Citizen Will

Category: Carrboro

  • OWASA: Penalizing Conservation

    The Carrboro Citizen has another report on Carrboro’s BOA’s decision not to amend the inter-local agreement governing access to Lake Jordan water. I was bothered by this passage: Board member Joal Hall Broun said the issue was not the lake water, but freeing up OWASA in the event of emergencies and allowing the utility to […]

  • Carrboro: 100 Hundred Years Young

    Our neighbors across the tracks are celebrating their 100th birthday today. Carrboro, “the little community that could”, has still managed to keep itself, as local radio icon Ron Stutts likes to say, “one degree cooler than Chapel Hill”. Celebrations start this evening around 7:30pm at the Century Center across from Weaver St. Market. More information […]

  • Nov. 2nd, 2010 Election

    In case there’s any confusion, Morgan Freeman had nothing to do with this post! I’ll be helping the Orange County Democratic Party over at the Caldwell precinct in northern Orange County from 9:30am to 4:00pm. Drop by if you’re in the area. Over the last week I’ve received emails asking my recommendations for the judicial […]

  • Hearts and Mines

    The Triangle is a great place to live for many reasons, one of which is the incredible folks you meet from all walks of life who are working to make the world a bit better. Carrboro’s Joan Widdifield is working to improve Bolin Creek’s health. A regional resource, Bolin Creek, its associated watersheds and subsequent […]

  • A Special Request For A Special Cause

    Elaine and Lee are my next door neighbors. I’m usually hesitant to participate in these corporate campaigns but….the need is there and Elaine and Lee are working hard to address the growing demand for recreational opportunities for special needs folks in this community. That was enough to get me beyond my initial trepidation. Please consider […]

  • Cognitive Dissonance? NC Legislature Bans Internet Sweepstakes

    WUNC’s Laura Leslie (a reporting treasure) has a great post (Mon.: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before) on tonight’s 47 to 1 NC Senate vote “to ban video gambling – again – in North Carolina”. Republican Tom Apodaca didn’t mince words in urging his fellow senators to ban video gambling. “This is something […]

  • Brother, can you spare a quarter percent?

    The Orange County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) opened up discussion this evening of putting a %0.25 increase in local sales tax before voters in November (Levy of a One-Quarter Cent (1/4¢) County Sales and Use Tax [PDF]). The tax, if approved, will bump our local sales tax to %8 with all the additional proceeds going […]

  • May 4th, 2010 Primary: On Your Marks, Get Ready…

    Been awhile, November 2006, since I scrambled around trying to cover all the precincts in Carrboro/Chapel Hill. Visited all 29 precincts, placed 45 new signs for Sheriff Candidate Clarence Birkhead, repositioned another 40+ so that most folks will have to pass at least 3 signs before voting. Started about 5pm in a light drizzle punctuated […]

  • Chapel Hill Library Funding: Orange County Commissioners & Council Committee Meet

    Went to this afternoon’s Council committee meeting to see how Orange County’s Commissioners would respond to Chapel Hill’s demands to increase Library operational funding NOW rather than later. A few general observations/comments before my notes. First, an apology to my loyal readers. I have spent much more time accumulating content than presenting it. For instance, […]

  • Sustainability Task Force: The Whole or The Sum of the Parts?

    As some readers might recall, I was appointed to serve on Chapel Hill’s Sustainable Community Visioning Task Force early last year. Before we got started there were a few issues to address involving recruitment of a diverse membership to reflect both the concerns of the business community and the community as a whole. After settling […]

  • IFC Men’s Shelter: Not Until Questions Have Been Answered

    According to today’s Chapel Hill News (IFC may delay new shelter), the Inter-Faith Council is looking at a delay while the questions raised by local residents over the last few weeks are resolved. Inter-Faith Council director Chris Moran said the agency may delay its development permit application amid neighbors’ opposition to a new men’s homeless […]

  • Q&A IFC Community House

    There are a lot of questions about the IFC’s plans to site the new men’s homeless shelter on Homestead Road. As a candidate for Town Council, I have been reading concerned citizens emails and letters – almost 100 or so – on this project. Executive Chris Moran has prepared the following Q & A based […]

  • Carolina North: Where is the Development Agreement?

    As some of you folks know I’ve been involved – as a citizen – fairly deeply in the attempt to create a successful agreement between UNC and the Town managing growth of the massive Carolina North project. The Carolina North project could either contribute greatly to or severely diminish the quality of life in Chapel […]

  • Orange County Voice Pushes Plan B

    Orange County Voice, another Orange County organization working on the trash transfer site issue along side Preserve Rural Orange, has picked up on the Plan B options I have posted on as recently as last Fall (Trash Talk:Commissioner Gordon “No Plan B”). Bonnie Hauser, Tony Blake, Susan Walser (recent editorial) and other members have done […]

  • Preserve Rural Orange: Greensboro Transfer Station Review

    Watching the folks who formed PRO – Preserve Rural Orange – in response to UNC’s foray into airport building and Orange County’s crazy siting of the trash transfer station on Hwy. 54 has been encouraging. From a small group of concerned citizens, they have developed an activist organization that puts the “pro” in PRO. These […]