Who won last Tuesday’s municipal elections? The residents of Chapel Hill did. Chapel Hill voters elected four newcomers to the four Town Council seats. (Mayor Pam Hemminger, whose only opponent was a write-in candidate, won re-election.) The council members-elect are younger than the incumbents they are succeeding, and for the most part, seem less entrenched […]
A win for Chapel Hill
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 13, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/11/13/a-win-for-chapel-hill/
The flip side of success
Town Council approved plans for a Wegmans to be built on the site now home to Performance Automall. While most residents of Chapel Hill and beyond welcomed the news, dozens of households had mixed reactions. If Wegmans is successful, it will bring in $336,000 in gross property tax receipts and as much as $1.5 million […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 30, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/30/the-flip-side-of-success/
Sitting on the Historic District Commission
In an interview aired on National Public Radio recently, Magazine Editor Hall-of-Famer Tina Brown described her desk-on-a-treadmill, noting, “Sitting is the new smoking.” That shot a little dart of fear in my heart, because my role as a Town Council member requires me to sit a lot. Council meetings, work sessions, committees, task forces and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 23, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/23/sitting-on-the-historic-district-commission/
Town — and County — Treasures
The alliteration of “Town Treasures” makes for a snappy title for a well-earned honorific. But the roster of seven recipients shows that the Chapel Hill Historical Society wisely seeks excellence beyond town borders to include members of our community county-wide. The historical society has been celebrating Town Treasures for a decade now. The program has […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 16, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/16/town-and-county-treasures/
Economics of affordability
A council member told of going to dinner at a new restaurant in town and having to wait a half-hour for a table. Initially, he took that as a good sign of how well the new business was faring. But once he was seated, he noticed that several tables had been removed since the last […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 9, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/09/economics-of-affordability/
What’s driving driverless cars?
As we plan for autonomous vehicles, bear in mind that the car, not the driver, causes the demand for infrastructure. At our Sept. 18 council work session, town planning director Ben Hitchings presented some futuristic ideas of the day when everyone owns, or at least uses, a driverless car. Our starry-eyed discussion focused only on […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 2, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/02/whats-driving-driverless-cars/
Opportunity cloaked in petulance
For 15 years, UNC has lobbied to close Horace Williams Airport, but the tiny landing strip at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Estes Drive Extension has amazing staying power. Now, with the help of a petulant board of governors, UNC may get its wish. Built in 1928 in what was then […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 25, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/09/25/opportunity-cloaked-in-petulance/
Fighting back for DACA
Donald Trump seems to delight in causing chaos, regardless of the consequences. Like a toddler in the throes of a temper-tantrum, breaking everything he can get his little hands on, Trump gets attention through the disruption he creates. And Congress, the only authority figure that can put him in time out, instead stands to the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 18, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/09/18/fighting-back-for-daca/
Season Premiere
Some of the candidates for Town Council attended our season opener on Wednesday. I hope those who stayed through the development agreement discussion do not rue their decision to run. The Sept. 6 council meeting gave candidates an accurate picture of some of the tortuous discussions we get ourselves into. Council is beta testing holding […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 11, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/09/11/season-premiere/
Two ways to message
The N.C. General Assembly declined to pass HB-746 during its short session, which left one gun advocate livid. The proposed bill would have allowed concealed handguns to be carried without a permit. The bill came to the floor for consideration at the start of a week that would erupt in eight mass shootings in the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 28, 2017
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/08/28/two-ways-to-message/