contributions and Campaign Finance Reform
Campaign Finance Bill Article
I see in this morning's The Chapel Hill Herald that Carrboro's campaign finance bill may make it through the General Assembly this year after all. I strongly support this, as is evidenced by my decision to limit contributions to my campaign to $100. I certainly hope both the House and Senate pass this bill before the end of this session. I was pleased to see in the article that Dan Coleman is also limiting his contributions to $100.
Thoughts on Contributions and Campaign Finance Reform
I have decided to voluntarily impose
a $100 limit per person
on contributions to my campaign fund, and have noted this on my
donation page
since last week. I
believe in open,
fair, accessible elections. One
way I
can put this principle into action is to limit the size of the
contributions I
accept. I support
campaign reform at
every level, not just locally, and have been an interested observer of
this
effort in our state at the appellate judicial level.
Democracy should be available to people from
all economic walks of life.
In our local area,
Although
I have prepared a preliminary budget, it is
difficult to know how much I will need to spend between now and
November,
because this is my first run for office. In
any event, I plan to run an economical, grass roots
campaign.
Press Release
Lavelle Running for Alderman
Lydia Lavelle announced today that she will file to run for a
seat on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. Lavelle was one of
the top two
applicants considered for an appointment to the board in 2006 after a
vacancy was created when sitting Alderman Mark Chilton was elected
mayor.
Lavelle has lived in the triangle area for 24 years, and at her current
address for three years. She has been active in Carrboro
since her
neighborhood became a part of the town in January 2006. She
served as the
chair of the town's New Horizons Task Force and sits on the
Planning
Board. An attorney, and former law partner with Foy &
Lavelle of Chapel
Hill, Lavelle is employed as the Assistant Dean of Student Services at
the
North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham.
Lavelle has a history of service in her communities. Before
her current
employment, she worked for the city of Durham for eight years, after
which
she became a member of the City of Durham Recreation Advisory Committee
and the Durham Open Space and Trails (DOST) Commission. She
was
vice-chair of the DOST for several years, and also a member of the
Trails
Committee, which planned and routed many of the proposed trails and
greenways in Durham.
"Since becoming a resident of Carrboro, I have spent much
time with the
New Horizons Task Force and the Planning Board studying the challenges
the
town faces," Lavelle says. "My leadership
style has been described as
'levelheaded'. I gather information,
listen, openly communicate with
everyone involved, and make what I believe are well-reasoned
decisions. I
think I would serve the town well as an alderman."
If elected, her initial priorities will be to use her background and
experience to nurture the town's open space and greenways
efforts, to
carefully steward Carrboro's growth and development, and to
continue
efforts to diversify the town's tax base.