March 2014
Our candidate forum for the office of Orange County Sheriff. The forum will begin at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, April 23, 2014. Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina, is the moderator.
Date:
Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Location:
http://ww.orangepolitics.org
The editors of OrangePolitics are excited to announce our live online candidate forums for the upcoming elections for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen Special Election, the Orange County School Board, Orange County Sheriff, and the Orange County Board of Commissioners (Democratic primary).
We are also excited to announce that we will be circulating a brief questionnaire to candidates for Orange County Register of Deeds. We will publish the responses to this questionnaire on OrangePolitics on Wednesday, April 16. We invite the candidates themselves, as well as members of the public, to then use these questionnaire responses to engage in a discussion about the election and the office of Register of Deeds right here on OrangePolitics.
Transit, siting the Orange County library's southern branch and land use are all on the docket in Orange County this week. The action this week starts early, with Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stephens delieving his State of the Town address tonight as the Orange County School Board considers a number of initiatives related to technology. Tuesday, the Carrboro Board of Alderpersons will consider changes to the town's land use, while a public input session on the southern branch library will be held at Hickory Tavern.
Later in the week, three of the county's public bodies will hold a joint meeting on land use, the Sierra Club will host a forum for the upcoming primary elections and Chapel Hill Transit will gather feedback on how to best plan for growth in the North-South corridor.
Here are more of the highlights:
Today, the State Board of Elections will be deciding whether or not to add another site in Orange County for early voting. Jamie Cox and I issued letters in support of an additional early vote site for Orange County on the UNC campus. Both of us stressed that this is what is better for the county, not for a particular party. However, Chair Kathy Knight struck a decidely partisan tone in her response.
But this isn't about partisanship or politics, it's about fairness, because I don't stand for or support partisanship for political gain. I have previously proposed and supported election sites that members of my own party disagreed with because they believed it could benefit the GOP, but I thought those sites were viable and fair for all of Orange County. What better way to show the legislature that folks of all political persuasions oppose their elections overhaul? What better way to show that local government still works?
Below are the two letters Jamie and I submitted to the State Board, along with BOE Chair Kathy Knight's letter.
OCDP Chair Matt Hughes' Letter
BOE Member Jamie Cox's Letter
BOE Chair Kathy Knight's Letter
When Spring finally does arrive, the grass will grow, the dandelions will bloom, the chirps and tweets of our song birds will be drowned out by the roar of lawnmowers, and my friends and family will have to suffer through by grousing about lawns. When there is a noteworthy and immediate threat to the health of our environment, such as the coal ash spill in Eden, environmetally-minded citizens band together to demand justice and reform, as well we should. However, when the threat is less immediate or has become familiar we can't see it.
The last day to register to vote for the primary in May is April 11th. (An official ID is not required until 2016). Last week the Democratic Women had a forum for candidates who are registered Democrats. Tonight the Sierra Club will have a forum for all candidates for County Commissioner. Candidates for Orange County Commissioner will respond to questions
posed by the Orange-Chatham Group. Members of the public are encouraged
to attend and will be asked to submit questions for the moderator to choose from at the end.
Where: Board Chambers, Carrboro Town Hall (301 W Main St.; see
http://www.ci.carrboro.nc.us/Townwide/Directions/directions.htm for directions)
Tomorrow (Wednesday), March 26, 7-9 p.m.
We hope to see you there!
2013 Chapel Hill Election Turn Out
Back in October I'd posted about a petition to grow more solar in Carrboro. Thanks to your help, we've worked with the Town of Carrboro and the NC Solar Center to create Solarize Carrboro, a non-profit project making it simple and affordable to go solar now. In our pre-launch period, more than 100 people have signed up for free solar assessments. Our kickoff event is on Wednesday, April 2, at 7pm in Carrboro Town Hall. You can RSVP on facebook. Hope to see you there!
Though most of Orange County’s public bodies are taking a break from holding regular meetings this week, the County Commissioners will still hold a hearing on the solid waste tax district and we’ll be holding our first candidate forum of the season. Here’s the summary:
CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERPERSONS
CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
The purpose of the Rosemary Imagined: First Community Review Meeting is to review the two draft concepts for Rosemary Street. These concepts are being drafted by the consulting team from KlingStubbins, a planning firm located in Raleigh, based upon the community input and feedback received during the Rosemary Imagined meetings held in the summer and fall of 2013.
Two drop-in meetings will be held on April 10 and will be at the following times:
- 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a brief overview presentation at 12:15 p.m.
- 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a brief overview presentation at 6:45 p.m.
Both meetings will be held in the Sky Lounge at Greenbridge, 601 Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. The format of these two meetings will be identical; the purpose of holding two meetings is to provide multiple opportunities for participants to attend and provide their input.
During the meeting, we will gather community comment about the two draft concepts. The concepts will then be revised to develop one draft concept. A Second Community Review meeting will be held in late May or early June to receive community feedback about the revised draft concept.
Rosemary Imagined is an innovative community-led planning initiative that will refine our thinking of how Rosemary Street fits into the development and growth of downtown Chapel Hill. This goal of this effort is to develop a vision for the future of the Rosemary Street corridor that emphasizes the Town’s focus on connections, choices, and community.
For more information about the Rosemary Imagined process, visit http://rosemaryimaginedblog.com/
For questions, contact Megan Wooley, housing and neighborhood services planner for the Town of Chapel Hill, and Meg McGurk, executive director for the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership at info@rosemaryimagined.com. Megan can also be reached at 919-969-5059, and Meg can be reached at 919-967-9440.
Date:
Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 11:30am to 1:00pm
Location:
Sky Lounge at Greenbridge, 601 Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill
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