Even as Tropical Storm Ana showered Commencement festivities at regular intervals Sunday morning at Kenan Stadium, I would not have wanted to be anywhere else. Not only because of the joy of witnessing my daughter graduate, but because of the speech given by Carolina alumnus Jason Kilar, founder of Hulu. On the surface, Kilar looks […]
Lessons from Hulu founder
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 11, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/05/11/learn-from-kilar/
Smart shoppers
As a value shopper, I perked up my ears at economist David Shreve’s message that we should choose new development projects because we want what they will bring to the town, not because we mistakenly think they will bring in additional revenue. Shreve, president of Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population and a former professor […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 4, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/05/04/smart-shoppers/
What our leaders hear
I give Roger Stancil a lot of credit for holding “listening sessions.” Over the past few months, Stancil, along with town ombudsman Jim Huegerich and Rae Buckley, the town’s organizational effectiveness coordinator, has been meeting with various special-interest groups to learn what the community thinks is going well with town operations and what could be […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 27, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/27/what-our-leaders-hear/
Wasteful spending
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, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 20, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/20/wasteful-spending/
Who we want to be
Everybody lives somewhere, Lisa Sturtevant of the National Housing Conference in Washington, D.C., reminded the audience at Chapel Hill’s Affordable Housing Seminar on April 9. The seminar was the final in a series of four excellent sessions in which nationally recognized experts shared their insights into challenges and solutions to creating and preserving housing for […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 13, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/13/who-we-want-to-be/
Skip this ad
With the UNC men’s basketball playing the Sweet 16 game of the NCAA tournament at the same time as the Assembly of Governments meeting on March 26, ours may not have been the only household fighting over who would get the TV. If you were disappointed in the outcome of the game, boost your spirits […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 6, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/04/06/skip-this-ad/
“Them” and who else?
Apparently, I’ve become one of “them.” At the reception the town hosted thanking Matt Czajkowski for more than seven years of public service before his final council meeting, Michael Parker caught up to George Cianciolo, who was heading into council chambers, and asked, “Who picked up the tab for all of this? The town? Or […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 30, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/30/them-and-who-else/
You’re invited!
Matt Czajkowski’s last council meeting will be Monday night, March 23. The Town Council will host a goodbye party for him at Town Hall a half-hour before the meeting begins, and you are invited. The party starts at 6:30 in the ante-chamber outside the auditorium where council meets. At 7 p.m., Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt will […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 23, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/23/youre-invited/
Saving grace
On a recent Friday, Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt tweeted that UNC was poised to make a Big Announcement about Northside, leaving us on tenterhooks all weekend. On Monday, the mayor and UNC Chancellor Carol Folt, along with some neighborhood and nonprofit dignitaries, took the stage and said UNC would lend $3 million interest-free for 10 years […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 16, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/16/saving-grace/
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
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/09/not-in-my-checkbook/