According to the meeting agenda:

The Council will seek input from the public regarding the proposed process for guiding development at Carolina North. At the request of the Mayor this item has been moved to the beginning of the meeting due to extensive public interest

This is interesting. I may have missed the announcement of this high-level negotiating process between UNC Trustees and the Chapel Hill Town Council. It's not clear to me whether it's open to the public, or if we just get to watch the highlights later.

In Chapel Hill we have a representative form of government that works better than any place I've lived. When I first got here I joined a citizen committee on Technology. I was amazed at how directly involved I could be. But the experience of being on that board also opened my eyes to the many flaws in this process. Yet I still yearn for more citizen input in our Town.

The recent citizen outcry against a Council vote on health care is a excellent example of what happens if you don't have enough community input BEFORE a council vote. This bit from The Chapel Hill News describes the problem well,

Lots of interesting stuff in the Opinion section of today's Chapel Hill News. First is the editorial called Flap over benefits turns ugly.

The council made a serious error in judgment -- several of them, actually -- and in so thoroughly misreading the public's likely response it gave the appearance of being out of touch with its constituency.

But it didn't commit high crimes and misdemeanors. It didn't make off with the Town treasury, lead the town into war on false pretenses or kick puppies. [...]

Plus there is Laurin Easthom's guest column called Controversy stoked by those with other agendas. Its on her blog too.

Since the start-up of BlueNC, I haven't paid a lot of attention to local politics. So imagine my surprise to find that the Chapel Hill Town Council voted on Monday to give its members health insurance for life. I can't find the story covered here, so I apologize if this is old news to everyone besides me.

But old news or not, I have to say, I'm stunned.

I'm surprised to see our Town Council holding an official meeting at a corporate chain. Why not meet at Owen's or Breadmen's?

Title:	Council Committee on Voter Owned Elections
Date:	May 28, 2008
Address:	81 South Elliot Rd. Chapel HIll, NC 27514
Location:	Whole Foods
Hours:	8:30 a.m.

With the fate of the transfer tax not even decided, CH town manager Roger Stancil is already calling for an 11% tax rate hike for Chapel Hill. He warns that property tax rate increases of 3 to 10 cents (per $100 valuation) will not be uncommon in local jurisdictions. (And my guess is that this is a trend that will continue for the forseeable future. )

http://tinyurl.com/45cqlc

It’s budget time again and the good bet is that our taxes will increase. For those who desire/need a historical refresher, read the 2007 OP thread, "No Chapel Hill Tax Increase!"

I never got an answer on what not raising taxes in 2007 would do to the cost of things in 2008. Take a look at the budget documents for this year. The Mayor was quoted in the morning CHH saying that it might take a five cent increase per $100 valuation to fund the forecasted deficit.

And of course, rereading last year’s thread reminded me hom many folks told me that not having an increase last year had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it was a Council election year!

Daniel Goldberg wrote in this morning's CHH about the decision by the Chapel Hill Town Council to devote not to exceed $10,000 more for a consultant to help write the Inclusionary Zoning ordinance.