Citizen Will

Category: LocalPolitics

  • Raymond, Ready For Service: Formal Application

    Here is my formal application to fill Bill’s seat. I agree with recent Council comments that their new colleague must be “ready to hit the road running”. To do so, an applicant should be prepared, involved and experienced. Council already has a demanding workload. Over the next 7 months two major challenges – troubled finances […]

  • Raymond, Ready For Service: What Would I Do?

    What would I do the next 13 months? If you look back through the hundreds of posts on local issues I’ve made since September 2005, you will see I’m not short of ideas for positive change. I also have two election platforms (2005 and 2007) and many election questionnaires that contain specific proposals addressing Town […]

  • Raymond, Ready For Service: What Have I Done?

    I submitted my formal application to fill Bill’s seat (not his shoes) this afternoon. Along with my application, I provided some examples of my recent activism, a list of advisory boards I would like to represent Council on and some suggestions covering a few of the issues that Chapel Hill faces next year. The additional […]

  • Digital Television, Analog Waste

    Following up on tonight’s trash theme, another quick and quite thorough response, this time from Orange County’s Recycling Programs Manager Robert Taylor. Early June, with an eye on the impending approval of a new Orange County solid waste transfer facility, I was doing some research on e-waste (electronic waste) management. I already knew Orange County’s […]

  • Affordable Housing: I Can’t Live In Lieu

    The Chapel Hill News’ Jesse DeConto’s posts over on OrangeChat a discussion of tonight’s request by Orange Community Housing and Land Trust Executive Director Robert Dowling’s renewed request to take in lieu payments over affordable housing stock. I’ve been troubled by his and others calls to take money over square footage for some time. Whatever […]

  • Carolina North: Oct. 15th Comments from Neighborhoods for Responsible Growth

    Julie McClintock presented the following comments on behalf of Neighborhoods for Responsible Growth (NRG) to Council during Oct. 15th’s public hearing. I had to chuckle when NRG’s request for an online progress tracking system stirred Council’s interest. Why? I proposed a work tracking system for Planning when I first got involved in local government 8 […]

  • 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: 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, […]

  • Twisting the Zoning Pretzel

    Tonight I asked the Council, once again, to reconsider cutting corners in the zoning process to push their “dense” development agenda. Just as in this Spring’s approval of the new TC-3 zoning district (A Matter of Process: Greenbridge and Council’s Devolving Standard of Public Review), the Council is trying to slide through a far-reaching zoning […]

  • Transfer Site: Sept. 16th Live ‘Blog

    [UPDATE] The meeting started out with a set of criticisms, especially from Barry Jacobs, about the consultant’s work product and process. “This is not the process we agreed to…” sums up the majority’s concerns. I called for a reworking of both the process and the criteria used to determine the siting of the transfer facility, […]

  • Joining the Air Force – Authority

    As noted by Chapel Hill News Editor Mark Schultz here [OrangeChat] and here [N&O], I’ve asked the Orange County Board of Commissioners to consider appointing me to the new UNC Airport Authority (more on that here [UNC News] and here [N&O]). Dear Commissioners, I’m asking for an appointment to UNC’s new Airport Authority. As a […]

  • Mt. Bolus Rocks the Vote

    Just got back from the Chapel Hill Library where, at roughly 7:15pm, my wife and I were the 83rd and 84th voters in today’s primary run-off. Heard from a few folks throughout the day that turnout was abysmal. One of the poll-workers told us that there were only 324 early votes STATEWIDE! Ellie and I […]

  • Obama and Jones

    Barack Obama swung by Chapel Hill tonight in his on-going attempt to clinch his party’s nomination. As David Price noted, for the first time in decades North Carolina is relevant – and we have an opportunity to push Obama over the top. As with many political events, the rally, scheduled for 9:30pm kicked off promptly […]

  • Halloween Trick: North Street Complaint

    I believe there’s usually a better way to do almost anything and, as a business person, well understand the value of customer complaints as a tool for driving improvement. Complaints are like canaries in the coal mine alerting you to developing negative conditions – many organizations, though, would rather kill the canary than respond to […]