Citizen Will

Tag: LocalPolitics

  • Election 2007: Early Voting On The Move

    Orange County Commissioner Mike Nelson reports that: I have just been told that the Director of the Orange County Board of Elections is recommending that the one-stop, early voting site in Chapel Hill be moved from UNC to the Senior Center. I’ll be checking into this. If true, this decision needs to be revisited. In […]

  • Election 2007: Why I’m Running For Council

    Two years ago I ran for Town Council on a platform emphasizing innovation, creativity, responsibility and community involvement ( Campaign 2005 ). In the two years since, I’ve continued to participate in local affairs – praising the good and working to prevent the bad in process and policy. But today’s campaign platform, like that of […]

  • Summer’s Bloom

    No telling how brilliant this Summer’s harvest will be… Time will tell.

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

    “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 […]

  • Election 2007: Public Financing Next Cycle?

    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 […]

  • Election 2007: Candidates Line Up

    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 […]

  • Democrats No Longer

    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) […]

  • Another $460,000 for Lot $5: Will Rising Costs Mean Raising Taxes?

    From the May 7th Chapel Hill Town Council agenda: We estimate the following budget is needed to continue carrying out the implementation of the Lot 5 project in accordance with the Town’s responsibilities under the Development Agreement through June 30, 2008: Environmental Remediation: $240,000 Construction Management Services: $150,000 Professional Services: $65,000 Peer Review Honorarium: $5,000 […]

  • Election 2007: Councilmember Laurin Easthom’s Thoughts…

    Laurin, you beat me to the punch! About a year ago, with some encouragement from RobertP (CountryCrats), I started a few posts on my experience running for Chapel Hill Town Council in 2005. I wanted to cover the mechanics – signs, fund-raising, forums, endorsements, election day management – of running for local office to touch […]

  • The Power of Sorry: A Local Apology to Get the Ball Rolling

    Over the last six years, I’ve learned more than a tad about how our local political sausage is ground. The manufacturing of poor public policy for political gain adds a distinctively bitter taste to that meaty melange. Yes, at times, pettiness, spite, gamesmanship and ego overwhelm good sense and reasonable public policy. For a few […]

  • Hazardous Consequences: A Report, a Rushed Decision, a Regrettable Day for Chapel Hill

    The Chapel Hill News’ ‘blog OrangeChat first alerted me to the Town’s completion of the Lot #5 negotiations with RAM Development (more to come in the N&O). The Town’s April 3rd news release celebrates what I believe will eventually be seen to be a rushed decision foisting a counter-productive, fiscally irresponsible obligation to construct expensive […]

  • A Matter of Process: Greenbridge and Council’s Devolving Standard of Public Review

    I haven’t been reticent in my criticism of the process Council used recently to manage the approvals for Greenbridge, the environmental uber-project and possible end of the traditional Northside neighborhood. Adopting a new zone, TC-3, developed and refined during the months bridging Thanksgiving to Christmas, within the context of Greenbridge’s approval ill-served our citizens. Claims, […]

  • Raleigh’s Carlton Place: A Downtown Affordable Housing Commitment Worth Emulating

    I’ve followed the ins-and-outs of Raleigh’s Carlton Place before the Wallace Deck/Lot #5 developments took flight. 64 of the 80 units – ranging in size from 800 to 1200 sq./ft. – are priced so those making %60 of Wake County’s median income can afford one. Market rates aren’t too shabby either (market/affordable): 1 BR/1 BA […]

  • Lot #5 Development: “…up through the ground come a bubbling crude…”

    Well, not quite “black gold” or “Texas tea” but it appears that more “refined trouble” is brewing under Lot #5 (MAP). Chapel Hill’s taxpayers will have to wait for next week’s official lab confirmation but, as of today (Mar. 20th, 2007), initial field tests of some of the nearly 30 core samples show “interesting” signs […]

  • Trash Talk: I Like Vinegar on My BBQ

    The old Southern saying goes “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” Then again, there’s nothing like a little vinegar or Tabasco to cut though the cloying fat of smoked BBQ. An open e:mail to the Orange County Board of Commissioners: On Tuesday evening, at the Orange County BOC meeting in Hillsborough […]