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. […]
All posts in category Community life
The Deciders
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/
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/
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/
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/