February 2005
The DTH reports that the volunteer committee to review the Chapel Hill budget has gotten underway. I'm often impressed by the graphics in the DTH and this story is no exception. But even with that nice visual aid, I stink at budgets. Basically what I can tell is this: the new Town Operation Center will cost a fortune. It's probably worth the expense to do it right in long run (and we don't have much choice), hopefully there's a little fat to be trimmed there.
One committee member suggests a temporary Town hiring freeze, but I don't see how that helps anyone. If we are to avert this tax increase (not just postpone it), we need systemic financial changes, not a quick purge. Since most of us are unlikely to get up at 7:30 on Monday morning to attend this committee meetings, let's discuss here. How would you cut the Town of Chapel Hill's budget? Or would you?
Chapel Hill is holding a forum on public art:
Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission
The Foundation for a Sustainable Community
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
invite you to a Public Education Forum with
Ronald Lee Fleming AICP
Founder and Principal of The Townscape Institute
The Art of Place Making: Strategies for Thinking about Urban Design and Public Art
Thursday 10 February 2005
1:30pm - 3:00pm
Chapel Hill Town Hall
306 North Columbia Street
Town Council Chambers
Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday, February 05, 2005
The spring of 1969 was a heady time for the U.S. left. Halfway between the violence of the Democratic convention in Chicago and the peace-and-love of Woodstock, it was a time when millions joined protests against the Vietnam War while increasing militancy turned the movement for civil rights into one for Black Power.
In Chapel Hill, a highly contentious mayoral race was at times overshadowed by striking cafeteria workers at UNC. Nonetheless, a coalition of blacks, liberal civil rights supporters, anti-war activists and those galvanized by the 1968 campaigns of Eugene McCarthy for president and Reginald Hawkins for governor waged an unprecedented campaign to elect Howard Lee as the first black mayor of Chapel Hill (or of a white-majority Southern town since Reconstruction).
In doing so and by also electing a liberal slate to the then-Board of Aldermen, voters swept out an old guard that had dragged its feet on civil rights, on establishing a public transit system and on support for the efforts of the Inter-Church Council.
Today is Eyes on the Screen, nationwide grassroots screenings of "Eyes on the Prize," a very important documentary on the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. You can watch in Carrboro:
Community Realty
February 8, 2005 at 8:00pm
201 North Greensboro Street
Approx Capacity: 15. 13 people plan to attend.
Organized by: Scott Morningstar
Episode 1
Bring a folding chair if you can.
As an African-American Studies minor (OK, over 10 years ago), I can attest to both this film's importance and to it's watchability. It allows the individuals who collectively formed the grassroots of this critical movement to speak for themselves and document their own experiences. The result is compelling and educational.
I have only barely been following this year's race for Student Body President. Things have sure changed since I went to UNC over a decade ago. Fifteen student groups now issue endorsements, including the Young Democrats and the College Republicans. Both of those groups supported Tom Jensen, as did a couple of Town Council members, which I think is unprecedented.
Even with these and four other organizatons' endorsements under his belt, Jensen came third in a four-way race. Seke Ballard and Seth Dearmin will go on to a run-off election. I don't know anything about them - anyone care to enlighten us about these SBP candidates?
How often are you near a bus stop and trying to guess whether it's worth waiting for the next one or just hoofing it? This happens to me all the time. Partially because it's hard to tell if you have just missed the bus or if it's just about to come - but that's only if you are actually blessed with knowing the schedule.
More often I am already downtown, and in a bit of a hurry. Knowing when the next bus is will make me much more likely to ride. Probably even more than the fact that it's free. Which is why I was so excited to read about Chapel Hill Transit implementing a new system to display this information at bus stops.
Chapel Hill Transit is preparing to issue a request for bids on a new high-tech system that will give transit staff and riders a wealth of information about how the buses move through their routes.
Among other things, it will let riders at certain stops know whether their bus has just left or whether it will be along in three minutes.
It's a big bloggy weekend!
The main event is a gathering tomorrow morning at UNC. I hope many of you readers will come. The Triangle Bloggers Conference 2005 (a.k.a. C.H.BloggerCon) will start 9 am in the auditorium of Murphy Hall. The format will be open but facilitated.
The Herald this morning reported that Carrboro is requesting that the legislature grant authority for two tax increase. The funds are apparently needed to support rising costs for the bus system.
The first is a doubling of the motor vehicle license tax to $30 per vehicle. In one sense, this seems sensible to add costs to a behavior that you want to discourage to fund one you want to support. Nonetheless, this is a regressive tax. The only people the extra $15 might hurt are those truly at the margins financially. Still, I wouldn't quibble over $15.
More problematic is the second proposal which is to increase the sales tax from 2.5% to 3%. The sales tax is notoriously regressive. Carrboro's working poor will be hurt by this tax.
Both these items are on the agenda for discussion with the legislative delegation and were placed there by a unanimous vote. It's truly shocking that none of the Aldermen voted against a resolution with the sales tax provision. Hopefully it will die in discussion with the legislators if not before then.
Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday, February 12, 2005
Like so many Chapel Hillians, for many years I knew one fact about Cornelia Phillips Spencer: she was “the woman who rang the bell†to signal the reopening of UNC a few years after the Civil War. Southern history being what it is, I was not surprised to learn that there was more to the story.
The debate over the Cornelia Phillips Spencer Bell Award has brought out the best and the worst in UNC Chancellor James Moeser. A former academic himself, somewhere in his heart of hearts Moeser seems to have some sensitivity to the humanistic values of the university. But in his day-to-day life as chancellor, he often must bury that part of himself so that he can properly serve the financial necessities of nouveau academia.
IFC Director Chris Moran is circulating an article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy (President's Budget Seeks to Cut Many Programs That Subsidize Charities) that explains some of the impact of the Bush budget on social services.
This proposed budget is a serious local concern. If we wish to maintain responsible levels of social services, the pressure will increase on the local budget and on local taxes.
Here are a couple of examples of cuts given in the article:
The Community Development Block Grants program, through which local governments give money to charities and other groups for housing and economic development, would be eliminated. Grants for that program totaled $4.7-billion in 2005.
All money for vocational education, which totaled $1.2-billion in 2005, would be eliminated.
On the other hand, some items are getting increases:
The Compassion Capital Fund -- which provides grants to local charities, including programs run by religious groups -- would get $100-million, nearly double the 2005 figure.
The Town Council tonight will discuss the manager's proposed process for finalizing the proposed modifications to the OI-4 zone (for UNC's main campus):
Last night the Chapel Hill Town Council appointed Mayor Kevin Foy to fill an open seat on the Chapel Hill Downtown Economic Development Corporation (CHDEDC). I have to admit, I think there is a real need for members with more political experience and community accountability on The Corporation, and the Mayor does have those assets.
However as a member of the elected body that appoints Corporation members, isn't this a potential conflict of interest? I'm afraid this step may only serve to muddy the waters, when we really need some clarity downtown.
Last night the Corporation's chair also petitioned the Council to condemn the Wicked Eyesore:
The [Wicked Burrito] building, at 214 W. Franklin St., vacant since January 2000, is owned by Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Inc. of Wichita, Kan.
Corporation members cited the lack of upkeep on the building as one reason to consider condemning it. The petition refers to the building as “a major downtown eyesore.â€Â
Guest Post by Jane Peppler
Cross-posted at Pratie Place
For twenty-two years I've been a mom, but my younger child will graduate this spring and the house will get mighty quiet. Hmm, choices. I could become a pet nut, replacing teenage music with barking, chirping, or mewing. But I'd rather keep young energy in my life. That's why I took the daunting job of directing a high school chorus, and that's why I joined the Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate Program.
A mentoring program pairs you with a kid who lives in disadvantaged circumstances but has a "spark" and can flourish with some extra help. We're not just friends (Big Buddies or Big Brothers) and not just tutors. We're also advocates for our kids in the school system. By having fun, talking about life, going places they (or we) have never been before, we try to inspire them to keep their eyes on the prize - for instance, on enjoying and staying invested in school through high school and then hopefully going to college.
Great article in this week's Indy by Bob Burtman. Burtman analyzes the problems passing legislation to authorize impact fees and other mechanisms to compensate the public for the costs of accommodating growth.
The main stumbling blocks, as you might guess, are the homebuilders and realtors PACS, among the most effective promoters of self-interest in the state.
One interesting twist that Burtman reports in the homebuilders legal challenge to Durham's impact fees in which the builders claimed that they could not pass impact fees on to buyers and that the fees therefore cut into profits (cue for big crocodile tears). In the past, the argument has been the opposite, challenging the fees as a burden on homebuyers.
Read more about NC Homebuilders Association & the Sprawl Lobby or my own Chapel Hill Herald column of 8/21/2004.
Mark Marcoplos gave me permission to post this letter to the president of the Home Builders Association. It speaks volumes and most eloquently.
Marcoplos Construction
February 9, 2005
Dear President Burgess,
After much deliberation, I have decided not to renew my membership in the Home Builders Association.
From my perspective, the long-term viability of our communities, our economy, and our health is in danger. Our society embraces short-term profit-seeking at the expense of human needs, environmental protection, and a sustainable economic framework.
At the forefront of this short-sighted approach is the Home Builders Association. Whether the issue is building along fragile coastal areas in North Carolina, building housing developments in the Florida Everglades, or battling regulations that would help curtail urban sprawl, the HBA is consistently advocating for whatever will allow more building with less barriers and more profits.
Every morning I ride my bike through downtown Carrboro along Main Street and West Rosemary until I get to work just before the intersection at Church Street. This particular stretch of road contains some strange juxtapositions of land use (and value, I assume) as well as a number of significant construction projects.
As previously posted in Too much coffee?, Carrboro is getting a coffee shop on the corner of Rosemary and Main which is currently undergoing renovation and sidewalk repair. The Herald reported in January that it will be called "Padgett Station Coffee, Tea, Treats" owned and operated by a couple from California. With the wonderful Carrburritos next door, as well as a tattoo parlor and art gallery nearby, this "lower east side" of Carrboro may soon rival Weaver Street Market in hipness.
Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday, February 19, 2005
One of the more unusual ideas to hit Chapel Hill of late was the suggestion, adopted last year, that the town seek authority to purchase open space outside its jurisdiction. On the face of it, this was nonsensical. As Kevin Foy put it last September, "Citizens of Chapel Hill are citizens of Orange County, and Orange County buys land throughout the county. I don't think we have an interest in duplicating the efforts of the county."
But Foy went on to point out that the town's planning interest extends beyond the town line. Tactical purchases outside the town's extra-territorial jurisdiction can help Chapel Hill protect the rural buffer and provide additional open space. This was born out recently when the town opened the door to cooperating on the possible purchase of property along Erwin Road just northeast of the extra-territorial jurisdiction.
Last week the Chatham County Commissioners approved a project called Briar Chapel. It is being described as "another Siler City" (pop. 7,000) - and that's not counting the three shopping centers. Except of course it's nowhere near Siler City, it's over here near our neck of the woods.
Many people in Chatham County are understandably alarmed about how their schools and other public facilities will handle this rapid growth. Here's some information about the fiscal impact of this development on Chatham County, from a local blog called The Chatham Shagbark (sadly defunct of late) .
But being selfish, I have to wonder about the impact here in southern Orange County. Where are these people going to work and how are they going to get there?
Guest Post by Ross Grady
Editor's note: This was originally written as part of a discussion on alt.music.chapel-hill about the proposed redevelopment of 300 East Main Street in Carrboro. For more background, see this Chapel Hill News article.
Most of us who actually live here have by-and-large seemed pretty optimistic in our assessment of this project.
I myself would like to get beyond the current namby-pamby weak-postmodernism that southern commercial architecture seems to be stuck in; it's neither vernacular enough to be useful in the South, nor interesting enough to be, well, interesting. (Like that white building at the western end of the project; I'd like to see more details of that one.)
I'd like to see structures that take advantage of the vast quantities of solar energy available to us here, like the new Club Nova apartments just a couple of miles further west do.
Here's an important message:
EVERY VOTE MUST COUNT!
Please join us – Democracy North Carolina, NC Fair Share,
Raleigh NOW, Planned Parenthood, & NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina
– in standing up for voter's rights!
On Wednesday, March 2nd the Wake County Superior Court will decide
the fate of more than 11,000 provisional ballots cast by North
Carolinians on Election Day. In the still-undecided election for
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the court is considering throwing
out 11,310 provisional ballots, despite a provisional ballot law passed
in NC two years ago to protect against this kind of voter
disenfranchisement. More than 11,000 North Carolinians could lose their
voice in matters that directly affect them as tax-paying citizens in
North Carolina – representation in our state government! We must
act now!
Show your support by participating in any or all of the following activities on March 2nd:
Guest Post by Teresa Champion
I am a student doing research on the role of community oriented local blogging sites in community involvement and building a sense of community that exists outside of the internet. I am looking for a few volunteers to take a short email interview. If you are interested in helping me out please send me a private email to techamp at email.unc.edu .
Also, it would benefit my research to gain a general understanding from blog participants about this site. I would like to pose the following question for open discussion: What do you see Orange Politics as creating?
Guest Post by Roland Giduz
To: Chapel Hill Town Council
From: Roland Giduz, local citizen
In re: Council's Legislative Agenda
This just in from Chapel Hill:
Town Planning Director Roger Waldon announced today that he will retire effective June 1. Waldon will begin a new career as a private planning consultant.
“No one can match Roger's combination of intellect, creativity, and enormous work production,†said Town Manager Cal Horton. “He is both a model civil servant and a model community volunteer.â€Â
...
Town Manager Horton will make a decision about interim leadership for the Planning Department within a few weeks.
Town News, 2/28/05
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