March 2006

Sometime around noon an SUV drove into the Pit on the campus of UNC. It's being reported by WRAL that one five students were hit and taken away on a stretcher. Many people on campus were alerted to this event by the sound of helicopters flying overhead. Some live video is being shown of the area on WRAL's Sky 5 video.

Looks like Hillsborough will be getting a Weaver Street Market, but not a light industrial area. This seems like a step in the right direction.

Plans for a Gateway Center with a branch of the market can move forward after Judge Howard Manning approved a settlement between the town and the center's developer Tuesday.

Mayor Tom Stevens said he thought some of the settlement's conditions addressed concerns raised by Board of Adjustment members who had voted against the plan for a market.
- heraldsun.com: Weaver Street Market coming to Hillsborough

And:

A plan to bring light industry to the north side of town suffered a setback Tuesday night.

The town's Planning Board unanimously recommended that the Town Board deny a request to rezone 38.58 acres off N.C. 57 for a light industrial use.
- heraldsun.com: Panel's advice: Deny light industrial rezone

Anyone from north of I-40 care to share their thoughts?

During the past few days we've seen a lot of referrals to local media coverage in the form of links. Orange Politics also permanently links to most major local media. On the Internet links are the way "word of mouth" advertising (aka viral advertising) is driven. It's like karma. The more you give the more you get. The search engine Google recognizes linking and reciprocates with a high ranking in search results with certain keywords to sites that link often. But the fact is OP is non-commercial. OP doesn't receive money from advertising or linking. We link because we are interested in sharing stories. Our "profit" occurs when we have informed citizens.

We are fortunate that many local reporters and media professionals join in our discussions. They bring a level of detail and quality that comes with making a career of gathering news. Based on site stats we know that many more people read OP than comment on it. We know reporters use OP as a resource. It's confirmed when commercial news stories quote OP comments with and without attribution.

I've been thinking a lot about the evolution of our community to a more urban mode of development. I think this is generally a good thing because it allows us to continue to grow without sprawling ever-outward, and also supports more pedestrian-oriented land uses which will build the critical mass needed to support fixed-guideway (rail or dedicated busway) transit. This continued growth (at a moderate pace, of course) is essential to maintain at least a modicum of affordable housing options. We can't just close the gate behind us now that we've got ours.

But of course this doesn't mean that anything big is automatically good. Similar to Carolina North if it's done right urbanization can revolutionize our community. But if done poorly it could ruin many of the things we love about living here. So I have a growing concern that our current planning and development review process is built to manage the suburban-style growth that we have seen for the last couple of decades.

The Orange County Commissioners will be discussing their new representation plan again tonight. Personally, I think making minor changes is a waste of time. The current plan is overly complicated and is not any more representative than the current at-large elections.

In February, the board chose a proposal for a referendum in November that would have created a five-member panel -- as it is now -- with the county divided into two districts. In a three-to-two vote, the board agreed candidates would live in the districts but be nominated and elected by voters.

Under the proposal, Chapel Hill Township would be its own district and have two board members. The rest of the county would be another district and have one board member. The other two board members would be elected at-large countywide.
- heraldsun.com: Officials may tweak district representation proposal, 3/21/06

My proposal would look something like this:

Kent Kanoy has annouced plans to run against David Price here in North Carolina's 4th congresional district. Given that this district would vote for a dead, not just yellow, dog democrat (despite a sizable GOP minority) is this a positive way for progressives to get a voice, or a distraction when we can least afford it? I think the first.

He seems to view his primary challange as a referendum on what Price should be doing in 3 important areas: Iraq (sign on to the Murtha Resolution), Impeachment (sign on to the Conyers Resolution to investigate Bush), and a single payer national health system.

Kanoy is not taking campaign contributions and is not wealthy so this won't likely be a competetive race in the traditional sense. But if we can't hold an elected Democrat accountable here, where can we? Obviously it would be best to not burn bridges though...

· Kanoy's Official Campaign Website
· Price's Official Campaign Website
· Interview with Kanoy on BlueNC.com

Mike Nelson's campaign for County Commissioner is demonstrating leadership on tech issues the likes of which we have not seen before in Orange County. I have proposed to Mike (and to other candidates) that Orange County should sponsor a technology summit for municipal staff and county residents to discuss how technology can serve us better.

The County Commissioners should look for a new manager who ‘gets it' when it comes to using technology in new and creative ways to deliver services more efficiently. In my experience, you have to have a leader at the top who understands what questions to ask and who understands that innovations can be put to work to improve public service and to reduce the costs of delivering those services. Additionally, technology can be used to provide our citizens with more information in a timelier manner.
- Nelson for Commissioner: Using Technology in New and Better Ways

Guest Post by Cynthia Wertz

Orange County residents are invited to attend and participate in the Orange County Board of Commissioners Candidates Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Orange, Durham and Chatham Counties and Democracy North Carolina. The Forum will be held on Wednesday, April 19, 2006, at the Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough, N.C. from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

The forum will provide an opportunity for citizens to learn about the positions of each candidate as well as to ask questions of the candidates. Molly Beacham, a League member and Director of Development, Democracy North Carolina, will moderate the forum. The candidates for the Orange County Board of Commissioners race are Fred Battle - D, Robin Cutson - D, Jamie Daniel - R, Betty Tom Phelps Davidson - D, Artie L. Franklin - D, Alice Gordon - D, Barry Jacobs - D, Mike Nelson - D.

This forum is one in a series of spring candidate forums sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Orange, Durham, and Chatham Counties.

Judge Chuck Anderson says he is not going to accept campaign contributions from attorneys or political action groups during his primary for Superior Court. There is a whole section about 'judicial independence' on his website, which talks about how he would like to try to not accept donations from attorneys who may have an interest before him. I checked out Adam Stein and Alan Baddour's websites, but I could not find if they were doing the same thing or not. They might be, but I could not tell from their websites.