January 2013
I was in Ohio for the holidays. My sister works for a fastfood place. Her boss told her she needs to reschedule all of the full time employees to 28 hours or less so he does not have to comply with any of the new health law requirements. Is this happening in North Carolina and is it legal?
Loren
This forum, organized by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Citizens Advocating for Racial Equity and co-sponsored by the Community Education Collaborative, the Chapel Hill Town Council's Justice in Action Committee, and the UNC Center for Civil Rights, will feature Orange County Commissioner Mark Dorosin giving the keynote address. Orange County Public Defender James Williams will give opening and closing remarks, and a panel of experts and community will discuss school discipline laws and policies, policing, and their effects on students and families in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and brainstorm possible solutions.
Date:
Saturday, February 2, 2013 - 1:00pm to 4:00pm
I have copied the letter I submitted today for town council. As of today 5 other people have applied for the position. I look forward to learning about the other candidates. Fifteen years ago when my son was one I applied for a vacancy. Since then I've served on numerous committees and boards but never ran for office. (My only attempt was in 1990 when I ran for the State House.) More recently I decided not to run because of my aging parents who then passed away. My wife had an illness but she has completely recovered. My son is older and more independent. Teaching always keeps me busy but I now have a much better handle on it. So I am ready to devote myself to Town Council.
Loren
Application for Town Council by Loren Hintz Jan. 4, 2012
Newly minted county commissioner (and former Chapel Hill Town Council member) Penny Rich just sent a letter (quoted in its entirety below) to Chapel Hill mayor Mark Kleinschmidt. In it she takes strong exception to the behavior of Chapel Hill Planning Board chair Del Snow, who attended a county commissioners meeting last month to speak against the implementation of the Orange County transit plan. (See OP's live coverage of the meeting and discussion of the transit vote.)
While I wholeheartedly share Penny's concerns about Del misrepresenting the town, her call for the town to remove Del from the Planning Board will probably provoke a defensive response about municipal sovereignty, which will make it politically difficult for the town to actually do anything about it. Frankly I'm even more bothered that someone in a position of planning leadership such as Del is working to undermine the large-scale community transportation planning that is so critical to our future. Either way I'd like to see some new leaders on the Planning Board, preferably who appreciate both planning and process. But only the Chapel Hill Town Counil can make that happen.
Filing has now closed for Penny Rich’s vacated Town Council
seat. There will be a special public hearing January 14th where the
applicants will be allowed to speak. The Council will consider
making an appointment to fill the vacancy on January
23rd.
There are 11 applicants to the seat. I believe that this applicant
pool is more diverse than in past appointment processes. There are
4 women, one student, one Latino candidate, one African-American
applicant, one candidate who identifies (per her voter registration
record) as multiracial, and a Republican. Below is a brief
introduction (in alphabetical order) to each
candidate:
Sally Greene-
Sally is a former Council member, having served from 2003-2011. She
did not run for reelection because of job commitments, but has a
new job now that will allow her the time to serve again. She has
written about her candidacy
here
on OP. In that thread, there is also a copy of the resolution
Council passed honoring Sally when she stepped down, which details
her accomplishments as a Council member.
Loren Hintz-
The FBI labels animal rights and environmental activists the
“number one domestic terrorism threat,” and new laws turn activism into
“terrorism” if it hurts corporate profits. How did this happen? Why are
undercover investigators and those who use non-violent civil disobedience being
treated so disproportionately? And what are the real life consequences for the
activists who are investigated, and even sent to prison, as domestic
terrorists? Journalist Will Potter and activist Jake Conroy will explore these
questions from first hand perspectives.
Date:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 7:00pm
Location:
104 Howell Hall, UNC Campus
As many OP readers know, the Historic Rogers Road Task Force has been meeting for the last year to discuss strategies to bring sewer service and a community center to the Rogers Road neighborhood. At the last Assembly of Governments meeting, there was a discussion about whether the task force should continue to meet next year. Michelle Johnson, Molly DeMarco, and I have drafted the following letter to deliver to the county commissioners prior to their January 24th meeting asking them to continue the task force. If you support this effort,
please sign onto our petition prior to January 17th. Dear
Chair Jacobs and Orange County Commissioners:
The Town of Chapel Hill and the Town of Carrboro should not authorize their managers to continue with the Gig.U (aka North Carolina Next Generation Network [NCNGN]) initiative at this time. Both elected bodies should direct staff to send the request for proposals (RFP) back to the drawing board for repairs.
The primary reason to reject the current RFP is that local governments could not enforce important parts of agreements that could come from a resulting contract. Municipalities all over North Carolina have been stripped of any legal authority to franchise or regulate either cable or broadband systems. This is important because, as the current RFP is structured, this is how the towns would make sure we all have access to a new fast network.
I just sent the following to the Chapel Hill Town Council:
I see that on your agenda tonight is a recommendation to expand the Central West committee by one member and to appoint a specific person to that committee. I haven't seen anyone make the case that the original formulation of the committee was faulty. The number and type of constituents as well as the specific individuals that you already appointed have been publicly discussed and agreed upon.
I believe the Town should either work hard to find someone from the public housing community, or leave the seat vacant until you do. I see no reason to make this change other than to oil a very squeaky wheel. I hope you have a higher standards for policy changes than this.
Thanks for your consideration.
The recommendation in question is this: http://chapelhillpublic.novusagenda.com/Bluesheet.aspx?itemid=2076&meetingid=195
Learn more about the Central West Focus Area at http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=2020
At the start of the new year I'll be hosting another round of Open Office Hours in coffee shops across Chapel Hill. Please stop by if you have issues you would like to discuss, or just want to hear more about what local government is doing.
Date:
Monday, January 21, 2013 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Location:
Joe Van Gogh in Timberlyne
At the start of the new year I'll be hosting another round of Open Office Hours in coffee shops across Chapel Hill. Please stop by if you have issues you would like to discuss, or just want to hear more about what local government is doing.
Date:
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Location:
Weaver Street Market in Southern Village
At the start of the new year I'll be hosting another round of Open Office Hours in coffee shops across Chapel Hill. Please stop by if you have issues you would like to discuss, or just want to hear more about what local government is doing.
Date:
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Carrboro's decision to call a special election for Tuesday, March 19 will be a challenge for campaigns, what with UNC on Spring Break starting March 8 and classes resuming March 18. Important media like the DTH will suspend publication the prior week, and while the Town Board has recognized that it will have early voting, March 8-March 16 early voting dates will also be during break when many students, faculty and staff take vacation.
Lots of election stats for Orange in the 2012 general election are here, broken down by a gazillion different things. This had been out there through the campaign with daily updates of absentee and early vote stats, now it includes election day as well.
http://www.carolinatransparency.com/votetracker/gen2012/county/orange/ You can click by method, city of mailing address, precinct, or make a custom query. The age graph is interesting !
Date:
Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - 6:30am to 7:30pm
OrangePolitics is a community resource established in 2003, which includes community blogs, election information, and live online candidate forums. The site has been using Drupal 5 since 2008 and is sorely in need of an update to Drupal 6 or 7. (Learn more about what is involved at drupal.org/documentation/upgrade/5/6.)
Drupal is a powerful, open source community content platform based on PHP and MySQL. It is growing dramatically in popularity and is currently used by thousands of enterprise web sites from Whitehouse.gov to PopSugar.com. Drupal developers are in high demand, so this is an opportunity to develop an extremely marketable skill. The project will be supervised by OP’s founder, who is a professional Drupal administrator and is well-connected in the nonprofit tech community.
In addition to migrating the MySQL database from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6 and moving the site to a new web host, there may also be other opportunities including Drupal theming, developing additional features, or proposing new page layouts for the site.
Budget: $800
Deadline: Flexible.
Come join us at "Sketching Chapel Hill," a series of free
informational sessions on Saturday, Jan. 26, that will be
idea-inspiring, conversation-sparking and thought-provoking. Sessions
will be held throughout the day in the Council Chamber of Town Hall, 405
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill 27514.
"Sketching" is an education program of DESIGN Chapel Hill 2020, the
title given to the implementation phase of the Chapel Hill 2020
comprehensive plan. The sessions will focus on community-wide topics as
well as topics pertaining to the Central West and Ephesus/Fordham Focus
Areas.
DESIGN Chapel Hill 2020 recognizes that the adoption of the
comprehensive plan was not an end point, but a beginning. Now that the
community's ideas have been articulated through the comprehensive plan,
these ideas may be used toward designing our community. This month's
"Sketching Chapel Hill" meets an interest expressed by many participants
during the Chapel Hill 2020 for continued civic education in such areas
as designing public spaces, zoning rules, transportation system,
landscape design, and more.
"We are looking forward to continued public involvement as we begin
to evaluate and implement the goals and action items for the goals - and
take other steps towards implementing the Chapel Hill 2020 Plan," said
Mary Jane Nirdlinger, director of policy and strategic planning for the
Town of Chapel Hill.
"Sketching" participants may come for all sessions or drop in for topics of interest. For more
information, contact Megan Wooley, housing and neighborhood services planner, at mwooley@townofchapelhill.org or 919-969-5059. To learn more about DESIGN Chapel Hill 2020, visit www.townofchapelhill.org/design
***
Schedule for Sketching Chapel Hill
Saturday, January 26
Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
8:30 a.m.: Sign-in Begins
9:15 a.m.: Welcome
9:30-10:30 a.m.: Session 1: Creating Healthy Hubs Through Zoning
Presenter: Roger Waldon, Principal, Clarion Associates
Resources
Before this session, you could watch this presentation about Form-Based Codes: http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=5&clip_id=1396. This presentation was given by Lee Einsweiler, Principal at Code Studio, on March 15, 2012.
10:45-11:45 a.m.: Session 2: Growing Creative Businesses and Community Spaces
Presenters: Judith Cone, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Bobby Funk, Assistant Director, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership
Len Wohadlo, Founder, 3 Birds Marketing
Resources
Before this session, be sure to check out the LAUNCH-CHAPEL HILL website: http://launchchapelhill.com/home
11:45 a.m.-1:15 p.m.: Break for Lunch
1:15-2:15 p.m.: Session 3: Making Transportation Decisions on a Local Level
Presenter: George Alexiou, Principal, Martin/Alexiou/Bryson
Resources
Before this session, check out the Town's Complete Streets webpage: http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=1599
Also, be sure to watch the special topics presentation about Chapel Hill's Future Transit Network: http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=1326.
This presentation was given by David Bonk, Long Range and
Transportation Manager, and Steve Spade, the former director of Chapel
Hill Transit, on February 10, 2012.
2:30-3:30 p.m.: Session 4: Carolina North
Update
Presenter: Bruce Runberg, Associate Vice Chancellor of Facilities,
Operations, Planning & Design, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Resources
Before this session, check out the Town's Carolina North webpage: http://www.townofchapelhill.org/index.aspx?page=900
Also, be sure to watch this special topics presentation about Student Housing: http://chapelhill.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=9&clip_id=1569. This presentation was given by representatives from UNC Student Affairs on August 15, 2012.
Date:
Saturday, January 26, 2013 - 9:30am to 3:30pm
Location:
Council Chamber, Chapel Hill Town Hall
The rain has been pouring down and I'm thinking even if the snow doesn't stick, temperatures below freezing tonight are going to make tomorrow morning treacherous at best.
How is everyone doing out there? Did you stock up on your white stuff? Feel free to share updates closings, conditions, etc.
Any thoughts about what we should do?
Date:
Saturday, February 23, 2013 - 12:00pm
The Justice United Foreclosure Team,
the Centre for Homeownership, and the UNC School of Law will be
co-hosting the workshop. This event is targeted towards homeowners who
are at risk of foreclosure. Topics to be addressed will include the
foreclosure process and ways that homeowners can avoid foreclosure.
Date:
Thursday, February 7, 2013 - 10:00am to 12:00pm
Location:
United Church of Chapel Hill (1321 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, 27514)
Join us for our monthly open meeting to discuss what's happening on OrangePolitics and Orange County.
Standing agenda:
- Debrief the past month on the site.
- Upcoming posts
- Editorial and technical issues
- OP events
Date:
Sunday, February 17, 2013 - 10:00am to 12:00pm
Location:
Bread and Butter Bakery, 503 West Rosemary Street Chapel Hill, NC 27516
The applicant selected to fill the seat vacated by Penny RIch when she became a member of the Orange County Board of Commissioners will be announced. The full agenda is available
here.
Date:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 7:00pm to 11:00pm
Date:
Monday, January 28, 2013 - 7:00pm
See Monday night's agenda
here.
Date:
Monday, February 11, 2013 - 7:00pm
The agenda includes reports on the Draft Comprehensive Parks Plan and the Draft Greenways Master Plan and a hearing on the sign ordinance:
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2.
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Public
Hearing: Draft Comprehensive Parks Plan.
PRESENTER: Ray (Butch) Kisiah, Parks and Recreation Director
- Introduction and recommendation by the Manager
- Recommendation of Planning Board
- Recommendation of Parks and Recreation Commission
- Recommendation of Greenways Commission
- Comments from the public
- Comments and questions from the Mayor and Town Council
- Motion to recess the Public Hearing to April 22, 2013.
- Referral to Manager and Attorney.
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3.
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Public
Hearing: Draft Greenways Master Plan.
PRESENTER: Ray (Butch) Kisiah, Parks and Recreation Director
- Introduction and recommendation by the Manager
- Recommendation of Planning Board
- Recommendation of Greenways Commission
- Recommendation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board
- Recommendation of Parks and Recreation Commission
- Recommendation of Transportation Board
- Comments from the public
- Comments and questions from the Mayor and Town Council
- Motion to recess the Public Hearing to April 22, 2013.
- Referral to Manager and Attorney.
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Date:
Monday, February 18, 2013 - 7:00pm
Opening
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Public Forums and Hearings
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Petitions from the Public
Petitions will not be acted upon at the time they are presented. It shall take a unanimous vote of
the Council members present for a petition to be acted upon immediately upon its presentation.
After receiving a petition, the Council shall, by simple motion, dispose of it as follows: consideration
at a future regular meeting of the Council; or referral to another board or committee for study and
report; or referral to the Town Manager for investigation and report; or receive for information.
(Receiving does not imply approval, agreement, or consent.)
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Announcements by Council members
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Consent
Items of a routine nature will be placed on the Consent Agenda to be voted on in a block.
Any item may be removed from the Consent Agenda by request of the Mayor or any Council Member.
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Information
These items are reports or information for the Council. |
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| Consider
Application for Zoning Atlas Amendment - The Bicycle Apartments at
Central Park, 602 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (R-5)(O-1)(R-6)
PRESENTER: Phil Mason, Principal Planner
- Without
objection, the Manager's revised report and any other materials
submitted at the hearing for consideration by the Council will be
entered into the record.
- Introduction and revised recommendation by the Manager
- Comments and questions from the Mayor and Town Council
- Motion to adjourn the Public Hearing
- Motion to adopt the Resolution of Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan
- Motion to enact the Ordinance to approve the rezoning.
RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Council
continue the Public Hearing to consider additional information and
receive public comment. We recommend adoption of the Resolution of
Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan and enactment of the Ordinance
to rezone the Bicycle Apartments at Central Park site from the existing
Residential-4 (R-4) and Office/Institutional-1 (OI-1) to
Residential-Special Standards-Conditional (R-SS-C) zoning district.
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| Consider Application for Special Use Permit - The Bicycle Apartments at Central Park, 602 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (R-7)(R-8)(R-9)(R-10)
PRESENTER: Phil Mason, Principal Planner
Swearing of all persons wishing to present evidence
- Without objection, the
Manager's revised report and any other materials submitted at the
hearing for consideration by the Council will be entered into the record
- Introduction and revised recommendation by the Manager
- Comments and questions from the Mayor and Town Council
- Applicant's statement regarding proposed conditions
- Motion to adjourn the Public Hearing
- Motion
to adopt Revised Resolution approving the partial revocation of the
existing Special Use Permit for Northampton Plaza and Northampton
Terrace Apartments
- Motion to adopt Revised Resolution A approving the Special Use Permit
RECOMMENDATIONS: That the Council
continue the Public Hearings to consider additional information and
receive public comment. We recommend adoption of the Revised Resolution
to approve a partial revocation of the existing Special Use Permit to
change the area encumbered by that permit, and adoption of Revised
Resolution A to approve the alternative plan for the proposed
multi-family development.
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Reserved for Discussion of Consent Agenda Items if Necessary
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REQUEST FOR CLOSED SESSION TO DISCUSS PROPERTY ACQUISITION, PERSONNEL, AND LITIGATION MATTERS |
Date:
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 7:00pm
Watch the Tar Heels play Florida State with the OP gang.
Tentatively to be held at R & R Grill.
Date:
Sunday, March 3, 2013 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Copied from a friend's Facebook status:
JOIN US FOR THE ANNUAL CHAPEL HILL/CARRBORO
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
RALLY, MARCH AND SERVICE
Sponsored by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Branch of the NAACP
9:00 AM - Rally at Chapel Hill Peace and Justice Plaza (in front of Franklin Street Post Office)
March to First Baptist Church, 106 N. Roberson Street, Chapel Hill, NC
10:30 AM - Service Begins
The featured speaker at the Rally at Peace and Justice Plaza will be Chavez Ricardo Adams,
President of the UNC-Chapel Hill Chapter of the NAACP
The featured speaker at the MLK Service will be Thurman Couch, Director of Operations, Couch & Associates
Date:
Monday, January 21, 2013 - 9:00am to 1:00pm
Location:
Peace and Justice Plaza to First Baptist Church
See full agenda at http://owasa.org/client_resources/about/agendas/2013/01%2024%202013%20agenda%20for%20web.pdf
Announcements
1. Announcements by the Chair
Any Board member who knows of a conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest with respect to any item on the agenda tonight is asked to disclose the same at this time.
2. Announcements by Board Members
Update on the January 24, 2013 Finance Committee Meeting (John Young)
3. Announcements by Staff
Petitions and Requests
1. Public
2. Board
3. Staff
CONSENT AGENDA
Action
1. Approval of the Minutes of the December 13, 2012 Meeting of the Board of Directors (Andrea Orbich)
REGULAR AGENDA
Discussion and Action
2. Discussion of a Potential Policy on Public Comments in Board Meetings (Alan Rimer)Discussion
3. Marketing Plan for Taste of Hope Customer Assistance Program (Greg Feller)
4. Discussion of the Rate Study and Recommendations (John Young/Stephen Winters)
5. Review of Drafts of the Budget Planning Documents; Summary of Strategic Issues, Planning Assumptions, and Background Information; Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Calendar (Stephen Winters)Information and Reports
6. Financial Report for the Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2012 (Stephen Winters)
7. OWASA's Approach to Projecting Water Demands (Ruth Rouse)Summary of Board Meeting Action Items
8. Executive Director will summarize the key action items from the Board meeting and note significant items for discussion and/or action expected at the next Board meeting.
Date:
Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 7:00pm
Location:
Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill
Orange County has posted the detailed schedule for the Carrboro special election on March 19, looks like 13 days of early voting in Hillsborough and none in Carrboro.
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/includes/ElectionCalendar.asp
March 19th Special Election for Carrboro to fill an unexpired term ending 2015 for Board of Aldermen
February 1, Noon - Filing Begins - $10 filing fee
February 15, Noon - Filing Ends
February 22 - Registration Books Close for Special Election.
February 28 - March 16 - Early Voting for Special Election
Location
Orange County Bd of Elections
You're not alone. Growing up, none of the adults in my life were organizers. In college, no one majors in "organizing." I sometimes still struggle myself to explain to relatives at Thanksgiving or friends over coffee what I do for a living as "Eastern NC Organizer." And yet organizing is an incredibly important part of building grassroots power in our democracy. My hope is that through contributions to this blog I can share glimpses into the world of organizing and the issues facing Democracy North Carolina and our state. I'll start by sharing about my past few days on the job!
Many here will know exactly what I mean when I say organizer, but I wrote this day of a life in an organizer more for a lay audience. I'm sure some of you can commiserate in the struggles of explaining to friends and family that organizing is a real job, and in explaining what it means. Though I've been blogging on political sites for years, this was
my first go at blogging on the job. Here's another snippet:
We have an amazing opportunity in Carrboro over the next 18 months. When as many as six positions on the Board of Aldermen could be up for grabs. Beginning with the Special Election on March 19.
If anyone, including your preferences, truly wants to serve, they will have more than ample opportunity. So, let’s use these series of Elections to do more than just engage in Carrboro politics as usual.
Let’s use these next 18 months to encourage the widest, broadest and deepest conversation possible about the state of our town, and the direction in which it is heading.
In that regard, I have a challenge to all those who make up the political establishment in Carrboro. Stand back. Let the people have that conversation. Without imposition by you. Let them make their own choices. Without direction from you.
Do not nominate, do not endorse, do not lobby, do not campaign. Do not close ranks to anoint an heir. Rather, step back. And encourage as many different people as possible, with as many different views as possible, to nominate themselves as candidates. And then campaign, only for themselves.
After a lengthy discussion at the January 24 county commissioners' meeting, a couple of decisions were made regarding the continued meeting of the Historic Rogers Road Task Force.
First, by unanimous vote, the commissioners approved moving forward with completing plans to fund and build a community center for the Rogers Road community. There was less agreement about the charge of the task force. Commissioner Mark Dorosin wanted to have the task force consider the potential for gentrification in the community once the sewer was extended to all eligible homes. Commissioner Earl Mckee disagreed, stating that homeowners should be able to decide for themselves the highest and best use of their property. There were a variety of motions, friendly and unfriendly amendments made, votes taken, and wordsmithing done until, ultimately, a motion was made to charge the task force to continue their work on extending sewer service, completing the community center, addressing gentrification, and use of the Greene Tract as a funding option. This motion was passed five to two (Commissioners Penny Rich and Bernadette Pelissier voted against).
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