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  • From: "Steve Wright" <swright AT townofchapelhill.org>
  • To: <chpac-staff AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Chpac-staff] TOC In News : 9-17-07
  • Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:46:30 -0400


Dear CHPAC,

Linked and pasted below is a TOC-related article from today's Tarheel
Daily.

-Steve

Daily Tar Heel Opinion Column
- Down the drain
Chapel Hill should ?nd a better use for its $420,000
Imagine sitting on a half-million-dollar chair.
That had better be one nice chair, right? Or it might just be, as one
bus driver aptly put it, "a lot excessive."
It's a particularly gross waste of money when that $420,000 bench (and
accompanying stone wall) at the new Chapel Hill Transit building is
built in honor of the bus-system employees, most of whom make between
$25,000 and $40,000 a year.
http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/09/17
/Opinion/Down-The.Drain-2971303.shtml



Down the drain
Chapel Hill should ?nd a better use for its $420,000
By: Editorial Board
Posted: 9/17/07
Imagine sitting on a half-million-dollar chair.

That had better be one nice chair, right? Or it might just be, as one
bus driver aptly put it, "a lot excessive."

It's a particularly gross waste of money when that $420,000 bench (and
accompanying stone wall) at the new Chapel Hill Transit building is
built in honor of the bus-system employees, most of whom make between
$25,000 and $40,000 a year.

Chapel Hill earmarks 1 percent of new project budgets to public art.
That 1 percent could be better spent in other ways.

Chapel Hill's public transportation system is one of the best in the
country, hands down. But when we think of bus drivers, modern art isn't
really the first thing that comes to mind.

So in honor of the town's clearly ironic sense of humor, we'd like to
tell you what we would do if we had half a million dollars to spare.

n Buy out the Association of Student Governments, which manages to waste
about $200,000 a year, and put it under FEMA oversight. We're pretty
sure it'd run a lot better.

n?Subsidize UNC students' textbook purchases. Every little bit helps.

n?Bribe athletics department officials for lower-level basketball
tickets.

n?Name a UNC academic building after St. Adrian, the patron saint of
beer.

n?At the very least, give Chapel Hill bus drivers a much-needed raise.

Even in terms of supporting art, allocating 1 percent of every project's
budget to do so isn't the most efficient use of the money.

If it must be spent on art, the town should take that money from each
budget and use it to promote a larger arts program, complete with
performances and exhibitions by local artists.

It no doubt seems rather superfluous to spend almost half a million
dollars on anything to honor people who make less than 10 percent of
that.

The greatest honor Chapel Hill could give its bus system employees would
be to give them a bonus.



-----Original Message-----
From: Ted Hobgood
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 9:03 AM
To: Catherine Lazorko
Subject: Town In News : 9-17-07

Town in the News : 9-17-07

Recent media reports about the Town of Chapel Hill and other reports of
interest to the municipal government community include the following:

(NOTE: this listing only includes articles and columns that are
available on the web, and may not necessarily contain all stories in the
print edition of the papers or on televised broadcasts.)

--------------------------------

- Doctors, pilots fight airport closure
BY DANIEL GOLDBERG : The Herald-Sun
CHAPEL HILL -- It's been more than three months since doctors associated
with the N.C. Area Health Education Centers testified before the state
Legislature about the importance of the Horace Williams Airport to their
mission.
The airport sits on land owned by UNC and is expected to close when the
university moves forward with plans for the Carolina North research
campus. AHEC's Medical Air Operation, which flies doctors, medical
students and faculty around the state to treat patients and attend
educational activities, is based at Horace Williams Airport.
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-881346.cfm

- Transfer station site foes organize
BY GINNY HOYLE : The Herald-Sun
CHAPEL HILL -- Opposition against the siting of a waste transfer station
on Eubanks Road is forming and leaders of a new coalition hope to have a
voice at a meeting of local governments this week.
Representatives of the newly formed Rogers-Eubanks Coalition to End
Environmental Racism want to ask the county commissioners to conduct a
countywide search to relocate the waste transfer station slated for
Eubanks Road.
http://www.heraldsun.com/orange/10-881349.cfm

- Town honors fallen soldier
CHAPEL HILL -- Mayor Kevin Foy and the Town Council held a moment of
silence Monday to honor Army Sgt. Lee C. Wilson of Chapel Hill, who died
Sept. 6 in Iraq.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/9662.html

Chapel Hill News Opinion Column
- Town leaders listen for a better community
By Roger Stancil
My first year in Chapel Hill has been a learning experience. I cherish
this opportunity to live and work in a community that cares and acts on
that caring.
I have enjoyed becoming part of a community that is engaged in thinking
about its future, that is careful to define its principles and values
before it launches out in a new venture, and that is serious about its
own sustainability.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/story/9637.html

Chapel Hill News Letters To The Editor
- Center siting could affect planning efforts
UNC's Bruce Runberg tells only half the story when he says that during
last year's Leadership Advisory Council discussions we raised no
objections to the Innovation Center planned for the Horace Williams
property.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/story/9638.html
- Faculty needs center as soon as possible
Regarding the raspberry for UNC's Innovation Center (Sept. 12), it's
important to put the purpose of this facility in context with the facts
about its evolution after years of discussion.
UNC faculty need this facility now. Researchers who have innovations
with commercial potential need access to an incubator to fully develop
their ideas. Many faculty working on start-up companies have had to rent
space outside town.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/story/9638.html

- Festifall organizers revamp plans, name entertainment
Chapel Hill staff will host the 35th Annual Festifall from 1 p.m. to 6
p.m. Oct. 7, on West Franklin Street, with a new design for the street
fair.
Coordinators say the new design will enhance the event and the downtown
merchant experience, featuring craft vendor booths in the center of the
street, allowing event-goers to stroll the streets with fair vendors on
one side and the business merchants on the other. A large food court
pavilion will be centrally located.
http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/09/17
/City/City-Briefs-2971702.shtml

Daily Tar Heel Opinion Column
- Down the drain
Chapel Hill should ?nd a better use for its $420,000
Imagine sitting on a half-million-dollar chair.
That had better be one nice chair, right? Or it might just be, as one
bus driver aptly put it, "a lot excessive."
It's a particularly gross waste of money when that $420,000 bench (and
accompanying stone wall) at the new Chapel Hill Transit building is
built in honor of the bus-system employees, most of whom make between
$25,000 and $40,000 a year.
http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2007/09/17
/Opinion/Down-The.Drain-2971303.shtml

-


--------------------------------

Ted Hobgood, for:

+++++++++++++++++++

Catherine Lazorko
Town Information Officer
Town of Chapel Hill
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

+++++++++++++++++++

Phone: 919/969-5055
Cell: 919/215-TOWN
Fax: 919/969-2063
clazorko AT townofchapelhill.org
www.townofchapelhill.org





  • [Chpac-staff] TOC In News : 9-17-07, Steve Wright, 09/17/2007

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