Tag: Ruminations

  • Joe Herzenberg

    From the Carrboro Citizen Joe Herzenberg, longtime Chapel Hill Town Council member, Democratic Party stalwart, Greenways champion and an astute historian of local politics died today from complications of diabetes. He left this world, we are told, surrounded by friends. Details of memorials to follow. I met Joe way back in ’81 when my brother […]

  • 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: On Environment, Early to the Carolina North Party

    I’m a longtime watchdog of the UNC development process. UNC, with Carolina North, started off as they had with many of their main campus projects – discounting our community’s concerns and dispensing with residents input. I knew there had to be a better way to work towards a satisfactory conclusion for both our University and […]

  • Election 2007: Sierra Club Endorsement

    I do know that the Sierra Club, in 2005, thought I was a candidate well-suited for addressing our Town’s environmental issues. Will Raymond has been one of the most outspoken and effective citizen activists in Chapel Hill in recent years. We look forward to him using his talents to advocate for the environment as a […]

  • Election 2007: League of Women Voters Forum Unplugged

    In keeping with their charter to “encourage the informed and active participation of citizens in government” and “influence public policy through education and advocacy”, the the League of Women Voters of Orange-Durham-Chatham held a forum for Chapel Hill Town Council Oct. 1st. Also, in keeping with that charter, they provided me the raw footage so […]

  • Incumbency Is Not Enough or Nineteen Seconds Is Too Long

    I was recently asked by a close observer of the local political scene what I thought of the power of incumbency. I mentioned the rather obvious. Watching the incumbents appear at gatherings “bearing gifts”. The several months of the election cycle the incumbents appear, in their official capacity, regularly before the public reminding folks of […]

  • Visions of Avalon

    Last night there was an unfortunate and possibly gang-related incident at Rosemary Street’s Visions nightclub. At approximately 1:00 a.m. this morning officers responded to a report of gun shots at Visions Night Club located at 136 E. Rosemary Street. Multiple shots were reportedly fired from a handgun by an unidentified black male suspect after a […]

  • Hail to Our New Chief: Brian Curran Takes the Helm

    [UPDATE:] Not 15 minutes went by before I got the chance to congratulate Chief Curran in person. He was making his rounds through the Northside neighborhood (I noticed him rolling around Town before – he doesn’t seem to be much of a desk jockey). [ORIGINAL] I’ve had an opportunity to meet Brian in a few […]

  • Election 2007: Sierra Club Interview

    X-Posted from Will Raymond for Town Council 2007: The local Orange-Chatham Sierra Club participates in the local election process two ways: endorsing candidates and sponsoring a forum. Last Sunday, Chairman Bernadette Pelissier, Political Chair Loren Hintz and member Matthew Scheer interviewed me on behalf of the Sierra Club to determine if I qualified for an […]

  • Rogers Road Community: A Unified Front

    Rev. Campbell David Richter Tracy Coleman Jeff Kingman Jeanne Stroud Nancy Ignia Sharon Cook The Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End Environmental Racism, a coalition of the Chapel Hill -Carrboro Branch of the NAACP Environmental Justice Network West End Revitalization Association Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom Orange County Progressive Democrats and members of UNC-CH Faculty, […]

  • Software Freedom Day 2007

    As long time readers know, I’ve been trying to get our Town to adopt free/open source software products for the last 6 years. There’s been some success but not enough. FOSS (free/open source software) is a low cost alternative to the Microsoft Monopoly (the Town could’ve saved between $500-700K by now if it had adopted […]

  • National Conversation on Climate Action: A Local Perspective

    As I mentioned in my post “The Climate Heats Up AND The Mayor Has A Website?”, the Town is hosting an all day “conversation” on climate change (as part of our Town’s ongoing commitment to sustainability). The program is sponsored by ICLEI US (Local Governments For Sustainability) and the local Chamber of Commerce’s “green” coordinating […]

  • Is the Rogers Road Community Worth $53,000?

    Being in government has its advantages. Concerned citizens trying to get a good baseline on the cost of adding a bus route through the Rogers Road community didn’t net a response in 2005 (I know, I took a stab at it 2 years ago when I ran for Town Council). Ahh, but if you’re a […]

  • Election 2007: Keeping it Simple

    Preserving Chapel Hill’s Charm because Our Past Informs Our Future Community Diversity Open Governance Fiscal Responsibility Public Accountability These are some of the core values that drive my local activism. These were core values of my 2005 campaign. They are core values for 2007.