Faulkner & Stohlman Rejected by Citizens

Incumbent Mayor Jan Faulkner and Council Member Mark Stohlman were soundly defeated in the Morrisville elections. The main reasons cited was the incumbents' support of a proposed 19% Tax Increase, approval of Park West Village, and other high density developments that caused concern of increase traffic on already congested roads.

Election Results

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Jackie Holcombe & Steve Diehl raise hands in victory

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Margaret reacts to the party cheers for her win

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Election Results - Tuesday, November 3

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MAYOR: Jackie Holcombe received 62% (711) of the total vote; opponent Jan Faulkner (incumbent) got 38% (439) of the total.

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TOWN COUNCIL, DISTRICT 2: Steve Diehl received 55% (627) of the vote; opponent Mark Stohlman (incumbent) earned 45% (509) of the total.

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TOWN COUNCIL, DISTRICT 4: Margaret Broadwell got 65% (680) of the total vote; opponent Creighton Blackwell received 34% (358) of the vote.

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TOWN COUNCIL, AT-LARGE: Tom Murry (incumbent) earned 77% (864) of the vote; opponents, Michael Roberts received 15% (172) and Lydia Martin got 7% (84) of the total.

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The newly elected Mayor and Town Council members will be sworn in at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, December 8 at Morrisville Town Hall. Following will be the first public meeting of Morrisville's NEW Town Council. All members of the public are invited to attend the swearing in ceremony and attend the Council meeting.

PBA Endorses Candidates

The Wake County Chapter of the NC POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION has announced the following endorsements for the Morrisville Town Council elections on November 3.

For Mayor: Jackie Holcombe

For Town Council, District 2: Steve Diehl

For Town Council, At-Large: Tom Murry

MorrisvilleAction Endorsements

The MorrisvilleAction.org (MAO) steering committee has met with all Morrisville Town Council candidates, with the exception of Jan Faulkner, who stated she would not accept the invitation to be interviewed and that she was not seeking MAO's endorsement. MorrisvilleAction thanks all the candidates who met with it to share their visions for future Morrisville.

MorrisvilleAction is a nonpartisan group of Morrisville citizens. Visit http://www.morrisvilleaction.org/ for a video presentation of its candidate endorsements.

For Morrisville Town Council Election on November 3rd, MorrisvilleAction.org is pleased to endorse:
Mayor - Jackie Holcombe
At Large - Tom Murry
District 2 - Steve Diehl
District 4 - Margaret Broadwell

Mayor
For mayor, MorrisvilleAction enthusiastically endorses Jackie Holcombe, an active and effective advocate for our community. Mrs. Holcombe will provide the new leadership that Morrisville desperately needs. She helped the grassroots effort against the 19% property tax increase supported by her opponent in 2008 and brings to the table a track record of fiscal responsibility.

As a small business owner, Mrs. Holcombe also understands the difficulties faced by businesses large and small in these challenging economic times. Her responsive style of leadership and promotion of sustainable growth we can afford will serve the town well.
http://www.electjackie.com/

At Large
Tom Murry has served on the Morrisville Town Council since 2005. A fiscal conservative, Councilman Murry has never voted for a property tax increase. He is a strong advocate for citizen-driven efforts to increase public safety and government efficiency such as the Morrisville Community Emergency Response Team and the Morrisville Budget Performance Assessment Panel. Councilman Murry has frequently called for more citizen input opportunities on important issues facing the Town. MorrisvilleAction is pleased to endorse Councilman Murry.
http://www.votemurry.com/

District 2
For District 2, MorrisvilleAction endorses Steve Diehl. Since moving to Morrisville in 2001, Steve has been a tireless advocate for citizens. Whether on Town Advisory Committees, an often heard voice of reason at Public Hearings, or in news reports from local media, Mr. Diehl has consistently supported resident residents' interests. MorrisvilleAction believes Steve Diehl will provide the leadership needed to move Morrisville forward in a fiscally responsible manner.
http://www.stevediehl.org/

District 4
MorrisvilleAction endorses Margaret Broadwell for District 4. MAO endorses Ms. Broadwell due to her thorough understanding of the issues directly affecting our community and her previous 10 years experience of public service on the Morrisville Town Council. She has a proven record of bringing citizen friendly programs and policies to the community while supporting fiscal responsibility and an open government.
http://www.votebroadwell.com/

Vote on November 3rd

The mission of MorrisvilleAction.org is to enhance the quality of life for Morrisville residents by supporting responsible growth of a density appropriate to residential communities. MAO is a non-partisan group of citizens encouraging voters to select candidates of integrity who support responsible growth.
Visit http://www.morrisvilleaction.org/ MorrisvilleAction is a non-partisan NC chartered political action committee in compliance with state financial reporting requirements.

Candidates File for Town Council Election

Updated 8/29/09

This November 3, citizen voting may significantly change Morrisville's leadership and focus. FOUR of the SEVEN Town Council seats (including the Mayor) are up for election. The three incumbents seeking re-election are being challenged. The time period permitted for candidate filing concluded on July 17. This year's contests will be as follows:

Mayor:
Jackie Holcombe
Jan Faulkner*

District 2:
Steve Diehl
Mark Stohlman*

District 4:
Margaret Broadwell
Creighton Blackwell

At-Large:
Tom Murry*
Lydia Martin
Michael Roberts

*incumbents

Morrisville's registered voters will be asked to cast ballots for its Town Council on Tuesday, November 3. Town residents may also take advantage of "Early Voting" for the Council from October 15 through 31. However, voting for the Wake County School Board (and Cary Town Council) will be on October 6.

The above "District" designations are only a residency requirement for candidate filing. All registered voters in Morrisville cast ballots for all Council races. Each Council member elected will represent the entire town.

If you are a Morrisville resident and not registered to vote, click here to download the form for Wake County. You have until October 9 to register, change your address or party affiliation.

Morrisville-Carpenter Rd/NC 54 Intersection OPEN!

After weeks of heavy construction, drivers are now able to take advantage of the improvements made to the intersection of Morrisville Carpenter Road and NC 54 (Chapel Hill Road). The detour has been removed and the intersection is now open!

To permit an additional turn lane from Morrisville-Carpenter Rd to NC 54, the Railroad relocated its crossing gates. Also completed are right turn lanes from NC 54 to Aviation Pkwy & from NC 54 to Morrisville-Carpenter Rd. Click here to see map of the changes. Above photo credit: NBC-17

The intersection of the three roads (NC 54, Morrisville-Carpenter Rd & Aviation Pkwy) combine to create one of the most heavily traveled in the Triangle. Although these are State roads, the improvements were made by the Town because of the importance to Morrisville and the region. The project is the result of a lengthy collaboration between the North Carolina Railroad, Norfolk Southern Railroad, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the Town of Cary, and the Town of Morrisville. These improvements will allow motorists to move more quickly through this major intersection.

In order to get the additional lane over the railroad tracks, the Town had to give up the two lanes crossing the tracks at Barbee Road. The Barbee Road crossing is required to be closed within six moths.

No Tax Increase Planned for Morrisville

Throughout Morrisville, the Town has proclaimed that no tax increase is being proposed. In a special public "open house" at Town Hall, press releases to all local media, mailings to all citizens, and on the Town website, the public has been provided details of the planned budget and tax rate for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

The current property tax rate of 36.65 cents per $100 of assessed value is being proposed for another year. Also, vehicle fees are being held at $5 per vehicle. The total recommended operating budget for the new fiscal year is $20,072,994. This is 8.5% lower than the current budget.

Citizens have praised the Town staff for proposing a lean budget. Many residents recall last year's proposal to raise property taxes 19% which was stopped by overwhelming community protest. At the recent Town Council meeting on May 12, Council Members complimented the staff for their efforts in holding the line this year.

The reduced budget will allow departments to provide critical services with the least possible impact on service levels. Finance Director, Julia Ketchum stated, "I think we can use the economic crisis to make significant improvements to our financial management practices." The main reason for the projected revenue shortfall is that Morrisville didn't bring in as much money through things like developer fees as it had projected.

The public is invited to comment on the budget at the Town Council public hearings scheduled for Tuesdays, May 26 and June 9. The Council will vote on the new fiscal year operating budget on Tuesday, June 23. Citizens may also send email to: TownCouncil@ci.morrisville.nc.us