Government

The Orange County School Board just appointed a former board member, Susan Halkiotis, to fill a vacated seat until the next election. Halkiotis says she has no intention of running to keep the seat after the fall election. Sounds like an example of good government in action, right?

Problem is, Susan is married to Steve Halkiotis, who is the Director of Auxiliary Services for the school system, plus he's an Orange County Commissioner (they fund the schools). This means she could be in a position to vote on her husband's salary, among other uncomfortable situations.

Board member Randy Copeland reminded the board of the nepotism policy they recently put into place.

The policy, he said, should not allow husband and wife to hold positions so closely dependent on each other. "I believe we're placing ourselves in a position of saying, 'don't do as I do, do as I say do,'" he said. "I would be strongly opposed to seeking Susan, even though she's experienced."

If you have been following this site (3/1/04 & 2/27/04), you know that on Monday, the Chapel Hill Town Council stated clearly that they felt the 90-day review period for UNC Development Plan Modifications is way too short. In fact, it amounts to little more than a rubber stamping of UNC projects. UNC Administrators' insistence on the lighting-round review is a clear indicator of their negligent attitude toward the Town. Chapel Hill would never make a decision that would affect UNC this much without extensive hemming and hawing and making sure everyone was happy.

Big thanks to Linda Convissor who passed on this information from Victoria Hackler who passed this on from the Town of Chapel Hill:

FYI- The town web site has been down a week now because our vendor has been having major technical problems. The agenda information is still accessible. Direct citizens, council members and anyone who inquires to our internal site http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/agendas2004.htm for agenda information. Feel free to pass this address along until the site is back up. The vendor told me that they hoped to get it back up today but no guarantee.