Joe Green has resigned from the CHCCS School Board (not that you'll notice that in the lack of media around here)
But I doubt we'll get into another "5th place finisher" fight because I heard MaryAnne Gucciardi moved out of the district as well. But I'm sure there will be interesting questions about whether to appoint another African-American. Or why not a Hispanic- or Asian-American given the large populations (14 and 11% respectively)?
Ruby's recent post about the problems with the Town's communication strategy regarding the new Downtown Development Framework got me to think about the ways in which our town's government does not use social media to communicate with constituents. I'll have more to say about this hopefully in a future blog post, but this one item jumped out at me:
When I first learned about the proposed framework for downtown, I was amazed to see such big, new ideas being proposed by the consultant hired by the Town of Chapel Hill and the Downtown Partnership. This proposal presents an opportunity for Chapel Hill to do something visionary and to once again have a thriving urban center that is the envy of other communities. But.
The only way that this Big Idea will evolve into a Good Idea is if Chapel Hill can make this vision our own. Not only that, but I also think this plan might have trouble being approved in Chapel Hill without generating significant community investment in its approach. Or, as I said in June:
On Saturday we'll be having a special OP Brunch (think: OP Happy Hour, but earlier) with Deanna Zandt. She's the author of the new book Share This! How You Will Change the World with Social Networking. We'll have a discussion of how new media can be used for hyperlocal activism, how it IS used here in OC, and probably a variety of other interesting topics that are likely to come up in conversation with Deanna who is smart, funny, and has great politics and fun stories from many years of work for left-wing causes and personalities.
I'll update this post with a LOCATION and confirmation of the time as soon as possible. And I'll tweet it at @orangepolitics, natch.
Date:
Saturday, September 18, 2010 - 6:30am
Location:
Weaver Street Market lawn, Carrboro
Come to a public meeting to learn about the next step in the Town's radical/visionary new plans for downtown. I highly recommend checking out the presentation made by the consultants back in June. Link below, and blog coverage here.
The future of downtown Chapel Hill will be discussed during the presentation of the draft Downtown Development Framework and Action Plan to Town advisory boards and commissions on beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
The presentation will be made by Dan Douglas of Kling Stubbins, and questions will follow the presentation.
The Town of Chapel Hill created a master plan for downtown, the Downtown Small Area Plan, in 2000. The Town Council initiated a new Downtown Master Plan as one of its goals for 2009. In November 2009, the Town, in conjunction with the Downtown Partnership, issued an RFP, and Kling-Stubbins of Raleigh was selected to complete the Downtown Development Action Plan and Framework.
A planning team held two meetings in April 2010 for interested parties to share their opinions on development in downtown Chapel Hill. A first draft of findings was presented to the public during a planning charette on June 10. The June 10 presentation is available online: www.townofchapelhill.org/modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6806
For more information, contact Dwight Bassett, Economic Development Officer for the Town of Chapel Hill, at 919-969-5010 or dbassett@townofchapelhill.org.
Date:
Thursday, September 16, 2010 - 1:00pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
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