Carrboro Alderperson Lydia Lavelle is scheduled to make an announcement to the public and the press tomorrow in front of Town Hall. She has long been discussed as the successor to Mayor Mark Chilton who previously announced that he would not be running for re-election after this term.
It’s about to get a lot harder to vote in Orange County, at least for some of us.
The Republican majority in the General Assembly clearly feels that the racist, anti-woman, anti-urban, and very anti-liberal redistricting which took place last year didn’t do enough to solidify their entrenched majority. Now they’re hard at work systematically disenfranchising people who are unlikely to vote for them. Stringent voter identification requirements, shortened early voting, and other impediments to voting have been proposed in the General Assembly and are all likely to pass.
But of particular note to us in Orange County is the aptly-numbered Senate Bill 666. The most significant change in SB 666 isn’t in chapter 163 which governs elections; rather, it’s a change to the tax code:
Orange County will be hosting an informal town hall style meeting regarding potential uses of the 2nd floor Whitted "A" building located at 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough, on April 4, 2013 starting at 7:00 p.m.
The meeting is open to the public and anyone who wishes to speak may do so. Please come out and support the OCCC's proposal to share the Whitted Building space with the Orange County Board of County Commissioners! We will be making a presentation about our hopes to establish a cultural center for Hillsborough and northern Orange County in this historical building.
The intended outcome is to illustrate potential uses of this facility, provide a forum for public comment and discussion, and to provide the Orange County Board of County Commissioners information as they continue to evaluate uses of the facility.
The 1/2% transit sales tax in Durham and Orange Counties taxes becomes effective Monday April 1, so if you are imbibing out past midnight on Sunday, tip your glass to regional transit.
The $7 county vehicle registration fee for transit takes effect a bit later, July 1 in Orange and September 1 in Durham. The $3 TTA Durham/Orange regional fee surcharge is still plodding through the approval process.
Orange County's new Community Giving Fund isn't what it sounds like. You might think a "community giving fund" would give to the community. Which would make sense. Instead people are supposed to donate toward the same County government to which we already pay property, sales, vehicle taxes as well as other fees. Do other governmental bodies solicit donations in this way? What if donors' priorities don't match those of the commissioners or the staff?
Can I donate to support the recycling program that Manager Clifton is trying to cancel, or toward a walkable library in Carrboro? Or perhaps we could take up a collection to hire some qualified planning staff for the County.
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