October 2004

Hillsborough Planning Board

Arglebargle or fuferau?

There's something more to the story of Kelly Hopper being kicked off the Hillsborough Planning Board than meets the eye. Admittedly she skipped a lot of meetings, but it sounds like there is more at work in this decision than that.

Anyone want to let us in on the big secret?

Ballantine opposes regional rail

Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine is quoted in today's Raleigh N&O as opposing regional commuter rail in the Triangle. Ballantine argues that it is a waste of money for the state to support Charlotte's proposed light rail system as well. Says Ballantine in the N&O: "Right now you're not going to be able to take people out of their cars -- despite the traffic. That takes an incredible cultural change that we're not ready for."

Democratic Governor Mike Easley supports state investment in both systems. The N&O Article quotes Easley's Secretary of Transportation: "There appears to be a great deal of wisdom in providing public transportation through additional bus service in rural areas and urban areas, and in the light rail piece for Charlotte and Raleigh."

I think Ballantine is the "incredible cultural change" that I am not ready for.

Sunrise... Sunset...

Live from Chapel Hill Town Hall... I came here tonight hoping to make my predictable comments about OI-4 (briefly: "it stinks") and then run over to the Cat's Cradle to see some creative, noncommercial films at Flicker.

I didn't realize I would have to wait through the "Sunrise Coalition." (Remember Doug Schworer? He's baaack.) White people are out in force to oppose the construction of non-luxury homes (for families making 50-80% of area median income) kind of near their well-manicured cul-de-sacs. Actually, about three backyards are adjacent, but it's probably at least a mile by car.

They won't fail to remind us that they're not opposed to affordable housing, just that evil "density." Oh and they're all environmentalists now too. Wonder how many of their SUVs are in the parking lot right now?

Fourth vandal attack on local advocate

I don't get offended by much, but this is really shocking to me:

A woman who has been fighting to stop high school students from drinking at unsupervised parties had three vehicles egged [and received an obscene note] at her home...

It's the fourth such incident since Pratt-Wilson went public with her concerns that local teenagers seem to have easy access to alcohol and that parents aren't properly supervising their children.

The first incident occurred July 14, when someone threw beer bottles and trash in Pratt-Wilson's yard, Cousins said. The second incident occurred July 23, when someone broke the right side mirror off her car, cracked the windshield and put a dent in the door above the window, according to the police.
- Chapel Hill Herald, Police Log, 10/18/04

Chapel Hill and Carrboro...not the same?

No they are not. That is what one developer is learning as a plan for a 164 unit apartment complex is planned on property which lies in the jurisdiction of both municipalities. This development (Merrit Mill Apartments) not only raises the issue of properties lying in two jurisdictions but also larger issues of how interconnected development between the city and the town is. Issues like how will traffic get in and out of the development? How important is it that we created connectivity for the Lloyd Street neighborhood? While they are two separate entities, the development of Chapel Hill and Carrboro is closely joined by more than just proximity. While trying to create more connected and denser communities how should Chapel Hill and Carrboro work together over that thin line which is called the town line?

Elections 2004

I am excited to release our first-ever Orange Politics Voter Guide! This is not intended to endorse any candidate or issue, although readers may feel free to post their own endorsements in the comments with the caveat that you may not refer to any other candidates that you are not endorsing (same rules as this primary thread).

A lot of this inforation is available from the Orange County Board of Elections or the N.C Board of Elections.

We tried to find candidate web sites when available, please contact us if you have more information. Also, we would like to add columns listing which endorsements each candidate has received, but we need volunteers to do the research... hint hint. Basically, this is a work in progress, so wait until closer to the election before you print it out for November 2.

Open election thread

Talk about write-ins, endorsements, the OP voter guide, what-have-you...

What's wrong with the Indy's endorsements? Is a vote for Nader as good as a vote for Bush?

What do you think of one-stop early voting? Is it advancing democracy or messing up the process?

Vaden leaving C.H. News

The Chapel Hill News is replacing long-time editor and publisher Ted Vaden with Brenda Larson ("business development analyst for The News & Observer's community newspapers") who will also act as the publisher of the Cary News. The loss of Vaden is bad in itself, but replacing him with someone who is not from Chapel Hill and won't be focused on Chapel Hill sounds like a disaster to me. I hope I'm wrong!

Before joining The N&O, Larson was director of new product development for York Region Newspaper Group, a group of Canadian community newspapers north of Toronto. In addition, she served as editor-in-chief for seven newspapers in that group, which is owned by Metroland.

Larson also will become publisher of The Cary News, another N&O community newspaper, and will split her time between Cary and Chapel Hill.

UNC Master Plan workshop

UNC is updating the Campus Master Plan. This update seems to be hapenning rather quietly, considering its great importance. ("Quiet" meaning I haven't seen any publicity or listings and can't find any information about it online.) The Master Plan is an internal document UNC uses to guide its growth, and as such it has no formal connection to the Town. However, it is often cited by UNC as a justification when requesting Town approval for various development projects, so it is involved in most of the town-gown conversations about growth.

Are you partisan?

You'd think that with all the issues at stake in federal, state, and local issues, there would be no problem coming up with headlines. But today, the Chapel Hill News leads with Town politicians not shy about party loyalty.

The idea is that, since municipal offices are non-partisan, those who hold them should not wear political buttons reflecting their allegiances. I find this notion to be fairly ridiculous. After all, the oath of office does not require Town Council-members to foreswear their political allegiances. Nor should it.

Elected officials are indisputably highly engaged political actors. To suggest that they should hide their allegiances during strongly contested campaigns is unreasonable. For them to do so would hardly be possible.

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