Ruby Sinreich's blog

The news this week that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners has voted to charge a new tipping fee at the landfill to raise money for remediation in the Rogers Road neighborhood - a move that seemed somewhat ham-fisted to municipal governments (see below about that) - reminded me of a very interesting conversation I had last month. I attended oral history performances by a UNC class that conducted interviews with civil rights activists. Two students had worked closely with David Caldwell and Gertrude Nunn and learned about their neighborhood's 3-decade challenge of trying to get justice for living with the landfill that serves all of Orange County.

One grad student who is very familiar with local politics turned to me afterward and asked the same question that was in my mind: our County Commissioners have to be one of the most liberal boards in the state. How is it that the Rogers Road neighborhood has been stymied by them repeatedly, instead of being championed by the environmental and social justice advocates on the Board?

If you've been following the creation of Chapel Hill's new Comprehensive Plan, then you know that the Town Council has selected a 15-member (plus 2 unnamed Council Members) "Initiating Committee" which is charged with developing the process through which the CP will be envisioned and created. The next step is to create a broad committee of what the Council calls "Stakeholders" who will serve as something like a huge focus group and light weight advisory committee throughout the CP process.

Below is the Town's announcement and URL for more CP information, including a well-hidden link to the application form to become a Stakeholder (also below under More info). I get the sense that no-one with a pulse and a Chapel Hill address will be turned away, but I'm not certain about that.