I wish our state lawmakers would do something useful like pass legislation to quell the sex life of trees. My allergies tell me pollen season has started with a vengeance. Instead, the N.C. General Assembly that wants to see a driver’s license before you vote, now wants to see a birth certificate before you use […]
HB-2 & You & Me & Us & Them
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 28, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/03/28/hb-2-you-me-us-them/
Who’ll ride the rails?
Imagine pitching a project to potential investors and not knowing what your project will cost or how it will benefit stakeholders. Kind of like those anxiety dreams where you arrive at an important meeting without your pants on. GoTriangle lived that mortification at the March 7 Town Council meeting when a council member asked how […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 21, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/03/21/wholl-ride-the-rails/
Making the most of Ephesus-Fordham
Last week, someone using the name Jon Miller wrote to Town Council, concerned that proposed changes to the Ephesus-Fordham form-based code would weaken it. I responded that the modifications would strengthen it — taxpayers have a $10 million loan to repay from increased net tax revenue, and the four projects planned or underway won’t generate […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 14, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/03/14/making-the-most-of-ephesus-fordham/
Walking the talk
Every once in a while an insight emerges from those early-morning meetings that makes them worth getting up for. Take the Community Prosperity Committee meeting last Friday morning (8 a.m., first Friday of every month, in Room C at the library; public is welcome). We’ve been working on strategies to attract more commercial development to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 7, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/03/07/walking-the-talk/
No right-on-red is wrong
Once in a while, an unpleasant experience turns out to be a gift. Such was an evening rush hour recently when I sat in traffic on Estes Drive, heading west from Franklin Street to turn right on MLK Jr. Boulevard. Traffic had backed up almost to the library, giving me time not only to come […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 29, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/29/no-right-on-red-is-wrong/
Aging in town
We know we won’t live forever, But most of us believe we’ll stay spry until our last day on earth. We convince ourselves that if we take a brisk walk daily, there won’t come a time when we can’t take that walk, that if we live a healthy lifestyle, we won’t ever have to battle […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 22, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/22/aging-in-town/
… and bathrooms for all
Now I feel bad. At a recent Town Council meeting I clarified to my colleagues my view that the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance — the town law that requires subdivision builders to make 15% of the homes affordable based on Area Median Income — does not mean developers must provide luxury housing to people who can’t […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 15, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/15/and-bathrooms-for-all/
Money, money, money
How to spend money wreaks havoc on many a marriage. As Town Council, with its four new members, begins the budgeting process this year, I wonder how our new council relationships will fare. The town’s financial director, Ken Pennoyer, will give a presentation at Monday night’s meeting that involves shifting some unexpected leftover money to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 8, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/08/money-money-money-2/
Council retreat
I suppose I’d be opening up fresh wounds if I proposed that before people weigh in on the icy sidewalk problem they first go see The Martian. The movie captures one of my core philosophies of life: the notion of chipping away. In the face of futility, continue to live your life. Stay true to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 1, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/02/01/council-retreat/
On ice
The calls started coming in Sunday before the sun had reached high noon. Constituents who live on what’s known as “tertiary streets” phoned me because they knew I’d understand their cabin fever. All of us were iced in, and our good humor had begun to fray. Tertiary streets are those out-of-the-way neighborhoods that are the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 25, 2016
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2016/01/25/on-ice/