Citizen Will

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • 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, […]

  • Live ‘Blog: April 13th IFC Community House Meeting

    Quick notes on this evening’s final IFC Community House public meeting prior to the IFC submitting a SUP (special use permit) to Town Council. IFC is the Inter-Faith Council, a 501c3 non-profit, has provided a broad range of social services (list) over the last few decades, many of which, like emergency housing, are the really […]

  • NAACP Townhall Forum for Orange County Sheriff

    A little late notice but I’m going to try to live ‘blog this evening’s forum. First up, OC Sheriff candidates: current Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass and recent Chief of Hillsborough Police Clarence Birkhead. Web sites: Clarence Birkhead – clarencebirkhead.com Lindy Pendergrass – www.facebook.com/pages/Lindy-Pendergrass/496688695219

  • 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 […]

  • Chapel Hill’s First Budget Meeting of 2010

    I want to quickly respond to Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt’s comments this evening. First, spending $8-12M on the Lot #5 project, building luxury condos and enriching a private developer, is not the same as “protecting our Town’s infrastructure”. The Lot #5 (West 140) project is discretionary – the push to keep it going is […]

  • WCHL Commentary: Library Expansion Next Year or Lot #5 Project, Not Both

    Ron Stutts and WCHL 1360 invited me to do a commentary on a Chapel Hill issue. I chose to speak out on the fiscally imprudent idea that we can “have our cake and eat it too”. Run this and the following four year’s budget numbers, look at anticipated impacts – funding Town retirees’ health-care, fixing […]

  • Chapel Hill 01/31/2010 Winter Conditions

    Quick update from the Town: WINTER STORM 5 p.m. Jan. 31 Notice Posted Date: 1/31/2010 Following the weekend snowstorm, normal operations for Town of Chapel Hill services are anticipated tomorrow (Monday, Feb. 1) with the exception of Monday trash collection, which has been rescheduled to Wednesday.

  • Chapel Hill 2010: Snow, Snow, Snow

    Chapel Hill has a new tool to track road conditions during adverse conditions, like today’s 3 to 6 inches snowfall. The GIS map showing roads salted, cleared and relevant services is here. Good to see this finally in place. The Tech Board discussed just such an application of the GIS system about 6 years ago. […]

  • Library or Bust? Laurin Easthom’s Concerns

    The Council decided to postpone the Library expansion decision pending further data and discussion. Council member Laurin Easthom pointed out on Monday, once again, “We need to make some real serious decisions about citizens who use our library and don’t pay.” Laurin has been on-top of this issue for some time. She has also been […]

  • Library or Lot #5?

    Here is what I meant to say at this evening’s Council meeting. Like a lot of my remarks, I find myself editing on the fly, so what I managed to get out in less than 3 minutes wasn’t quite what follows but I believe I made the points I needed. The simple summary? We can’t […]

  • Magic 25

    Catherine Lazorko, Chapel Hill’s information officer, sent me this email to Council from Town elder Roscoe Reeve. Roscoe recalls how the 25 bed limit for shelters was set. As suspected, it was somewhat arbitrary though based in an intent to make the approval process less onerous for community-oriented facilities. Thanks Catherine! From: Roscoe Reeve Sent: […]

  • Who You Gonna Call? Deerbusters!

    Education and our own private “rabbit-proof” fencing seems to be the extent of Chapel Hill’s plan to deal with its exploding dear population. The Town is responding to my Mount Bolus neighbor’s Oct. 12th petition this evening with a proposal [PDF] to educate folks on how to deter expansion of the deer population. Unfortunately, rather […]

  • Chapel Hill’s 2009 Services Survey

    Chapel Hill’s government is finally doing the survey that the Town’s (now defunct) Technology Board recommended more than 5 years ago. As you might expect, I have a few questions about the survey, including the cost, why it was done by an out-of-state company, how it was constructed, who it was targeted at initially (online […]

  • Applicants 2009 Chapel Hill Council Vacancy

    Here’s each of the interested applicants for the current Council vacancy. That vacancy will be discussed and probably filled at tonight’s special Council meeting. Over the last 8 years I’ve served this community mainly as a citizen activist and volunteer. Over the last 4 years I ran 3 times for Council in order to serve […]

  • Trash Talk: Mal de M.E.R. No Longer

    Just back from this evening’s Orange County Board of Commissioners’ meeting. Tonight’s big agenda item, “What to do about the waste transfer station?” New County Manager Frank Clifton’s extensively reviewed the three proposed options: use the County’s Payfadar property (originally slated for a park) on Millhouse Road, pursue the ill-suited (and ever more expensive) Howell […]

Got any book recommendations?

Get In Touch