Ruby Sinreich's blog

Holden Thorp starts his new job tomorrow. I'm feeling very encouraged about his potential to establish a more collaborative relationship between the University and our local governments. I hope he will remember that neither can thrive without the other.

What advice do you have for him?

The following e-mail was forwarded to me by a friend. El Futuro works to help Latinos with mental health issues, it seems like an important program deserving of our support. Please take a moment to contact your favorite commissioner and ask that they restore funding.

Last night, the Orange County commissioners tentatively nixed $60,000 that had been approved by their subcommittee for El Futuro ( http://elfuturo-nc.org if you're not familiar with the organization).

Please please please send the commissioners an email TODAY --their meeting is tonight-- protesting this decision. Based on a conversation one of our board members had with an OC commissioner, there is still a chance to restore at least part of this funding if we can get people to object.

El Futuro is an amazing non-profit organization that serves a population that otherwise would be ignored.

Kudos to the Little Creek Neighborhood Association who are mobilizing to save the nearby Glen Lennox neighborhood from redevelopment by Grubb Properties. They have enough petition signatures to start the Neighborhood Conservation District process with the Town of Chapel Hill. I'm still not sure whether the NCD is the right tool for the job, but it should help to slow the momentum of the developers who want to raze the neighborhood for a new high-rise mixed use development.