I go to a lot of meetings, and some of them are productive. Some lay the groundwork for future success. Others are simply vehicles for egos to preen. To offset the waste of time of the latter, I occasionally volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. It is satisfying to see what can be accomplished by a […]
All posts tagged affordability
Women helping women
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 6, 2019
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2019/05/06/women-helping-women/
Generous to a fault
Someone needs to cut up Town Council’s credit card. In recent weeks, our new town manager has been educating council on various aspects of the budget. In our work sessions, he has set the expectation that we will need to authorize a tax increase to cover the cost of all the things we want to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 18, 2019
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2019/03/18/generous-to-a-fault/
When helping hinders
In a recent episode of the TV show The Good Doctor, the main character, an autistic surgeon, wants to minister to his friend who is undergoing chemo. The surgeon tries reading a novel aloud, pushing electrolyte juice, taking his friend’s vitals. The friend, sick and exhausted, tells the surgeon to leave. The rebuffed surgeon shouts, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 18, 2019
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2019/02/18/when-helping-hinders/
Goodbye, 2018
Everyone wants progress; no one wants change. – Soren Kierkegaard We should unfurl that wisdom on a banner over the dais in Town Council chambers, because that sums up the theme of nearly every council meeting. Development proposals dominate our weekly agendas. Every new development brings with it troublesome side effects. In order to be […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 31, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/12/31/goodbye-2018/
How old is too old?
Age discrimination reared its ugly head at last week’s Town Council meeting. And this time, because we were talking about edifices, the youngster took the hit. Staff made two proposals — the first to donate town-owned land to be used to relocate nearly century-old tiny houses to be used for affordable housing; and the second, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 15, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/10/15/how-old-is-too-old/
Where we go from here
Silent Sam made sure that town manager Roger Stancil did not go gentle into that good night. Stancil wrapped up his more than 12 years in Chapel Hill town staff’s top post on Saturday and was working nigh until midnight on his to-do list. The many hours of meetings to coordinate with UNC Police and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 3, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/09/03/where-we-go-from-here/
Affordable Leaves the Station
American philosopher Eric Hoffer would have celebrated his 120th birthday last week, had he not died just shy of 85. Among his memorable insights, he noted: “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” His intuition came to mind as I read one sentence tucked neatly into […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 30, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/07/30/affordable-leaves-the-station/
Quintessential Chapel Hill Fan
When friends and I would go to baseball games at Yankee Stadium, we always scanned the crowd for nominees to our Quintessential Yankee Fan Hall of Fame. Yankee fans were quite different from Mets fans, I noticed on my very rare trips to Shea Stadium. Perusing crowds became a habit, and when I’m out and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 23, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/07/23/quintessential-chapel-hill-fan/
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Is all affordable housing good? Is it morally defensible to put affordable housing somewhere that you wouldn’t put other housing? These questions came to mind last Wednesday during a Chapel Hill Town Council meeting at which representatives of the town’s Office for Housing and Community proposed putting affordable housing on three parcels of town-owned land […]
Posted by Don Evans on June 25, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/06/25/wont-you-be-my-neighbor/
Honor Council
Not long ago, a few members of Duke University’s Honor Council spoke with students at McDougle Middle School about the roles of morals and ethics in making good decisions. Honor Council members set up a scenario for the moral dilemma all of us have faced more than once in our lives — You see someone […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 21, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/05/21/honor-council/