January 2006
Why are the University's community relations people so tight-lipped about their new Carolina North committee? The town's Horace Williams Citizens Committee (HWCC) first learned about it in the paper in October. But at our last several meetings we have asked our University representative, Linda Convissor (UNC Director of Local Relations) for any news and she had none. When I ran into Jonathan Howes (UNC Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Local Affairs) he asked me why we keep hounding Linda for information.
Perhaps it's because we can't collaborate with a partner that doesn't share critical information? It's also because "UNC news" is a standing item on the HWCC's agenda, and we can't do much of anything without it.
The chairman of a new "leadership advisory committee" being set up by UNC to get input on Carolina North planning will be Kenneth Broun, a former mayor of Chapel Hill and former dean of the UNC School of Law.
Thanks to dent (The Independent Weekly's excellent politics blog) for pointing to a new web site that articulates the plans and the need for serious regional transit in the Triangle.
TransitTime.com highlights the current proposal for a rail line from downtown Raleigh, through Cary and RTP, ending in downtown Durham. It has the first credible explanation I've seen for why the airport is not in phase one, and it shows all the great additional lines that can extend the system in the future, including ones from Chapel Hill to Durham and from Chapel Hill to RTP.
The site even includes a handy form to e-mail a whole bunch of elected officials whose support is crucial to the project.
Sustainability - it's the buzzword that gets used and abused but somehow a useful replacement word is never found. It gets bandied about constantly as corporations, governments, and other agencies seek to position themselves for a future of inevitable resource scarcity, increasing energy costs, and pollution blowback. It gets hard to tell the greenwashers from those authentically committed to adaptation and innovation.
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) recently published its first Sustainability Report (download PDF). It reports on many aspects of providing water and sewer services in an environmentally sound manner such as strategies for maintaining high water quality, a commitment to water conservation, the partnership with UNC for the utilization of wastewater for non-potable uses, energy efficiency, green design features at the new Operations Center, hiring a Sustainability Administrator, and recycling – to name a few.
The DTH reports renewed saber-rattling from Katrina Ryan over Carrboro's vacant Board of Aldermen seat, but no application yet. So far the applicants are: Dan Coleman, Catherine Devine, Lydia Lavelle, and John Marold (whose web site says he lives in Chapel Hill - oops! - but also that he speaks Spanish and serves on the Carrboro Human Services Committee Advisory Board). Applications are due tomorrow, so don't delay, folks...
While Ryan said she thinks the aldermen are not likely to select her after they declined to appoint her in December, she added that she will try a final time for her neighbors' sake.
Her application will include a letter of recommendation from former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, for whom Ryan campaigned, and a petition from 525 fellow annexees in favor of her appointment.
- The Daily Tar Heel - Ryan to pursue Carrboro fourth seat
This announcement via e-mail from Al McSurely:
I hope you will post an open invitation to everyone about the 23rd Annual Martin Luther King Service at First Baptist on Monday, January 16th at 11 am. Dr. William Joseph Barber, Jr. will be speaking on War and Poverty. He recently won the Presidency of the State Conference of the NAACP, ousting the sitting President, Skip Alston, from Greensboro in October 2005.
Dr. Barber held the Statewide Directorship of the N.C. Human Relations Commission in the early l990's. He is an outspoken opponent against the War in Iraq, and takes most of his scriptural texts from the Old Testament prophets, like Dr. King. The State Conference of the NAACP has over 80 Branches, over 15,000 members.
Dr. Barber was strongly supported by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Branch 5689, under the leadership of Fred Battle, and the Northern Orange Branch, under the leadership of Keith Cook. Dr. Barber has named Al McSurely, local civil rights attorney, as the Chair of the Legal Redress Committee.
The Daily Tar Heel had a nice summary of the twelve candidates vying for Carrboro's vacant Board of Aldermen seat. Unfortunately the list was illegible online, and now isn't online at all. The applicants are: Alena Callimanis, David Beck, James Carnahan, Stephen Clossick, Dan Coleman, Catherine DeVine, Robert Kirschner, Lydia Lavelle, John Marold, David Marshall, Katrina Ryan, Albert Vickers.
They include three candidates from last fall, and four residents of the annexation area. Does anyone know these folks and want to give us some more information that we might not have on some of the relative new comers?
Carrboro's staff also plans to have all of the applications online... um any time now. I'll add a link to that when it becomes available.
Next step: the Aldermen will publicly interview the candidates a week from yesterday on Thursday, 1/19/06, and plan to vote on the appointment at their meeting on Tuesday, 1/31/06. There is some discussion of adjusting the process in light of the very large number of applicants.
Guest post by Alan McSurely
Discussion on Impeachment of George Bush Town Meeting
7 PM, January 27, Carrboro Town Hall
Panel to include Dan Pollitt, Diana McDuffee, Lucy Lewis, Al McSurely
- dent : Impeach Who?
When we vote in May and again in November 2006 in the Congressional primary and general election, the most important issue facing us is to select strong members for the impeachment grand jury. The House of Representatives has three main constitutional duties: to spend our money wisely; to declare war when the U.S. is in real danger; and to impeach (that is, charge) the President and the Vice President with high crimes and misdemeanors. The Senate then sits as a criminal jury, and decides whether to convict and remove them from office.
STAYING PROGRESSIVE IN THE 21st CENTURY â— A COMMUNITY FORUM ON SOLAR BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES â—Â
co-sponsored by Neighborhoods for Responsible Growth (NRG) and the Town of Chapel Hill
This forum will be held TONIGHT at the CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 405 MARTIN LUTHER KING BOULEVARD at 7:00 PM.
The goal of the forum is to investigate ways to protect our neighborhoods and quality of life by promoting clean, renewable, and affordable building technologies. These technologies, if applied in future developments like town buildings, schools, development on UNC's Horace Williams property, other UNC buildings, etc., can cut the greenhouse gases being produced by coal- and gas-generated electricity, and reduce our dependence on these and on costly nuclear power. Our region should continue to lead in this direction toward a better future.
WITH SHORT PRESENTATIONS ON SOLAR HVAC, DAYLIGHTING, PHOTOVOLTAICS BY:
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen are interviewing candidates to fill their vacant seat and join them. The fun starts at 6:30. You can watch it in person at Town Hall, on public access cable, or listen on WCOM. You can download the twelve applications at the town web site.
Please post your reactions here during and after the interviews.
Help celebrate 25 years of Internationalist Books:
The volunteers at Internationalist Books and Community Center openly invite the general public to participate in shaping the vision for the bookstore as we commemorate our 25th Anniversary in 2006. We are looking back on the legacy of our founder Bob Sheldon as a source of inspiration, and looking forward to the next 25 years as a dedicated center for political change. We need your help.
We're holding an interest meeting on Tuesday January 24th at 7:00pm at the bookstore to enlist those who would like to be involved in the ongoing planning effort for many programs throughout the year. We're looking for former volunteers who have been away from home for a while but would like to return to short-term service. We're looking for friends of Bob Sheldon who would like to help us carry on with his legacy. We're looking for motivated community members who are looking for new ways to champion the rights of workers, and other underrepresented groups.
Chapel Hill Town Council Member Bill Thorpe is proposing an internship program as a way to get more students engaged in local government. Personally I have supported every proposal I've ever heard to get students involved locally, including reserving seats on town advisory boards to be filled by current students.
Thorpe takes a different approach, offering academic credit and plugging them in on the staff side instead of the leadership side. Still, it could help, or maybe even lead to other opportunities.
Thorpe hopes students will be able to earn college credit and be compensated for their experience.
"What I'm doing is asking the town to certify their internship program, hooking up with the University for the students to receive credit."
Currently, the town hires interns throughout the year and provides monetary compensation but not academic credit.
Thorpe envisions that interns would be able to work in any town department.
We all knew it was coming, In today's News and Observer, Progress Energy confirms plans to build 2 more nuclear reactors at Shearon Harris with a target completion date possibly 10 years from now.
McGehee, Charman and CEO of Progress Energy, says he "doesn't expect major opposition to the Shearon Harris plan, especially after the company lays out its arguments that nuclear power is safe, clean and reliable."
Hmm...
According to the N&O, "The final decision whether to build a nuclear reactor won't be made for about two years. However, Progress Energy plans to begin holding town hall meetings within several weeks to start making its case to the public for the need for more nuclear power." Progress Energy will also need to convince the N.C. Utilities Commission that the plant is necessary.
Progress Energy invites you to email your thoughts www.progress-energy.com
Good coverage of the story at http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/392027.html
In addition to all the interesting local blogs listed on the OP local blogroll, I'd like to call your attention to some of the really outstanding political blogs around central North Carolina:
Facing South - The Institute for Southern Studies has been a strong voice for the progressive south for decades. Now their blog tackles current events across the region in a substantial way. Their post-Katrina reporting has been invaluable.
N.C. Conservation Network - This group connects environmental groups across the state and the blog adds a more personal tone to the issues.
BlueNC - Like a dailyKOS for North Carolina. Covers statewide and legislative issues, each registered user can write their own blog on the site.
Chapel Hill provides many public services to its citizens. Over the years we've recognized the importance for all people to have equal access to basic necessities like water, sewer, electricity, telephone, transportation, roads, sidewalks, parks, etc. (The ones the town doesn't directly provide the state regulates.) As the town moves into the twenty-first century we find that other types of access are just as important, especially in the new global economies.
One of those new types of access is Internet access. (Wi-Fi is one way to access information on the Internet.) It is steady stream of information that allows people to do all kinds of valuable and important things. In only a few years we have seen this access move from a mere toy to an extremely valuable tool. Very soon Internet access will be more than a tool but a resource that we all can not live without.
Guest Post by Jacquie Gist
Help Save Our Democracy!
Please call Congress Member David Price's office NOW this weekend and encourage him to support John Conyers House Resolution 635 calling for the creation of a select committee to investigate the administration. The Congressman needs to know that many in his district consider this the most important thing he can do this term and we will remember his vote come election day.
Contact David Price:
e-mail
Chapel Hill office: 919-967-7924
DC office: 202-225-1784
Local blogger Crazy John pledged last Thursday night to not drive for one week. He's documenting each day on his blog.
Day 1: John becomes increasingly aware of the world around him.
Day 2: John takes the bus, enjoys seeing friends and sometimes getting rides from them.
Day 3: John's resolve is weakened when he realizes that the buses don't run on Sunday and his feet are killing him. "I walked to Carrboro and back in my foot-unfriendly Chuck Taylor's. I can't believe those shoes were worn in the NBA for decades."
What will happen next? Will John's feet make it through the week?
Have you gone car-free, readers? How do you make it work? What can local governments do to make it easier?
The following is an announcement from the Carrboro Cybrary:
On Wednesday, February 1 at 7:00 pm, the community is invited to the Century Center for a discussion about the social, cultural, and political issues surrounding the growth of the state's Hispanic immigrant population as viewed through the context of Esmeralda Santiago's memoir When I Was Puerto Rican .
Latinos living in North Carolina face both tangible struggles involving language and education and more intangible questions of cultural identity and authenticity. The complexities of the immigrant experience are at the heart of Esmeralda Santiago's memoir When I Was Puerto Rican and are the focus of Carrboro's next Community Book Forum. On Wednesday, February 1 at 7:00 pm, the community is invited to the Century Center for a discussion about the social, cultural, and political issues surrounding the growth of the state's Hispanic immigrant population. The discussion will touch on Santiago's book, the current debate surrounding immigrants in the state's higher education system, and the experience of Latinos in our own communities.
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