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ChapelHill, Community, Development, EconomicDevelopment, OrangeCounty, Ruminations

Not Just Real-Estate: Chapel Hill’s Draft Economic Development Report

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For several years I’ve called on the Town to hire a professional economic adviser. When I renewed the call during my 2005 campaign, many of the other candidates adopted (or co-opted) the idea.

I suggested we hire someone with experience in developing an economic strategy that encompassed more than Downtown redevelopment or saw economic benefits beyond those derived from commercial and residential real-estate.

For many years our Town’s elected folks ignored policies that would encourage job, entrepreneurial business and cottage industry growth. Their lens, if focused at all, stayed firmly on traditional areas. Worse, they continued some policies – like the business privilege tax – that actually act as a disincentive.

I was somewhat worried when we once again hired a former consultant from Town manager Roger Stancil’s past. With the hiring of Dwight Bassett (Two Years Later Town Hires Economic Development Officer), we at least had filled this important position. Dwight’s background had been mainly focused on Downtown redevelopment projects and developing other traditional avenues of economic activity.

I was concerned then, and still am, that we will miss out on using our Town’s unique pool of talent to develop our economic strength using a new paradigm. For instance, leveraging our commitment to deploy a municipal network to attract low environmental impact, highly distributed employment opportunities paying better than average salaries.

This week we get our first glimpse of Dwight’s thinking in the following DRAFT report. Today’s Herald-Sun has this to say:

Bassett also passed around economic development strategy statements crafted by officials in Austin, Tex., Clemson, S.C., Toronto and a town in Australia that represent different approaches to planning. The resulting exchange of ideas demonstrated that Bassett’s collaboration with town officials will need some time to gel.

While he and the committee agreed that several areas of the town could be better developed to maximize business and slow “leakage” of retail traffic to other municipalities, Kleinschmidt’s face crinkled into an involuntary scowl when Bassett introduced the concept of a “lifestyle center” such as a mall or big box outlet that could single-handedly draw business to an area.

The committee also discussed potential targets for a retail makeover, including University Mall, Eastgate Shopping Center, downtown’s West End and the interchange of I-40 and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Kleinschmidt agreed that leakage must be stopped, but added, “KFCs and Wachovias … that can’t be it. That can’t be right.”

The committee agreed, however, on the basic point that a market analysis is needed to determine the best course for developing Chapel Hill’s economy.

Hey, is that the same market analysis I called on 4 years ago? Hey, at least the Council is starting to get around to it.

The report is available here in its original format [WORD] and below the fold slightly reformatted for the ‘net.
Continue reading Not Just Real-Estate: Chapel Hill’s Draft Economic Development Report →

ChapelHill, Elections, LocalPolitics, OrangeCounty, Ruminations

Jacobs to Strom: The Homeless Shelter Remains A Spasm in Chapel Hill’s Lower Back-side

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“The communication between the two governments within the same community has been spasmodic and not effective.”

— Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs after Chapel Hill Town Council member Bill Strom criticized the county this week for not working more closely with the town on finding new locations for a children’s museum, men’s homeless shelter and District Court.

Via the Chapel Hill News.

Bill kind of rattled on, as you can see [Granicus WMV], about the lack of coordination between the Town and the County – notably, in this case, working to re-site the Men’s Homeless Shelter.

What could’ve Bill done over his last eight years to make sure we don’t “spin our wheels” with the Orange County Board of Commissioners when the Town needs their help? Or that Council doesn’t end up with the BOCC using their “75 years” of collective political experience to “bury us 25 feet under in process and procedure” when we call for assistance?

His complaints about “burying” folks under “25 years of procedural manipulation” is ironic given Mayor Pro Tem Strom’s shelving of a request for real accountability on the Lot $$$5 development project.

Given the sad state of communications and cooperation between this Council and our current Board of Commissioners, Bill is right to call upon the Town and our Town Manager to create a Plan B for the Men’s Shelter’s relocation.

Eight, maybe ten years into the discussion, the BOCC continues to reject Homestead Road’s Southern Human Services Center as a viable location and we still don’t know where to site this necessary shelter. Yes, maybe we can wedge in a facility at the Town’s new Operation Center but, at least to me, that begins to verge on “warehousing” these folks out-of-sight in lieu of attacking the underlying problem head on.

By the way, Bill might have been a little testy because it was late and I had just reminded him that his grand obsession with the white elephant that is the Downtown Development Initiative’s Lot $$$5 project was going to hurt our community in order to bolster RAM Development’s bottom-line.

Whatever the reason, he’s had eight years to improve the lines of communications. I’ll be interested to hear how he proposes to improve the situation if he’s given another 4 years on Council.

ChapelHill, CitizenWill, CivilLiberties, Community, Media, MunicipalNetworking, Technology

Broadcasting Localism, a People’s Channel Fundraiser

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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 facilitating democracy from the grassroots level.

As our Town’s “ONLY public access channel”, the Peoples Channel is dedicated to an informed, involved electorate.

For a democratic society to function properly, citizens must participate in their government, be educated to think critically and be able to freely communicate their ideas.The Peoples Channel’s mission is to advance democratic ideals by ensuring that people have access to electronic media and by promoting effective communication through community uses of media. Through this mission, we aim to provide the means and promote the opportunity for area citizens to exercise free speech through media production, education and distribution of cable television programming.

Cost-effective doesn’t quite capture how hard Chad and his fellow citizen media producers have done to squeeze value from the small allocation of funds their organization receives. And I’d be hard challenged to identify another local activist that has worked as diligently as Chad to forestall corporate efforts (IndyWeek’s 2005 “Big cable wants public access denied”) at the State and Federal levels to strangle avenues of citizen discourse.

One example is the Orwellian-name “Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act” which the Technology Advisory board discussed in 2005 (side note: Whom, now that the Mayor and Council disbanded that group, within our local government is spear-heading that discussion?).

That is why I was pleased to see today’s announcement over on OrangePolitics of a joint celebration of localism and fund-raiser for the Peoples Channel.

Co-sponsored by both the Preservation Society and OrangePolitics, the July 21st event will bring folks together to “learn about the importance of keeping it local”.

When: July 21st, 6-8pm,
Where: Horace-Williams House [MAP] (parking available on-site or take an easy stroll from Downtown),
What: Fundraiser for the Peoples Channel and gathering to discuss “keeping it local”. $15 donation suggested.

ChapelHill, Elections, LocalPolitics

Election 2007: Public Financing Next Cycle?

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As reported in today’s N&O, Chapel Hill is on track to be granted permission to create and use voter-owned elections for our municipal races.

I’ve supported this and other efforts – cumulative voting, super-precincts, same-day registration – to open up access to local office and generate the greatest participation possible.

The Senate approved HB143 and is sending it back to the House for final ratification.

AN ACT to
define a uniform program of public campaign financing and to authorize the town of Chapel Hill to conduct such a program.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 163‑278.6 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

“(17a)  The term ‘public campaign financing program’ means a uniform program of a governmental entity that offers support for the campaigns of candidates for elective office within the jurisdiction ofthat governmental entity under the following conditions: (i) the candidates participating in the program must demonstrate public support and voluntarily accept strict fund‑raising and spending limits in accordance with a set of requirements drawn by that government, (ii) the requirements are drawn to further the public purpose of free and fair elections and do not discriminate for or against any candidate on the basis of race, creed, position on issues, status of incumbency or nonincumbency, or party affiliation, (iii) any public funds provided to candidates are restricted to use for campaign purposes according to guidelines drawn by the State Board of Elections, and (iv) unspent public funds are required to be returned to that governmental entity. Funds paid pursuant to such a program are not subject to the contribution limitations of G.S. 163‑278.13 and the prohibitions on corporate contributions of G.S. 163‑278.15 or G.S. 163‑278.19 but shall be reported as if they were contributions in all campaign reports required by law to be filed by the campaigns receiving the payments.“

SECTION 2.  Article 21 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:

“§ 160A‑499.1.  Uniform, nondiscriminatory program of public financing of election campaigns.

(a)       A governing body of a city may appropriate
funds for a public campaign financing program as defined in G.S. 163‑278.6(17a) for city office in that city’s jurisdiction if the city has held at least one public hearing on the program before adopting it and the program is approved by the State Board of Elections. The State Board of Elections shall develop guidelines for the basic components needed in a program to meet the criteria set forth in G.S. 163‑278.6(17a) and shall approve a city’s program that meets the criteria. Any city exercising authority under this section shall provide full notice to the county board of elections in any county in which it has territory.

(b)       The governing body of a city
appropriating funds as provided by this section shall prepare a report no later than six months after the second election in which it appropriates funds under this section that analyzes its experience in implementing a public campaign financing program by that date, including percent of candidates participating in a program, sources and amounts of funding, litigation involving a program,
administrative issues, and recommendations for changes in this statute. The report shall be presented by that date to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, to the Fiscal Research Division of the Legislative Services Office, and to the committees in the House of Representatives and Senate to which election‑related bills are primarily referred.“

SECTION 3.  This act applies to the Town of Chapel Hill only.

SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes
law and expires July 1, 2012.

Money can be a big factor, and folks like myself that can kick in some seed money to get their campaigns rolling have an advantage.

Mayor Foy’s 2001 race against Lee Pavao set a troubling standard ( Democracy North Carolina’s “Campaign Costs Skyrocket in Chapel Hill – Spending By Mayoral Candidates Has More Than Tripled Since 1995” [PDF]) that, luckily, has been approached but not yet exceeded.

Council member Mark Kleinschmidt (whom I ran with in 2005) said of the passage

“Campaign public financing will allow our elected officials to better reflect the widespread diversity of ideas and people that exist in Chapel Hill. It will increase the accessibility of running for office for non-wealthy candidates, and allow us to avoid trends in other cities of moneyed special interests dominating local elections.”

Unfortunately, this comes too late it seems to help any contenders wanting to run against the block of incumbents this year.

Speaking of incumbents, according to the Orange County Board of Elections filings, Foy, Greene, Hill and Strom have all not said yet if they plan to restrict their campaigns to a $3,000 limit.

Cam Hill did say “”Actually, we’ve got enough right here. My son’s going to be my treasurer, which will be an adventure. I’m hoping this will be an inexpensive campaign for all involved.” in this recent Chapel Hill News report, so maybe any other candidates will not have to contend with the double whammy of big money and incumbency.

We’ll know what kind of warchest these and the other candidates will bring to their effort as the 2007 Mid Year Semi-Annual report covering “Registered participants & non-participants in the 2007 elections from January 1, 2007 through June 30, 2007” is due July 27th.

Ruminations

Downtown Not So Sweet

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From today’s Herald-Sun

The owner of Ben & Jerry’s in downtown Chapel Hill is attempting to sell the franchise, and if he doesn’t sell it, he plans to move the store to another location…The Chapel Hill shop has been at 102 W. Franklin St. for 19 years, but he explains there are problems with

“We’re looking at different locations a little bit further down on Franklin Street or down near Carrboro,” Healey said. “We’re trying to stay in Chapel Hill.”

Why move Ben & Jerry’s?

The current location of the store, just a few feet from Chapel Hill’s main downtown intersection of Franklin and Columbia streets, would seem an ideal location for an ice cream store. But the benches out front of the store have become a loitering spot, sometimes for homeless people and panhandlers, sometimes just for people who spend hours at a time there.

“That little section of Franklin Street, as much as we love being there, it’s just not worth all the grief it’s giving us,” Healey said.

The reporter (Beth Velliquette) observed that

On Monday around 2 p.m., a middle-aged woman and an older man sat under a tree on one of the four benches, chain-smoking cigarettes and talking and listening to music. They didn’t appear to be going anywhere soon. At one point, the woman began discussing drugs, and she cursed loudly using the f-word several times.

I work just down the street from Ben & Jerry’s and walk by those benches nearly daily. At times these benches (and others along Franklin) attract groups of raucous, sometimes vulgar, folks.

Just yesterday, for instance, I spoke with a few young guys yelling lewd remarks across the street at some women exiting the Franklin Inn. I thought if they knew someone was paying attention to their bad behavior they might knock it down a notch. It seemed to work, at least as I made my way past Vespa and out of earshot.

That they listened, if even a bit, is probably because they recognized me as well as I recognized them as frequenters of the same stretch of pavement. Heck, I bet I know, at least by sight, the “f-word” woman referred to in the article.

My concern, beyond Ben & Jerry’s and other businesses moving away, is that these types of bad behaviors are associated with all the folks lingering around Downtown. The way some folks speak of Downtown one would think the complete population of loiterers are thugs, drug addicts and downright dangerous miscreants.

From my perspective this is just not the case. Yes, there are some loiterers, panhandlers and homeless persons Downtown whose behavior is, at least, socially unacceptable and, at times, threateningly criminal.

That is not the whole population.

There are some long term lingerers that are generally innocuous but have mental or drug problems – problems they manage, I believe, within a socially acceptable manner. And then there’s folks just waiting for the TTA or their ride from work. When it comes to “managing” Downtown – responding to calls for greater crackdowns, less patience – I hope our leadership well remembers the diversity that is reflective of our society and creates a set of solutions relevant to an individuals actual – not perceived – behavior.

Carrboro, ChapelHill, Elections, LocalPolitics, Ruminations

Election 2007: Candidates Line Up

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Filing for office begins noon July 6th and ends noon July 20th.

Confirmed candidates for Chapel Hill Council and Mayoral races are:

  • Kevin Foy, current incumbent Mayor.
  • Sally Greene, 4-year incumbent Council member, ‘blogger.
  • Cam Hill (yes, quite a scary snapshot but there was no official site I could find), another 2003 winner and incumbent Council member
  • Bill Strom, another incumbent and current Mayor Pro-Tem (foiled, it seems this round in his quest for the Mayoralship)

As far as current Council members, that leaves Jim Ward yet to declare.

According to local political pundit and Chapel Hill Herald columnist Tom Jensen “this election is probably going to be a snoozer in Chapel Hill” (OP) because “it will be an uphill battle since incumbents rarely lose in Chapel Hill and I don’t think anyone on Council has done anything to outrage any broad segment of the citizenry.”

Interesting spin from Tom but maybe he’s right – no one will rise to the challenge.

I helped Bill, Sally and Cam during the 2003 election, so this year presents some interesting contrasts. Strangely enough (cough, cough), Bill, Sally and Cam represented the Town in the RAM Development/Lot $$$5 debacle.

One might assume that they saw this as a career enhancer – it’ll be interesting to see how their white whale plays during the election cycle.

Tom, maybe possible contenders, like the Neighborhoods for Responsible Growth (NRG) Mike Collin’s or frequent OrangePolitics poster and the Planning Board’s George Cianciolo or a few more locally active folks will be scared off by the awesome weight of incumbency.

We’ll see, as July 20th is a short two weeks away.

In the “cooler” (at least according to WCHL‘s Ron Stutts) ‘berg of Carrboro

are on deck. Current BOA members Joal Broun and Alex Zaffron haven’t officially said which way they’ll jump though I’ve read that Alex might pass.

Who else might run?

In Carrboro, folks are looking North to Katrina Ryan, a 2005 candidate that more than a few folks thought deserved Dan Coleman’s seat.

Carrboro’s NTA (Northern Territories) have more than a few possible candidates to draw upon, including the newly announced Lydia Lavelle. Lydia, who is coincidentally a partner in Foy and Lavelle (yes, that Foy), threw her hat into the appointment ring with Dan and the Village Project’s James Carnahan.

Will James or former well-liked candidate David Marshall make a run? I haven’t heard though the cool ‘berg of Carrboro would be well-served by their entry.

[UPDATE:] Someone asks “Is that all the potential candidates I can think of?” Not really, but I figure time will tell and, hopefully, we’ll all be pleasantly surprised.

Ruminations

Technorati’s Sampling of CitizenWill Videos

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A reader dropped me an email (thanks K.A.) alerting me to Technorati’s laggard pace in indexing links to CitizenWill. Technorati is supposed to keep track of how many folks link to your ‘blogs content.

According to their service, I haven’t posted anything new in 298 days! I’m not the only person with Technorati ping problems Topic: does everyone have to post here to get the ping to work?

I’m not much for tracking links and that whole SEO (search engine optimization) bit (there are more than a few cautionary tales of bloggers, consumed with “incoming link counts” and other falderal, losing their way).

That said, I guess I should be a little miffed that the supposedly premier service for tracking interest in ones ‘blog can’t even recognize I’ve posted content a little fresher than a year-old (hmmm, maybe they use some algorithm to evaluate the worth of that content – uh oh!).

In any case, they did collect, serendipitously it appears, related content from youTube and flickr.

I especially like this Technorati collage of some of my videos:


Civil Dance Disobedience
Feb 20 2007 Carrboro BOA Rogers Rd. Trash - Tracy Coleman

Allen Baddour Opening Statement
Experimental Chapel Hill RAM Development Flybys

Videos View all »

Thanks K.A. for the heads-up. Oh, and when I was checking out Technorati I happened to notice CitizenWill.org has been nominated for a Koufax award in the “Best Coverage of State of Local Issues” (??). I was previously nominated for a Koufax in the commenting category (I used to comment prolifically before I had a ‘blog 😉 ).

Other local ‘blogs nominated for your consideration:

A fantastic crew to be associated with… Thank you, whomever you are, for the nomination.

CarolinaNorth, Carrboro, ChapelHill, CitizenWill, Community, UNC

Carolina North Forum: Another Perspective

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Local activists Neighborhoods for Responsible Growth are holding a forum this evening to discuss their and other local folks views of UNC’s Carolina North project:

In cooperation with a series of sponsors and collaborators, NRG will host a community forum on Carolina North, the proposed UNC research campus planned for the Horace Williams tract in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. The forum will take place the evening of June 4, 2007, at the Chapel Hill Town Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m. Forum topics will include a review of the most recent discussions and developments, and what these might mean for our community. Our panel will consist of community leaders who have been involved in the Leadership Advisory Committee discussions and other activities concerning this issue. The forum will include presentations from the panel and a question and answer session for citizens.

Click here for forum details.

Groups sponsoring tonight’s forum include:

What? No Chamber of Commerce sustainability folks?

Mike Collins, the NRG’s “go to guy” wrote a column on tonight’s event for the Chapel Hill News

Imagine…

Imagine a thriving research community in the heart of Chapel Hill — a home for innovative technologies and business opportunities, a model of sustainability, self-sufficient, self-powered, a place of the future on a footprint small enough to preserve the surrounding 700 acres of woodlands and streams. One that merges seamlessly into the surrounding community, accessible by a number of transit modes, and with green spaces and amenities that draw citizens from everywhere.

Or…imagine a development the size of five Southpoint shopping malls, traditional buildings with massive parking lots, gridlock as people fill the roads on their way home to northern Orange, Alamance, and Chatham counties. Imagine more and more days with air pollution advisories. Imagine water shortages and increased taxes brought on by poor planning and lack of foresight.

There’s a fairly developed thread discussing the forum, its participants and other ephemera over here on OrangePolitics.

This will be a great opportunity to hear different perspectives on Carolina North.

Ruminations

Spring Cleaning 2007

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Thank you folks for sticking with CitizenWill through thick and thin (including a major outage May 15th, 2007).

A little history. January 31st, 2006 I relaunched my 2005 Town Council campaign website (Concerned Citizen) claiming I’d

be posting some articles on last year’s election – including an analysis of campaign finances, my ideas on what to do to bootstrap Chapel Hill’s municipal networking initiative, comments on my new appointment to the Town’s Horace-William’s Citizen’s committee and other issues I’m concerned about…

More than year later, with 412 published posts under the Concerned Citizen/CitizenWill banner, I still haven’t gotten around to a full debrief on election 2005 😉

I have managed to cover a few other issues, Carolina North, RAM Development’s conquest of Downtown, election reform and more than a few odds-n-ends.

I’ve also started, then left as drafts, about 100 other posts. What to do with them?

Like a diary, part of the reason I have a ‘blog is to jog the old memory – to remind myself of how and why our Town, University, local organizations, citizens have arrived at our current destination.

Another part, to make my research available for others – local or remote, now or many years hence – to build-on, deconstruct, dispute, debate, etc. As I’ve posted on before, I’m creating a long tail documenting the issues before my local community in the small hope that others will find a kernel of benefit.

I never expected hundreds of folks to check in daily and, I imagine, my digressive style easily reflects that expectation…

Long windup. Just wanted to provide some context on the tumult I’m about to inflict on you, my readership.

Do I think every word I dribble out is a gem worth preserving? Hell no.

These bits do represent, to some extent, a distributed memory store for me (and possibly others) to lean on. So, rather than discard all those partially constructed pieces, I going to clean house, polish my notes/video/audio off as best as possible and publish the morass – out of order, sometimes out-of-context – labeled [SPRING CLEANING].

I won’t be publishing all the drafts. I won’t be posting many in their entirety. And I will certainly try to do a better job of keeping up from now on ;-)!

So, to use a phrase I’m seeing posted more and more along Franklin St.: “Please excuse the mess….”

ChapelHill, Government, MunicipalNetworking, Ruminations

Municipal Networking: Eyes on the Road

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[SPRING CLEANING]

I asked Town Manager Roger Stancil May 17th how the CCTV (closed-circuit TV) packaged in the Town’s first steps towards municipal networking (Municipal Networking:Could We Have a Little Less Big Brother?).

Roger and Kumar Neppalli, our Town’s traffic (and now streetlight) point person, both clarified the bullet item. The CCTVs will be used strictly for monitoring traffic flows.

Roger apologizes for taking 3 days to respond – which might seem strange if you dealt with Townhall before – but Roger has set a goal of improving the flow of information into the community, a refreshing change.

Thank you Roger and Kumar for a quick turnaround (now, if we can just get a 7 day warning on those Council agendas).

From: Roger Stancil
Sent: Mon 5/21/2007 4:27 PM
Subject: RE: Clarification on CCTV usage

I apologize for the delay in responding to you. The cameras are generally for monitoring intersections for traffic management purposes. I am sure it will be done in accordance with this community’s concern for privacy and policies that ensure privacy is not invaded. Thank you for your questions. By copy of this email, I will ask Kumar if he has additional information.

Roger

Roger L. Stancil
Town Manager
Town Manager’s Office
Town of Chapel Hill
405 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-5705

Phone: (919) 968-2743
Fax: (919) 969-2063

Note: Mail sent to or received from the Town Manager is subject to publication under the provisions of the North Carolina public records law.

—-

Mr. Raymond,

Mr. Stancil is correct and the cameras are used strictly for the purpose of monitoring traffic and provide guidance to motorists using variable message signs. These cameras are similar to the traffic monitoring cameras on I-40. Privacy of the motorists and passengers are protected and the cameras will not be used for enforcement of traffic regulations such as speeding, signal violations.

I will find the State Policy for use of these cameras and will e-mail you. Thanks.

Kumar Neppalli
Engineering Services Manager
Ph: (919)969-5093

—–Original Message—–

Subject: Clarification on CCTV usage

Roger,

I notice that the use of CCTV was mentioned in this resolution: http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/2007/05/21/4f/

Could you clarify where and for what use closed-circuit surveillance will be deployed in Chapel Hill?

I’m thrilled we’re making a smart tactical move to improve our information infrastructure. I’m
hoping that deployment and usage of CCTV, for whatever purpose, will be guided by a policy grounded in transparency and informed by a strong commitment to preserve our residents
privacy.

Thank you,

Will

Carrboro, ChapelHill, CitizenWill, Elections, LocalPolitics, NationalPolitics, OrangeCounty, Ruminations, Zorch

Democrats No Longer

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I’m a registered Independent.

OK, OK. I know there is no such thing as an Independent designation, just unaffiliated.

Unaffiliated. Indecisive. Indifferent. Uncommitted. Uninvolved. Fence-sitter. Don’t care.

A truly perverse bit of political framing.

I hope my occasional contributions to the local debate (CitizenWill , OrangePolitics, SqueezeThePulp, the Daily Tar Heel, the Chapel Hill News) and my willingness to take principled, though sometimes unpopular, stands on local issues demonstrates a small measure of care and commitment.

For years I’ve worked to elect Democrats. Dropped a few bucks here and there for a few of their more worthwhile national candidates. Sat polls for the local Orange County party. Contributed oodles of time to their and other affiliated organizations’ efforts to Get Out The Vote (GOTV). No plans to stop those efforts anytime soon.

But I am no Democrat (I was once). And I am no Republican (never have, never will be).

Heck, don’t try to graph my position on the one dimensional line passing through the Democrats Right to Republicans…. I, like many other local folks, exist outside these parties calculus.

I don’t know why three folks chose this week, from the many other recent weeks of Democratic disappointment, to ask me how to switch their party affiliation.

Maybe it was the recent reversal on Iraq or just the steady dissipation of last November’s promise.

Why me? I’m certainly not trying to “recruit” Independents. Sure, I haven’t been reserved in expressing my dissatisfaction with our local Democrat US Representative. They each knew of my efforts to open the local political scene to Independents via non-partisan elections and other voting reforms.

And I’ve been quite open about my status.

When, during my 2005 run for Town Council, a few local political operators counseled quiet discretion – suggesting talk of my non-affiliation would lead to a loss of stalwart Dem votes – I countered that to do so would not only be against my own tenets but promulgate the ruinous myth that folks are only capable of selecting representatives that fall along a one-dimensional political axis.

They might’ve been right. I did lose.

There is safety in numbers. Yet change springs from the outliers. And in today’s United States, it isn’t too far from “united we stand, divided we fall” to “deru kugi wa utareru”.

If you would like to lose your affiliation, either Republican or Democrat, or register to vote under any flag, the procedure is easy:

  • Review the instructions here.

    If you wish to change your party affiliation, you must complete either a Voter Registration Application Form (downloaded from address above) or complete the reverse side of a Voter Registration Card that has been mailed to you and return to the Board of Elections. All changes must be either postmarked or received in the Board of Election’s office at least 25 days before the election.

  • Download the registration form here [PDF].
  • Emancipate yourself from either of the two currently recognized parties.

Scared? You don’t have to go totally “cold turkey”. You will still be able to play some of the old game, for instance voting in either party’s primary. Initially, in many ways both large and small, you’ll feel stuck on the sidelines – constrained to vote for choices you wouldn’t have made, for flavors as close as Pepsi to Coke.

At first you might feel a little light-headed drifting above our current political Flatland. Navigating the multi-dimensional political reality we all currently occupy, whether we appreciate it or not, without the constant tether of partisan loyalty is heady stuff. Don’t panic! After a while, the relief of free agency sets in.

Still, though shorn of your party’s old baggage, paralyzed by its intransigence no longer, you leave one burden for another.

Sorry. Independence doesn’t mean “indecisive”. It doesn’t mean “uncommitted” And it certainly doesn’t mean “don’t care”.

CarolinaNorth, ChapelHill, Community, Development, EconomicDevelopment, environment, Ruminations

Carolina North: Two Years of Diminishing Economic Expectations

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Yesterday’s Carolina North outreach, once again, was heavy on promises – the vast possibility of grey goo, the escalating energy efficiencies of blue sky projections – light on details.

As a NC taxpayer, I’ve been waiting for UNC to produce a real, updated business plan reflecting 2007’s economic realities. Hey, we’re plunking down billions at the Carolina North craps table – it would be nice to have a quantitative, verifiable analysis of the project’s risk-reward profile.

Chancellor Moeser, you owe us NC taxpayers a reality-based report on our expected rate of return for our vast collective investment.

And, please, not another self-serving 2004 Market Street Services economic impact analysis report [PDF], which, to be charitable, was a fluffy confection spun from dreams of an enduring legacy, chunks of ad hoc economic observations and community boosterism of the worst calibre.

Your Carolina North quarterback, Jack Evans, reset the economic expectations yesterday (May 29th). Your team, with barely two months left of your self-imposed deadline, will have to drive hard to produce a believable economic impact report.

To give a small bit of perspective on how far we’ve come, here is UNC’s May 25, 2005 PR trumpeting the benefits of Carolina North:

Study shows Carolina North will be catalyst for jobs, tax revenue

CHAPEL HILL – Carolina North, the proposed living and learning campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will generate 7,500 local jobs and about $48 million in annual tax revenues by 2020, according to an economic impact study released today. It also has the potential to position Carolina as a leading national center of research and public-private partnerships, according to Market Street Services of Atlanta, which conducted the study for the university.

“Carolina North will expand Carolina’s multiple missions, boost innovation and redefine our engagement with the region, state and world,” said University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser. “The great news from this study is that Carolina, through Carolina North, can continue to be a catalyst for the economic transformation of our state.”

The Carolina North draft conceptual plan outlines concepts for mixed-use development at a 900-plus-acre tract of UNC-owned property one mile north of the main campus off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (formerly Airport Road). The draft plan proposes to develop only about 25 percent of that total site over the next 50 to 70 years. Carolina North would include classrooms, labs, housing, schools, community spaces, offices and limited commercial space in a campus-and-village setting.

Carolina North would attract private companies to Chapel Hill to partner with university faculty to transform faculty research into products and

services to improve quality of life. Public-private partnerships would allow the university mission to grow at a time when state and federal funding are no longer growing at previous rates.

The Market Street study will be presented at Thursday’s (May 26) meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees. The study includes analysis of the projected economic impacts at the end of the project’s second phase (15 years) and at full build-out (50 years).

Other study highlights include:

· In the first two phases alone (15 years), the gains in the local and state economies reflect similar numbers to a medium-sized firm building new headquarters in the area year after year.

· By the end of phase 2 (approximately 2020)

Tax Impact: About $48 million in tax revenue annually
$26 million in state income tax
$14.6 million in state sales tax
$2.8 million in local sales tax
$5 million in property tax

· Employment Impact:

7,500 full-time, ongoing jobs (non construction)
$433 million in annual salary and personal income
8,876 construction-related jobs
$353 million in salary and personal income (construction)

· Business Revenue:

$600 million in annual business revenue (non construction)
$979 million in business revenue (construction)

Plans for Carolina North are still in the conceptual design phase. Before the university can move forward to collaborate with the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro on the plans, it must resolve issues related to the university-owned Horace Williams Airport, which occupies part of the Carolina North tract.

The university announced in April 2002 that it would close Horace Williams Airport. In September 2002, the N.C. General Assembly passed legislation requiring the university to keep the airport open until January 2005. In July 2004, the legislature adopted language requiring the university to keep the airport open until an accessible replacement facility could be found for Medical Air, which serves the university’s Area Health Education Centers program.

The N.C. Senate recently passed a special provision that would allow the university to close the airport, provided that Medical Air operations have access to, or utilize, the Raleigh-Durham International Airport to serve the needs of patients, physicians and passengers associated with AHEC’s statewide programs.

The university’s Board of Trustees also will hear a report at its Thursday meeting about a consultants’ study to help the university identify an alternative site for an airport.

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For a copy of the full economic impact study report, please go to: http://cn.unc.edu/economic_impact.pdf

Interviews with Market Street consultants can be arranged through News Services. In addition, for comment about the economic impact of Carolina North on the local community, reporters may call Aaron Nelson, executive director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, at 919-967-7075.

I wonder if the Chamber’s Aaron Nelson, today, would give that report a passing grade?

Hard to believe given that today’s paucity of detail, the changing nature and scope presented yesterday and the rather obvious flaws ($5 million in property taxes? Really?) in Market Street’s Carolina North sales brochure.

CarolinaNorth, Carrboro, ChapelHill, EconomicDevelopment, OrangeCounty, Transportation, UNC, Zorch

Carolina North: Location! Location! Relocation?

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If there was a theme to yesterday’s third community outreach on UNC’s Carolina North project it was “more of the same”. Same dearth of detail. Same soft sell of the economic benefits. Same back “peddling” (as in wheeling-n-dealing) on their functional commitments.

UNC Chancellor Moeser’s “quarterback”, Jack Evans, presented the major recalibration of Carolina North’s raison d’etre as a small side note during the revelation of the first increment of development.

According to Evans, the new plan projects that half the 2,550,000 million sq./ft. of development being done over the next 15 years will house extant initiatives already located on main campus, other UNC properties or rented facilities.

Prior to yesterday, Carolina North was touted as a catalyst for new jobs (“UNC-CH has plans for a state-of-the-art research campus that would bring as many as 20,000 new jobs to Chapel Hill over the next 50 years.” UNC seeks $25 million to start Carolina North N&O Nov. 16th, 2006).

Now, as far as employment, Carolina North has become a convenient place to site their currently dispersed workforce. Having said that, Evans cautioned that the balance between academic and economic development might change dramatically over time – tilting more towards academics as the necessity for moving folks off main campus increases.

In other words, Carolina North has morphed from Chancellor Moeser’s “catalyst for the economic transformation of our state” to what is really an overflow campus….


A video used to be embedded here but the service that it was hosted on has shut down.

Video of Evans and companies May 29th, 2007 3:30pm Carolina North presentation.

Elections, OrangeCounty, Ruminations

Orange County’s White Vote

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OK, before folks freak out, I have gotten to know the staff at the Orange County Board of Elections fairly well over the last 5 years. They’re friendly, professional and have always gone the extra mile to clarify issues/fix problems. I’m fairly sure they had no hand in the selection of this, ummmm, very white image to welcome all of Orange County’s voters to their site.

Orange County has recently spiffed up their website, making it more difficult to navigate by some folks estimation (besides making it more difficult to find contact info, having used the old site extensively for general research, I concur).

I’m sure the pictured family are fine upstanding citizens raring to vote. I’m also pretty sure I could find local analogues (maybe even doppelgangers) living right around the corner. Still, for a department interested in encouraging the greatest participation, the drama implicit in the image is rather interesting.