COMMENTARY – The Durham Municipal Election is rapidly approaching with 12 people vying for three city council seats and eight people hoping to become mayor.
Early voting for the municipal primary begins on Sept 21
and ends on Oct 7. The Oct. 10 primary will narrow the field of candidates for
city council to six and mayor to two for the Nov 7 general election. Early
voting for the general election begins Oct 19 and ends Nov 4.
Durham voters have a lot to consider before casting votes.
These candidates for both city council and mayor are a mixture of present council
members, former council members, candidates who tried before and lost and
people unknown to most residents.
What is the average voter to do beyond gauging who to
select based on campaign signs or the endorsement of their favorite political
action committee? Most voters are detached from the working of city government
beyond the fight recorded by WRAL-TV after a council meeting.
How do you pick from a group you barely know? Who do you
trust when what matters most is discussed less than the personal battles
defining the work of the city council?
Durham City Council elections take place every two years
with the mayor on the ballot every election. At-large council seats are on the
ballot this year. Terms for ward seats expire in 2025.
In 2021, voters overwhelming supported Elaine O’Neal to
become Durham’s first Black woman to serve as mayor. Her win responded to a
call to defund the police. Rev. Mark-Anthony Middleton and DeDreana Freeman
were re-elected riding the coattail of O’Neal, a former district and superior
court judge. Leonardo Williams, owner with his wife of Zweli, a Zimbabwean cuisine
restaurant, defeated A.J. Williams, a 34-year-old community activist, by 300
votes. A.J. Williams lost despite loads of funding and the backing of Durham
Beyond Police and Durham for All, grassroots coalitions effective in mobilizing
a diverse community of younger residents.
The 2019 election centered Mayor Steve Schewel campaign for
affordable housing against Farad Ali, a former member of the city council and CEO
of The Institute for Minority Economic Development. Ali advocated for shared economic
prosperity.
Jillian Johnson, Charlie Reece and Javiera Caballero, who
replaced Schewel after he became mayor in 2017, joined forces to form the Bull
City Together Platform as incumbents on the council. Ali endured criticism for
his business connections while Johnson, Reece and Caballero were celebrated for
promoting a progressive agenda.
History informs the context for the upcoming municipal
election. If affordable housing and police funding are the narrative for the
previous elections, what’s on the ballot this year?
Civility Matters
The shout heard around the Triangle measures the communal
rage felt by many Durham voters. In March, allegations of malfeasance against
Councilwoman Monique Holsey-Hyman during a work session carried over to Freeman
accusing Mayor Pro Tempore Mark-Anthony Middle of bullying Black women and allegedly
accidently striking Councilman Leonardo Williams in the face.
A lack of civility among members on the council impacted O’Neal’s
decision not to pursue a second term as mayor. Bickering during council meetings
lends credence to no current council member (Williams and Freeman are both campaigning
to become mayor) having the ability to effectively facilitate council meetings.
Durham voters should consider the impact of a culture of
incivility in voting for mayor. Who among the candidates processes the demeanor
essential in managing a crowd of people with opposing perspectives?
It Takes Four Votes
Bearing in mind all the bad related to establishing a
coalition like the 2017 Bull City Together Platform, the name of the game is
winning four seats on the council. In Durham, the mayor is the symbolic head of
the city and a member of the city council but has no executive authority. The
city manager oversees the day-to-day operations and implements the policies and
manages the budget approved by the council.
When casting your votes, consider how the positions and
perspectives of each person align with the rest of the team. The work of the
council is not the life of lone rangers. Ideally, they should build together in
ways which reflect the general consensus of local residents. They represent voters,
not their own views related to what it means to hold a position of power.
Each vote is an affirmation of a collective mission
statement. It isn’t a popularity contest. Each vote signifies how we, as a community, understand
and support how infrastructural changes advance or impede the work of our city.
Growth or Slow it Down
Voters should ponder the consequences of growth. Are we
building for the people who are coming, or is growth benefiting the people who
are already here?
Are we positioning growth in celebration of what Durham has
always been – an incredible city with a rich legacy of inclusive prosperity?
We are one of the homes of Black Wall Street - where dreams
come true transcendent of race, gender, gender identity, place of origin,
religion or past mistakes. Are we building for a future imbedded in the life,
culture and witness of what brought us to Durham – what keeps us in Durham? Or,
are members of the city council favoring zoning changes and other policies to entice
and satisfy the desires of the people who aren’t here?
Before you vote, decide. What is your vision for Durham?
Are you willing to accept more growth? If so, at what expense? Who wins when we
keep building? Who loses when the growth results in an invasion of richer,
white people with limited knowledge of why many people celebrate “Dirty Durham”.
They are welcome to come, but not at the risk of losing our
happy home.
Shared Prosperity
Again, considering where we’ve been helps frame where we’re
going. Voters rejected Farad Ali in 2017 due to his business connections. The
claim that Ali and Joshua Gunn, a former Durham Chamber of Commerce executive
and hip-hop recording artist who lost in a bid for city council in 2017, were
too business centered missed the mark in fully understanding and affirming the
goals of Black and Brown economic mobility and inclusion.
It is problematic to measure Black capitalism using the same
constructs as white centered, institutionalized capitalism. Black capitalism is
rooted from a place of survival for both individuals and a community massively
impacted by the weaponizing of white centered capitalism.
They are not the same thing.
Ali called for the implementation and execution of
strategies aimed at facilitating shared prosperity. If voters embrace continued
growth coupled with ongoing gentrification, the widening of white versus Black
and Brown economic disparity and shifting demographics reflective of more white
and fewer Black and Brown residents, are we becoming a community different than
what we’ve come to celebrate.
Voters should consider policies which protect our desired
image. What is our community brand? How do votes by members of the city council
assure the sharing of prosperity? Should we care?
A few things to consider as you prepare for the upcoming primary
and subsequent general election.
Next up, a summary of the people running for mayor and city
council.
