Government

According to the N&O Chatham regularly invokes Jesus prior to its Commissioner meetings. Bunky is saying Jesus taught him to pray, Outz says non-christians can leave the room, Emerson says his Jewish friends don't care...do you?

"I always thought if they didn't like [the prayer], they could step outside," Commissioner Carl Outz said.

"I talked to a Jewish person about it, and he had no problem with the Lord's Prayer," Emerson said. The Lord's Prayer begins, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."

Doesn't seem like a very friendly and welcoming place to me. So, who wants to go to the next commissioner's meeting?

I was pretty shocked to read today that Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy has written a memo to the Town Council proposing that they should end the Horace Williams Citizen's Committee (old web site, new web site). Just a few months ago, I helped to draft a plan for how the HWCC would proceed in the next year or two to study some of the issues surrounding Carolina North and to make recommendations on them to the Town Council.

In all of the discussion of Ken Broun's new committee to advise UNC's leaders, it has always been made clear that the HWCC would still exist to advise Chapel Hill's leaders. I have not seen any change in situation that would mean we don't need this service any longer. This decision would be a major reversal and it deserves more explanation than the Mayor has given.

Chapel Hill has established a Council committee to work on hiring our new town manager. What would you put in the job description?

The Town Council's selection subcommittee held its first meeting Thursday, charged with finding a replacement for Town Manager Cal Horton, whose retirement will be effective Sept. 1, ending a 16-year tenure in the post.

The manager holds the most powerful nonelected position in town government and implements council decisions.

"What we want to do today is begin the process as much as we can," Mayor Kevin Foy said to kick-start the meeting.

The selection subcommittee, which consists of council members Bill Thorpe, Ed Harrison and Bill Strom, as well as Foy, met with the town's director of human resources to discuss initial steps in the job search process, such as advertising the position and receiving applications.