Jeff Miles's blog
We're just one week away from our first candidate forum. This Sunday, UNC law professor Barbara Fedders, a specialist in juvenile delinquency and criminal law and an advocate for school discipline reform, will moderate a live online candidate forum for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education.
In a 5-2 vote, the Chapel Hill Town Council tonight reaffirmed Chapel Hill Transit (CHT)’s bus advertising policy with minor adjustments. The policy, which was technically a draft that had been erroneously enforced by staff, makes town buses a “limited public form,” and prohibits advertising that is “disparaging, disreputable or disrespectful.” The main debate of the evening centered around subjective terms like “disparaging” and “disrespectful” would be interpreted by staff. Council Members Eastrom and Czajkowski were the two dissenting votes. Council Member Pease was absent.
The Council also approved resolutions limiting the number of ads with the same message from the same source that can appear on a single bus and allowing staff to place disclaimers with bus ads stating that they do not represent the views of the town government.
In a fairly crowded business meeting tonight, the Chapel Hill Town Council member heard from more than 30 members of the public on Chapel Hill Transit's current bus advertising policy. Contraversy around the ad was sparked by the placement of an ad by the Church of the Reconciliation urging the end of U.S. military aid to Israel. Speakers included several members of the Church of the Reconciliation, the director of the N.C. ACLU and local Jewish leaders among others.
The central question on the issue was whether the transit system consitituted a "public forum." This is important because under Supreme Court precedent regulations on speech in public forums are subject to greater scrutiny than regulations on speech in non-public forums.
This week, we’re celebrating nine years of context, coverage, and connections on OrangePolitics. We need your help to keep it going and keep innovating by helping us to cover the costs of upgrading the site. We’re very proud of our accomplishments, and we want to tell you some of the reasons we think you should support OrangePolitics.
Hosting a Forum for Discussing Local Issues. We provide a space for people to share a wide range of views about local issues impacting Orange County. We spark conversation by bringing together the voices of community leaders and activists in an open forum for civil and thoughtful debate.
Providing the Entire Context. OP’s editors and readers combine many decades of experience in local politics. We provide background, and tell the stories behind the stories that you won’t find in the local media. We follow issues from their beginnings through their resolutions--our posts about the transit tax and Chapel Hill 2020 are recent examples.
In a crowded meeting last night, the Board of County Commissioners reviewed and discussed the proposed interlocal implementation agreement for the recently adopted transit plan. The discussion centered around a few questions: who would be party to the agreement, who would have control over how much of the revenues brought in from the transit tax. I've excerpted the part of the more than 400-page agenda packet that concerns the agreement here for you to see the draft of the agreement itself.
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