Chapel Hill staff have been criticized by a town council candidate for lacking a system to list the death or injuries of Chapel Hill residents serving in the military.
Matt Czajkowski, who is seeking a council seat this fall, said the town should have a system for compiling the names of town residents who were wounded or killed while fighting in the Middle East.
Currently, the town does not keep track of local soldiers who are hurt abroad, and several surrounding municipalities say they don't keep a list either.
This issue arose shortly after Army Sgt. Lee C. Wilson, a resident of Chapel Hill, died Sept. 6 while on his fourth tour in Iraq.
Four days after being notified of the death, Mayor Kevin Foy started a scheduled council meeting with a moment of silence to honor Wilson.
The death of this soldier raised questions for Czajkowski regarding the tributes for fallen Chapel Hill soldiers.
Czajkowski said he was appalled when he discovered the town government hadn't been keeping track of injured or killed soldiers coming from the local area.
He asked for a list through an e-mail to the town's public information officer, Catherine Lazorko. Czajkowski found the reply to be "horrifying."
"This is something we should absolutely be doing," he said.
By failing to supply town residents with such data, Czajkowski said he feels the town government is hindering Chapel Hill from recognizing residents who are risking their lives for what he labeled a "grossly misconceived war."
Czajkowski said he plans to take this matter on the campaign trail as he runs for one of the four open council seats in November's election.
But the creation of a list of soldiers isn't guaranteed to happen even if Czajkowski wins a spot on the council.
N.C. towns are not responsible for keeping track of the type of information Czajkowski is calling for, nor do they usually try to, Carrboro town clerk Sarah Williamson said.
Neither Durham nor Carrboro have military lists - instead soldiers' families are suggested to use the Department of Defense Web site.
The Web site releases the names of soldiers and updates on current casualties. The site only states a soldier's name and rank, not his hometown.
This ambiguity leaves too many chances for the town staff to commit serious errors in releasing information on fallen soldiers, such as mistaking the identities of soldiers from other areas with those from Chapel Hill, Lazorko said.
She said another risk of having a list would be giving publicity to families looking to mourn the loss of their loved ones privately.
As of now, council member Laurin Easthom and Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom said no discussions have arisen from the e-mail correspondence between Czajkowski and Lazorko.
Both council members said the town does encourage residents to recognize sodiers on holidays such as Memorial Day.
Czajkowski said he looks forward to his opportunity to bring changes like these to Chapel Hill. His aim at creating this military list for the community is a stepping stone for a memorial that he hopes one day might exist downtown.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
