Endorsements for candidates for US Senate, US Congress, NC General Assembly, county commission and sheriff in Forsyth and Guilford counties appear in our print edition this week. The following are our endorsements in races that didn't fit our limited newsprint hole:
• NC Court of Appeals (Calabria seat): Ann Marie Calabria (i), Jane Gray and Mark Klass
We endorse: Klass
The law is in Davidson County native Mark Klass’ blood. When Klass was elected to the Superior Court in 1998, he and his father, Jack, were one of only two father-son teams to hold judgeships in the state at the same time, according to the candidate’s website. The Court of Appeals seat is normally a difficult call. The advantage normally goes to the judge who does the best job getting across their message to voters. Based on this criteria, Klass has surpassed incumbent Ann Marie Calabria and challenger Jane Gray.
• NC Court of Appeals (Elmore seat): Rick Elmore (i), Al Bain, Leto Copeley and Steven Walker
We endorse: Copeley
Leto Copeley, a lawyer in private practice in Hillsborough, has been barnstorming the state to make her case directly to the voters. That kind of accessibility and energy gives us confidence that she would make decisions on the state’s appellate court with sensitivity to how the law affects ordinary people. She won points from an audience at Bennett College for saying that she knows from firsthand experience that racial profiling is real because it happened to her law partner.
• Forsyth County Clerk of Courts: Nick Gordon (D, i) and Susan Speaks Frye (D)
We endorse: Gordon
When it comes to any Clerk of Court race, experience counts. In the Forsyth County, the clear choice is Nick Gordon. He was appointed to the position last year, but his community and civic experience make him the best candidate. Gordon served 13 years as the chair of the Forsyth County Soil and Water Conservation District Board and eight years as the executive vice president and Special Operations Response Team. He is a graduate of the Wake Forest University School of Law and a former president of the Forsyth County Bar Association. Susan Speaks Frye’s résumé reflects that she serves as an arbitration manager for Forsyth County Chief District Court Judge William B. Reingold, but that is the limit of her legal experience.
• Forsyth County School Board at large: Donnie C. Lambeth (i), Elizabeth Motsinger (i), Robert Barr, Lori Goins Clark, Stan Hill, Joyce McAdams, Jeannie A. Metcalf, William H. Roberts, Nancy P. Sherrill and Shai Woodbury
We endorse: Motsinger, Sherrill and Woodbury
• Forsyth County School Board 1: Geneva B. Brown (i), Vic Johnson (i), Regina J. Barnes, Jimmie Lee Bonham, Chenita Barber Johnson and Diana Williams-Cotton
We endorse: Brown and Bonham
• Forsyth County School Board 2: Jane D. Goins (i), Marilyn Parker (i), Jill A. Tackaberry (i), Buddy Collins, Donald Dunn, Carla B. Farmer, Tom Hackelman, Norman Hill, Stacey Walker McElveen and Jim Toole
We endorse: Farmer, Hackelman, McElveen and Toole
The Winston-Salem chapter of Communities Helping All Neighbors Gain Empowerment, or CHANGE, distributed a questionnaire to all candidates running for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Board of Education. CHANGE, a community-organizing group composed of 54 local church congregations, asked whether candidates would commit to having the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools start an effective and comprehensive program for family engagement by August 2011; agree to end the general practice of out-of-school suspension (except in cases meeting strict safety criteria) and require that every child receive quality classroom instruction by August 2011; and would be willing to commit to a formal public exploration of alternative student assignment plans that will increase diversity and improve student achievement in partnership with interested community groups by 2011.
The editorial board of YES! Weekly supports the initiatives proposed by CHANGE. Therefore, candidates’ responses were weighted heavily in the endorsement process. In the at-large race, Nancy Sherrill and Shai Woodbury agreed to support all three initiatives. Elisabeth Motsinger responded “no” to the out-of-school suspension question, but cited several programs already in place that provide teachers with additional training in classroom management as evidence that the school system is responsive its discipline issues. In the District 1 race, Jimmie Lee Bonham and Geneva Brown responded affirmatively to all three CHANGE initiatives. In the District 2 race, Carla B. Farmer, Tom Hackelman, Stacey McElveen and Jim Toole all responded affirmatively to CHANGE’s initiatives. Toole’s response to the out-of-school suspension was interpreted as unclear but YES! Weekly knows Toole to be a social progressive.
• Guilford County School Board at large: Nancy Routh (i), Lisa Ingle Clapp and Charo Tomlin
We endorse: Routh
Any of the three candidates would likely serve the citizens of Guilford County well. In incumbent Nancy Routh, they have a servant who is dedicated, even keeled and compassionate. At 77, she is unflappable and intellectually sharp as ever.
• Guilford County School Board 2: Garth Hebert (i), Richard Becker and Ed Price
We endorse: Hebert
Quite simply, neither of the two challengers has made the case for why Hebert needs to be replaced. Hebert is an educational conservative in his advocacy for neighborhood schools and his accountant’s eye on dollars and cents. Even the liberal Guilford County Association of Educators supports him, and who are we to disagree?
UPDATE: Our endorsements for US Senate, US Congress, NC General Assembly, sheriff and county commission can be found here.
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