Local politics

OK, it's been a little while, but I could use the BlueNC community's help once again. Last week, I filed for the local Fuquay-Varina Town Board of Commissioners. Right now, this is the best way for me to serve the public and move progressive change forward locally.

Please check out our website: www.EdRidpath.com or find our campaign page on Facebook Ed Ridpath for Fuquay-Varina

Thank you for all your past and future support!

Ed Ridpath
Candidate - Fuquay-Varina Town Board of Commisioners

Pam Spaulding features my Asheville City Council campaign today at The Blend. In addition to my stances on affordable housing, sustainability measures, and multimodal transportation - I am an unflagging advocate for equality for our LGBT citizens. Here's a teaser, but go read the whole thing:

The gay and lesbian citizens of Asheville deserve equal recognition and equal benefits. To deny these benefits is to relegate gay and lesbian couples to second-class status. We all know that Asheville is a gay-friendly city, and our city government ought to reflect our commitment to honoring the civil rights of all our citizens.

At Yearly Kos I kept hearing that local blogging is where it's at. There were two panels and a caucus on "state-local blogging." The San Francisco Chronicle reports that "Local blogs are key to future of politics." People are learning that the smaller the area represented, the more impact each constituent has

And yet, there was hardly a mention of county or municipal politics at Yearly Kos, other than how to work with local Democratic Parties. I'm certainly not opposed to advocacy targeting state and federal reps - in fact BlueNC.com does a great job of this and more power to you - but I think that truly local politics transcends party and hinges much more on individual relationships and reputations in a way that even state house races really don't.

Senator Jeanne Lucas, who so ably represented the 20th district and Durham County in the State Senate for nearly 14 years, passed away last month.

It falls upon members of the Executive Committee of the Durham County Democratic Party to nominate a replacement to finish her term of office. (I love sentences with so many capital letters. They exude importance.)

On Saturday 3/31, candidates for the seat met in a forum sponsored by Young Democrats of Durham County, and Durham Democratic Women, to answer questions about why they were seeking the seat, and what agenda they would carry out should they earn the nomination.

I defer to my wiser colleagues on a few dumb questions...

Many local elected offices are considered non-partisan (County commissions, City councils, etc).

How involved can local Democratic Party's be in the campaign processes for these offices?

Are Party endorsements legal/ethical within the rules?

What about building a Democratic base within the County/City structure of citizen boards and commissions?

Is it legal/ethical to attempt to have Democrats nominated to these boards and commissions?

Thank you all for your information and my apologies for asking perhaps the most ignorant of questions...