Ruby Sinreich's blog

Want to be mayor for life?

Maybe now you can in Chapel Hill.

By way of Kirk Ross of Exile on Jones Street and The Independent Weekly:

A few minutes ago the NC House passed H2324 which eliminates a term limit section on the office of Mayor of Chapel Hill from the town charter.

Anybody know anything about this?

Well I looked up H2324, and it says:

Short Title: Chapel Hill Charter Amendment.
Sponsors: Representatives Insko and Hackney (Primary Sponsors).

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL TO REPEAL TERM LIMITS FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1. Section 2.1 of the Charter of the Town of Chapel Hill, being Chapter 473 of the 1975 Session Laws, as rewritten by Section 6 of Chapter 911 of the 1981 Session laws, reads as rewritten:

Seeking downtown leaders

I just got this by e-mail:

The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership has two available board positions beginning July 1, 2006.

The first is a Town of Chapel Hill appointed position. It is a three year term, running July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2009. Eligible applicants are downtown property owners that contribute to the Municipal Service District Tax.

Town Council will appoint this position on June 26, 2006.

The second is a CHDP board appointed position. It is a one-year term, running July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007. Anyone can apply for this position.

The Board will appoint this position in June 28, 2006.

To apply for either position – please go to www.chapelhilldowntownpartnership.com and link onto the link at the bottom of the page for the application. The application should be sent to the Town Clerk's office ASAP.

Manager selection sprint

One week from now, Chapel Hill may have already hired it's new top executive. The Town Council is literally speeding through the process of selecting a new town manager.

Today the candidates will be touring Chapel Hill, on Tuesday and Wednesday they will be interviewed by the search committee and individual Council members, on Wednesday they will make presentations and tale questions at a public forum at Town Hall. Then on Friday and Saturday the Council has scheduled 12 hours of meetings to decide and make an offer to one lucky white guy. (I just noticed that the Council search committee is all men as well, hmm...)

While there is certainly a big gap to fill in our current manager's shoes, we have two very capable assistant town managers who can easily keep things afloat. I don't see the point of rushing this process just to get someone fully in place before our current manager leaves in September. It seems more important to me do it right than to do it fast.

Modification #3

I just received the following e-mail from UNC local relations director Linda Convissor. Development plan modifications can range from massive to minor, and the Town is required (by the OI-4 zoning regulation) to review and approve it in 120 days - less time than a typical special use permit.

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

Many of you have expressed interest in our campus planning and the Town of Chapel Hill's review of our construction plans. I wanted to let you know that on June 12 we submitted an application for modification of the campus Development Plan to the Town. This followed the April 19 concept plan review by the Town Council.

Development Plan Modification 3 consists of several new projects while others are revisions to projects the Town has previously approved. The projects include pedestrian improvements, academic, research and office buildings, infrastructure and athletic facilities. There are three parking deck proposals that shift spaces but do not add any additional parking spaces beyond what the Town has previously approved.

Bad district plan is also illegal

This seems like a good opportunity for the Commissioners to toss out the current plans which seem to be designed to to widen the north-south divide without increasing the amount of democratic representation for diverse ideas from across the county.

State law says no more than half of a board of commissioners can be elected at-large. But in a proposal the current board of commissioners endorsed in April, Chapel Hill Township would nominate two members; the rest of the county, in its district, would nominate one member; and four other commissioners would be elected at-large.
- heraldsun.com: Commission district plan violates N.C. law, 6/14/06

I must admit I'm confused since the current board is elected 100% at-large. Doesn't that violate the law they are citing?

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