Citizen Will

Tag: ChapelHill

  • Tar Heel Basketball, Proven Excellence

    Though I wished UNC had clinched the ACC championship, tonight’s 89-72 stomping of Michigan State provided a conclusive and satisfying end to UNC’s great 2009 basketball season. In case you haven’t heard the rumble rolling forth from Downtown, UNC fans are as jubilant as the players. I’ve had the uncanny luck to have seen the […]

  • Election 2007: Incumbents Strategy Disservice to Our Community

    I’ll be wrapping my election coverage up in a series of posts, including a big thank you for all of you that “had my back”, but, before that, I just read these two items from today’s newspapers that underline why the incumbents strategy of disengagement was so corrosive – and was quite a shameful disservice […]

  • Delay is Not Our Friend

    I’m a proactive kind of guy. In the last few years I’ve tried to get our Town’s leadership to look beyond the immediate to address the foreseeable needs of our community and preparing for the consequences of our local and national policies. In some cases, like moving forward on improving our Town’s communications infrastructure, hiring […]

  • Election 2007: The Arrows in My Back ;-)!

    To all the folks that have sent me emails of support in the face of a dramatic surge in negative, personal attacks, I thank you. It has been a strange election season. I didn’t expect the Sierra Club or the IndyWeek to endorse me, for political or personal reasons. But I never expected the Indy […]

  • Richly Deserved: Czajkowski and Rich Get The Daily Tar Heel Endorsement

    As I wrote recently, it’s been quite interesting to see how folks respond to the challenge of campaigning. I know it’s not conventional to salute your campaign opponents – which explains why the incumbents don’t mention my role in hiring an economic development officer, green fleets, re-balancing the size of affordable housing on Lot #5, […]

  • Halloween Trick: Bank-rolling Boozing

    Local teen alcohol awareness activist Dale Pratt-Wilson asks if the $225,000 spent managing Downtown’s Halloween booze-fest is worth it: Wow…What an awesome use of my tax dollars! I am especially pleased with having to pay for twenty-one Orange County EMS calls related to drunkenness. It would be interesting to see a cost analysis of what […]

  • 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 […]

  • Halloween Treat: Chapel Hill News Endorsement

    I knew my best chance for an endorsement this year was from the Chapel Hill News. These folks have watched my passionate activism on behalf of the environment, social justice, fiscal responsibility, public accountability, transparent and open governance, community engagement, planning policy and on and on for these last 6+ years. Will Raymond brings a […]

  • Indy Endorsement: Letter to Editor Strom

    I called Jennifer Strom last week to see if the Indy would provide me the courtesy of a response to their endorsement comments. She said they would. Here’s my response: I’m baffled by the Indy’s comments on my and Mike Kelley’s candidacies. I’m mystified by your endorsement of Indy editor Jennifer Strom’s husband Bill Strom, […]

  • Election 2007: IndyWeek Endorsement,Booker Creek and the Incumbents

    X-posted from my campaign website. The Indy found fault with my style of dissent. I’m a big guy, have a deep voice and am passionate about my well-researched issues. I believe I’m respectful in my appearances before Council (example). Folks have told me that I’m tough but fair. The Indy’s criticism, no matter how emotionally […]

  • Election 2007: Money on the Street

    X-posted from my campaign website. “Eyes on the street” in one of the key mantras the incumbents substitute for a solid financial analysis of the economic benefits of their publicly underwritten million dollar Downtown condos. Supposedly the $8.5 million tax dollars (so far) and land worth $5-8 million ($13.5-16.5 million) will help increase Downtown’s minuscule […]

  • Golf and Politics

    I play golf. Yes, I once regularly played – pretty darn well – a game once generally synonymous with elitism, bigotry and wealth. My father is a great golfer. Coming from a blue collar family,his opportunity to hone his skills came when he picked up a second job caddying clubs for the Akron country club […]

  • Election 2007: Friends of Affordable Housing Questionnaire

    X-Posted from my campaign website. I hadn’t heard of this organization prior to this election but they appear to have been active for the last 10 years. Friends of Affordable Housing is a non-partisan Political Action Committee that has been active in selective elections within Orange County during the last 10 year. The organization was […]

  • Chapel Hill News: My Mistake, Not Theirs

    Hey folks. I’ve had a number of supporters contact me about the omission of my comments on Downtown in Sunday’s Chapel Hill News. It was completely my fault. Even though I was prepared, I submitted my answers too late for inclusion in the print edition. I did post the answers several days ago here (Chapel […]

  • Election 2007: Chapel Hill News Candidate Questionnaire

    Here’s my answers to the Chapel Hill News candidate questionnaire. If the answers seem a bit terse, it’s because brevity was required. POLITICAL PARTY AND EXPERIENCE: 2005 Candidate for Town Council Town Advisory Boards: Horace-William’s Citizen Comm., Downtown Parking Task Force, Technology Board Other: Community Independent Expansion Comm. , Friends of Lincoln Arts Center While […]