No one wants their legacy to be trash, Maria Palmer told her colleagues at the April 8 Town Council meeting. Yet the time, effort and budget commitment for upgrading the solid waste convenience centers in Orange County and mandated curbside recycling lead voters to think otherwise. At the Assembly of Governments meeting on March 26, […]
All posts in category Spending
Wasteful spending
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 20, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/20/wasteful-spending/
Own up to tax hike
Get ready for a tax hike, a one-two punch of county and town both wanting more from taxpayers. Talk of money hung heavy in the air last week, with the county commissioners continuing discussion (kudos to board chair Earl McKee for dissuading his colleagues from rubberstamping approval) of a $125 million bond in 2016, and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 9, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/09/not-in-my-checkbook/
Talk, hear, act
Growth has proved a hot topic in the discussions in the local blogsphere recently. Participants have divided into two camps. One side believes that all growth is good and that new development of any kind will make money for the town and thus lower residential property taxes. The other side believes only nonresidential property is […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 2, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/02/talk-hear-act/
CHALT makes connections
After my children left home, my husband and I thought of downsizing to Hillsborough, where taxes are a little bit lower. But the historic homes were too big, the small homes in a gentrifying section of town needed too much work, and the new homes in the subdivisions north of town left us uninspired. Knowing […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 26, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/26/chalt-makes-connections/
Safety or spin?
In early September, eight members of the town’s communications team won national awards for two public relations pieces they produced. The City-County Communications & Marketing Association bestowed Silver Circle Awards for the “Mayors Innovation Project Video” in the category of Promotional Videos and the “CaPA How-To Guides” in the Internal Printed Publications category. The video […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 15, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/09/15/safety-or-spin/
Escape hatch
When Jim Ward asked Roger Stancil why renovations to Town Hall toted up to $1.2 million dollars — recall this was work that began as repairing water damage after council chambers and the ground floor of Town Hall flooded last year during a torrential downpour — Stancil said it was to remake the ground floor […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 4, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/08/04/escape-hatch/
Breaking inauspicious
You know how you approached the start of every episode of “Breaking Bad” with the feeling that something was going to happen that you didn’t want to know about, but you watched it anyway? I get that feeling lately when I turn on the TV to watch a Town Council meeting. “Breaking Bad,” said to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 16, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/06/16/breaking-inauspicious/
Housing hypocrisy
I couldn’t help but wince when council members began their remarks at the May 19 Town Council meeting after nearly a dozen community members made impassioned pleas for money to support affordable housing. One organization played a 9-minute video of interviews with people who had benefited from affordable housing programs in Chapel Hill, perhaps assuming […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 26, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/05/26/housing-hypocrisy/
Keeping pace with community
Ed Harrison understands that you can’t be a leader without followers. And if you get too far ahead of your followers, your nothing more than a guy on a road by himself shouting, “This way, really, I know what I’m doing.” At Town Council’s May 12 meeting, Harrison was one of three council members to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 19, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/05/19/keeping-pace-with-followers/
Get it right first
UNC researcher and Chapel Hill native David Schwartz turns his analytical eye toward some of the factors that may be fueling our mayor’s apparent urgency to approve Form-Based Code initially in the Ephesus-Fordham area. Schwartz realizes there is more going on with the Ephesus-Fordham issue than simply the mayor wanting to impress his colleagues in […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 12, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/05/12/get-it-right-first/