Jennifer Robinson

As previously reported, the October 6 election for Cary Town Council (District A) ended in a run-off  between incumbent Jennifer Robinson and challenger Lori Bush.  In October, Ms. Robinson garnered 49.9 percent of the vote  to Lori  Bush’s 42.3 percent.  On November 3,  Jennifer Robinson won her third term representing Cary’s largest district. 

November 3 results:

Jennifer Robinson        53.76%          2,337 votes

Lori Bush                          46.12%          2,005 votes

Write-in                                 .12%                     5 votes

Congratulations go out to Jennifer Robinson.

Candidates Christopher Headon and Chris Heagarty

Democrats from NC House District 41 met Saturday morning in Cary to fill the vacancy left by Ty Harrell who resigned last month amid an investigation into his campaign spending.

Six candidates vying for the House seat spoke to the crowd but specifically targeted the 30 voting Democratic representatives in the audience at Green Hope High School.  Nearly three hours later and after several rounds of voting to winnow the field, Chris Heagarty narrowly defeated Gale Adcock to win the seat.

Heagarty called for all candidates to join him on stage as he thanked the crowd for their support and his plans to keep the seat for the 2010 election.

Candidate John Shaw confirmed Heagarty’s sentiments. “When we came in, there were 6 candidates and when we leave here there will be one representative and five members of the re-election committee,” Shaw said.

L --> R Erv Portman, Julie Robison and Harold Weinbrecht observed the proceedings.

Gale Adcock congratulates Chris Heagarty

All the candidates together on stage

Early voting in Cary. Jack Smith and Jennifer Robinson are visible under the blue tent. Cindy Sinkez is on the far right in the gray jacket. CaryCitizen photo by Hal Goodtree.

The sun was shining, the air was mild and the candidates were out this morning as early voting started at the Herbert C. Young Community Center in Cary.

Overnight, candidate signs had sprouted like dandelions around the early polling station. The candidates themselves and their representatives were there as well, greeting voters and taking advantage of the fine weather and leisurely pace to chat and answer questions.

All Cary citizens can vote in the At-Large contest. Residents of Districts A and C can vote for their district Council members. Not sure what district you are in? See our Unofficial Election District Map. Caryites in Wake County can vote for Board of Ed candidates as well.

Research has suggested that the turnout in this off-year election may be as low as 6%. But the issues facing Cary and Wake County schools may well be decided by who wins or loses in this election.

So let’s surprise the pollsters and show up in droves – maybe even above 10% If you need more info about the issues, early voting is a great chance to talk directly with the candidates. For the first time, Chatham County residents of Cary can take part in early voting as well.

The Herb Young Center is located behind Town Hall off Academy Street. Parking is in the deck toward the back. Take a friend and vote early.

Early Voting Polling Station

Herbert C. Young Community Center
101 Wilkinson Ave., Cary
Wednesday, September 30 – Friday, Oct. 2 from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday, October 3  10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Here’s some info that didn’t find its way into print over the last couple of weeks.

CRIME REPORT

Two serious and troubling crimes occurred during the last week in Cary. If you hadn’t seen these stories, they are of concern to all Cary citizens.

Realtor Raped in Cary

A Realtor showing a home in the West Lake subdivision was raped at knife point last Sunday.

The accused perpetrator is 33 year old Michael Sleeman of Raleigh. Sleeman was arrested within hours by Cary police and is in Wake County jail on $2 million in bond. He was previously convicted of a similar crime in Virginia.

Meth Lab in a Backpack at Motel 6

Police arrested 26 year old Brandon Carlon of Fuquay-Varina at the Motel Six on Buck Jones Road early last Sunday morning.

According to Cary Police Lt. John Szymeczek, Carlon’s backpack held containers, a hot plate, lighter fluid and other chemicals and hardware typically used to make methamphetamine.

“It is very dangerous,” Lt. Szymeczek said. “We do not by any means frequently have methamphetamine labs in Cary.”

Cary Police called for backup, a standard procedure in meth cases. The State Bureau of Investigation cleared the site, assisted by a hazmat unit from Raleigh.

Carlon is in Wake County Jail under $26,000 bond.

Editor’s Viewpoint: For all the “small town charm,” Cary is the seventh largest city in North Carolina.  What can we do to avoid the crime that plagues other small cities?

TOWN COUNCIL CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS

We’ve completed our series of video interviews with all six candidates for contested seats on the Town Council. Julie Robison, running uncontested in the At-Large district, could not participate due to a scheduling conflict.

Town Council members decide how our substantial tax revenues are spent. Do we repave the roads or get a new park? Do we have a new drugstore at the corner or do we lose 80 acres of wooded land? Considering how important these issues are in the daily lives of Cary citizens, and considering the education and activism of our population, it’s surprising that so few people vote in Town Council elections.

Would you know your Town Council member if you bumped them with your shopping cart at Food Lion? I wouldn’t. At least, not until I shot these interviews.

Now you can meet the candidates face-to-face, on the privacy of your own PC. Each interview is approximately six minutes long. We asked each candidate for some biographical information, why they deserved our vote and one or two other obvious (we thought so, anyway) questions.

District A – Western and Northern Cary

• Jennifer Robinson (incumbent)
• Terry “Doc” Thorne
• Cindy Sinkez
• Lori Bush

District C – Southern Eastern Cary

• Jack Smith (incumbent)
• Catherine Evangelista

Cary elections are nominally “non-partisan,” meaning candidates don’t appear on the ballot as Democrats or Republicans. But the elephant and the donkey absolutely lend influence and channel money into our elections. The Editor of this news source thinks this is a bit of a farce, but maybe we’ll address that in another piece.

Vickie Maxwell, herself a candidate for Town Council in 2008, conducted the interviews.

Here at CaryCitizen, we know we’re not Meet the Press. But our Town Council Candidate Interviews are more content than you are likely to get from the area’s “major” news sources. Just saying.

Thanks again to all the candidates for participating and to all the readers who have had suggestions and comments. Do leave us your thoughts here or on Facebook.

Producer: Lindsey S. Chester. Director & Editor: Hal Goodtree. Production Crew: Tyler Bennett, Leslie Huffman, Matt Young. Production Support: SteadyFilm LLC and Southeastern Camera.

CARYCITIZEN STATISTICS

CaryCitizen has been publishing for seven weeks. Here are some interesting stats about our launch thus far:

• 70 – Stories Published
• 8, 936 – Page Views
• 3:39 – Average Time On Site
• 97 – Email Subscribers
• 146 – Facebook Fans
• 2% – Daily Growth of Audience

Thanks to all our supporters and contributors in the community. Want to reach of growing audience of influencers in Cary? Contact us about advertising and sponsorships.

Credits:

Interviewer: Vickie Maxwell
Producer: Lindsey S. Chester
Director & Editor: Hal Goodtree
Production Crew: Tyler Bennett, Leslie Huffman, Matt Young
Production Support: SteadyFilm LLC and Southeastern Camera

©2009 CaryCitizen. All rights reserved.

Credits:

Interviewer – Vickie Maxwell
Producer – Lindsey S. Chester
Director & Editor – Hal Goodtree
Production Crew – Tyler Bennett, Leslie Huffman, Matt Young
Production Support – SteadyFilm LLC and Southeastern Camera

©2009 CaryCitizen. All rights reserved.

Credits:

Interviewer – Vickie Maxwell
Producer – Lindsey S. Chester
Director & Editor – Hal Goodtree
Production Crew – Tyler Bennett, Leslie Huffman, Matt Young
Production Support – SteadyFilm LLC, Eastern Camera

©2009 CaryCitizen. All rights reserved.

Credits:

• Interviewer – Vickie Maxwell
• Producer – Lindsey S. Chester
• Director & Editor – Hal Goodtree
• Production Crew – Tyler Bennett, Leslie Huffman, Matt Young
• Production Support – SteadyFilm LLC, Eastern Camera

©2009 CaryCitizen. All rights reserved.

Credits:

• Interviewer – Vickie Maxwell
• Producer – Lindsey S. Chester
• Director & Editor – Hal Goodtree
• Production Crew – Tyler Bennett, Leslie Huffman, Matt Young
• Production Support – SteadyFilm LLC, Eastern Camera

©2009 CaryCitizen. All rights reserved.

We’ll be releasing the additional interviews in this series over the next few days.  In case anybody is interested, we’ll be releasing them in the order they were videotaped:

• Catherine Evangelista
• Jennifer Robinson
• Jack Smith
• Terry Thorne
• Lori Bush
• Cindy Sinkez

Thanks to all the candidates for their participation.

Credits:

• Interviewer – Vickie Maxwell
• Producer – Lindsey S. Chester
• Director & Editor – Hal Goodtree
• Production Crew – Tyler Bennett, Leslie Huffman, Matt Young
• Production Support – SteadyFilm LLC, Eastern Camera

©2009 CaryCitizen. All rights reserved.