Month: October 2008

  • Carolina North: Oct. 15th Development Agreement Hearing

    Quick reminder that there is another joint meeting between Council and UNC’s BOT representatives tonight (Oct. 22nd) from 7 – 9:30 pm at the Chapel Hill Public Library (no agenda online – boo!). Tonight’s meeting continues to flesh out the policy surrounding use of a development agreement for Carolina North (previous posts here and here). […]

  • Private Drive for Public Airport

    One suspicion raised by the local organization Preserve Rural Orange is that the newly proposed UNC airport has more to do with private desire than the public good. UNC’s lead on the formation of an Airport Authority, Kevin Fitzgerald, was already hard-pressed to justify the recent fabulous (as in: “almost impossible to believe; incredible”) claims […]

  • Trash Talk: The Next Waste Management Fight

    Even though local environmentalist have talked about our county’s responsibility to manage its waste stream responsibly – not dumping the problem on another community – I couldn’t find a recent request to the Board of Commissioners by either a organization or an individual to start the process of developing either a new landfill or a […]

  • Trash Talk: Commissioner Gordon, “No Plan B”

    After this evening’s solid waste transfer site meeting, I took a second to ask Alice why she said delaying the final site selection would lead to “garbage piling up”. She had made that statement earlier, in an effort to encourage her colleagues to make a decision by mid-November. Orange County’s landfill is slated to close […]

  • Hwy 54: Trash Central

    The Orange County Board of Commissioner’s narrowed the possible trash transfer sites to three – 779, 759 and 056 – this evening during their special working session [agenda]. All three are along Hwy 54. While I’m quite happy that the Rogers Road community is off the hook, at least for now, I’m troubled by the […]

  • Filling Bill’s Seat, Not His Shoes…

    Councilmember Laurin Easthom sketches out the scope of work required to diligently discharge a Council member’s civic responsibilities. As she notes, agendas can weigh in at 11 lbs. Meetings are more frequently going until 1am. Preparation takes hours and hours. And the work expands well beyond what most folks usually see – liaising with other […]

  • Carolina North Development Agreement: Dr. Owens Responds

    Dr. David Owens, Gladys Hall Coates Professor of Public Law and Government at UNC and advisor to Council on the development agreement process, has responded to my Oct. 14th. Will, Roger Stancil passed your queries along to me. You asked if the Council is in some way bound to follow this approach should they determine […]

  • Water Grab: Can’t Happen Here?

    John McCain really stepped in it out West. When he suggested sending more of Colorado’s precious water south to Arizona, a broad spectrum of citizens rose up to condemn him. Water, it appears, is precious, no matter what a Coloradan’s political stripe. Our own multi-governmental OWASA (Orange Water and Sewer Authority) has suggested we borrow […]

  • Carolina North Development Agreement Public Hearing Oct. 15th

    Tomorrow the Town Council will hold a public hearing describing the basic framework for managing Carolina North’s development over the next couple decades. This is the second meeting discussing the framework. The first was Sept. 25th. Unfortunately, I was the only citizen not directly involved – as either a representative of the Town, UNC or […]

  • Passing Gas

    One problem I’ve had in trying to change the way our Town does business is that the issues I’m trying to address – higher energy costs, revenues drying up, development policy that drives diversity from our community, financial instability – haven’t reached a level of concern for the greater community. I’m a proactive guy, work […]

  • Harvey Gantt is Black

    Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. Robert Kennedy Robert Kennedy’s presidential run is the first political race I vividly remember. Even though I was young, nearly seven when he died, the enthusiasm my mother showed, some snippets of what he said, the way folks drew courage from his words have […]

  • VP Debate: Lies and Damned Lies

    The exercise of current politics seems to be a matter of shading or ignoring facts while often obfuscating the truth with misleading rhetoric. Whether as blatant as claiming Obama voted for tax increase 94 times or subtly slick as suggesting prioritizing a delay in building a local library expansion over a pet Downtown development project, […]

  • Trash Talk: Will We Stand United?

    A Lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last, however, […]

  • Selecting/Electing the Next Councilmember

    Due to the unfortunate passing of Councilmember Bill Thorpe a seat has opened on the Town Council. I met Bill when we ran for Council in 2005. Many folks who knew Bill have lovingly weighed in on his work on behalf of our community, his wry sense of humor, his particular practice of governance. Fellow […]