The News of Orange County reports that the Orange County Board of Commissioners will be holding eight "listening sessions" around the county throughout 2005.
Board Chairman Moses Carey initially proposed the idea in December, as an informal opportunity for citizens to sound off on topics of their choosing.
"My only expectation is that people will feel comfortable communicating with the commissioners," he said. "It's not to assume that we can fix everything that we hear - but we do need to hear them because we represent them."
The chairman said he hopes that those who don't feel comfortable speaking during a regular public meeting will come out to these sessions.
Carey, accompanied by one other commissioner, will attend each of the sessions. The commissioners will then report back to the entire board.
"I want to emphasize that these are listening sessions," he said. "We won't have all the answers immediately, but we will hear what people have to say and address their concerns in a timely manner."
Unlike regular the board's regular meetings, in which speakers are limited to three minutes, Carey said these sessions are an opportunity for the community to speak freely, without a three-minute restraint.
The forst session is on Tuesday in Chapel Hill at the Southern Orange Hman Services Center on Homestead Road at 7 pm. Here's the rest of the schedule. Go on and give them a piece of your mind.
Issues:
Comments
Dear OCC's, Your wasteful
Dear OCC's,
Your wasteful recycling program that leads the state in kudos, bells & whistles is costing us a fortune!
Ship the obvious garbage out of the county while you still can. If you wait until
the landfill is FULL, the price to outsource your waste disposal will be
astronomical.
Begin evaluating other waste disposal sites outside Orange County before the costs become prohibitive.
Thank-you.
Notes from the Listening
Notes from the Listening Sessions are now available:
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/OCCLERKS/ListeningSessions05.htm
Moses Carey and Barry Jacobs were the only two commissioners who attended these sessions.
Terry, The statement above
Terry, The statement above did state that only two commissioners would attend:
"Carey, accompanied by one other commissioner, will attend each of the sessions. The commissioners will then report back to the entire board."
This was more of a "Moses
This was more of a "Moses Carey Listening Session". I attended two of them and Carey was the only one at those two. Seems like they should have had each commissioner designated for a particular meeting and then a second one could have attended each, but I don't think that Carey consulted the other commissioners before announcing these.
The other commissioners were probably wary of showing up and being told to leave if they were the 3rd.
The one that ended up not being taped had some lively discussion, as well as Carey "selling" his view of things more than "listening".
M