TriPol: Chapel Hill leader unshaken by critique of report

A new advisory panel reviewing the Chapel Hill Police Department's removal of squatters from a former downtown car dealership blasted an official town report that stood by the police raid this week, calling it "weak," "one-sided" and "insubstantial."

So, you'd think Town Council member and committee liaison Donna Bell might be feeling the heat.

Not so, says Bell, who says she asked to serve on the new Community Policing Advisory Committee.

While she can't predict whether the council will grant the committee's request to hire an outside investigator to review the incident, Bell says it's good the committee is asking questions.

"I don't think any report is complete until someone has read it and asked questions," Bell says. "It is not a shock or surprise that the mayor and the police chief didn't answer all the questions."

The committee's discussions speak well of Chapel Hill, she adds.

"There are very few towns that could even have this conversation," she says. "When extraordinary things happen, we need some clear eyes to give us perspective. We're never going to do everything right."

Public records request may cost more

It may get more expensive to ask for public records from the Wake County school system.

Members of the former Republican board majority were subject to many public records requests from critics seeking their personal and school district emails. Now Democratic members are finding themselves subject to the same kinds of requests.

New Democratic board member Christine Kushner said this week that the board should consider charging for staff time for handling the requests. The board now charges for copies but not for the time staff spends processing requests and reading the emails to redact personal information about students and employees.

Kushner noted that she paid copy charges for emails of board members she had requested two years ago. She said the public should "be very thoughtful about when they make public records requests as I feel I was two years ago."

New Democratic board member Jim Martin said he was "a bit taken aback" about getting blanket requests for his emails. He said he "had nothing to hide." But, he added, "I don't think that is wise practice" to make blanket requests.

Tata says meeting was his 'mistake'

Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata took the blame this week for Democratic school board members who have been accused by their Republican colleagues of holding a secret meeting with education consultant Michael Alves.

Tata said it was his "mistake" not notifying the whole board ahead of time about the meeting that was held as part of the orientation process for the new Democratic board members. Alves met privately with the board members on Dec. 7 to get them up to speed on the new student assignment plan that he's helping Wake implement.

But Republican board member Debra Goldman defended Tata, saying it was Democratic board chairman Kevin Hill's "mistake" not to have notified them.

Hill said the meeting wasn't secret, pointing to how the board has held private, small-group meetings on various issues. Goldman argued the difference was that the whole board knew those meetings were taking place.

Riddick to run for re-election

Laura Riddick, four-term Wake County register of deeds, says she'll run for re-election and will make it official as soon as the filing period begins Feb. 13.

Riddick, 45, a Republican who lives in Raleigh, noted in an announcement that her office has scanned and digitized every Wake County record, going back to 1785, and made them available online. During the next term, whoever holds the job will oversee a move to the new county justice center and a change to state-mandated property-record indexing standards.

"I'm looking forward to planning, preparing, and carrying out our move to the new courthouse while keeping a sharp focus on customer service in our office and online," Riddick said.

Jacobs eyes Durham race

Former Durham Planning Commissioner Wendy Jacobs has registered a campaign committee with the Durham Board of Elections, confirming expectations she would run for county commissioner. Jacobs declined to specify a campaign platform. "That, I'm not ready to discuss," she said this week.

Jacobs applied to serve out the term of retired Commissioner Becky Heron last summer, but the county board chose Pam Karriker instead. Two others who sought Heron's seat have also announced intentions to run for commissioner this year: Sheriff's Capt. Ricky Padgett and Duke University biologist Will Wilson.

All five commissioners' seats are up for election this year. None of the incumbents has announced plans to seek re-election. Candidate filing opens Feb. 13.

Bell, pro tem, councilman retain roles

Three Durham city officials have new appointments in state and national governing organizations.

Durham Mayor Bill Bell has been re-elected to a second term as chairman of the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, an organization of the state's 27 largest cities.

Mayor Pro Tem Cora Cole-McFadden is beginning a two-year term on the Tax and Finance Legislative Action Committee for the N.C. League of Municipalities. She also has been reappointed to the National League of Cities' Human Development Steering Committee, which develops policy on social-service issues.

City Councilman Mike Woodard has been reappointed to the NLC's Transportation Infrastructure and Services Steering Committee, also a policy-development group.

Political trails

Raleigh City Council member Russ Stephenson will speak Wednesday at the Senior Democrats of Wake County meeting on at the Crabtree Marriott Hotel. Stephenson will speak at 11 a.m., with a dutch buffet lunch to follow.

Compiled by staff writers Mark Schultz, Jim Wise and T. Keung Hui