I’m at that age where I repeat myself. For more than a year and a half, I’ve been nagging Town Council members to fix the Ephesus-Fordham form-based code so that we can repay the $10 million loan we took out for improvements to the area. Bear in mind, we put up Town Hall as collateral. […]
What, me worry?
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 15, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/08/15/what-me-worry/
The Deciders
Recently I asked the town manager for an organizational flow chart of town staff that would show who was in charge of what. I received 18 pages of charts in response, most of which broke out the hierarchy of positions in each department. The collection led off, however, with a master chart of management levels. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 9, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/08/09/the-deciders/
Launched
You might expect a low turnout for an event scheduled at the end of a hot day, toward the end of a week of hundred-degree days, in a warehouse venue with only a hint of air-conditioning. But as Thomas Edison said, genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Last Thursday, the anteroom of TOPO Distillery […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on August 1, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/08/01/launched/
Cultural Arts comes off the bench
With the burgeoning list of needs for our town — sidewalks, buses, housing options for people who work in some of the lower-paid jobs in town — spending taxpayer money on art seemed a low priority to me. Then I sat next to Jeffrey York, the town’s public and cultural arts administrator, at the advisory […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 25, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/07/25/cultural-arts-comes-off-the-bench/
Loafability
How often do we hear the community — the people who live here or have businesses here or otherwise spend money here — tout the virtues of walkability? Some of us on council are pushing for creating a more walkable town by advocating for shorter block size (300 feet, tops) for new developments, more sidewalks […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 18, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/07/18/loafability/
Discretionary Zoning
Listen to Raleigh’s city attorney, Tom McCormick: “It is important to remember that when making a zoning decision, the council must consider all potential uses in a proposed district and cannot make a decision based on one specific use.” McCormick said council members have “wide discretion” in deciding whether to rezone a property for a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 11, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/07/11/discretionary-zoning/
Fireworks at stadium, not council meeting
Viewers expecting fireworks at the last Town Council meeting of the 2015-16 season turned off their TVs and computers disappointed. Though we had reserved time on June 29 for a spillover meeting should we not finish our agenda before the hour grew too late, the June 27 meeting got over comparatively early, thanks in part […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 4, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/07/04/fireworks-at-stadium-not-council-meeting/
‘We’re moving too fast’
Every Town Council member should be required to watch a video of one of our council meetings. We’d be mortified by our pettiness. I missed the June 20 meeting because I was part of a church polity updating positions on such issues as the church’s treatment of the LGBTQ community, interventions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 28, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/06/28/were-moving-too-fast/
Ask the experts
Lead, follow, or get out of the way. When it comes to working on the problem of not enough affordable housing, town and county elected officials would do well to choose Door #3. At the joint board meeting of county commissioners and Town Council members on June 2, county commissioner Bernadette Pelissier suggested forming a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 20, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/06/20/ask-the-experts/
Shedding stereotypes
If the members of the political salon that organized the panel discussion had wanted to set up Sunday afternoon’s event at Community Church of Chapel Hill Unitarian Universalist as a game-show spoof, they had all the elements. First the title: “Straight Talk With Real Muslims.” Then the cast: two hijab-wearing women, one black and one […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 13, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/06/13/start-the-conversation/