In most places in North Carolina, a sitting, politically progressive, elected official who sells their home to move permanently out of state one month BEFORE the filing period for an election that could fill their soon-to-be vacant seat would declare their intent and allow voters to decide their replacement.
But Orange County isn’t like most of North Carolina. Here, “progressive” political thinkers realize that the choice of municipal officials is a task best done by appointment of the anointed, by the anointed, for the anointed.
Despite every effort to strip real choice from the voters, elections might mistakenly allow diversity in representation. (As Pulpsters know diversity should be retricted to cosmetic purposes only.) Your betters know that having gained the power of incumbency, it’s much harder to unseat an anointed appointee. Look at how appointed Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman in 2007 was able to ride out vehicular assault charges as an incumbent, with the cooperation of his fellow board members and the “ever vigilant” local media, which happens to include Mr. Strom's spouse.
Pulpsters shouldn’t be surprised to learn Chapel Hill Councilor Bill Strom has “gone RVing” after selling his 714 Greenwood Road home, all to deprive Chapel Hill voters from voting on filling his vacancy. Mr. Strom sold his Chapel Hill home in early June. (He’s leaving for New York for unknown reasons.) But he didn’t announce his resignation until after July 14th, after the deadline passed for filling his remaining two year term by an election.
Retiring Mayor Kevin Foy knew about Mr. Strom leaving, as did most of his fellow councilors and the local media. (You didn’t know because the public isn’t deemed important enough to be told until its too late.) No one asked Mr. Strom to resign openly before July 14th. Apparently, no one “in the know” wanted his vacancy filled by an election.
Perhaps that special feeling comes from Chapel Hill having a special 1995 town ordinance exempting it from normal state law. Elsewhere in North Carolina, any vacancy occurring more than 90 days before an election (August 4th in this election) can be filled by that election. However, in Chapel Hill any vacancy coming later than three days before the candidate filing period ends (July 14th in this election) is filled by appointment of the Town Council. How progressive.
Unfortunately, some local residents are still deluded, thinking that elections are preferable to appointments. Ms. Teressa Jimenez has urged Councilors to amend the 1995 town ordinance so that the eight filed candidates for council can now run for Mr. Strom's seat, along with those of incumbents Ms. Easthom, Mr. Harrison. Mr. Kleinschmidt, and Mr. Merritt. ”The timing of [Mr. Strom's] announcement comes across as sneaky and perhaps circumspect.” Apparently, she doesn't know that in southern Orange the person reporting the sneakiness is the problem, not the sneakiness.
Chapel Hill Councilor and mayoral candidate Mark Kleinschmidt admitted he had heard “speculation” regarding Mr. Strom, but he denied any conspiracy. ”People are going to infer crazy theories. Maybe he wanted the council to appoint his replacement. People are going to assume that it's a bad thing. We don't know that to be true.”
Perhaps conspiracy theories swirl because Mr. Strom reportedly lived in a Winnebago after selling his home and before selling out representative democracy in Chapel Hill.
See the Carrboro Citizen Fond Farewell Story.)
The quintessential Carrboro candidate has filed for mayor in the upcoming 2009 municipal election. Mr./Ms. Amanda Ashley has filed for office, challenging the current mayor Mr. Mark Chilton, aka “Boss Hawg”. In the words of Mr./Ms. Ashley, he/she is a 53 year old ”translesbian feminist wiccan graphic artist”. (See Mr./Ms. Ashleys’ Myspace posting.)
Mr./Ms. Ashley is self-described as being “at a crossroads of actualization and truth”, dedicated to “slowly becoming a better witch” by getting “immersed in matrifocal political theory”.
Apparently, Mr./Ms. Ashley does not suffer from gender binary oppression, researches “herstory”, creates “lesbian boudoir art”, and works “to create the rise of a less automobile-oriented city planning system and a more gynocentric social system, not necessarily in that order.”
In most of North Carolina, municipal governance boards are prone at least to schedule a public hearing on the substance of a formal written appeal to a North Carolina US Senator before sending a substantive letter. Even the fig leaf of a minimal public notice, followed by a pre-arranged parade of prepped and perky pals is seen to be “good form”.
Who cares if the majority of citizens in the municipality agree with a governance board letter? Let them run for office if they want to stop over-reaching and unsubstantiated letter writing.
However, Orange County isn’t like most places in North Carolina. Here, not even a fig leaf is needed. It’s not that modesty is in abstentia. It's just that rulers wear “emperor’s clothing”, i.e., they never know they’re naked.
A classic example of the governance syndrome of “caput inflatus” can be seen in the recent doings of Alderman Dan Coleman. He recently sent a letter to US Senator Kay Hagan (D–NC), not as a private citizen, but as a Carrboro alderman speaking for the entire governance board. It read as follows:
“I am writing on behalf of the Mayor and Alderman of the Town of Carrboro Board to urge you to give your full backing to the public option for health insurance sought by President Obama.
Municipal governments in North Carolina are struggling with double-digit annual increases in health insurance costs while county social services are hard-pressed to meet the needs of the uninsured and under-insured. We desperately need your help to achieve needed reform.
It is our belief that the health care crisis in the United States will ultimately only be solved by a single-payer national system. We encourage you, for the sake of the citizens of North Carolina and the nation, to do all you can to achieve such a system.”
(Mr. Coleman forgot to mention that for working less than 100 hours a year he gets free healthcare from the citizens of Carrboro.)
(See Carrboro Citizen Coleman Care Story.)
Unfortunately, the town records show that the BOA never bothered to tell town citizens of their decision. They didn’t even bother with a public notice of any meeting discussing and deciding upon a town “healthcare position”.
Exactly when was that public hearing? So much for replacing the burned out bulb in the Carrboro beacon of “open government”.
Luckily, Senator Hagan is prone to lucid moments of governance and not merely being a bobblehead to fellow party members. Apparently, she wants to read any healthcare reform proposal in its details before signing on. Just calling a proposal “a public option” doesn’t seem to be enough.
How un-Carrboro can she get?
Pulp Public Service Announcement
As a public service to Pulpsters living in Purgatory (aka Carrboro), take this form letter, make it your own, and send it to Senator Hagan at the following contacts. Let her know you appreciate thinking and don’t appreciate town rulers who don’t bother to discuss public policy in public with ample notice.
Senator Hagan’s Contact Information
“Dear Senator Hagan:
Thank you for the thoughtful work that you are doing as a member of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. Thank you especially, for not buckling under to pressure to make a hasty decision about the best method for meeting the diverse health care needs of all Americans. As reported in The Carrboro Citizen, your commitment to first seeing the specifics of a public option plan before deciding whether or not to support it is commendable.
As a resident of Carrboro, North Carolina, I am writing to you with concerns about the letter sent by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen stating that “It is our belief that the health care crisis in the United States will ultimately only be solved by a single-payer national system. We encourage you, for the sake of the citizens of North Carolina and the nation, to do all you can to achieve such a system.”
The letter sent to you from Carrboro Alderman Dan Coleman on behalf of the Town Board is of particular concern since the Board recessed after its June 16, 2009 meeting and has not held a public meeting since that time. It appears that this letter was sent without Carrboro citizen input, and reflects only the opinions of the writer and individual board members, not the opinions of a majority of Carrboro’s citizens.
The health care issues facing Americans are complex, and will continue to require thoughtful, knowledgeable consideration to weigh proposed changes against potentially negative unintended consequences. Please continue to encourage the committee to take the time necessary and consider input from diverse sources and experiences before committing our nation to a costly program that may solve some problems while creating new ones.
Thank you for your dedication and hard work on behalf of the citizens of North Carolina.”
The wedge of man-made, drastic climate change will be the dominant 21st century social engineering tool used to force behavioral changes throughout the USA. (Just ignore the unrestricted carbon loading of the rapidly growing mega-economies of China and India.)
All “socially progressive” change can be dictated by invoking the faithful dogma of globally warning about “global warming”. Want to reduce vehicle selection? Say “global warming”. Need to densify housing? Say “global warming”. Care to reduce meat consumption? Say “global warming”. Like to tax all consumption? Say “global warming”.
Facts? Religion doesn’t need facts. Just don’t say one thing to the true believers – “population control”.
It should come as no surprise that the faux environmental political forces in Orange County are pushing the latest social engineering tool to eliminate the dreaded and evil pariah – the franchised restaurant chain.
On 2 June 2009, the Commishes considered banning any further drive-thru business operations in Orange County. The proposed legislative ban, spearheaded by Commish Mike Nelson, was countered by a county planning board recommendation that the Commishes NOT vote for the ban, but instead promote an educational campaign about vehicle idling.
The measure was narrowly defeated (3-4), with Commishes Nelson, Alice Gordon, and Bernadette Pelissier voting for the ban. Never fear, Commish Barry Jacobs voted against the ban, but wants to reconsider it AFTER the municipal elections in November.
According to Mr. Nelson, it was a sad day for Orange County. “Last night the Orange County Board of Commissioners had an opportunity to prohibit new drive thru windows. Why would we be interested in banning drive thru windows? Many folks view them as a necessary convenience of early 21st century life.”
Conveniently, Mr. Nelson omits the part of the staff report recommending “'franchise architecture’ shall be strongly discouraged.” In other words, remove the architectural branding that a highly competitive service business needs to differentiate itself. He also omits the part that considered allowing drive-thrus, but charging an annual “carbon impact fee”. Such a move would open the door also to charging residents such a “fee” (aka a tax).
Opining further, Mr. Nelson states, “There are two reasons to consider prohibiting them (an action, by the way, that Carrboro took over a decade ago). First, we talk a good game about walkability; the county's new comprehensive plan calls for building a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly community. Yet,our planning regulations all too often create the exact opposite. Drive thru windows, by any reasonable definition, do not promote the pedestrian-friendly development our comprehensive plan calls for.
But the even more important reason to prohibit drive-thru windows is to reduce air pollution and to take our community's first steps towards addressing a global warming. When we're campaigning, we local elected officials make all sorts of promises about the need to address global warming and how we'll do our part. But for the most part the rhetoric hasn't been followed up with action.” (See Nelson’s Pearls of Wisdom.)
Mr. Nelson rarely bothers with non-narcissistic concepts such as acquiring supportable technical backup, taking courses of technical study or training, or reviewing alternative arguments. Thus, he sees no problem either with appearing in a national AAR ad wearing the label “environmental scientist” (a collegiate degree noticeably absent from his resume’) or with quantifying what will actually be saved by the ban.
Mr. Nelson seems to be unaware of a comparative report commissioned by a Canadian coffee shop chain (Tim Hortons). That report found that “ [the] congestion that occurs in the parking lot, together with the start-up emissions and emissions from the extra travel distance to get to and from a space, all contribute to produce somewhat higher (CAC) emissions per vehicle compared to a store that has a drive-thru.” The report is based on actual traffic counts and timings. It may not make Mr. Nelson feel good, but it’s called “scientific methodology”.
Apparently, Mr. Nelson is also oblivious of the fact that auto technology has advanced to the point where engines will automatically shut down if the vehicle stays in one spot for more than a few seconds, and then restart when the throttle is actuated. (See more about "mild hybrid" vehicles.)
Displaying his narcissistic crutch, Mr. Nelson seems to forget that a significant part of the population isn't like him. They can’t walk as he can. He seems to want to impose his lifestyle on those with physical disabilities, a telling demonstration of the empathy he possesses. If he can get out of his car and walk, then you can get out of yours.
Handicapped? Just swing yourself into your wheelchair. It's no big deal. Elderly with bad joints? Get walking.
