Bull City Rising: Shiflett to join Azar in bid for City Council at-large seat

As Catotti, Brown depart, who'll fill their big shoes?

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Shiflett to join Azar in bid for City Council at-large seat

July 06, 2015

In an announcement to a range of Durham listservs and residents tonight, Mike Shiflett disclosed his plan to run for one of Durham's at-large City Council seats in November's election.

Shiflett -- a longtime Northgate Park resident, PAC2 and Durham Businesses Against Crime activist/chair, and transportation/transit guru, among a long list of civic accomplishments -- is the second person we've heard to throw their hat in the at-large race ring.

INC president and former non-profit head Philip Azar has already signaled his candidacy as well.

Look for Shiflett to formally announce Tuesday at noon at downtown's Major the Bull statue.

(Disclaimer: I'm proud to consider both Mike and Phil friends, a point that's worth mentioning given the conflicts of interest a race involving acquaintances and friends will inevitably entail.)

Posted by Kevin Davis on July 06, 2015 at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Comments

And three more (although the Herald headline hilariously and inexplicably says 4): Charlie Reese, Juan Alva, Ricky Hart. That's five men running for 3 seats. Will there be any women candidates?

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/durham-news/article26604799.html

Posted by: Ruby | July 07, 2015 at 09:38 AM

Ooops not the Herald, the Durham News.

Posted by: Ruby | July 07, 2015 at 09:38 AM

Here's a link to the Durham BOE document listing the candidates who have filed for the 2015 municipal elections:

http://dconc.gov/home/showdocument?id=13055

I *believe* they're updating the document at that link throughout the day, but if not, a link to the most up to date list can be found right on the BOE website here:

http://dconc.gov/government/departments-a-e/board-of-elections

Posted by: CharlieReece | July 07, 2015 at 10:15 AM

Also, to answer Ruby's question above, I am 100% certain that a fantastic woman candidate will file for city council this week, and I'm told that at least one other woman is leaning towards running as well.

It's going to be a large field, with plenty of competing visions for Durham's future, and that's good for Durham.

Posted by: CharlieReece | July 07, 2015 at 10:17 AM

As Charlie (one of the candidates) notes in his comment, the field is indeed burgeoning. The shoes that Diane and Eugene are leaving over are big ones -- but it seems to look like a big opening door, too, to many prospects.

It's nice to see a growing list of candidates for the race, along with Reece, Azar and Shiflett. It does indeed appears that at least two women are filing to run -- Jillian Johnson, and Sandra Davis. Also, Dr. Juan Alva, a physician who's operated an urban medical clinic since the 1980s in East Durham and is of Hispanic descent. Add to that a filing by one Ricky Hart, and the likely re-election run of Steve Schewel, and you have a pretty full slate.

While I don't know all of the candidates personally, based on the experiences, professional backgrounds, and affiliations of a number of them -- we should indeed have a very interesting opportunity for dialogue on Durham's future.

This is to say nothing, of course, of the long-expected-but-did-we-ever-believe-it announcement that Mayor Bell would not seek elected office beyond this last run for mayor. Given that two folks have filed to run and/or established campaign finance committees, you can never call any race for mayor a done deal... but: one imagines that barring some completely out-of-left-field event, Mayor Bell would be just as difficult to unseat in this race as any since his definitive win over Thomas Stith some cycles back.