January 2010
Before going to bed on this first day of the new year I wanted to take a moment to say Happy New Year to all my friends & fellow bloggers on Orange Politics. It has been a busy year in local politics, and national politics too. Here is a rather optomistic view of the president's first year in office. I for one think there is a lot more work to be done, but I think it is far from a bad start: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/1/820494/-Where-we-were,-and-where-we-are
Happy New Year!!! How did you celebrate? What resolutions did you make? How will the glasses "0" shortage be solved?
As you can see, the "double 0" glasses crisis has been averted for a year by centering 2010! with a exclamation point, but we must demand more sustaintable solutions.
We had a small party at my place with food, drinks, games,
some Mario Kart wii, and of course watching the ball drop.
I'd like to remind everyone that Triangle Transit has some new route and schedule changes effective today as well as some fare changes. In particular I'd like to point out that travel on Triangle Transit is now free for those 65 years or over and for those under 12. So if you know of someone who might benefit from these free fares please mention it to them. Also mention the useful trip planner available at http://www.gotriangle.org/
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.
Kirk Ross had a good preview of the coming electoral season in The Carrboro Citizen last week. He highlighted the battle for Ellie Kinnaird's N.C. Senate seat as she will really be retiring this year (we think.) I'm amused that after his bold declaration that he'd be back after losing to Kinnaird in the 2008 primary, Moses Carey is now quietly enjoying his N.C. state goverment appointment instead of gearing up for a campaign.
Kirk also introduced the emerging races for County Comissioner...
The Democratic Party has proven to be a failure and has demonstrated time after time that it will support the agenda of corporations and the wealthy elites over the general citizenry. Due to onerous ballot access laws and the overwhelming majority of the media that are owned by the same wealthy powers who buy our politicians, third party efforts have not gotten much traction onthe heavily-sloped playing field.
I believe that a first step toward authentic democracy is to liberate citizens from party affiliation. Then, with a sufficient number of citizens who are not affiliated with either party, we can take the next step toward organizing a party that would truly represent ordinary citizens. Think of it as a weaning process.
How about a goal of making Orange County the first county in the United States to have a majority of independent or unaffiliated voters? It would not affect anyone's ability to vote in primaries - just choose which party when you vote. There would be no sacrifice of voting power, but it would send a message that we are not being adequately represented by the out-of-touch Democratic and Republican parties.
Tomorrow is the second public information session on the Town of Chapel Hill's Long Range Transit Plan.
James Carnahan wrote a great opinion piece in the Carrboro Citizen last month about the LRTP and the importance of public engagement with the questions it raises. Here's just a bit, I recommend reading the entire thing:
This document will play an important role in future investments we
make in transit infrastructure, and thus in our ability to reduce our
greenhouse gas emissions, increase the walkability of our towns and
enhance the vitality of our local economy.
Hey, it's been a while and I miss y'all! Let's get together for a seasonal OrangePolitics Happy Hour where we can meet up face to face for bonding, kvetching, etc. Community leaders are encouraged to come, so bring your favorite neighborhood activist or elected official.
Thursday, January 28th from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. Place to be determined, but I'm liking The Station lately...
Date:
Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 12:30pm
A "tweet up" is like a meet up, but it gets twittered about more than blogged. ;-)
The Community Technology Forum will feature a panel of guests led by UNC journalism professor Paul Jones who is also the director of ibiblio, an information software program.
Other panelists include Carrboro Creative Coworking Founder Brian Russell and WCHL’s own Sales & Marketing Coordinator Molley Buckely.
So, if you are looking to meet the people you follow online in person, exchange ideas about the uses of Twitter, or just want to know what the Tweet everyone’s Twittering about it, drop in on the Carrboro Tweet Up. It’ll start at 6:30 p.m. February 19th at the Century Center in downtown Carrboro. Dallas has chosen the Twitter book and All A Twitter for recommended reading. People ages 16 and up and all Chapel Hillians are invited.
- WCHL: Cybrary To Hold Carrboro Tweet Up, 1/12/10
Hopefully we don't need to have read the book to enjoy the panel and discussion. :-)
Date:
Friday, February 19, 2010 - 1:30pm
Date:
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 - 12:00pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Blvd, Chapel Hill
From the Town web site:
A public information meeting will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 20, on new riparian buffer regulations for Chapel Hill.
A riparian buffer is a vegetated area near a stream that helps protect
waterways from the impact of adjacent land uses and pollution. The
meeting will be held in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin
Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Town of Chapel Hill stormwater management and planning staff members
will describe the process for adopting changes to the Town's Land Use
Management Ordinance to comply with new state and federal rules that
aim to reduce pollution flowing into streams and Jordan Lake. The lake
is a major drinking water supply to Wake and Chatham Counties, and a
popular recreation area and wildlife habitat.
The new rules necessitate text amendments in Chapel Hill’s Land Use
Management Ordinance regarding protection of riparian buffers. Staff
will discuss what the rules will mean to property owners and how they
will affect maintenance and development near riparian buffers.
The Town has riparian buffer protection requirements contained in
its Resource Conservation District (RCD) provisions of the Land Use
Management Ordinance. However, the current provisions do not address
all of the Jordan Lake buffer protection criteria. The local program
must consist of ordinances, policies, and procedures for protecting the
riparian buffer, determining variances, record keeping, and
enforcement.
All waterways in Chapel Hill and its planning jurisdiction flow into
the Upper New Hope Arm of Jordan Lake. This area of the lake
experiences frequent algal blooms due to overloads of nitrogen and
phosphorous. The algal blooms can cause taste and odor problems in
drinking water, kill or stress aquatic life, and release toxins into
the water. Riparian buffers are important in providing vegetation to
filter stormwater runoff and to stabilize streambanks. They reduce
erosion and sedimentation and the corresponding pollutants that flow
into the lake.
There will be opportunity for additional public input during a Town
Council public hearing tentatively scheduled for Feb. 15. If you are
unable to attend the public information meeting, please submit comments
to Sue Burke, stormwater management engineer, at sburke@townofchapelhill.org or Kendal Brown, principal planner, at kbrown@townofchapelhill.org.
These comments will receive the same consideration as those from the
public session. For more information, call Sue Burke at 919-969-7266 or
visit www.jordanlake.org/home.
Date:
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 12:00pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Blvd, Chapel Hill
From the Town web site:
A public information session about tree protection and updating the
Tree Protection Ordinance will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan.
19, at Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The
ordinance revision is linked to a Town-wide commitment to
sustainability with the potential to reduce carbon emissions and
decrease the urban “heat-island” effect. The proposed update to the ordinance would establish a new vision
statement that calls for a balanced approach to protecting Chapel
Hill’s trees without overregulation of residential properties and
property owners. Draft language proposes a permitting process for tree
removal on private property, including some residential lots. The process for changing the ordinance is as follows. After the
public information sessions (and earlier session was held on Oct. 26,
2009), Town staff will provide options to the Planning Board and Town
Council for review. The Planning Board’s recommendation will be
provided to the Town Council on Feb. 22, when a public hearing is
scheduled for additional public comment. If you are unable to attend the public information meeting, please submit comments to treeprotection@townofchapelhill.org.
These comments will receive the same consideration as those from the
public session. For more information, call 919-968-2728 or visit www.townofchapelhill.org/trees
where all materials including the draft update to the ordinance,
information presentations including a Frequently Asked Questions guide,
and public comments are posted.
Date:
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 - 12:00pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Blvd, Chapel Hill
The 25th Annual University/Community Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Banquet will be at 6 p.m. at the Friday Center, 100 Friday Center
Drive. This year's keynote speaker will be Rev. Mitchell Simpson of
University Baptist Church. For ticket information and availability,
call (919) 962-6962 or go to www.unc.edu/diversity/mlk/.
Date:
Sunday, January 17, 2010 - 1:00pm
Location:
Friday Center, 100 Friday Center Dr., Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Branch of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People will sponsor its annual Martin L. King,
Jr. Day Rally, March and Worship Service at 9 a.m. Everyone is welcome
to join them for a peaceful rally, followed with a march down Franklin
Street starting at the Post Office at 179 E. Franklin St. that starts
at 10:15 a.m. The march will end at First Baptist Church, where the
worship service will start at 10:30 am.
Date:
Monday, January 18, 2010 - 4:00am
Location:
Post Office at 179 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill
Anyone who ever tries to get to and from businesses on the east side of Estes Dr. south of Franklin St. knows that it's a treacherous errand, no matter where you're coming from. I've become better than a FedEx driver when it comes to planning right-turn-only routes. While I'm sorry to see Walker's BP station go and have mixed feelings about the possibility of a Walgreens there (esp. since Kerr has left the mall), this does present an opportunity to think hard about the miserable traffic patterns in the area.
Given a few recent political developments this week on the national scale I think it is important to draw attention to them before we start seeing negative local implications. With Scott Brown winning Ted Kennedy's old seat and ensuring unending threats of filibusters, with Air America radio declaring bankruptcy we are losing their progressive voice in a media medium that was already dominated by the right, and most especially with the conservative majority on SCOTUS siding on the side of corporate personhood and unlimited corporate financial influence on elections which the republican leadership is already openly cheering... we have to act now before the next elections. Start by signing this: http://www.savedemocracy.net
http://airamerica.com/
If they put half as much effort into the design, safety and impact of this development as they have put into the legal battle, perhaps we would not be so opposed to it. Article from the good folks at the Carrboro Citizen:
Northwest Property Group, which wants to build a shopping
center at the intersection of Jones Ferry Road and Barnes Street, has
won an appeal in its case against the Town of Carrboro.
In September 2007, the developer sued after the town approved its
development but limited access to Barnes Street to emergency vehicles
due to concerns about safety at the intersection. In a suit heard in
April 2009, Northwest argued that the town’s condition, which
effectively killed the project, was not backed up by a finding of fact
on the traffic and safety concerns.
The board of aldermen had sided with residents on Barnes Street and
the adjacent neighborhood who said the intersection was already unsafe
and a store entrance and exit would make it even more so.
It's been interesting to see the increasing heat in the debate about the proposed Carrboro section of the Bolin Creek Greenway. It seems to have created a public rift in the group Friends of Bolin Creek, leading to the apparent self-demotion of one of it's co-chairs. Dave Otto was still a co-chair when he wrote "A case for a concrete greenway" in the Chapel Hill News on January 10th, but Julie McClintock was the sole leader by the time her response "The case for keeping Bolin Creek natural" was published on January 17th.
"I do not think it is in the best interest of the Friends of Bolin
Creek for the leadership to be split in this way," Otto said in his
announcement. "I am therefore stepping back to permit the group to
speak with a more unified voice." He will serve instead as vice-chair.
- Chapel Hill News: To pave or not to pave?, 1/24/09
At last night's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting a decision was put off regarding the Town Manager's recommendation to move forward and issue the voter-approved bond for the Library expansion. There were two major issues. First, the anticipated operating expenses for the expanded Library would result in a tax rate increase of $0.0113. This would add about $34 to the tax bill of a homeowner with an appraised house value of $300,000. Second, several Council members were concerned about moving forward until Orange County commits to a more equitable funding of the Library since 40% of the users and 40% of the circulation is by Orange County, non-CH residents.
Tonight at 9pm President Obama will give his first State of the Union address where I imagine he'll both look back at what has happened in the past year, as well as where we are heading in the years to come. I'll be listening on NPR for the first part since I'll be driving home from Raleigh to Chapel Hill at 9 (I checked with the WUNC Interim Program Director and they will be broadcasting it). Since many local elections are the country will be affected the general mood towards Democrats, and President Obama is the captain of that ship, I think it is a good time to look at what he has accomplished, and what he still needs to do.
At the Town Council meeting on January 25, 2010, I petitioned the council to open discussions about prohibiting hand held cell phone usage while driving in Chapel Hill. I also proposed that the town hold a public forum on this topic where concerned citizens can express their opinions about this issue. Since the election I have heard from many citizens who feel that it is becoming increasingly dangerous to drive in Chapel Hill because people are not paying attention to the road. The problem is particularly bad on campus.
FYI.
2010 Candidate Filing Period
The 2010 candidate filing period begins at noon on Monday, February 8
and ends at noon on Friday, February 26 at the Orange County Board of
Elections located at 208 South Cameron Street in Hillsborough.
All Notices of Candidacy, together with the proper filing fee, must
be in the possession of the Orange County Board of Elections by noon on
Friday, February 26. Filing will be open for the following offices:
State Senate, State House of Representatives, County Commissioner,
Sheriff, Register of Deeds, Clerk of Court and Orange County Board of
Education. Notices arriving after that time cannot be accepted. Filing
fees exceeding $50.00 must be paid with individual check or money
order, payable to the "Orange County Board of Elections". Business or
corporate checks are not acceptable.
Information on the 2010 election, including filing fees, can be found on the Board of Elections website http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/ or by contacting the Orange County Board of Elections at 245-2350.
Date:
Monday, February 8, 2010 - 7:00am to Friday, February 26, 2010 - 7:00am
Location:
208 South Cameron Street, Hillsborough
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