It is clear from recent police forums and from experiences shared by people of color in our communities that we have a serious problem with racial equity in policing in Orange County. The most recent example is a guest column by Stephanie Perry in Sunday’s Chapel Hill News (12/21/14). Perry serves with me on the board of Orange County Justice United. We heard other stories like this during the Carrboro community forum on policing in October.
Law enforcement behavior that is disproportionately affecting communities of color is unacceptable to me. It is especially troubling to see that these disparities exist in our communities regardless of how enlightened we think we are. I am cautiously optimistic about the steps I see the Carrboro and Chapel Hill Police Departments taking.
Carrboro
Orange County elected officials and health department staff have recongized the immediate need to address poverty in our county. As a result, the Orange County Family Success Alliance has been launched, modeled on the Harlem Children's Zone. The Orange County Health Department used health and school system data to select six zones with the highest need. More information can be found here. Each zone held community meetings to glean information for their applications. They then made short presentations and fielded questions. The Family Success Alliance Advisory Council developed a rubric for scoring of the applications. Below is a collection of tweets that summarize the presentations and selection process carried out on Tuesday, December 16th.
Though most of Orange County’s public bodies are in recess until after the new year, there are two key meetings happening this week. First, on Tuesday, a committee of elected officials, county board members and staff will hear presentations as to which zones should be selected to the first to benefit from the county’s new Family Success Alliance program. Then on Thursday, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board will discuss its growth plan, consider revising its policy on class rank and make committee assignments.
Here’s the full summary:
CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERPERSONS
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The Board is in recess until Tuesday, January 13.
CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
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The Chapel Hill Town Council is in recess until Monday, January 5.
CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO BOARD OF EDUCATION
Though the holiday season is in full swing, there’s plenty this week to keep local elected bodies busy. The Chapel Hill Town Council will hold a special meeting on Obey Creek, while its Hillsborough counterpart will discuss improvements to Churton Street. The county commissioners will talk rural curbside recycling, while the county school board holds a community reception and advances its superintendent search.
Here’s the full summary:
CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERPERSONS
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The Board is in recess until Tuesday, January 13.
CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
CHAPEL HILL-CARRBORO BOARD OF EDUCATION
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The board will not meet this week. Their next meeting will be December 18th.
HILLSBOROUGH TOWN BOARD
In our semi-regular Question & Answer series, we have featured Meg McGurk, Executive Director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and Brian Litchfield, Director of Chapel Hill Transit. The latest installment is with Robert Dowling, Executive Director of the Community Home Trust. As affordable housing discussions have been gaining prominence lately, we thought it was appropriate to learn more about the Community Home Trust.
What is the Community Home Trust?
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