Touchstones

The holidays seem to be more hectic this year, perhaps because I had this idea that after we finished our Dec. 5 Town Council meeting and wouldn’t resume meeting until our work session on Jan. 9, I would have a month’s vacation. It didn’t work out that way.

Deadlines continued, as did advisory board meetings. Then there was Christmas shopping, baking, decorating, card-writing, and cleaning for guests. One night as I was making my way through a checklist of things I had to complete before I went to bed, I realized I had lost the joy of the season somewhere along the way.

So I put my list aside and drove over to Chandler’s Green. From Weaver Dairy Road, I turned onto Sunrise, then made a right onto Sweeten Creek. Two houses in on the right, there it was. The tree slathered in red lights. To me, that tree is visible joy. I parked in front of the house for a few minutes and refueled.

Every year on Christmas Eve, after the candlelight service, my family joins me on a holiday lights tour. We drive through various neighborhoods looking for the prettiest and most unusual lights. We’ve made a list of favorites over the years: Old Forest Creek never disappoints; Southern Village has lots to see as you get lost on its winding, intersecting roads; and Chandler’s Green homes seem to be on the cutting edge of holiday lights trends.

But there is something about that red tree that rejuvenates me. I’ve written about that tree before. The homeowner emailed me and said it takes two days to wrap the tree, certainly a tedious task. Maybe the fact that the homeowner goes to all that trouble to share a thing of beauty with the rest of the world is part of why the red tree restores my spirit.

This holiday season, I hope all of you find that restorative touchstone, something that resets your mood, your priorities, your energy and your resolve. Much awaits us in the year ahead. Let’s first find sanctuary in a respite of peace.

— Nancy Oates

by on December 24, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Lifestyle, Trees
Tagged
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 24, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/12/24/touchstones/

Learn the History

When I heard Chancellor Folt blithely announce the plans to spend $5.3 million to build a home for a Confederate monument that glorifies the South’s willingness to go to war to preserve slavery, I wondered whether anyone had briefed her on the battle to build the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black History and Culture.

UNC gave permission in 1993 for the Stone Center to be built after students, faculty and alumni lobbied and staged demonstrations for at least two years to get UNC administrators to understand the importance of having a free-standing black history center. But the building didn’t open until 2004, because the university didn’t include any funding for it. The entire $9 million price was paid for by private donors. Once the building was built, UNC paid for technology for its classrooms.

Read the story here: http://unchistory.web.unc.edu/building-narratives/sonja-haynes-stone-center-black-culture-history/. It’s long, but goes a long way toward understanding why so many people object to UNC’s decision to allocate so much money so readily for a white history building.

Fortunately, the Board of Governors agreed that constructing a separate building to commemorate a past that most of us are ashamed of would not be a wise use of funds. Board chair Harry Smith said the board needs to “go back to the drawing board … and try to get it right.”

No need for the drawing board, really. UNC and its Board of Governors need to understand that while Silent Sam was installed at a time when the majority on campus believed that black citizens should not have the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities that their white counterparts have, that belief no longer prevails.

The Confederate statue had its day, and that day is now past. Pack it in storage, or ship it to the state history museum in Raleigh, or auction it off and use the money for scholarships for students who have had to overcome obstacles the rest of us have not. But do not display it anywhere on campus.

— Nancy Oates

by on December 18, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Museum, Spending, UNC
Tagged
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 18, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/12/18/learn-the-history/

Shelter From the Storm

            I had intended to write about the Silent Sam decision, after first going to the holiday reception Sunday afternoon at the home of UNC Chancellor  Carol Folt and collecting opinions of some of the top brass at the university who have attended in the past.

             But then it snowed, and the party was postponed until Monday evening, then canceled altogether, with the possibility of it being rescheduled for January. And having a true day off, with everything on my calendar wiped clean, drained the bile from my muse.

             My home was one of the lucky ones that didn’t lose power, so I was warm. I could make coffee and cook meals, and I had access to my computer and telephone to stay connected to the rest of the world and other entertainment. I watched some of my more intrepid neighbors head out for walks. Cabin fever set in early for others, and I read posts on the listserv about borrowing snow shovels. When I saw one neighbor slip and slide his car up the street and return later with a Harris Teeter bag, I wished I’d asked him to pick up the makings of hot chocolate for me. 

             Having a day off was restorative. It underscored the wisdom of the Jewish and Christian faiths designating the Sabbath as a day of rest. By the end of the day, I felt I had a different perspective on the feasibility of compassion and common sense chipping away at the vindictive and power-grabbing tactics of so many of our leaders today. Not to mention renewed energy to keep fighting the good fight.

             This being the South, the snow will melt off in a matter of days, and the hustle of life will soon return. The Silent Sam debate will resume raging on. The moral weaknesses of some of our leaders will show up in unexpected ways and need strong voices and actions to counteract. Much will be required of us if we don’t want to lose ground.

             But I hope,especially in this holiday season, that all of us will create opportunities to find pockets of peace and relax into the luxury of some real time off.

             — Nancy Oates

by on December 10, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Lifestyle
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 10, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/12/10/shelter-from-the-storm-2/

People + Places = Community

I spent last Saturday morning in a workshop sponsored by the Historic District Commission that emphasized the importance of community to our quality of life.

I spent the afternoon talking with low-income seniors and people with disabilities about how the town could be more livable for them. The issues they brought up had at their core a longing for community.

One of the featured speakers at the HDC’s workshop, Thompson Mayes, wrote the book Why Old Places Matter. Mayes spoke of the need for continuity in a world that is often changing. Continuity provides stability, he said, and he cited studies of people who had been forcibly relocated to places that were safer and newer but found that their sense of community had been harmed.

The people I spoke to at the afternoon gathering told of how the housing vouchers formerly known as Section 8 were becoming all but useless as more and more landlords refused to honor them. In the experience of these folks, landlords could, at any time, change their policy about accepting the housing subsidy and adopt a business model of renting only to tenants at market rate. The renters’ stability was threatened. When they were forced to move, all of them scattered to different parts of the Triangle, wherever they could find housing in their budgets. Their sense of community had been harmed.

At a community meeting Sunday afternoon about proposed changes at a mobile home park in town, the developers’ representative spent much of the time assuaging residents of the mobile homes who were worried that their sense of community would be disrupted. The owner plans to make room for commercial ventures along the street frontage and relocate some of the homes to the side and back edges of the land. It was not known whether all of the homes would be saved.

Mayes also pointed out that beauty contributes to happiness, though developers and council members often treat it as frivolous. While the people on modest fixed incomes expressed gratitude for any affordable place when they faced eviction, they noted that those places were not designed with beauty in mind. Low-income neighborhoods often are very dense, stark and lack green space or nice views out the windows.

Increasingly, characteristics of continuity, beauty and community are available only to those who can pay a good price. Those of us who are policymakers, who decide what gets built where, need to do what we can to extend to low-income residents the same stability, grace and sense of place that financially secure residents take for granted.
— Nancy Oates

by on December 3, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Economic development, Housing, Land Use, Lifestyle
Tagged , ,
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 3, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/12/03/people-places-community/

Improving with age

An out-of-state developer recently purchased two houses next door to one another in one of Chapel Hill’s historic districts. The Historic District Commission is bracing for the prospect of demolition applications for the two gracious historic homes.

State law, which trumps local laws, does not protect historic properties. If a Historic District Commission denies a demolition request, state law allows the property owner to tear down any historic structures after waiting a year from the date of denial.

The waiting period is meant to enable the property owner and the HDC to work out a way to minimize the damage to the historic district that removing the vintage home and building a contemporary structure would cause, but there is no sanction against a property owner who refuses to engage in a discussion. The property owner can let the structure and grounds fall into disrepair during that waiting period.

What do we lose when we allow historic structures to be removed or demolished? Chapel Hill’s Historic District Commission has organized an informational program this coming Saturday, Dec. 1, beginning at 9:30 a.m. to educate the public on the value of historic buildings. Among the speakers will be Thompson Mayes, author of Why Old Places Matter, and Laurie Paolicelli, director of the Orange County Visitors Bureau.

North Carolina laws skew toward allowing a property owner to do whatever he or she wants with a property, and that comes at the expense of property owners who invest in historic homes. Even though older homes require more upkeep, houses in a historic district sell for a premium, because a buyer is purchasing the ambience of a neighborhood as well as an individual house and grounds. Whether the houses in historic neighborhoods are grand or small, they have unique architecture and often are surrounded by trees that have been thriving for generations. Whether the grounds feature expansive lawns or modest gardens, the neighborhoods take people back in time and offer a singular experience to anyone strolling through.

The town that boasts the nation’s oldest public university tends to draw visitors who appreciate historic districts. Paolicelli understands the revenue-generating potential that history-rich neighborhoods bring.

Mayes, who is the deputy general counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservations, discusses in his book the wide-ranging benefits to us as a society for preserving old places, from the continuity of who we were to who we have become, to the transformation of the ordinary into the beautiful that time bestows.

It falls to the HDC to protect the historic districts, making important judgment calls complicated by outdated guidelines and living with neighbors who may be disappointed by the commissioners’ decisions.

The program on Saturday runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is open to the public free of charge, but please RSVP to rsvpCHHDC [at] gmail.com so organizers will have sufficient food for lunch refreshments.
— Nancy Oates

by on November 25, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Housing, Land Use, Lifestyle, Trees
Tagged ,
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 25, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/11/25/improving-with-age/

Views across the board

When my computer failed last month, I spent a few hours at the Apple Genius Bar, a sort of emergency room for digital devices in distress. As I waited for new software to install itself very slowly, I got to hear snippets of people’s lives as told through their troubled phones and iPads and MacBooks.

One young woman came in with a phone that had stopped doing the things she needed it to do. The good news, the Apple Genius told her, was that this was a software flaw that Apple would not only fix but upgrade for free, if she would surrender her phone for a couple days for the physical repair. The phone’s screen was cracked, though, and Apple would have to replace that, because the technicians would not be able to reassemble a cracked screen. It would cost her $150.

She was quiet for a moment. You could see the budget calculations going through her mind as clearly as if they were laid out in a thought bubble over her head. Finally, she said, “No, thanks.”

All of us lined up at the Genius Bar turned to look at her. Essentially a brand-new iPhone for $150. How could she turn it down? But she slipped the cracked phone back in her pocket and left the store.

I observed the opposite end of the financial spectrum last week at an OWASA board meeting when, during a discussion, I realized that I was perhaps the only one at the table who knew how much my monthly water bill was. Everyone else, it seemed, had automatic bill pay and had no idea how much water they used or what they paid for basic living expenses. The amounts were deducted from a bank account so deep they never thought about it running dry.

People from a wide range of life circumstances call Chapel Hill home. To make decisions that create an environment where people from one end of the wealth spectrum to the other can thrive, those of us on Town Council need their input.

Next month, council will vote on changes to rules about who can serve on advisory boards. One proposed change is to institute a “three strikes you’re out” policy whereby anyone missing three meetings in a row is automatically tossed off the board.

Certainly a chronically empty seat serves no one. But we don’t want to lose the valuable perspective of someone just because the store manager called them in for a last-minute shift or the car wouldn’t start or a child threw up. Whether to keep someone on the board is best left up to the board itself. We need to soften the language to give boards that discretion.

We make better decisions when we have information from different perspectives, from those who know the impact of an unexpected $150 expense, and from those who don’t even know what their expenses are.
— Nancy Oates

by on November 19, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Committees, Community life, Council Members, Lifestyle, Spending, Work and Money
Tagged
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 19, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/11/19/views-across-the-board/

Resiliency

Do weather events seem more severe in recent years? The Triangle Regional Resilience Partnership checked our perceptions against the data and found that, yes, flooding of greater intensity happens more frequently, and droughts last longer.

The trajectory is unlikely to reverse itself anytime soon, despite our efforts to take the bus more frequently or adjust our thermostats a few degrees. Our swelling population uses more resources. We need to build more places to live, and we need to move more people from place to place throughout the day. Even if we employ drones to deliver our groceries and dry cleaning, they need some form of energy to operate.

All of these stressors work together and take their toll. And after every major weather event, we need time for our economy to bounce back.

We can’t change the weather, but we can increase our resiliency.

The Triangle J Council of Governments (we are in the state’s Region J) partnered with the National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center based at UNC-Ashville to conduct a quantified assessment over the past two years to help elected officials and senior staff concerned with health, infrastructure and agriculture identify vulnerable areas and figure out what investments would be most beneficial.

The team presented a summary of their 215-page report (available at http://www.tjcog.org/regional-resiliency-assessment.aspx) on Nov. 9 to a gathering of elected officials, emergency services providers and municipal sustainability staff from the region. We learned the difference between vulnerability (how well-prepared a structure is to fend off damage from severe weather) and risk (the likelihood of a major event happening). We learned the benefits of creating a resiliency plan — higher bond rating and lower flood insurance rates. Maps identified socially vulnerable areas where residents had few resources to protect against damage and to bounce back after disaster strikes.

Strategies included reducing exposure, increasing adaptive capacity and supporting response and recovery. The presenters emphasized the value of working together to prepare for and recover from traumatic weather events.

One example: A large upstream basin shunts more water to a receiving watershed. If there is a significant size difference between the upstream basin and the receiving watershed, the downstream area will feel the brunt of the flooding damage, Understanding that connectivity might encourage the county with the large upstream basin to avoid overdevelopment there and encourage the county with the small watershed to expand it.

The researchers emphasized the importance of putting ordinances on the books to mandate thoughtful development. Chapel Hill already has good ordinances, but the rezoning and Special Use Permit process enable elected officials to exempt an applicant from these environmentally sound practices. Fortunately, we have town staff working diligently to mitigate harm on residents when council too blithely grants developers exemption from those laws.

Holding to our already sound ordinances would benefit our community every bit as much as all of us riding the bus.
— Nancy Oates

by on November 12, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Environment, Land Use, Lifestyle, Town staff
Tagged ,
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 12, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/11/12/resiliency/

What Dylan Teaches About Aging

I went to a Bob Dylan concert at DPAC this past weekend, the first rock concert I’d been to in decades. What a change between then and now. One similarity, though: Audience members were still my peers age-wise. Back in the day, I went to concerts with other teenagers and 20-somethings. Last weekend’s Dylan concert attendees, almost without exception, would qualify for a 55+ community, as do I.

Dylan himself is 77, and I expect that he, like many of us in the audience, looked forward to the extra hour of sleep we’d get from turning the clocks back an hour to Standard Time.

In my youth, an 8 o’clock concert would start whenever the warm-up acts felt ready, or whenever the house filled sufficiently to generate some anticipatory excitement and noise. The headline performer rarely took the stage before 10. Dylan’s concert last weekend started promptly at 8. No prelude warm-up bands; Dylan and audience members alike wanted lights out by midnight.

The Dylan audience was well-behaved. When an announcement ordered people to keep their cell phones pocketed throughout the concert, people did. Orchestra seating replaced the mosh pit. Except for a couple of instances, people stayed seated. No one danced in the aisles. I recall leaving concert venues decades ago sweaty, exhausted and hoarse; my ears would ring for days afterward, and that just served to remind me of what a great time I’d had.

Not that the audience was short-changed by Dylan. He played nonstop for two hours, without so much as a bathroom break. The music ruled — he didn’t address the audience at all, not even to introduce his band. The music moved through him, albeit perhaps more stiffly than it did a half century ago.

And that’s exactly how it should have been. As we age, we don’t live at the intensity we did in our youth. Why should we? We have nothing left to prove, and we’ve earned discretionary use of our time.

So far, Chapel Hill has built one 55+ community of single-family houses (full disclosure: I live there) and has begun construction on a 55+ apartment building; another 55+ apartment building has been proposed. These are the only 55+ living options in Orange County.

For those developments to be successful and attract residents, they must offer some protection from the intensity of life elsewhere in town. Otherwise, seniors moving to Chapel Hill would select from among the many single-family houses, townhouses, duplexes or apartments that already exist.

Bob Dylan structured his concert to take into consideration the needs of his aging fan base. Chapel Hill can, too.
— Nancy Oates

by on November 5, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Courtyards of Homestead, Housing, Land Use, Lifestyle
Tagged
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 5, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/11/05/what-dylan-teaches-about-aging/

Where are the Republicans?

When I turned 18, I registered to vote as a Democrat, and I haven’t wavered since. So why did I feel uneasy when I went to vote last week and saw a string of Democrats on the ballot running unopposed?

Orange County, with the vast majority of its population residing in the southern part of the county near the university, votes blue. Liberals seem to cluster in cities and university towns, which traditionally have more Democrats than Republicans. About 15% of the voters in Orange County register as Republican. So the odds of a Republican candidate besting a Democrat here are pretty long. Why put up a candidate who more than likely will lose?

Because when there is only one voice at the table, we all lose.

We need opposing viewpoints to bring out the best in one another. When one side puts forth an idea, the other side’s challenge to it can motivate the idea proposer to add details, think through the obstacles and refine the solution.

Every election in recent decades I am at the polls electioneering for the candidates I support. One year I overheard the supporter of a candidate I did not support tell a voter going into the polls, “[This candidate] is for affordable housing.”

It sounded great — who would be opposed to affordable housing? — but I knew this candidate had voted for things that made housing more expensive and had voted against things that would have increased the inventory of affordable units. If that Democratic candidate had had to worry about having a Republican challenger, that candidate might have put more thought into his/her votes.

We need people of opposing views keeping the discussion of issues alive all the way through until the last vote is tallied. Just because you might lose is no reason not to run. Vigorous debate keeps both sides on their toes, and we may find elections just a bit less polarizing.

If you haven’t voted yet, please do so. Early voting is open through this Saturday. And, of course, the polls are open on Election Day, Nov. 6, from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Find dates, locations and hours at the Orange County Board of Elections website.
— Nancy Oates

by on October 29, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Elections, Politics
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 29, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/10/29/where-are-the-republicans/

Vote like it’s finals

After my first child was born, I considered making a career change that would involve going back to college for several classes. I lived in New York City at the time, and my babysitter was a student at a different college than the one I attended. All of us relied on public transit to get where we needed to go, and occasionally, when subways ran late, I either was late for class or brought my baby with me, or both. One day, I walked into class, late, with my baby and saw everyone else hunched over an exam I wasn’t expecting.

It was an awful feeling I never want to have again. Which is why, before I go to the polls, I study my sample ballot and get answers to any questions before I go in to vote.

Early voting continues through Saturday, Nov. 3. The last day to vote in these all-important midterm elections is on Election Day itself, Nov. 6.

There’s a lot on the ballot this year that affects our quality of life. Amendments to the state constitution; an affordable housing bond referendum; people in charge of soil and water conservation; judges; representatives in the General Assembly and the U.S. House.

Here is the link to the Orange County Board of Elections webpage that has links to sample ballots for the various districts. Most of Chapel Hill is in G004.

Take time to look over the ballot — front and back — and do your homework ahead of time. Make sure you know who and what you’re voting for before you fill out your ballot.
— Nancy Oates

by on October 22, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Community life, Courts, Elections, Environment, Housing, Politics
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 22, 2018

https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/10/22/vote-like-its-finals/

« Older Posts
Newer Posts »