Get ready to vote for Charlotte mayor, city council and school board elections on Nov. 3

Charlotte has an election for mayor, city council, and school board on Nov. 3, with early voting beginning Oct. 22.

Turnout in small local elections is usually abysmal, but these elections often have direct impact on our daily lives because they influence schools, noise ordinances, local property taxes, and transportation options like the Central Avenue trolley. And a ballot isn't like homework - you can show up and vote for only one or two offices if you're not confident of the names in all the races, or you can privately ask me or another neighbor for their opinions. 

Merry Oaks neighborhood residents are choosing eight people total out of 19 running for office (not including our incumbent district rep, Patsy Kinsey). That's a lot of research for voters to do, but some organizations endorse slates of candidates, and you can keep an eye on media sources to hear more.
Updates 10/24: On your ballot is a question about whether county commissioners should serve four-year terms instead of their current two-year terms. The Charlotte Observer gives the background here:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article41209023.html

New residents of Charlotte or people who moved recently CAN still register to vote AND vote on the same day at early voting sites, starting Oct. 22. Locations include sites at CPCC, Sugar Creek Library, and the main library uptown. If you're a new voter in Charlotte, you'll need ID and proof of your residency - a gas bill, pay stub, or other document showing your address. Details from the N.C. Board of Elections: http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Documents/early%20voting%20calendar%20for%20nov.pdf#search=same%2Dday%20registration

You can also vote with an absentee ballot by mail, in case you're out of town or unsure whether you can get to the polls on Nov. 3. The form to request a ballot by mail is here: http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/voter/Documents/AbsenteeBallotRequestFormweb.pdf#search=absentee

The polling spot on Election Day is at Merry Oaks Elementary School, and you might need to buzz in at the front door, but it's always a treat to walk through the school and check out kids' work on bulletin boards.

The N.C. Justice Center has a great site that answers registration questions simply. Here's a link: http://www.ncvoter.org/voting-in-nc/#five

Who are the candidates?

Charlotte mayor:Ed Peacock (R) and Jennifer Roberts (D). Both have sites on the web, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Links: http://www.edwinpeacock.com/ and http://www.jenniferrobertsformayor.com/

Charlotte city council:

At-large: From a group of eight people, you get to vote for four people. You can vote for less than that number if you like.

Democratic candidates are Julie Eiselt, Claire Green Fallon (incumbent), Vi Lyles (incumbent), and James (Smuggie) Mitchell. Q&As with them before the primary from The Charlotte Observer are at these links: 

Eiselt: http://bit.ly/Eiseltclt

Fallon: http://bit.ly/Fallonclt

Lyles: http://bit.ly/Lylesclt

Mitchell: http://bit.ly/Mitchellprofileclt

Republican candidates are Pablo Carvajal, John K. Powell Jr. and David Michael Rice. Links to their websites are here:

http://apps.meckboe.org/CandidatePrint.aspx (I've yet to find Q&A links at the Observer to them, but keep an eye on this Observer link: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/  ) I'll come back to the Observer as a research tool later.

City Council District 1: Patsy Kinsey, the incumbent representing the Merry Oaks area, has no opposition. She's on the ballot and you can vote for her, but the seat essentially appears settled because she has no opposition. Update 10/24: There's now a write-in campaign for Billy Maddalon, owner of the Van Landingham Estate, which was turned down in a rezoning request from building a neighborhood private pool. Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/WriteInBillyMaddalon?fref=ts

Board of Education - at-large:

You get to vote for three people out of these nine people for this nonpartisan part of the election. Incumbents are Ericka Ellis-Stewart and Mary T. McCray.

This Board of Elections site lists candidates and their websites: http://apps.meckboe.org/CandidatePrint.aspx

Observer Q&As with the candidates are at these links:

Angela Ambroise: http://bit.ly/Ambroiseclt

Janeen Bryant: http://bit.ly/bryantclt

Larry Bumgarner: http://bit.ly/bumgarnerclt

Elyse Dashew: http://bit.ly/Dashewclt

Ericka Ellis-Stewart: http://bit.ly/EllisStewartclt

Levester Flowers: http://bit.ly/flowersclt

Mary McCray: http://bit.ly/mccrayclt

Jeremy Stephenson: http://bit.ly/stephensonclt

Amelia Stinson-Wesley: http://bit.ly/stinsonwesleyclt

On researching the candidates: I highly recommend taking the time and possibly money to read the candidates' answers to journalists' questions at The Observer's site. Instead of just political talking points, you're getting the assistance of journalists in hearing answers to broad community issues. You might hit a paywall, and some people use different browsers, incognito windows or private browsing to get around that paywall, or you can pay 99 cents for a trial subscription, though that sets you up for automatic renewal at $9.99/month or $99/year. You can also try to get around the paywall by clicking on links from social media, from the candidates or from people you know.

References:

Offices on the ballot:

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/elections/Pages/OfficesonBallot.aspx

Mecklenburg Board of Elections info:

http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Pages/default.aspx

Simple Q&A on how to vote:

http://www.ncvoter.org/voting-in-nc/

Problems? You can call the N.C. Justice Center at 1-888-OUR-VOTE or 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

(By Andria Krewson. A short version of this post appeared in the Merry Oaks neighborhood newsletter.)

Where to get live Charlotte mayor and city council election results for 2009

For live results of tonight’s mayor and city council election results in Charlotte, your best bet is the results page linked from the Mecklenburg Board of Elections.

The link takes you to a spot that has tabs for a summary, precinct–by–precinct results, turnout maps and live reports with precinct details in comma–separated–values and XML, for the truly geeky. The turnout maps are just plain intriguing. The board of elections used a similar link for the primaries, and it worked beautifully.
But the link is generally only available from the board of elections site on election nights, and I’m not sure it will be available Wednesday. So if you want to preserve information, perhaps make screenshots.

Precinct 29 at Merry Oaks Elementary School, 3508 Draper Ave., broke into the triple digits of voters by noon, which actually seems to be decent turnout for a small neighborhood in a year with no presidential election.

Of course, there will be plenty of coverage tonight elsewhere, including on television.

I plan to help CLTBlog.com tonight. Follow along if you like on the @CLTBlog Twitter account. (You don’t have to sign up for the service to read what others post.)

And of course, you can expect strong coverage from The Charlotte Observer.

A great story about a Merry Oaks teacher

Kansas City sports writer Joe Posnanski writes a lovely tribute to Merry Oaks Elementary teacher and Elizabeth resident Lolo Pendergrast.

His tribute is not about her teaching abilities now, but rather her teaching abilities for a young reporter.

Joe says Lolo taught him this:
"...We shouldn’t shoot low, we shouldn’t settle for the ordinary, we shouldn’t be limited by ceilings in our imagination. I don’t know that I ever thanked Lolo for teaching me those lessons; and I’m sure if I did she scoffed at the very idea of that I would thank her for sharing of herself. That’s what I mean by the Lolos in our lives. They don’t want thanks. They don’t want anything, I guess, except someone willing to listen."

We're lucky to have teachers like Lolo at Merry Oaks, and we're lucky to have writers like Joe who share the stories.

Midsummer Merry Oaks meeting

The general meeting for the Merry Oaks Neighborhood Association is now scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 26, at Merry Oaks Elementary School.
Agenda: Officer Weaver from CMPD to discuss the latest crime statistics; Rip Farris & John Boler from Tuscan Development to discuss plans for the Duo @ Briar Creek development on the old Renfrow property, and possibly Brian Conroy from Mecklenburg Park & Rec to talk about and conduct a walk around of the new Merry Oaks park.

President Tom Poston says,"Still waiting to confirm with one or two more presenters, but that's the agenda to start!"

School kids walk the neighborhood

Almost-finished first-graders from several classes at Merry Oaks Elementary walked the neighborhood to learn about homes -- for people and creatures like birds, squirrels, rabbits and insects.
Along the way, they learned about magnolia trees, gardenias, rosemary, pine cones and how to navigate the sidewalks on trash day.
Magnolia leaves make good bunny ears, some decided.
Some classes also got lessons in how to pour and smooth concrete from a crew repairing a sidewalk.
Kudos to all the teachers and assistants for walking on a hot morning. And thanks to all the neighborhood residents and workers who took a minute or two to stop and talk with the kids.
Thanks too to the garbage and recycling truck drivers for tooting their horns, waving and watching out for the groups of youngster as they traveled the streets.
More pictures at Merry View.