Category: CitizenWill

  • Election 2007: Chapel Hill’s Diminished Environmental Credibility

    I’ve been clear – our Town’s ability to negotiate with UNC and other developers on environmental standards (or pretty much any other issue) is directly related to how well we practice what we preach. Southern Park is a great example. The Mayor and the incumbents (sans Jim Ward) thought the difficult decision was to authorize […]

  • Election 2007: League Of Women Voters Forum

    A big thank you to the local chapter of the League of Women Voters for an excellent forum this evening. Vicki Boyer, who occasionally posts on OrangePolitics kept the show moving along with a variety of audience questions. Unlike the Sierra Club forum, the environmental and social justice issues surrounding our neighbors out on Rogers […]

  • Election 2007: Recycle, Reuse

    Recycle and reuse are two environmental principles our local community follows fairly well. In that spirit, I believe our citizens will appreciate my putting frugality over novelty. Signs are sprouting up around Town. Several of mine, it appears, were saved by some of my 2005 supporters and trotted out a little early. Thanks folks for […]

  • Northern Going South

    Another bad bit of news for RTP’s Northern Telecom. Photo: Telecordia The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged four more former Nortel Networks Corp. executives with accounting fraud, alleging they manipulated reserves to change Nortel’s earnings statements on the orders of more senior officers of the Canadian networking equipment maker. The U.S. stocks regulator […]

  • Carolina North: The Next Neighborhood For Responsible Growth Forum

    The NRG is sponsoring a follow up forum on Carolina North August 29th, 7-8:30pm at the Chapel Hill Library. The CHPL meeting space is quite a bit tighter so get there early. Direct link to June NRG forum. Dear Fellow Citizens: Please join us for a public meeting on Carolina North Wednesday night, August 29, […]

  • Is the Rogers Road Community Worth $53,000?

    Being in government has its advantages. Concerned citizens trying to get a good baseline on the cost of adding a bus route through the Rogers Road community didn’t net a response in 2005 (I know, I took a stab at it 2 years ago when I ran for Town Council). Ahh, but if you’re a […]

  • Municipal Networking: AT&T, Another Brick in the Wall

    I’ve been pushing for our local government to invest in community-owned networking as necessary infrastructure for the 21st century. Communities that provide neutral and widely accessible communications infrastructures will reap the benefits of greater economic activity, level the playing field vis-a-vis the digital divide and help create a new Town commons open to all our […]

  • Carolina North: What The Board Heard

    The July 31st Carolina North community outreach meeting was supposed to cover the same ground as last week’s presentation to UNC’s Board of Trustees. While Jack Evans might have presented the same material, my guess is the community’s reception was somewhat less excepting than the BOTs. The 4pm session ran to 5:30 and was well […]

  • UNC BOT Chairman Perry: Carolina North “…before it’s too late”

    They say history has a way of repeating itself. The trustees, led by new chairman and Chapel Hill developer Roger Perry, are full steam ahead on the project. Final trustee approval is expected in September, with a plan to be submitted to the town by the end of October. “The time of talking about Carolina […]

  • Election 2007: Update on Early Voting On The Move

    Following up on my post “Election 2007: Early Voting on the Move”, BOE Director Barry Garner responded with lightning speed to my request for further information: Nothing has been decided yet however the Seymour Senior Center is an option. The board will meet on August 7, 2007 to discuss this. UNC has offered us the […]

  • CitizenWill: September 2005 to July 2007

    [UPDATE:] As one reader notes, I’ve also created content hosted elsewhere, notably on youTube and Google Video. Content includes the Weaver St. lawn dance protest, a “fly by” animation of what the Town’s Lot $$$5 downtown development debacle, the District 15B Superior Court forums and Rev. Campbell on the Rogers Road trash transfer station issue. […]

  • Carolina North: What Next?

    I’ve heard from two different sources that the “final” design concept for Carolina North is ready to present to UNC’s Board of Trustees (BOT). The BOT, in years past, have happily rejected the efforts of both UNC’s administration and the local community to create a win-win for what is to replace the Horace-Williams Airport. The […]

  • News & Observer: Old Dog, New Tricks

    First we have the N&O’s local property, The Chapel Hill News, jumping on-board the new media train – with video, their OrangeChat ‘blog – maybe in response to some citizen efforts and new outlets like the Carrboro Citizen. Now, the N&O’s Leah Friedman takes it to the next level, reporting a scant 3 hours (3:05pm […]

  • Cindy Sheehan: This is NOT a Rally

    [UPDATE:] More from the CarrboroCitizen. [UPDATEx2:] Some photos of the event.. Peggy Misch wants to make sure everyone knows, in spite of what the local press says, there is no Sheehan rally at Carr Mill Mall. Just a simple lunch with Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton and some folks from GRIM ( Grassroots Impeachment Movement). It […]

  • Broadcasting Localism, a People’s Channel Fundraiser

    As many of you know, I have a particular interest in employing technology to boost our citizens’ voices cost-effectively and in ways not otherwise possible. I met a kindred spirit in the The Peoples Channel’s director Chad Johnston many years ago when we both started attending the Town’s now defunct Technology Advisory Board to encourage […]