You can’t get Nordstrom quality on a Walmart budget. From town manager Roger Stancil’s finance and economic update last night, a report he promised to deliver monthly until the council’s budget retreat in February, he has trimmed and juggled and stretched the town’s budget with the best of them. And the bare patches are beginning […]
All posts for the month November, 2011
Smart shopping has limits
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 29, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/29/smart-shopping-has-limits/
Leftovers
The council picks up where it left off last Monday after citizen input on petitions and the proposed zoning changes in the Northside Neighborhood Conservation District pushed the meeting past its 10:30 p.m. target for adjournment. Tonight council will hear a financial and economic update, vote on the consent agenda, and hear reports on the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 28, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/28/leftovers/
Food fight
The transparency shoe is on the other foot for Chris Moran of the IFC. At different phases of the re-siting of the men’s shelter on Homestead Road, Moran has been accused of a lack of transparency. Now, he wants transparency from PORCH, a local nonprofit in the business of collecting and distributing food to the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 24, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/24/food-fight/
Backbone
Council members showed some spine and some dignity during the contentious start of what could have been a very long meeting last night. The crowd in the audience spilled out into the hall and a conference room and even outside, the vast majority interested in a petition submitted by Jim Neal, calling for an independent, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 22, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/22/backbone/
Library belt-tightening
Does the library expansion construction contract with Clancy & Theys call for providing lunches to the construction crew? Because food is the only general commodity that has gone up in price noticeably since October 2008, when the contract was last drawn up. Yet the renegotiated contract, which appears on tonight’s consent agenda, has scaled back […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 21, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/21/library-belt-tightening/
Anarchy in the USA
You never hear of anarchists issuing toxic mortgage loans. Anarchists don’t seem prone to raiding investors’ funds and ruining a business while taking multimillion dollar bonuses. And you won’t find too many anarchists refusing health care to sick people as some insurance companies sure do. And yet that word “anarchist” seems like the worst name […]
Posted by Don Evans on November 17, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/17/anarchy-in-the-usa/
How far is too far?
The Yates building arrests raise several issues that Don and I view differently. Should Joe Riddle, who owns the Yates building and pays property taxes on it every year, be forced to find a tenant for it? Should police have given the trespassers more notice before coming in to arrest them? Should reporters break the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 16, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/16/how-far-is-too-far/
“Towing” the line
Donna Bell revealed a pragmatic side at last night’s council meeting. Police Chief Chris Blue opened the meeting with a presentation of proposed changes to the towing ordinance, followed by a parade of people who’d had to endure the expense and inconvenience of having their car towed after parking in one merchant’s private lot and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 15, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/15/towing-the-line/
Back to business
President Obama occasionally sends me emails: “Nancy, let’s have dinner,” or “Nancy, I need your help.” But he has never once said, “Nancy, I have an extra ticket to a Carolina game. Would you like to join me?” But this being Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt’s lucky week — he won re-election in a landslide — he […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 14, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/14/back-to-business/
What we won and lost
Jon DeHart didn’t lose last night. All of us in Chapel Hill lost. DeHart has the financial expertise, knowledge of debt and ability to analyze risk that Town Council will need for the foreseeable future. He is a coalition builder and team player who ran a clean, transparent campaign. He can rise above snarkiness. We […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 9, 2011
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/11/09/what-we-won-and-lost/