The effort by a group of wealthy homeowners to form a new single-issue Political Action Committee (PAC) in support of Adam Searing’s mayoral candidacy and several like-minded council candidates is no more, according to its chief proponent.

The Daily Tar Heel’s Ethan Horton reported that Julie Grumbles, the coordinator of this “Wealthy Homeowner PAC,” emailed that the PAC would not be formed. Grumbles and her like-minded homeowners will need to find another avenue to fight the Town’s modest efforts to increase housing options, an action that in her initial email she claimed “will inevitably degrade our neighborhoods.”

According to the Daily Tar Heel, Grumbles did not explain her decision. This decision follows Triangle Blog Blog’s initial scoop on August 27 and the News & Observer’s article on Sunday. We also posted a follow-up on Sunday.

It is important to note that this does not mean frustrated wealthy homeowners have been stopped from pumping tens of thousands of dollars into this election. Grumbles and other potential funders of the Wealthy Homeowners PAC still have plenty of cash, and there’s nothing preventing them from donating to an existing political organization such as CHALT’s PAC.

In the last municipal election cycle, we helped increase turnout by over 20 percent. We're all volunteers who care deeply about Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and we're working to make Chapel Hill and Carrboro more vibrant, accessible, fun, and sustainable.  Please consider a small donation to help us keep our digital lights on, host events, and hire students to do data deep-dives.

Donate

Geoff Green, AICP lives in Chapel Hill. In his day job he's a practicing urban planner; in his spare time he rides his electric bike around town and advocates for improved facilities so that everyone can...