June 2012
There is a growing connection between open source geeks, programmers, and local government activists. I love it. One of the great things to come from this is a series of events called CityCamp all around the country. These are well-organized unconferences that bring people together to share ideas, learn about local government, and come up with projects to make their communities better. Last year's CityCamp Raleigh led to the city adopting a formal open source policy. So I thought I'd check it out this year and see what Raleigh has going on.
Weaver Street Market Co-operative still has $8 million in loans to repay from its last failed expansion project in 2007/2008. Yet, it is now planning, in its '2022 Vision', to build at least three more stores over the next decade.
I’m sorry. I misspoke. A few of the self-selected upper management in the corporate office in Hillsborough, NC are making these plans. And, to date, have shared them only with other managers.
Owners and workers in this worker-consumer co-op, where all are supposed to be equal, are not deemed equal enough to be consulted on the planning. Notwithstanding the fact that Board Policy and Employee Policy both demand that workers be meaningfully involved in major decisions that affect their workplace.
Which is a good spot for a little history for newcomers to the Family of Weave.
Read OP's live coverage of Tuesday's meeting of the county commissioners.
Last month, Chapel Hill's collective heart broke as another woman was killed in a completely avoidable case of "domestic" violence in front of Scroggs Elementary School. You can read Katelyn Ferral's coverage in the Chapel Hill News for more background about the man who repeatedly threatended to kill his wife, Chahnaz Kebaier, who was a postdoctoral researcher at UNC, should she take their two children away from him. As the story unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear why she would have wanted to do just that.
Monday night (June 11th), the Inter-Faith Council will present it's Good Neighbor Plan and consider a lease between the State of North Carolina and the Town of Chapel Hill for the land and a sublease between the Town of Chapel Hill and IFC to build the new men's shelter on the property.
More information on this story can be found here.
Public comment is expected both for and against the plan. OP will be live tweeting.
A public information meeting to discuss the Chapel Hill 2020 Draft
Comprehensive Plan will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 19, in the
Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The
Planning Board will meet directly following the Chapel Hill 2020
meeting.
The purpose of the public information session is to share
information about how the draft plan is being revised to reflect
community comment and the Planning Board's recommended revisions (http://bit.ly/MIuTDc).
The visioning plan will be considered for possible adoption by the
Town Council on June 25. For those unable to attend Tuesday's meeting,
it will be aired on Chapel Hill TV-18
and provided later on streaming video at www.townofchapelhill.org/councilvideo.
The 2020 plan will be an overall policy document, balancing the many
voices and ideas about our community's future. Previous drafts of the
plan are available at www.2020buzz.org.
This document, the vision and framework for the Town's future, will be
followed by implementation - making the vision into reality.
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and the Town Council have thanked all
dedicated participants for their ideas, work and involvement in the CH
2020 Plan. View the documentary video of the process - http://vimeo.com/43250910
The Chapel Hill 2020 process began with brainstorming and visioning.
The first community
meeting was held in September 2011 at East Chapel Hill High School and
drew 475 people, people who wanted to have a stake in the future of
Chapel Hill. Eventually, the community identified six theme groups, and
the stakeholders got to work. The theme groups are Good Place and New
Spaces, Town and Gown, Getting Around, Community Prosperity and
Engagement, A Place for Everyone and Nurturing Our Community.
Chapel Hill 2020 has about 20 dedicated theme group co-chairs, who
have attended countless community meetings, provided thoughtful input,
and moderated energetic group discussions. They are Dave Godschalk,
Paige Zinn, Rick Igou, Chris Derby, Brian Russell, Roger Waldon, Anita
Badrock, Brian Curran, Maria Palmer, Jan Bolick, Marlene Rifkin, Gary
Saleeby, Fred Black, Nathan Huening, Eleanor Murray, Delores Bailey,
Kristen Hiemstra and Jonathan Howes. Read more about
them: http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1825
Throughout the process, the Chapel Hill 2020 outreach team visited
with all segments of the community and bringing their ideas, comments,
needs and inspirations back to the ongoing process. These community
comments were folded into the process to create the plan.
For more information about Chapel Hill 2020, visit www.chapelhill2020.org or www.2020buzz.org or contact compplan@townofchapelhill.org
Date:
Tuesday, June 19, 2012 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm
The following announcement was released today by Orange County:
Fair Housing Workshop
ORANGE COUNTY, NC – A workshop on fair housing will be held on Thursday, June 28, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Orange County Department of Social Services, Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street in Hillsborough.
The free seminar “Fair Housing: Know Your Rights” is presented by Fair Housing Project, Legal Aid of NC, Orange County Human Relations Commission, N. C. Justice Center and the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Advanced registration is preferred. Contact Pam Reynolds by email (preynolds@co.orange.nc.us) or call 919-245-2490 at Orange County Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department.
Date:
Thursday, June 28, 2012 - 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Location:
Orange County Department of Social Services, Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street, Hillsborough
All owners of Weaver Street Market Co-operative (both worker and consumer) will shortly be receiving an Owners’ News talking about the future of WSM, and inviting folks to stand for the Board of Directors.I strongly urge folks to stand for the Board. If you are less than happy with what is happening with WSM, it is no good merely standing on the sidelines. If you do nothing, then nothing is what you will get. Take a stand, and stand for the Board.
The
Owner News also has an Address from Ruffin Slater, WSM General Manager, in which he suggests that WSM should increase its impact in our community by becoming bigger. I disagree. I think WSM has, over the past 24 years, become too bloated, unwieldy and unresponsive. I believe that WSM can achieve more (and better quality) impact by becoming smaller. Sort of.
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