County elected officials spent a million dollars of taxpayers’ money on refurbishing a meeting space. You’d think they could have picked out comfortable chairs. Town and county staff and elected officials gathered around the meeting table, as well as those of us in the audience, squirmed and shifted uncomfortably in our seats, not because of […]
All posts in category County business
Assembled governments
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 1, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/12/01/assembled-governments/
Vote Tuesday, May 6
What are the chances that a lottery ticket you buy might change your life? Not good odds. But here’s something you can do that likely could change your life and everyone’s around you. Go to the polls and vote. Tuesday, May 6, is primary day in Orange County. The candidates we elect will make decisions […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 5, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/05/05/vote-tuesday-may-6/
Hauser’s plan for schools
Bonnie Hauser, my choice for county commissioner-at-large, brings a fresh perspective to many important issues we face. In her words and from her experience working on numerous issues in Orange County for more than a decade, here’s her proposal for the county to reprioritize spending to address school funding needs: In my “previous life,” I […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 30, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/04/30/hausers-plan-for-schools/
Vote for sheriff
We haven’t had to think about what we want in a county sheriff for a long time – 32 years, to be exact, because that’s how long Lindy Pendergrass has held that vaunted role. After eight terms in office, the 80-year-old is ready to retire. Six men are campaigning for the position: Charles Blackwood, David […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 28, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/04/28/vote-for-sheriff/
Brass tacks, not bronze plaques
Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed by deadlines, I’ll make a list of all I have to do, then slip in something that’s so easy to do it’s almost a given. “Wash hair,” I might write, or “check email.” I do that first, then I can feel like I’ve accomplished something, and I’ve managed to procrastinate […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 10, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/03/10/brass-tacks-not-bronze-plaques/
Know the numbers
Orange County’s annual budget for 2014 is around $220 million. Chapel Hill’s is about $95 million. Owasa’s is another $43.5 million. Add those up – $358.5 million, even without Carrboro and Hillsborough – and divide by 365 (the number of days in a year), and you come up with the startling fact that our local […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 3, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/02/03/know-the-numbers/
Sorting out recycling
Does Wake County get a volume discount for recycling? It seems to be able to handle recycling at half the cost as Orange County. Then again, Wake County is a little more than twice the area of Orange County (857 square miles compared to Orange’s 401 square miles), yet it has nearly seven times the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 11, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/11/11/sorting-out-recycling/
Who can we blame now?
Chalk up what I’m about to say to jealousy, pure and simple. I’ve irritated a lot of people in my lifetime, but no one has ever agreed to pay me to stop. So when I learned that Orange County manager Frank Clifton walked away from his previous job as manager of Onslow County with $121,000 […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 1, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/07/01/1614/
Business as usual?
Bonnie Hauser, the president of Orange County Voice, sheds light on Orange County Commissioners’ budget deliberations. Here’s what she has to say about the commissioners’ season finale: On Tuesday, the BoCC will approve increased taxes and fees for 2013-14. On top of Chapel Hill’s 2 cent tax increase, the county will add 2 cents for […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 17, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/06/17/business-as-usual-2/
Price vs. value
When I heard about the 120 or so taxpayers who showed up at the County Commissioners meeting on May 23 pleading to pay more in taxes to fully fund the schools budget, I recalled a scene from Crocodile Dundee wherein New York City street thugs brandish a switchblade in an attempt to rob the protagonist […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 3, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/06/03/price-vs-value/