Southern Area resident and CH2020 participant Jeanne Brown has this to say about the proposed Obey Creek development near Southern Village: As has become a common theme in the two-and-a-half-year-old Obey Creek discussion, area residents found that Monday night’s Town Council agenda included another Obey Creek twist: The resolution before Town Council combined discussion and […]
What’s the rush?
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 8, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/11/08/whats-the-rush/
Accidental free speech
Jim Ward admonished Chapel Hill: No talking on the bus. The issues to be decided by the six council members who made it to Monday night’s Town Council meeting were whether a Chapel Hill Transit bus is a public forum, and if not, what sorts of ads, if any, could be displayed. In June 2011, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 7, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/11/07/accidental-free-speech/
Choose wisely
Some countries have mandatory military service for all its citizens. I wish the U.S. required every one of its citizens to do one week of census work among neighborhoods that make up the left side of the housing price bell curve. We would make better decisions in the voting booth if we had a sense […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 5, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/11/05/choose-wisely/
Yesterday’s transit tomorrow
Smart Transit for Orange County writes: Smart Transit for Orange County is asking voters to vote “NO” (AGAINST) the transit tax so that a better plan can be developed. The diverse group of pro-transit leaders from the towns and the county who joined together to oppose the transit tax referendum said the tax increase would […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 29, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/10/29/yesterdays-transit-tomorrow/
Policy goes; bus ads stay
At 11:20 last night, Town Council voted to suspend Chapel Hill’s bus ad policy. In a memo slipped to council members during the evening, town manager Roger Stancil explained that the bus ad policy the town approved in June 2011 prohibited any transit advertising of a religious or political nature. Thus, once transit work crews […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 25, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/10/25/policy-goes-bus-ads-stay/
The art of the deal
Ah, the nuggets you find tucked away in Town Council’s consent agenda, those items council members vote to approve without comment, unless a council member pulls an item for further discussion. The consent agenda for this week’s council meeting – moved to Wednesday again this week – includes a request to approve the 2012-13 public […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 22, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/10/22/the-art-of-the-deal/
Table talk
John Ager is a member of the Planning Board and co-facilitated the recent Central West Focus Area meetings. Here’s what he has to say: A fundamental challenge lies at the heart of the “Central West Focus Area” debate. This area contains some of the town’s oldest and loveliest neighborhoods. No one is surprised when the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 15, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/10/15/table-talk/
Participate?
Lifelong Democrat Garrison Keillor announced he was going to switch parties to become a Republican because he didn’t want to have to care anymore. Taxpayers who participated in the grueling CH2020 process and small area plan meetings know the feeling. After eight months of public participation in CH2020 – more than a year for the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 8, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/10/08/participate/
ACLU v. Chapel Hill
The next lawsuit shaping up could pit Chapel Hill against the ACLU. On Friday, town attorney Ralph Karpinos received a letter from the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina warning that constitutionally the town can’t bar the ad placed on town buses by Church of Reconciliation that advocates for the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 1, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/10/01/aclu-v-chapel-hill/
Thank you, Gene Pease
Last night’s Town Council meeting ended at 12:25 this morning. And that was after Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt pushed a couple of items and appointments over to another meeting. Ed Harrison was right that, although only one agenda item invited public comment, people signed up to speak on several issues. Only one item – the transportation […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 25, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/09/25/thank-you-gene-pease/