We need to talk — council members with one another and with key staff. By the end of June, we hope to pass a budget for Fiscal Year 2017, which starts July 1, and we still haven’t had those all-important discussions about the best way to spend taxpayers’ financial resources. Guaranteed we won’t agree on […]
Make time for budget talks
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 6, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/06/06/make-time-for-budget-talks/
Add to pre-vacation to-do list: Vote
Your vote in the June 7 primary for N.C. Supreme Court candidates matters more than you might think. The seven-judge panel at present has four Republicans and three Democrats, and their votes on civil rights and quality-of-life issues have followed party lines. The top-two vote-getters in the June 7 primary will vie for the seat […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 30, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/30/add-to-pre-vacation-to-do-list-vote/
Do-good discount
You get what you incentivize, or so hopes Todd Neal, a Northside landlord. Neal sees the benefit of having more people in the neighborhood who care about the community. To attract those civic-minded tenants, he is offering a rent discount of up to $50 a month to tenants who will volunteer up to 6 hours […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 23, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/23/do-good-discount/
What makes a house historic?
Last week, the Historic District Commission reluctantly pulled the plug on a house in the Gimghoul Historic District by approving a request by the owners of 704 Gimghoul to demolish the home. The couple had purchased the house in March 2015 and had come to the HDC with a plan to make it live better […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 16, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/16/what-makes-a-house-historic/
The Woman Card
It didn’t take long, after Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of gaining an advantage in the presidential race by playing the Woman Card, for an editorial to circulate on the Internet delineating the advantages of having a Woman Card — like receiving a 25% discount on your salary and paying 10% more for personal care […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 9, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/09/the-woman-card/
Voices Together
I breezed into the Stanback Middle School auditorium last Wednesday to catch the Voices Together Spring Concert. The nonprofit music therapy program works with kids who are autistic, developmentally delayed or have other serious communication challenges. Through music and rhythm, the therapists help students interact with one another and to emerge from their own worlds […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 2, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/05/02/voices-together/
Shout Out!
A T-shirt affixed to the wall at the library during the Orange County Rape Crisis Center’s Shout Out Against Sexual Violence last week read, “Being drunk and wearing skimpy clothes does not equal consent.” I wondered how many men don’t believe that. April has been deemed Sexual Violence Awareness Month, and the event last Thursday […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 25, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/04/25/shout-out/
Horsetrading at the Council Corral
Two weeks ago, Chapel Hill hired a new planning director, Ben Hitchings, who came to the April 11 Town Council meeting. Much to my surprise, he did not resign immediately; in fact, he participated in our work session two days later. That says he’s a man undaunted by challenges. In a nutshell — we embarrassed […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 18, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/04/18/horsetrading-at-the-council-corral/
Another side of Chapel Hill
I suppose on some level I realized that when I read the staid reports of drug arrests printed in the newspaper’s police blotter not all of those suspects submitted to custody willingly. But this is Chapel Hill. Those drug busts you see on TV — armed officers surrounding a car or battering down a door […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 11, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/04/11/another-side-of-chapel-hill/
#WeAreNotThisEither
Years ago, Chapel Hill adopted a campaign contribution policy to encourage voter-owned elections and make it harder for donors to “buy” elections. Individual campaign donations were limited to $336, a sharp contrast to the $5,100 limit for county commissioner, U.S. president and other partisan elections. Given the recent news about campaign finances of council member […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 4, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/04/04/wearenotthiseither/