City Council candidate John Tarantino (right) said this afternoon that he's endorsing County Commissioner Joe Bowser for mayor in Tuesday's primary election.

"I'm aligned with Bowser and encouraging my friends to vote for Bowser," he said.

Bowser (below), who has more than a year left on his commissioner's term, is challenging incumbent Mayor Bill Bell. Retired salesman Ralph McKinney and minister Sylvester Williams are also in the race.

Tarantino is one of seven candidates for three at-large Council seats. Tuesday's voting will eliminate one, as well as two mayoral candidates, leaving the survivors to face off in the Nov. 8 general election.

Tarantino said he decided to come out for Bowser after Williams's campaign began passing out sample ballots encouraging votes for three black City Council candidates: Solomon Burnette, Donald Hughes and Victoria Peterson.

"The worst thing that can happen is nothing," he said.

Tarantino said he was miffed because he had given Williams support, including financial support, in a past campaign for City Council.

Bowser is also black, as is Bell; Tarantino is white, and said Williams, Burnette, Hughes and Peterson appeared to have formed a bloc after the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People, one of Durham's major political organizations, decided against making endorsements for the primary.

Williams, Hughes and Peterson have said the Durham Committee's political subcommittee recommended them for endorsement, but the full Committee did not accept the recommendation. Peterson said the political subcommittee also favored Burnette, but Burnette declined to comment.

"The candidates scrambled and formed an alliance," Tarantino said.

The People's Alliance, another major Durham PAC, has endorsed Bell along with council incumbents Eugene Brown and Diane Catotti and former School Board member Steve Schewel. An Alliance campaign mailer promotes the four as a team in the elections.

Brown, Catotti and Schewel are white.
 

Incumbent Diane Catotti and challenger Victoria Peterson filed as city council candidates today, joining Steve Schewel who filed Monday.

Both Catotti and Peterson had announced their intentions to run earlier. Catotti is running for re-election for a third term in the at-large seat she has held since 2003. Peterson has run for council three times, unsuccessfully.

Mayor Bill Bell has also filed for re-election.

It wasn't on the agenda, but citizen Victoria Peterson (below) got three minutes of the city council's Thursday work session to make a pitch for 751 South.

Her reason: She might like to live there.

751 South is the village-sized subdivision proposed for rural Durham County near New Hope Creek and Jordan Lake. The project has stirred passionate controversy and several lawsuits, and whether it is built or not remains to be determined.

"There are persons in this community, like myself and my husband — we're starting to get a little older," she said.

"You just started?" said Councilman Howard Clement.

"We're starting to get a little older," Peterson repeated, "and it's sort of hard to wake up in the middle of the night when you hear gunshots and some of the other foolishness that's been going on here. ...  

"I think there are citizens in this community that still want to live in the city, still want to live in Durham, but sometimes when we lay our heads down on the pillow at night we don't want to hear gunshots [at] 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning," Peterson said. "We don't want to hear the police driving up and down in my stret constantly, 24-7."

The Durham County commisisoners approved a $54,000 contract with Downtown Durham Inc. tonight, but not without questions and comments from two dependably outspoken citizens.

Lavonia Allision, long-time head of the Durham Committe on the Affairs of Black People, said the amount was reasonable for the stated purpose -- "to perform the functions of economic development in the downtown area" -- but pointed out that other organizations are trying to do the same thing in other parts of town without the county's money.

Peterson had much the same point to make.

"Why do we have two systems here?"  Peterson said. "This organization and the Chamber of Commerce are allowed to get direct contracts, economic development contract [with the county]. ... We have other organizations in durham that are trying to train and put people to work. ... in Northeast Central Durham and other parts of Durham."

Peterson, a frequent candidate for public office who speaks at almost every meeting of the county commissioners and City Council, has been raising this issue at every opportunity for months. She wants a similar contract for a program she runs that offers occupational training in fiber-optic technology.

"I'm asking somebody, please investigate," she said.

The Durham city council has set April 6 for a public hearing on the way it is elected.

"Let the public discourse begin," said elections director Mike Ashe.

By voting Monday night to hold the public hearing, the council began the process that could change Durham's council elections from a non-partisan primary and general election system to a non-partisan pluraity system.

That means holding one election instead of two — or three, when a runoff primary is needed.

Durham County Board of Elections chairman Ronald Gregory requested the change in a February letter to council members and Mayor Bill Bell.

According to Ashe, the switch would save taxpayers between $170,000 and $180,000 per municipal election year.

"This is purely a way to save money we don't have right now," Ashe told council members Monday.

"We don't believe this helps or hurts anyone, any group, any candidate," he said.

Read more about it in Wednesday's News & Observer.