We’re still waiting to find out if the counting of provisional ballots in the Chapel Hill mayoral race will lead to a recount request from Matt Czajkowski who, at this point, is just 141 votes behind unofficial winner Mark Kleinschmidt, according to WCHL.
But there’s another interesting situation brewing over the council’s need to fill the seat of council member Bill Strom, who resigned after the deadline that would have put his seat on the ballot. The issue breaks down this way, according to the Chapel Hill News:
The liberal majority on the council will have to weigh the town’s tradition of ensuring at least one African American member against the wishes of a large moderate constituency that almost made maverick Matt Czajkowski mayor.
“People will look to this particular appointment … and get somewhat of a feel for this council,” said incumbent Laurin Easthom, returning for a second term.
On Tuesday the voters re-elected two incumbents, elected two new council members and made current member Mark Kleinschmidt mayor-elect.
They did not return 2008-appointee Jim Merritt, meaning once the new council is installed next month it will face a dilemma it’s faced before: If it doesn’t appoint a black person to finish the two years left on Strom’s term, the council will not have an African-American member. The black community makes up 11 percent of the town population.
Some folks believe the seat should go to Matt Pohlman, the gentlemen who came in fifth and just missed being elected to the council. Pohlman has applied for the seat and made this comment:
“There’s pretty much nothing more straightforward about voters owning an election than vote count,” he said.
