March 2007
I'll admit, I don't find finances very captivating. but it's through budgets that our local governments set priorities and dedicate the resources needed to get things done.
Chapel Hill held a budget hearing last night and heard requests from several advisory board including the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board asking for a road map for cyclists, the Chapel Hill Public Library for moderate staff increases, the Historic District Commission to reduce fees to homeowners, and the Public Arts Commission (which is actually independent of the Town) to hire additional staff and give raises to current staff. Also, I happen to know that the Planning Board made a request to hire a consultant to assist in implementing the new Tree ordinance, and for additional planning staff to handle the load of impending development including Carolina North.
Carrboro's recent budget hearing elicited only one public speaker: Robert Dowling to ask for additional money for Orange Community Housing and Land Trust.
Come check out the newly renovated historic Campus Y Building on UNC's campus on Thursday, March 1 from 4-6 pm!
This center for social justice is looking gorgeous after almost two years of renovation. Stop by the building for a tour (of all FOUR stories of the once-condemned building), some free food and a glimpse of what our seventeen committees and 1700 student members are up to these days.
And, wish the Campus Y a happy 100th birthday!
Well do ya, punk?
In past there has been some discussion of doing an NCAA pool for OP participants.
Are y'all interested? If so, do you recommend an online service to manage it? Some that I've found include: Yahoo, Facebook (requires registration), ESPN, and a variety of others sites that are more expensive and less well-known.
I wonder if any of these include the women's bracket? That could be a problem for me 'cause I always pick UNC to win.
At the request of the Chapel Hill Town Council, Sen. Ellie Kinnaird has introduced a bill to allow Chapel Hill to sponsor a public financing program for its local elections, using local resources. The bill is SB 418 "CHAPEL HILL CAMPAIGN FINANCE OPTIONS." Apparently, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen have also asked for such a bill, which she will also be introducing. Needless to say, the Home-Builders-Etc. will fight these bills even though they are local bills. I hope folks will support these local efforts to create proactive solutions to the money in politics dilemma.
In other public financing news, Democracy North Carolina has launched a new website and petition in the wake of the recent Jim Black scandal: http://CleanUpRaleigh.com
Democracy North Carolina, currently based in Carrboro, but soon to be based in Durham (perhaps we can talk about the issue of affordable space for Orange County non-profits in another post) has been calling for public financing of campaigns or "Voter-Owned Elections" for years.
As printed in the Chapel Hill Herald on Saturday, March 3rd:
Do you use public transportation very often? If not, what would you encourage you to use it more? Wireless Internet? More comfortable buses?
The Triangle Transit Authority is asking those questions in a creative web survey currently available on its site at ridetta.org. Folks are given twenty “pennies†to spend on a variety of possible upgrades to buses as the agency makes replacements in its fleet.
Some of the items are pretty cheap. One-penny upgrades include things like expanding the front-of-bus rack to accommodate three bikes rather than the current two or to install 10 bike lockers per year at various stops around the Triangle.
Others are so expensive they will use up almost your entire “budget.â€Â
For instance, putting a rear window on the back of the bus would cost 16 pennies and implementing Sunday service would require all of your money.
I take the bus every day to work in Raleigh at the Sierra Club so I devoted my greatest expenditure of six pennies to fuel the buses using B20 biodiesel.
Guest post by Robert Dickson & Kirk Ross, The Carrboro Citizen
Hello friends at Orange Politics,
Last October, a group of community journalism students interested in the idea of a Carrboro newspaper interviewed roughly 100 residents of the town. One of the questions asked whether residents would prefer an online only publication or would prefer a print edition as well. Only one person who responded said online only, and everyone else said they wanted a newspaper they could hold in their hands.
Since November, we have been diligently researching and pursuing such a possibility. We got some great advice and a lot of support and can't thank enough everyone who offered counsel. So, having assembled a business plan we can live with and a working office, we're willing to roll the dice and on March 21 The Carrboro Citizen makes its debut.
Below are excepts from the Town's press release announcing the selection of Thomas McCarthy to be Chapel Hill's new Chief of Police starting June 25. The press release is unclear about where the new chief worked immediately before applying for this position, but in his picture he's wearing a uniform from Fayetteville. The Interim Chief in Fayetteville apparently took the helm upon McCarthy's retirement on February 1, 2007. Hmm, any connection to our new manager?
Following a comprehensive search and selection process, Town Manager Roger L. Stancil today (Tuesday, March 6) announced the selection of Thomas McCarthy as the new chief of police for Chapel Hill.
My peaceful mid-morning trip to the grocery store today was interrupted by the erection of two huge signs in the middle of the Weaver Street Market lawn. If these were at the entrance to Weaver Street from the sidewalk or the parking lot, it would just be sort of hostile, but the placement is clearly a big middle finger from Carr Mill Mall manager Nathan Millian to the many people who enjoy the Weaver Street lawn.
Last year the managers of Weaver Street Market and Carr Mill came to came to agreement on rules for use of the lawn through negotiations led by Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman. The rules posted here are SIMILAR to the ones agreed to, but not the same. In addition there was never an agreement to place a 6-foot tall sign in the middle of the area enjoyed my thousands of paying customers every week.
Thanks to Maria Rowan for letting me post this on the spot from her laptop.
Update: See the original negotiated rules and the rules on the new signs.
Guest Post by Sammy Slade
While going to get breakfast this morning 9 a.m., I was pleasantly surprised to find this sign pasted on the Good Neighbor Rules sign at Weaver Street Market. The person who was about to take the sign down kindly allowed me to photograph it before she did so. I asked if she worked for Carr Mill Mall. She said no, she works for Weaver Street Market. When I asked why she was taking it down if she was not Carr Mill Mall she explained that she was responsible for P.R. with Weaver Street Market and that they wanted to maintain a good relationship with the mall. When someone complimented the 'political message on the piece of art' the P.R. person agreed and said that she 'just wished people would post it elsewhere'.
(Click above for larger versions.)
At their meeting tonight, the Board of Orange County Commissioners (BOCC) will getting an update on the process of siting as waste transfer station to ship our garbage out of the county. It looks like they might be deciding on the Eubanks site, or they could decide to look at other sites, or maybe even re-open the search.
The Manager recommends that the Board receive the attached information and provide staff with additional comments or direction regarding a final decision on a transfer station location. Should the Board wish to further consider one of the two Highway 70 candidate sites, staff will prepare a detailed assessment of the site, including the scheduling of a community meeting and other opportunities for community input into the search process, and arrange a transfer station tour for interested residents of the Highway 70/Eno DD area.
- Action agenda item abstract (PDF).
While it is really hard to imagine, Carolina North is going to have a HUGE impact on all of us, from the west end of Carrboro, through the Barclay neighborhood, the Bolin creek neighborhoods, and all the way to Martin Luther King Boulevard, Homestead Road, and all of Estes. Please pay attention to the emerging plans. It might not be possible to halt the beginning of this development, but we can influence the pace and design at this stage.
For further information about campaigns to alter the development, see the Friends of Bolin Creek website: www.bolincreek.org .
It is amazing how little publicity these plans have had, after the initial hubbub. If anyone can write more about it, please take the lead!!! We need to get the word out.
Members of the campus community:
The University will host a new series of meetings about Carolina North for the campus and local communities on the last Tuesday of each month through May, beginning Tuesday, March 27.
Hey, it's the fourth anniversary of the biggest mistake of my generation! Even if you're not coming to the march in Fayetteville tommorow (and you should), MoveOn offers some events closer to home on Monday:
Vigil to End the War
Chapel Hill Post Office, Franklin St.
179 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
19 Mar 07:30 PM
A silent candlelight vigil from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. in memory of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://pol.moveon.org/event/iraq4?event_id=35041
I just learned from the blog of Town Council Member Mark Kleinschmidt that the Chapel Hill police have detained yet another local resident on a federal immigration warrant. Isn't this exactly what the Town's policy prohibits? After the wrongful detention and eventual release of Sima Fallahi, the Police Chief assured the Council that our local officers would no longer be acting on civic immigration warrants.
The UNC chapter of Students for Democratic Society* is calling for a campus-wide walkout today to protest the ongoing disaster in Iraq. If I was a student (or just on campus) I would be there!
TUESDAY, MARCH 20TH -- NOON -- WALKOUT --THE PIT
On March 20th, students at UNC-Chapel Hill will join thousands of other students on 69 college campuses in walking out of class in order to mark the 4th anniversary of the war on Iraq. At noon, students will leave their classes and come together in the Pit for a short rally and march. This event will feature spoken word performances by members of the Black Student Movement as well as the musical stylings of samba group Cackalack Thunder.
WHO: SDS, SPEAC, SAW, BSM, others
WHAT: Walkout, rally, march!
WHERE: The Pit, next to the Student Union
WHEN: Gather at noon
WHY: There's a war going on!
- Walkout Against the War! | UNC Chapel Hill SDS, 3/19/07
Elected officials have questions about risks, why Harris wants years to comply with safety rules
What: A public meeting hosted by NC Senators Ellie Kinnaird and Janet Cowell
When: Thursday, March 22nd, 7 pm
Where: The Barn at Fearrington Village (15-501, between Pittsboro & Chapel Hill)
Participants: Officials from various local, state and federal jurisdictions.
David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists
Paul Gunter, Nuclear Information and Research Service
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (declined 3/19)
Progress Energy (invited)
The Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant has increased its risk of a radiation disaster by violating federal fire safety regulations for 14 years – after promising for years to correct all vulnerabilities. The meeting will deal with new information regarding legal action by public interest groups demanding the NRC enforce its rules on fire safety. Key issues include:
N.C. NAACP President Reverend William Barber II will be speaking at the University of North Carolina on Friday, March 23 in a culmination of "Poverty Awareness Week."
The event, held in the Campus Y Ballroom at 11 a.m., will address the issues of poverty and their relation to social justice and race. It will be followed by presentations by local agencies about the opportunities to volunteer and aid in ending homelessness. Participating agencies include but are not limited to:
- Neighbor House
- Teens Climb High
- Joblinks
- Triangle Youth Services (drop-in center on Franklin St.)
- Women's Center
- IFC
- Family Violence Prevention Center
- Orange Co. Rape Crisis Center
- Hidden Voices
We got a Carrboro Citizen newspaper on our doorstep yesterday evening. It's really nice to have it delivered for free. ESPECIALLY when it doesn't sit rotting in our parking space like the Chapel Hill News.
This Citizen's paper design reminds me of my Grandparent's home town paper The Hickory Daily Record. I think its because its small, full of local ads, and beautifully less sophisticated. I remember the Hickory paper having some sans serif fonts in the 80's. More sans serif fonts Carrboro Citizen. PLEASE. Très modern!
Today is the first Saturday of the new Carrboro Farmers' Market season. Thanks to Anton's email calling for friends to meet I walked up to the Carrboro Town Commons this morning. It was my first time going to the market. I don't think it'll be my last.
I got a medium sized tomato plant. Being a food growing newbie I asked for advice from the farmer. He said I should give the tomato plant plenty of water. It doesn't need a ton of sunlight and should be brought indoors if the temperature gets under fifty degrees. Evidently tomatos like warm nights. So do I.
I plan on repotting the tomato this weekend with my jade plant. Fascinating how different the tomato plant is from the jade plant. One loves lots of water and the other does not.
So what did you get at the Carrboro Farmers' Market this weekend?
As printed in the Chapel Hill Herald on Saturday, March 24th:
One of the great things about our community is that everyone has an opinion. The number of folks coming out to speak at public meetings and writing letters to the editor is far greater than most other places of a similar size.
The volume of people participating in these sort of one-shot ways of expressing an opinion on a town issue are thankfully as plentiful as ever. Unfortunately, though, it seems the number of folks willing to participate in the public service activities that require a sustained time commitment has declined in recent years.
During the last Chapel Hill Town Council election there were only seven candidates running by the time the dust settled. This was the smallest number of people putting themselves forward for service in at least two decades, even as the population of our town increases.
It's not just the number of folks standing for election that has declined, though. There's also been a clear decline in people interested in serving on the town's important volunteer advisory boards.
Kudos to the Daily Tar Heel for their recent investigative piece about obtaining public records. In addition to asking for copies of correspondence of local elected officials (which I summarize below) they include tips for making public record requests and highlight how this kind of information is used in their reporting.
Having served on several town advisory boards in the past 15 years, I can't even count how many times our volunteer work has been stymied by the inability to collaborate online between meetings. The Town has prohibited discussion through e-mail because of a valid concern that it would violate the open meetings law. However, the Town has also consistently turned a blind eye to the obvious solution of a publicly-archived listserve that could both facilitate intra-board communication and improve public access to our conversations.
Hours after the men's basketball team fell to Georgetown in the NCAA tournament, a student who cheered the team as Rameses passed away after being hit by an SUV on Friday. My heart goes out to the family and friends of Jason Ray.
Also, consolations to seniors Rayshawn Terry, Wes Miller, and Biscuits of the men's basketball team that had a very frustrating end to an exciting season. Fortunately, the women's team marches on. Don't miss the last games for super-talented seniors Ivory Latta and Camille Little. Next game is against Purdue in the Elite 8 on Tuesday at 9:30 on ESPN and WCHL.
Here's a reminder that UNC will be holding informational meetings for the community about their plans for Carolina North at 3:30pm and 5:30pm today. This new 900-acre campus for UNC will be located at the northwest intersection of Estes Drive and MLK Blvd - smack dab in the middle of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community. If done well, it has the potential to be a model of sustainability supporting education, transit, green space, smart growth, and environmental preservation to benefit the entire community (as envisioned by The Village Project). If done poorly, it could drag us down to level of sprawl and traffic that plagues much of the rest of the Triangle.
Let's keep our eyes on UNC, and help make sure they get it right by giving them the feedback they need as early as possible. Apparently these informational meetings are going to be monthly events, so please send them your feedback about how they can make the meetings more accessible to the public in the future (for example, I'd find it easier of it was off campus - but still transit accessible - and later in the evening).
State Representative Bill Faison has filed H1061, a bill to de-annex the Highlands Subdivision from Carrboro.
I would be surprised if this went very far in the legislature. Faison, it should be noted, although his district extends into the northern reaches of Carrboro (including, of course, Highlands), did not attend our legislative breakfast meeting last month.
As far as I can tell no one connected with town government was aware of this before the bill was filed. For example, Randee Haven-O'Donnell and I have been working with the New Horizons Task Force on concerns related to the annexation. He might well have consulted with one of us on how things are going or have given us a heads up.
Also of interest is why Faison selected only one of the several neighborhoods that were annexed. If his bill is successful, Highlands will be bordered, west and north, by Carrboro neighborhoods.
Almost every day I note a news story that I want to blog about here and save it for later (because I'm usually at work). This week, things have really piled up and if I waited until I had time to write a whole post about them, they wouldn't be news by the time I posted them. So here's a wrap up of some interesting stuff from this week...
Carrboro approved a 6-month moratorium on development in it's northern area, and Chapel Hill moved a similar proposal forward by establishing the Northern Area Task Force . Orange Chat has extended coverage of the Carrboro discussion. I can't help but wonder if our northern areas would have such problems if they were planned to have pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and connective-streets instead of cul-de-sacs, but the best we can hope for now is to avoid more of the same.
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