Yes, no, unsure redux

151. The number of words, including a nice description of my “detailed policy perspective”, the Chamber used to comment on my candidacy.

143. The number of words in my somewhat detailed response to the question “[What] three specific things you would do to make Chapel Hill a better place to do business [?]“

50. The number of words they limited nuanced answers to that question on their website.

31. The number of words they used to tell readers why they truncated candidates’ responses.

0. The number of words within the 151 describing my candidacy used to inform the Chamber membership of my entrepreneurial business background or highlight my work as a successful CIO/CTO of a multi-million dollar DOT.com.

Priceless. Some detail and elaboration for our reality-based community.

As a business person, I understand the value of specificity and detail. Besides elaborating on the above question, I also wrote out specific answers to each of their Yes, No, Unsure questions because I thought the Chamber would also appreciate a level of detail not generally found in elections in our sound bite Society.

Here’s the complete answer I provided the Chamber:

As Chapel Hill transitions from Town to City we need to cultivate economic activity throughout Town. That starts with a creating a new EDC, doing a real survey of all business activity and creating a strategic plan for economic development that looks 5,10,20 years out.

We need to get creative and realize we can support innovative economic activity by supporting a municipally-sponsored broadband service. Besides advertising Chapel Hill as a Town on the (technology) rise, it attracts low impact businesses that employ our next generation of consumers.

Finally, we need to revisit some traditional amenities that have all but disappeared in Chapel Hill. Drinking fountains and attractive public restrooms are a good start. And to make Downtown family friendlier, I’m calling for a state-of-the-art, world-class, “mom, do we have to leave” play structure in a prominent Downtown location.

More reflections here.

384. The number of words in this post.