People’s Republic of Durham

DURHAM – Municipal elections were held across the Old North State Tuesday. City and town councils, mayors and bond proposals. Amid the activity, the Bull City stood out as having decidedly moved itself into collectivists column. Durham managed to reelect for the fourth time a mayor who blames the NRA and state legislature for incessant gang shootings, and a trove of radical social justice warriors to their city council. As if to round out the Leftism, voters in Durham approved the largest affordable housing “bond” in North Carolina’s history.

The confirmation of this deepening blue of Durham is exhibited in its chosen leadership. In addition to Jewel asininely blaming the NRA for six gang shootings in one weekend, three reelected City Council members are bona fide social justice warriors. They won despite controversy over having literally campaigned and voted against staffing more police during gang wars because it wasn’t the ‘woke’ thing to do.

Mayor Pro-Tempore Jillian Johnson made waves for her comments, “the most dangerous people with guns are cops and soldiers.” That’s weird because the cops and soldiers didn’t perform those six shootings last weekend.

That’s only one example, of many, of the Far Left lean dominating Durham.

From ABC11:

“Durham City Council incumbents Jillian Johnson, Charlie Reece and Javiera Caballero were all re-elected to the three at-large spots on the council.

Schewel also acknowledged the skepticism, among some in Durham, that those three council members were seriously focused on reducing crime. Johnson, Reece and Caballero were criticized for voting against DPD Chief C.J. Davis’ request for 18 additional officers. The budget vote became a flash point in the campaign as the city combated a recent spate of gun violence. […]”

Instead of addressing pressing issues like effective law enforcement, the majority of voters in Durham evidently think San Francisco  a city worthy of emulation. To advance toward that end they signed themselves up for nearly $100 million in taxes to buy other people houses.

From WRAL:

“[…] The $95 million, which city officials called the largest such bond in state history, will be paired with $65 million in federal and local funding over the next five years to redevelop Durham housing projects, help find permanent housing for people who are homeless, fund down payments for low-income, first-time home buyers and assist people in danger of being evicted.

Schewel said he plans to work over the next two years to start making the promise of the bond a reality. But he said he also recognizes that policing and gun violence are critical issues in Durham, which last week saw a series of drive-by shootings that killed two people. […]”

Ya hear that? The mayor promises to make sure his taxpayers take out this enormous loan. That’s what it is, a loan taken out by taxpayers, and paid back by taxpayers. Except, when termed “Education Bonds” or “Affordable Housing Bonds” those associations are all lost. In their place are feel good measures voters for which voters find it easy to check the box not realizing how much of other’s people money they’r spending. Or even worse, realizing and doing it still. As a result Durham municipal government grows bigger, now into funding down payments for people to buy houses.

These are the seeds they’re sowing, and we can all predict all that will be reaped from embracing the Big Urban Progressivism that is embodied by places like Baltimore. Hopefully Durham can avoid such fate and the rest of North Carolina is spared the spread of such hues.