At last night’s forum, moderator Gene Nichol from the UNC Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity asked mayoral and council candidates about homelessness, immigration, environmental justice and the Town of Chapel Hill’s Voter-Owned Election program.

Incumbent council members Ed Harrison and Laurin Easthom said they supported the program in principal, but felt it was not appropriate for those already in office. Mayoral candidate Matt Czajkowski argued that the program is unnecessary, as the current $250 cap on individual donations makes it unlikely that any candidate could be swayed by monied interests. Rival Augustus Cho, who also opposes the program, pointed out that the availability of public financing has done nothing to curb Czajkowski’s own fundraising, which tops $20,000.

Both Mark Kleinschmidt and Penny Rich are enrolled in the town’s Voter-Owned Election program and have qualified for public funding. They each argued that the mandate to gather many small donations gave more voters a chance to get involved in local campaigns. Kleinschmidt told listeners he had heard of incidents of contributors bundling their donations in an effort to gain influence. Rich said she too was concerned with the influence of special interests, and she would encourage all candidates to apply for the program in the 2011 elections. 

The social issues forum was sponsored by nearly a dozen organizations, including University United Methodist Church, Democracy NC and Common Cause NC.