May 2005

So said Aaron Nelson on announcing the creation of the Chamber of Commerce's latest in a series of high profile “councils” to further its work. What he meant was that the power of saying who comprises “everyone” is worth grabbing. As is the power to identify by omission the multitudes who are not part of everyone even if a place is reserved for a few of them to observe the goings on at “the table.”

What the Chamber fails to understand is that a self-interested organization like itself cannot identify an inclusive group. It is hamstrung by its reflexive assertion of its own narrow interests. Nelson is no more able to overcome this problem than Jim Heavner was with the Public-Private Partnership a decade ago. Nelson has benefited from years of Chamber experience in refining how to make a council look inclusive. Hence, the likes of Bernadette Pelissier, Robert Dowling, and Rick Edens in the current edition.

Internationalist Books is very proud to present the first annual Carrboro Book Fair, to be held from 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, May 7 at the Artscenter, located at 300 East Main St. in Carrboro, North Carolina. Participating book and zine publishers, writers and friends from across the country will converge on Carrboro for a day of reading, information exchange, community strengthening and of course, the buying, selling and trading of books.

Thirty-odd local and national organizations will be tabling with books and magazines for sale, including Daylight Magazine, Small Beer Press (MA), Garrett County Press (NOLA), Ivory Bell Books, John F. Blair Books, Ms. Film Festival, Crimethinc, Parcell Press (VA), Ugly Duckling Presse (NYC), The Drama (VA), Two Cranes Press, Winged Willow Press, Longleaf Books, Carolina Wren Press, AK Press (CA) and others.

Events during the day will include a screening of "Wizard People, Dear Readers" and other films, presentations from Daylight Magazine and Crimethinc, a hands-on zine workshop, readings by local authors and poets and more! All events are free and open to the public.

At Wednesday night's town-gown soiree, all were on their best behavior. The only moment of tension arose when Will Raymond pressed the town planning director on a point. Two hours went by before Elaine Barney politely asked if the university still had a protest petition in place for the proposed OI-4 zoning changes.

But there was one particular bit of hogwash that should not go uncorrected. This was Jonathan Howes sanctimonious prattle about the need for the university to safeguard our tax dollars. That was the primary rationalization offered for UNC's push for a hasty town review of university development projects.

What Howes did not tell us, but surely knows, is that state funding accounts for only 20-some percent of the university budget (see, for example, UNC says state funds are just 25% of budget).

In misrepresenting this fact, Howes is playing on public misconceptions. In its Feb. 26, 2004 issue, the Triangle Business Journal reported on a UNC survey which found that

I was a bit turned off when I read the Herald-Sun's recent announcement that they would introduce a Faith and Family section to the paper. This smacked of the familiar right-wing conflation that would twist social relations to conform to some conservative religious viewpoint.

Based on today's debut of the section, it turns out to not be so bad. They've wrapped the religion pages around a page with a couple of secular articles on family matters (including a topic big in my household: kindergarten).

There was a bit of a tease presented in the form of a photo of two women embracing, looking as if they might be about to kiss. No it wasn't for an article on girl-on-girl faith&family fun. It was for a discussion of trends in baby showers.

Still, the section's title does not have the inclusive sensibility that I would look for in our local paper. It is offensive to those whose families follow the faith-free path.

Speculation about Carrboro's upcoming elections deserves its own thread. The Chapel Hill News today reported that Alderman McDuffee would almost certainly not run again and Gist quite possibly not with Herrera unknown. That leaves at least one open alderman seat and possibly as many as three. We already know that Mike Nelson will step down so there may be a competitive race for mayor as well.

The News speculated about three possible non-incumbent candidates, all fairly well-known: Catherine DeVine, James Carnahan, and Randee Haven-O'Donnell. All three are advisory board veterans, DeVine more associated with the arts, Carnahan and Haven-O'Donnell with planning and the environment.

All three are to some extent status quo candidates within the Carrboro context. The News did not report on any Steve Rose or Jeff Vanke type challengers. Reporter Dave Hart did not indicate whether he beat the bushes and couldn't find any.

Regular readers of my part-time employer, the Chapel Hill Herald, will surely have noticed its editorialists' unflagging support for UNC's growth plans. In a Wednesday editorial titled "Carolina North is coming closer", they wrote that Carolina North is "getting ready to splash across the front pages." They went on to discuss a "new, revised plan" that they said would be presented to the trustees.

This prompted Vice Chancellor Tony Waldrop to write a letter, appearing in today's paper, correcting the editorial and pointing out that what will be presented is only an update and information on a study of potential airport sites.

The irony for me is that I have written repeatedly urging people not to overstate or over-react to events surrounding the proposed Carolina North. Now the university is doing the same!

The encouraging bit in the Herald editorial was their concluding hope that the university has heard concerns already expressed on Carolina North. Given the paper's often disdainful attitude toward those concerned with the impact of UNC's plans, this could be a very positive development.

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday May 14, 2005

It is certainly reasonable for parents, community leaders and officials to want to work to curtail underage drinking. But red flags go up when self-styled "vigilante mom" Dale Pratt-Wilson, organizer of the Committee for Drug and Alcohol Free Teens, makes wholesale charges of communitywide complacency and rails against our misguided "norms." That sounds a lot like the culture war rhetoric of Pat Buchanan and the moral values posturing of George W. Bush and company.

Consider the Kinahans, who were recently charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The incident occurred when police, responding to a noise complaint, discovered some teenagers drinking in their back yard during their son's birthday party. Before the party, these parents had talked with their child and his friends about rules and expectations. They stayed home to be available as an adult presence. They greeted guests at the door.

Are there any other municipalities in North Carolina that value and promote the arts like Carrboro does? The Fete de la Musique, more galleries per capita than Chapel Hill, the legendary Cat's Cradle, hosting challenging and inspiring artworks in town facilities, free wireless for the community... these things don't just make Carrboro fun, they are an economic engine for the town by bringing folks to downtown businesses and making Carrboro an attractive place to live for many people.

In fact, just last week I was talking to a friend who owns a longstanding, but often-struggling, business on West Franklin Street. He wonders why Chapel Hill doesn't support the arts like Carrboro does. He is trying promote the local artists through his business and needs help from the community to make it work financially.

A few different interesting things from around the news today...

The Chapel Hill News says Eastern Federal Theaters, the owner of the vacant hole in the Elliot Road shopping center, is perfectly content to let it stay that way. Somehow they are blaming the Town for the fact that they had a dispute with the neighbors over who was responsible for the driveways. Since both sides were greedy bastards, they had to come back to the Town Council to resolve the matter last year. And what's the hold up now? Eastern Federal says they won't even start building unless the Town gives them a one-year extension on their permit. One of the things the town will usually look at in making that decision is whether they have actually been working on the project in earnest. Oops.

The Herald reports that the schools are considering starting later one day a month to give teachers more time to plan. Could they possibly think of a solution more disruptive to kids and working parents than this? What are they thinking?

The festivities downtown will go on this year, but sans alcohol (and beer distributor sponsorship). They are looking for folks to give $500 or more to sponsor the events, perhaps OrangePolitics readers could help out.

Here's an idea: Donate money through the PayPal button below or pledge a donation in the comments. If we get enough, we can list "The Readers of OrangePolitics.org" as a sponsor of the downtown parties!

UPDATE: We now have a fail-safe way to support this project. Folks can make donations of support, but everyone gets their money back if we do not reach our target - $500. Click here to support the summer series!

For the summer event series, the first happening would be on June 15 -- a movie showing of "The Incredibles," at McCorkle Place on the UNC campus.

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday May 28, 2005

The leaders of the go-go-growth crowd are true believers. Since they hold fast and firm to a common principle, the ethic of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" holds sway. In truth, it is often the same back.

Thus, when UNC released its Economic Impact Analysis for Carolina North last Wednesday, it was not surprising that the contact provided for "economic impacts on the local community" was Aaron Nelson of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.

UNC's report was all good news and Nelson's e-mail to chamber members matched it with effusive praise. He characterized Carolina North as "relieving pressure on the housing market." Let's see: 1,400 to 1,800 new homes to accommodate 7,500 new employees. That's about a 6,000 unit deficit, an odd notion of relief.