Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:07:09 -0400
From: Tom West
Subject: Chatham Coalition kicks off it’s “Campaign of Hate”
I was forwarded the following campaign fundraising email from John Hammond, the vice-chairman of the Chatham Coalition PAC.
I have never gotten an email from a special interest group before.
This certainly makes for some very interesting reading. Tells you a lot about where the Chatham Coalition Political Action Committee is coming from, doesn’t it?
They surely won’t be getting any money from me.
Tom
From: John Hammond [mailto:]
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2010 5:13 PM
Subject: *It is time to do it again, yes there are candidates worse than Bunkey and Crew*
Dear Friends,
Four years ago you donated your time, talent and treasure to help elect the team of George Lucier, Carl Thompson and Tom Vanderbeck, defeating the Bunkey Morgan majority on the Board of County Commissioners, which had approved developer requests to build over 12,000 homes in three years. Your financial support held overcome the outside developer dollars backing Bunkey and support again is needed to combat the outside support our 2010 opponents.
Our team promised open government, a sustainable economic development strategy, smart growth policies and improved schools. And they have kept those promises, turning Chatham 180 degrees away from unplanned sprawl and towards a sustainable future of balanced growth and economic development.
Now Chatham is once again threatened. Our team’s re-election is being threatened with a slate of radical right-wing Republicans who are worse than Bunkey.
Without the Gubernatorial and Presidential races we could be facing a low voter turnout. You saw what happened in the Wake County school board race, where low voter turnout put a radical right wing majority in charge. Thus we need your financial and canvassing support to help us inform Chatham voters about the threat we are facing and turn out our Democratic and progressive voters to keep Chatham moving in a positive direction.
The Republican County Commissioner slate, led by former Republican chair Brian Bock, is from the most radical right wing of that party, promising to implement reckless policies inspired by the likes of Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity and the Tea Party movement.
If they succeed, the board majority will shift from the sound leadership of the past four years, exposing Chatham once again to unsustainable residential development and massive local budget cuts that will ruin our schools, our natural resources and our way of life.
These radicals want to overturn the wise investments we have made in new facilities, parks and recreation and, most important, in the schools. All these investments are critical to Chatham’s economic development and the quality of life. Our opponents advocate across-the-board budget cuts of over 20% in three years. Just imagine how many teachers would be laid off, education programs discontinued and new schools delayed if this new group were in power. Even the Bunkey majority believed in supporting public schools, not dismantling them.
County support for the arts, sustainable agriculture, affordable housing, and other essential non-profit projects would have to be significantly cut and perhaps eliminated.
This reckless group also would gut our upgraded planning and environmental regulations. They take the extreme view that property owners should be able to do whatever they want on their land, regardless of the negative impacts on their neighbors, our schools, and our natural resources.
Perhaps most frightening of all, our opponents want to impose their extreme ideological political views on our schools, including censoring curriculum and book choices.
Our opponents also oppose our “green” strategies. They would close down the Pittsboro-Chapel Hill transit bus system. They also would eliminate the Sustainable Communities Development Department and its Director and Transportation Planner, as well as the Human Relations Director.
Our opponents do not believe that climate change is caused by human activity. They oppose green jobs. They prefer using the failed low-wage economic development strategies of the past, rather than looking to build a sustainable future with good paying jobs.
While our opponents have dreamed up new ways to dismantle the progress we have made over the past four years, under the leadership of Lucier, Thomson and Vanderbeck, we have invested wisely in much needed schools and facilities, and leveraged private and public funds for transit, public parks and recreation. We have created effective and balanced land-use planning and economic development policies and plans with significant citizen input.
Clearly, this election will have a huge impact on life in Chatham now and in the future.
I need your help in Canvassing Fearrington Village. Four years ago we had a group of 25 volunteers canvassing Fearrington and that effort resulted in the team of Lucier, Thompson and Vanderbeck receiving more than 90% of vote in our precinct. We need to do this again. Please let me know by email if you are willing to help us canvass in Fearrington Village and possibly other sections of Northeastern Chatham. Our canvassing effort must be completed by the beginning of early voting on October 14th.
The Chatham Coalition is organizing the communications and get-out-the-vote efforts for the team. In addition to conducting canvassing, we will be sending postcards and targeted mailing and pay for the billboard on 15/501. All the funds will be spent directly for re-election of the team. These critical campaign activities are expensive and require us to raise at least $15,000. Thus, your financial support will again be critical to defeating this right wing political threat that is worse than Bunkey.
Your donation of $100 or more will make a huge difference but we greatly appreciate all levels of support. Please make your checks payable to the Chatham Coalition and send them the Chatham Coalition, PO Box 1415, Pittsboro, NC 27312. Please enclosed the name of your employer if you are employed. If you wish you may leave them in my porch basket at at 848 Langdon.
Thanks in advance for your volunteer time and financial support.
John Hammond, Vice-Chair
Chatham Coalition