This Monday at 7:30 p.m. the county commissioners and planning board will be conducting a public hearing at the courthouse in Hillsborough on the proposed comprehensive plan update. Ideally, the plan will firmly establish the county on a path toward sustainability that balances environmental health, social equity, and economic vitality. The draft plan can be accessed from http://www.co.orange.nc.us/planning/compre_cpupdate.asp.
In the first chapter many encouraging phrases are found such as: "Mixed-use districts are being actively encouraged, and locations are being identified, providing live-work-shop opportunities that minimize travel needs ... (T)he identification of growth opportunity areas near transit corridors and along major thoroughfares encourages more public transportation use by County residents. ... (P)lacing public water and sewer facilities near areas targeted for dense development can reinforce a more sustainable land use pattern ... (P)ublic investment will be focused to stimulate and accommodate (economic) development in strategic locations that can be served by transportation systems and be convenient to housing opportunities."
I'm a little frustrated because I just learned about this event yesterday, and I think the word needs to get spread farther for this to be effective. But anyway, here's the deal:
The Historic Rogers Road/Eubanks Community
Invites you to meet the folks
behind the headlines
If you’ve been following the news stories
about the Orange County Landfill and the siting of the new Waste
Transfer Station for the past year, you’ve heard a lot about the folks
that live in the historic Rogers Road/Eubanks Community.
Now, come and meet the folks behind the headlines in
this historic and vibrant community. Come spend a Saturday afternoon
and hear their stories, meet their kids and absorb first-hand, the 150
years of history in this community. Come share home-cooked food, listen
to live gospel and steel-drum reggae music and join hands with others
to end environmental racism. Click here for the event flier.
I already have two committments tomorrow afternoon but will try to stop by around 4:30 if at all possible.
Date:
Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 10:00am to 1:00pm
Location:
Faith Tabernacle Oasis of Love International Church, Rogers Road
The culmination of Bike to Work Week is Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 16th. Read more to find local links.
Local Activities:
- 7:00am - Raleigh Bikers' Breakfast and Bike to Work Week Celebration (NW corner of Fayetteville & Hargett, Raleigh)
- 7-9am - Bike to Work Brunch at the Research Triangle Park Headquarters (12 Davis Drive, RTP)
- 7:30am - Durham Bike to Work Day Gathering (The Mad Hatter at Broad Street & Main Street, Durham)
I still can't get over the race for the at-large seat on the County Commissioners. I'm sure no-one was surprised that Bernadette Pelissier won the primary handily. She was a well-qualified and well-organized candidate, and I think she'll be a great addition to the Board. Neloa Jones had very little name recognition, and even less resources to back up her campaign. I was quite impressed with her 20% showing. It demonstrated some real voter concern about the landfill and the racial justice issues that she raised.
But what really shocked me was the nearly 30% voting for Mary Wolff. This was a candidate that had almost no visible campaign other than the ambigious yard signs that will presumably be recycled in the fall for her husband's Republican run for the same seat. Having never heard of her before, and knowing that the Wolffs just moved to the community 3 years ago, I wrote her candidacy off. My expectations were quite wrong, so I decided to dig deeper into these results...
It seems like Chapel Hill and Orange County are giving our local public access provider quite the run around, when they should be giving them money! The programming on The Peoples Channel includes a wide variety of creative output and civic endeavors by local residents, plus they also carry the essential Democracy Now! If you don't find what you want on channel 8, you can march right in to the station, get low-cost training, and fill that gap. This nonprofit TV station is a tremendous asset to our community, and it deserves to be fully funded by our local governments.
Both Chapel Hill and Orange County received money for Chapel Hill channel 8, on which The People's Channel broadcasts.
Yet neither government has passed that money on to The People's
Channel. The law says local governments must spend the supplemental
money on PEG channels, but it doesn't specify which channels.
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