Letter stirs election controversy ahead of Chapel Hill mayor, council races
A letter soliciting donations for a new political group has caused a stir in Chapel Hill heading into the fall elections.
The letter, first reported by Triangle Blog Blog, is seeking 12 couples to donate the maximum amount, $6,400 per person, to a yet-to-be-created political action committee. That committee would support candidates who promise to overturn Chapel Hill’s new “Missing Middle” housing policy that allows duplexes in single-family neighborhoods, according to the letter.
The two candidates for mayor, Jess Anderson and Adam Searing, both currently serve on the Chapel Hill Town Council. Anderson voted for the changes. Searing voted against.
The email was reportedly sent by Julia Grumbles, a former UNC-Chapel Hill trustee. Grumbles did not respond to an email sent by The News & Observer.
“We met with Adam Searing, the one Council member who consistently opposed it, and encouraged him to run for Mayor, along with a slate of candidates he would recruit to fill the four open Council seats in the November election,” the email stated. “If successful, they will hold a 5-4 majority and are committed to reversing this policy and finding housing solutions that are driven by practicality rather than ideology.”
Searing confirmed that Grumbles encouraged him to run for mayor and wanted to support him but said he didn’t recall if she mentioned forming a PAC.
“I don’t remember,” he said. “But if anybody brings that up I’m just going to say, again, what I say to everybody. Which is I do not (and) cannot coordinate. I do not want to do anything with a PAC. I take the law very seriously. I’m not going to do it.”
‘Subvert democracy’
The letter listed other supporters of the PAC who also did not respond to emails and phone calls from The N&O. It also said Brent Comstock, a UNC alumnus, had been recruited to run the campaign. In an email to The N&O, Comstock said neither he nor his company is “engaged in this project.”
“The plan is to form a political entity and run a targeted, get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaign around this issue, targeting single-family homeowners in Chapel Hill,” the solicitation letter stated. “The turnout for the last election was only 17% and the margin between winning and losing candidates was only about 50 votes in some cases.”
“In other words, a modest boost in turnout would make all the difference,” the letter continued. “The big public outcry around this issue suggests that’s entirely possible, but we need to make sure it happens and that the voters are crystal clear on where the candidates stand on this issue. A campaign to do that is estimated to cost $120k, which we hope to raise from about a dozen or so couples who feel strongly that Chapel Hill needs new leadership.”
Anderson said she was sent the letter by a handful of people and was “horrified and disturbed.”
“It’s really troubling that 12 couples could subvert democracy like this and, you know, that they could influence an election and predetermine the actions of a majority on a council is just really deeply concerning,” she said.
She sent out a fundraising email saying “the integrity of our local election is under attack” and linking to the Triangle Blog Blog post about the reported PAC.
‘Dark money’
Searing said he’s focusing on his own campaign and doesn’t “have enough time to worry about the state of dark money.”
“I honestly cannot worry about what all these other groups are doing,” Searing said. “Whether they’re required to be open like PACs are or whether these (are) dark money groups that hide their donors, I can’t worry about any of that. I just have to focus on what I can control. Which is my own election, my own volunteers, my donations.”
The first time Searing said he saw the letter was in the “dark money group’s” email, referencing the Triangle Blog Blog post.
Triangle Blog Blog describes itself as a “progressive group blog covering civics and news in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.” It’s run by Shameful Nuisance, a 501(c)(4) or social welfare organization, which does not list its donors.
“Many of our donors are graduate students and faculty at the earliest stages of their career,” according to Shameful Nuisance’s website. “Doing this work in a college town where many people work at the same institution is hard. We keep our donors private to protect them and to ensure that they are not harassed.”
In a newsletter Wednesday, Triangle Blog Blog said it was seeking $12,000 in donations to mail a “progressive voter guide to households in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.”
Mayor speaks out
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, who was first elected in 2015 and owns a commercial property firm, is not seeking another term. She saw a copy of the letter and said she was “appalled.”
“How did we come to this place in Chapel Hill that individuals think they should dominate a race because they have the means to do so?” she asked.
Hemminger said the most she ever spent to get elected mayor was about $20,000 the first time she ran and that mayoral races in Chapel Hill have tended to cost $20,000 to $24,000 and council races $12,000 to $14,000 or less.
The letter is inaccurate when it says the zoning changes, which apply only when local covenants don’t prohibit them, will destroy neighborhoods, Hemminger said.
The need for more housing and more types of housing is a national issue, she said.
“It’s not just about affordable (housing). It’s about housing options. It’s about all levels of folks having options to live here,” she said. By opposing the changes “you’re saying no to young families. You’re saying no downsizing.”
But, the mayor added, ”I will say we didn’t do a very good job of explaining the ‘why’ we are doing this.”
It is also inaccurate to say the town’s new housing initiative wasn’t a democratic process, she said, since the council members who voted for it were elected.
Election day is Nov. 7 with early voting starting Oct. 19.
Mark Schultz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 10, 2023 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Letter stirs election controversy ahead of Chapel Hill mayor, council races."
