By Virginia Bridges

Durham County commissioners had hoped to fast-track appointing someone to fill Joe Bowser's vacated seat. That now will likely be delayed as the Durham County Democratic Party works to establish its recommendation.  

Commissioners wanted to vote on the appointment as soon as their May 29 meeting. However, state law requires them to consult with Bowser's party before moving forward. Tracey Burns-Vann said the Durham County Democratic Party, which received a hand-delivered notice from commissioners Tuesday, needs 14 days to notify members of a special meeting to vote on its recommendation.

People who are interested in filling Bowser’s vacated seat on the Board of County Commissioners need to submit their letter of interest to the Durham County Democratic Party by 5 p.m. Tuesday.  The letter should be emailed to  durhamcountychair@gmail.com. 

The Durham County Democratic Party will hold a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. May 31 in the education building at Mount Vernon Baptist Church, 1007 S. Roxboro St., to determine who it will recommend to fill the seat.  The meeting is open to registered Democrats, Burns-Vann said.  

We'll have more on this coming Sunday in The Durham News.

Fred Foster, who won a Democratic nomination for Durham county commissioner last week, is getting some support for taking his seat early.

Will Wilson, who finished sixth out of the 14 candidates, has endorsed Foster (right) to take over for Joe Bowser, who resigned from the county board after losing a bid for re-election.

Darius Little, who ran unsuccessfully for the City Council in 2009, has also said publicly that Foster should get the empty seat. Foster, currently president of the Durham NAACP chapter, finished second in the primary election. The top five candidates won spots on the November ballot and, so far, face no opposition candidates.

Who fills in from now until the new commissioners take office in December is up to the four remaining board members. State law requires they take a suggestion from the Durham County Democratic Party, since Bowser is a Democrat, but the commissioners are not bound to follow the party recommendation.

Submitted by correspondent Virginia Bridges

County Commissioner Joe Bowser resigned his seat today after losing a bid for re-election.

Bowser (right) finished seventh in the 14-person race for five seats on the county board.

"Effective today May 9, 2012, I will resign my seat on the Durham County Board of Commissioners. There are some big decisions this board will be making soon, and I feel it would be better for a member who will continue beyond this year to assist in making those decisions," Bowser wrote in an email to County Manager Mike Ruffin and his fellow commissioners.
 
"I have enjoyed my tenure on the board and wish my fellow board members the best!" Bowser said.

"Commissioner Bowser has provided significant years of service to Durham County Government and we are grateful for his work," said Board Chairman Michael Page in a county statement announcing Bowser's resignation.

"He has been engaged in numerous boards and commissions and has worked diligently to improve the quality of life for the citizens in this community," Page said.  "We wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Bowser was first elected to the board in 1996 and held the office until losing a re-election campaign in 2004. He won back his seat in 2008.

He is the second county commissioner to leave the board in less than a year. Last July, Commissioner Becky Heron resigned for reasons of health.

The four remaining commissioners will discuss replacing Bowser at their regular meeting Monday night.
 
The top five vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary were incumbents Page, Ellen Reckhow and Brenda Howerton, along with Durham NAACP branch President Fred Foster Jr. and environmental consultant Wendy Jacobs.

Bowser finished with 17,098 votes, 268 behind sixth-place contender Will Wilson, a Duke University biologist, according to unofficial results.
 

Here is an an early look at Bob Wilson's column coming Sunday in The Durham News. Tell us what you think below (with your name) or in a letter to the editor at editor@newsobserver.com

BY BOB WILSON

I hope you didn’t reflexively toss the mini-billboard that came in the mail a few days ago. You know, the one with the beaming faces of County Commissioners Chairman Michael Page, fellow incumbents Joe Bowser and Brenda Howerton, and incumbent wannabe Rickey Padgett.

The billboard – er, campaign post card – appeared to be from the candidates themselves, all fervent supporters of 751 South, the proposed 167-acre, mixed-use project hard by the Chatham County line.

And hard by the eutrophic upper reaches of Jordan Lake, which needs another patch of urban sprawl about as much as James Harden needs another elbow punch from the Lakers’ Metta World Peace.

The post card actually came from the Durham Partnership for Progress, a political action committee formed by Southern Durham Development Inc., the local outfit behind 751 South. The PAC exists for one purpose: Elect its four anointed candidates to ensure that 751 South has a future.

Don’t be dazzled by Southern Durham President Alex Mitchell’s declaration that the PAC has high-minded ambitions to “foster a political environment … that encourages equal opportunity, job creation, smart growth.”

Smart growth?

What’s so smart about planting 1,300 homes and townhouses and 600,000 square feet of office-retail on 167 acres of environmentally sensitive land whose runoff by Southern Durham’s own assessment will put 600 pounds of nitrogen a year into Jordan Lake?

Incumbent County Commissioner Joe Bowser filed for re-election today, while previously announced candidates Fred Foster and Stephen Hopkins officially joined the race.

Today's three filings brings the total field to 11 candidates for the five positions on the Durham Board of County Commissioners, including all but one of the incumbents.

Commissioner Pam Karriker, elected last summer to serve out the remaining term of retired Commissioner Becky Heron, said then that she would not be a candidate this year.

One contest has appeared in the race for School Board, with John Tarantino, who has previously run for City Council, School Board and state Senate without success, opposing incumbent Leigh Bordley for an at-large seat. District A incumbent Minnie Forte-Brown and District B incumbent Heidi Carter are unopposed for re-election so far.

Filing ends at noon Wednesday.

Submitted by correspondent Virginia Bridges

Durham County Commissioner Joe Bowser reversed course this week and said he recalled making job candidate recommendations to at least three county supervisors

Last week, Bowser denied making such recommendations, beyond introducing a candidate to former Department of Social Services Director Gerri Robinson. 

Bowser's denial came after the county’s internal auditor, Richard Edwards, said two supervisors indicated Bowser recommended candidates for open job positions in their respective departments. 

From correspondent Virginia Bridges

The Durham County Commissioners agreed today to ask an attorney, possibly who represents another county, to investigate the firing of the former social services director.

At their meeting today, the commissioners voted to have an attorney investigate the first three questions on a list of 24 questions sent to the attorney general’s office, which declined to investigate. They did not pick an attorney, but Durham County Attorney Lowell Siler said the attorney representing Craven, Pamlico and Jones counties has expressed interest.

Those first three questions center on the county commissioners’ appointment of Gail Perry to the Department of Social Services board in June; whether DSS board members Stan Holt, Joe Bowser and Perry held an illegal meeting before the July vote to fire director Gerri Robinson, and whether it was a conflict of interest for Perry to vote to fire Robinson and then be appointed to her position on an interim basis. Bowser is a county commissioner and the liaison to the DSS board.

The commissioners also voted to ask the county’s internal auditor to review the entire 24 points in the original letter.

Commissioner Chairman Michael Page stressed that the investigation isn't centered on Robinson or Perry. “This is about the way we do business in Durham County, and how this was handled,” he said.

County Commissioner Joe Bowser’s campaign fund is $8,000 richer thanks to a couple with a financial stake in the controversial 751 South development project.

Bowser, who lost a bid for mayor last month, reported the donations from Neal and Janet Hunter to the Durham County Board of Elections on Monday. Each gave $4,000 to the Bowser Campaign Committee. The couple did not donate money to any other candidates in Durham’s mayoral and City Council races.

Neal Hunter sold the 751 South site near Jordan Lake to Southern Durham Development Inc., financing $10 million of the $18 million price in return for a non-voting share in the company.

Bowser’s term on the Durham County Board of Commissioners expires in 2012. He has been a strong supporter of 751 South, which won a crucial rezoning by a 3-2 commissioners’ vote in 2010. That rezoning is the subject of a lawsuit scheduled for trial in November.

In Durham County, $4,000 is the maximum amount an individual may give to a local candidate’s campaign for any one election. Bowser was a candidate for Durham mayor, but was eliminated in the Oct. 11 primary. Both Hunters’ donations were dated Oct. 11.

While running for mayor, Bowser declared his intention to raise or spend less than $1,000 on the current election. After falling out of the mayor’s race, he withdrew that declaration, putting himself under a requirement to file periodic campaign finance reports.
 

Durham County Commissioner Joe Bowser said he will ask commissioners' Chairman Michael Page to drop an investigation of the Department of Social Services board.

The investigation, which Bowser had suggested in September, would cost too much, he said, and added, "I think what we have here is just a bunch of hot air."

Bowser, the commissioners' liaison to the DSS board, made his surprise announcement during this morning's DSS board meeting.

The commissioners undertook an investigation after allegations of misconduct by commissioners and DSS board members stemming from the firing of former DSS Director Gerri Robinson and her replacement by DSS board member Gail Perry.

The state attorney general's office turned down the county commissioners' request for an investigation, BOCC's and at least one retired judge has turned down the county commissioners' request to investigate.

Bell, mayor since 2001, received 131 of those votes, bringing his total to 9,378, about 81 percent of the vote.  Williams, a pastor at Assembly at Durham Christian Center, received 19 provisional votes, bumping to his vote total to 889.  Bowser received 19 provisional votes and a total of 867 votes. Ralph McKinney received six provisional votes and a total of 471 votes.

Two members of the Board of Elections and Williams' wife and daughter Barbara and Adande Williams were the only visitors present as the board's interim director, Michael Perry, fed the approved votes into the ballot tabulator.

“In it to win it,” Barbara and Adande Williams repeated as they left the Board of Elections.