Orange Politics celebrates 10th birthday

The Orange County community gathered Friday to wish Orange Politics a happy birthday.

Orange Politics, a blog for community members and local politicians to debate and catch up on news, celebrated its 10th birthday.

The website’s editor and founder, Ruby Sinreich, said she celebrates the day she started the website differently each year. This year she hosted a party at Nightlight Bar & Club with cake and trivia about local politics.

“It is literally 10 years from today I started blogging,” she said. “I have been involved in local politics since I was a student at Carolina.”

Sinreich said her favorite feature on the website is the “Random” section where three unrelated posts from the website’s archives are displayed on the sidebar. She said many users don’t know it’s there, but the feature gives an interesting perspective by showing hot topics from history.

Molly De Marco, a member of the website’s editorial board, said she enjoys seeing a variety of people interacting on the forums.

“We always encourage different people to post on the site,” she said.

She said January will mark her third year on the Orange Politics staff.

Sinreich said because the website has so many active members, it can make a difference and inspire change.

“It is very widely read by elected officials and the community in general. It has become very influential in certain ways,” she said.

“You can really make an impact.”

Chapel Hill Town Council member Lee Storrow attended the birthday party and said he posts frequently on the website — including when he was running for Town Council.

Storrow said he had attended many of the website’s events throughout its lifespan.

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, who shares his birthday with the website, said he keeps up with Orange Politics and posts regularly.

“I love it,” he said. “I enjoy the back and forth debate on the issues. I think it is really helpful to hear what people are thinking.”

He said he felt the website provides a good forum for debate.

“Obviously it doesn’t represent everybody by any means,” he said, “(but) it is a really good spot for some of the debates to be explored.”

Sinreich said the website provides a medium to make town officials aware of issues that receive little press.

“We drew attention to a lot of issues that would’ve otherwise been ignored,” Sinreich said.

“Orange Politics was a place where people can come together and saw ‘Wow, I’m not the only person thinking that.’”

She said the website’s 10th birthday marks an important point in time for her and its staff members.

“Orange Politics is a lot more than just me — even though it is definitely my baby. There is always a gang of people posting,” Sinreich said.

“Doing Orange Politics has been a great experience. I have learned a lot from it and have gained a lot of skills.”