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(02/25/10 5:16am)
Out-of-towners could lose their free ride at the Chapel Hill Public Library if two town council members get their way.The plan could help bring in extra money for the popular library, which now costs Chapel Hillians $34 in taxes per year.But that might not solve the funding woes of the library, whose $16 million expansion will be the center of discussion at the council’s retreat this weekend.And as the council clashes with Orange County — who manages its own library system — about how much money the town deserves, Chapel Hill is left pondering how to pay for a library where need has outgrown the building.Facing a dilemmaEarlier this month, council members Laurin Easthom and Gene Pease presented a petition asking the town to look into charging non-Chapel Hill residents for library cards.Their reasoning is simple enough: Chapel Hill residents pay taxes for the library, but others in the county can use it for free.There is a catch, however. A state statute requires library service to county residents be free as long as the county helps fund it. The library cannot collect money from both the county and its residents.“If we were to take $10 from one resident, we would have to give up $250,000 from the county,” said Kathleen Thompson, director of the Chapel Hill Public Library.Martha Brunstein, president of Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library, said the group could not predict whether charging a fee would cover the forfeiture of county funds.“Nobody knows that,” Brunstein said. “There is no way to know that.”County doesn’t budgeThe decision to charge stems from council members’ frustration that the county isn’t paying its fair share.The Board of Orange County Commissioners provides $250,000 annually to the Chapel Hill library, which is not a part of the Orange County Public Library system. The commissioners’ funding has remained level since 1994, before the library’s budget ballooned from $1 million to more than $2.3 million.Today, the contribution amounts to about 11 percent of the library’s budget — a modest offering considering 40 percent of the library’s users live outside Chapel Hill.County Manager Frank Clifton suggested doubling the commissioners’ contribution to $500,000 following an Assembly of Governments meeting in December, but a formal proposal has not been offered yet. “I’m doubtful the county is going to offer up the operating expenses we feel are enough to be fair,” Easthom said.“If that’s the case, the council needs to have a discussion about, number one, whether it’s going to proceed with the expansion, and number two, how much to charge.”Council member Matt Czajkowski suggested at one point last year to make the fee $100 for non-Chapel Hill residents. And Easthom said she has heard of library systems charging as much as $150 for cards.The library already charges $60 annually for non-Orange County residents.Meanwhile, the need for expansion continues to grow.“They should have to pay”Circulation at the library, already the highest per capita of any library in the state, is rising. Users borrowed an average of 17.8 items each in the 2008-09 year, up from 16.6 the year before and substantially higher than the state average of 4.6 from 2007-08.And as the economy falters, an increasing number of people is using the library’s Internet access for job listings and resume writing practice, Thompson said.The expansion, which was scheduled to begin in July but has been delayed multiple times, would more than double the size of the facility from 27,000 square feet to 68,000.Some of the expansion’s burden will fall on Chapel Hill residents, whose property taxes could go up more than $30 a year.Anne Cabell, a Chapel Hill resident, said she wouldn’t mind the extra taxes. But Carrboro and other non-Chapel Hill residents shouldn’t be off the hook.“They aren’t having to pay extra taxes for the library,” she said. “So they should have to pay for it somehow.”Chapel Hill resident Joe Galanko said a fee could reduce the need for expansion in the first place.“People on that board say we have such a high circulation,” he said. “Of course you have a high circulation, because you’re giving your product away for a low cost. No wonder they’re going to come use it.”Residents of the town approved the library’s expansion in a 2003 vote, and bank borrowing rates are finally low enough for the town to pursue the $16 million project, council member Jim Ward said.The dispute of funding the library has become local blog post-fare recently, and even inspired a tongue-in-cheek YouTube video in which a subtitled Hitler advocates for charging Carrboro and other non-Chapel Hill residents for library cards.Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton rejected the idea of his residents chipping in. Instead, the county should give Carrboro residents a reason to frequent their own libraries, he said.“The supposition is that a lot of the expense for Chapel Hill comes from people who are not residents of Chapel Hill,” he said. “So if (Carrboro residents) had a good county-branch library to go to, they would probably go there.”Carrboro has two libraries, both of which are a part of the county system and neither of which is free-standing. The Carrboro Branch Library operates out of McDougle Middle School and the electronic access-focused Cybrary runs out of the Century Center. And neither is remotely as expansive as the Chapel Hill library. The Carrbro Branch Library must operate around the middle school’s hours.No resolution in sightThe county has discussed investing in a free-standing library for Carrboro to serve southwestern Orange County.Council member Jim Ward, a government liaison to the Friends of the Chapel Hill Library, said the county commissioners may have to choose which project to finance.“The county doesn’t appear to have funding to put a significant amount of money to the southwest branch and towards the Chapel Hill library,” he said. “So I don’t think they can do both.”County officials say they’ve been put in a precarious spot, essentially having to weigh the needs of Chapel Hill against those of the rest of its residents.“To me, the question isn’t so much ‘Do we support Chapel Hill or not support Chapel Hill?’” said Orange County commissioner Bernadette Pelissier, “but ‘How do we best provide services to all our citizens?’”Chilton continues to advocate for the merging of the Chapel Hill and Orange County library systems, a move he said would help the county fairly allocate funds to each library.But town and county officials have indicated such a move will not happen any time soon, leaving the county with two conflicting libraries and no long-term resolution in sight.“Ultimately, the most equitable solution would be to have one library system,” Chilton said. “It may not be that realistic. But asking for us to put money in isn’t any more realistic.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/24/10 4:39am)
Questionable development projects in downtown Carrboro are going to need a lengthier review.Members of the town’s Board of Aldermen decided Tuesday they will now get a look at building designs before they’re allowed.The town already required developers whose plans didn’t meet design standards to present to the town’s Appearance Commission, planning administrator Patricia McGuire explained at the public hearing.The design standards include shade requirements and prohibitions on exterior metal siding and other materials.But now, developers must also make a presentation to the aldermen, who have the final say.The new requirement will apply to developments with special-use and conditional-use permits — projects that tend to be bigger and more architecturally complex.The revision was prompted by the 300 East Main St. project, an expansive commercial center in the works for downtown Carrboro.Alderman Dan Coleman said the project needed more review.“The design of the building is one of the things that gets the most public attention,” he said. “That’s why we felt, on projects of a certain scale, that we need to have the ability to respond to concerns raised by citizens.”The aldermen went against the recommendation of the Appearance Commission, which unanimously rejected the proposal at a meeting Thursday.Loren Brandford, the only member of the commission present at the hearing, said the amendment complicated the review process.“Such duplicate presentations are not a good use of the applicant’s or the Board of Aldermen’s time,” he said.Brandford said the change will not affect how the commission looks at development applications.“It just means that everyone else has to do a little more work,” he said in an interview after the meeting. “If they want to vote themselves more work, that’s fine.”
(01/12/10 5:51am)
After months of debate concerning a proposed relocation of the town’s homeless shelter, Chapel Hill has decided to become more involved.From now on, the town will involve the community in discussions to approve the building and location of future homeless shelters.An ordinance requiring that shelters go through a lengthy special-use permit approval process will allow council members to debate certain aspects of future shelters — such as the maximum number of beds permitted — on a case-by-case basis.“The S.U.P. process goes through the entire community,” council member Penny Rich said.The ordinance also lifts a 25-person cap on the amount of beds allowed in a homeless shelter, giving the council more freedom to pick an appropriate limit.Council member Sally Greene called the 25-person maximum, established in 1985, arbitrary.“I don’t know where the number 25 came from. I’m embarrassed why no one on the staff knows where that came from,” Greene said. “It’s a mystery.”And resident Marc Joseph mentioned that the limit would likely not be enforced.“Has the shelter ever been closed down because there were 30 residents, 40 residents?” he said. “I suspect the answer is no.”The revision in the capacity limit will open the door for the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service to go through with its proposal to establish a larger shelter off Homestead Road.Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council, said the group has not yet submitted a special-use permit to the Town Council.The shelter has stood at its 100 W. Rosemary St. location since 1985. The proposed project is slated for 1315 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The shelter would stand close to several residential neighborhoods and Homestead Park.Due to a combination of the economic recession and the unusually cold weather, the homeless shelter is tending to a growing number of people.Moran said that the shelter has housed 80 people a night lately, despite its limit of 25 beds.Rebecca McCulloh, an Inter-Faith Council board of directors member, also urged the council to lift the cap.“If this law stands, 55 men would be on the streets tonight with no place to go,” McCulloh said. Council members Donna Bell and Matt Czajkowski also requested a petition asking the town planning board to develop guidelines for the design of future shelters.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(01/11/10 2:10am)
When appointed Town Council member Donna Bell is sworn in tonight, Chapel Hill will put an end to the divisive conversation that has embroiled the town since the summer.
(12/09/09 5:06am)
This article was published in the 2009 Year in Review issue of The Daily Tar Heel.In the closest election in the town’s documented history, Mark Kleinschmidt squeaked by to become the 34th mayor of Chapel Hill.Kleinschmidt narrowly defeated fellow Town Council member Matt Czajkowski, 4,176 votes to 4,070.Czajkowski, running on a business-oriented platform, spoke of freezing property taxes and revitalizing downtown, and his campaign mobilized much of the town’s business community.Meanwhile, Kleinschmidt was painted as a “pro-environment” candidate, in line with the traditional forces of Chapel Hill government.His liberal image was bolstered by endorsements from several current and former members of the Town Council, the local chapters of the NAACP and the Sierra Club and outgoing mayor Kevin Foy.“There are a lot of people that wanted to vote for Mark because they saw him as progressive and they saw him as a continuation of the current council,” former mayor Rosemary Waldorf said.Kleinschmidt may have gotten some help from the other candidates in the race. Registered Republicans Augustus Cho and Kevin Wolff diverted a combined 330 votes that likely would have gone to the unaffiliated Czajkowski.Wolff had announced his dropping out of the race at a candidates forum, but never made it official with the N.C. Board of Elections. His name remained on the ballot.With his win, Kleinschmidt became Chapel Hill’s first openly gay mayor and the third in state history.He was the only mayoral candidate who opted in to the town’s voter-owned election program, which debuted this year.For mayoral candidates, the program awarded participants public grant money to fund their campaigns after they raised up to $4,500 in small donations. Kleinschmidt’s campaign gained $13,000 from the program.In contrast, Czajkowski raised more than $36,000, all of which came from donations that often reached the maximum $250 allowed by town ordinance.In fact, Czajkowski’s high fundraising triggered an additional $4,000 “rescue fund” for Kleinschmidt once Czajkowski surpassed the $21,000 mark.The only Town Council candidate to participate in the voter-owned program was Penny Rich, who garnered the most overall votes in her race. “It gives voters the opportunity to see people who might not usually run for election,” Rich said. “It’ll open the door for people who don’t have a ton of money.”Incumbents Laurin Easthom and Ed Harrison were re-elected, and newcomer Gene Pease grabbed the last seat.Failing to get re-elected was Jim Merritt, the council’s only black member, whom the board appointed in 2008 to serve the remainder of the late Bill Thorpe’s term.The board will decide next week how to fill the seat made vacant by Bill Strom’s resignation this summer. Popular choices for the appointment are Donna Bell, who is one of two applicants who would ensure black representation on the council, and Matt Pohlman, who finished fifth in the election.Carrboro electionsIn Carrboro, Mark Chilton sailed to his third term as mayor with 1,667 votes, 72.07 percent of all ballots cast.Third-time candidate Brian Voyce finished in a distant second with 19.5 percent.Challenger Amanda Ashley, a self-described translesbian Wiccan feminist who spoke of capping the town’s population at 25,000, drew 7.48 percent of the vote. Holding their seats on the Carrboro Board of Aldermen were Jacquie Gist and Randee Haven-O’Donnell. Sammy Slade picked up the seat of John Herrera, who resigned this summer.Staff writers Ben Allison and Matthew McGibney contributed reporting.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(12/08/09 5:58am)
Residents of the community that has housed the county’s landfill for 37 years will no longer need to fear the county directing more trash through their neighborhood.
(12/07/09 5:26am)
Tonight, Mark Kleinschmidt will inherit a town that almost didn’t vote him into office.But Kleinschmidt, who will be sworn in at tonight’s Town Council meeting, said any tension created during the campaign has faded and he can now focus on town issues.“It’s great being able to have this time to take that running start,” he said. “I’m ready to get to work.”In last month’s Chapel Hill mayoral election, Kleinschmidt won with 48.63 percent of the vote, only 106 more votes than fellow council member Matt Czajkowski, whose campaign attracted much of the town’s business community.But Kleinscmidt, an eight-year council member who was labeled a “pro-environment” candidate, said his interests include a focus on promoting commercial growth.“Despite the way the campaign and election worked out, I have very good relations with the business community,” he said.A group of business-oriented candidates, led by Czajkowski, brought out of the woodwork voters seeking tax reductions and a revitalized downtown.Gene Pease, the only one of those to be elected, said the business community has moved past the divisive race.“Mark’s our mayor,” he said. “Boy, if we don’t try to support him, then we’re stupid.”Kleinschmidt, a criminal defense lawyer, replaces Kevin Foy, who has served as mayor since 2001.The outgoing mayor endorsed Kleinschmidt four days before the election, cementing the candidate’s image as the embodiment of the liberal Chapel Hill establishment.Czajkowski, elected to the council in 2007, will remain on the council for two years.But earning the loyalty of Czajkowski’s supporters could take time, said Penny Rich, who won a council seat with the most overall votes in the election.“I don’t think it’s going to happen right away,” Rich said. “There are some people who were not very happy that he won.” Aside from overseeing the growth of Chapel Hill, Kleinschmidt said he will continue to fight for environmental protection and advocate for a regional transportation system.“The sense of honor and gratefulness that I’ve felt since election night has not dissipated,” he said.Filling the last council seatThe council’s first priority will be selecting its final member.Long-time councilman Bill Strom resigned in summer, and due to his timing, his seat was not up for grabs in the election.Instead, the council must choose between the 12 residents who applied for the seat. The applicants will be formally presented Wednesday and the council plans to fill the seat Dec. 14.Community members are backing two in particular for the seat: Matt Pohlman, who placed fifth in the election, and Donna Bell, one of two black applicants who can ensure minority representation.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(11/18/09 5:35am)
The Carrboro Branch Library will hold its annual book sale in December. Town officials just don’t know where yet.Nerys Levy, of the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library, requested that the town’s Board of Aldermen waive fees for use of the Century Center as a location for the book sale at Tuesday’s meeting.The library traditionally has held its book sale in the cafeteria of McDougle Middle School, whose media center has housed the library for 15 years. But as Levy explained, officials from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system recently began charging $55 an hour for the use of the school’s cafeteria.“All of a sudden, we were sprung this bill for use of the cafeteria,” she said in an interview. “Like all of a sudden, they’re charging us rent.”The book sale is slated for Dec. 19 and 20, which would bring the total cost to at least $850. The fee would cut two-thirds out of the book sale’s revenue, library board member Linda Browner said.Board members discussed whether to allow the library to use the Century Center rather than cover the school district’s fee.Alderman Joal Hall Broun said paying the district’s fee would send the wrong message to a group that has put the library in a tough position.“My preference is to let us be a backup,” she said. “I’m not willing to write the school board a check for that. It sets a bad precedent.”Alderman Randee Haven-O’Donnell, who agreed with Broun, said holding the book sale at the Century Center would benefit Carrboro by attracting residents downtown during the holiday season.The board voted to pursue negotiations with the school district and update the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library on Thursday.Levy said her group is exhausted after fighting to keep the library open this summer, and reminded the aldermen of its years-long struggle to gain a free-standing library.“It is just unfair,” she said. “Please find me another Friends group in the United States that has been dumped on as much as the Carrboro Friends of the Library.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/29/09 4:47am)
Strong support for two distinct candidates has polarized a local election, with candidates clumped into pro-business and pro-environment camps.If a group of business-oriented candidates is selected next Tuesday, Chapel Hill could see a shift in the way town politics are perceived.“Typically, for the last 20 years, a certain group in Chapel Hill, of which Mark Kleinschmidt is a member, has been running the town,” said resident Carol Ann Zinn, who donated to both mayoral candidates Mark Kleinschmidt’s and Matt Czajkowski’s campaigns. “This time it’s different. This is the most energized political campaign that I have seen since I moved here in 1972.”As the business versus environment labels leave strong impressions, candidates are frustrated by assumptions that they won’t meet other expectations.Two clear support systemsIn the mayoral race, Town Council members Czajkowski and Kleinschmidt have emerged as front-runners.As for the other candidates, Augustus Cho has not garnered the same support and Kevin Wolff announced he would quit the race.While Kleinschmidt is backed by members of Chapel Hill’s political mainframe — the Sierra Club, the local NAACP and some in the Town Council — Czajkowski is tapping into a stronger-than-ever network of financially concerned residents.Czajkowski, a retired corporate executive, squeaked by with 60 more votes than incumbent Cam Hill for the last council seat in 2007.Donors to this year’s campaign — which has raised a staggering $23,629 according to recent finance reports — include wealthy members of the local business community.Meanwhile, Kleinschmidt, a criminal defense lawyer, has campaign donations from several members of government, like current council members Laurin Easthom, Sally Greene and Jim Merritt. The eight-year council veteran also received money from former council members Hill, Joe Capowski and Alan Rimer.Kleinschmidt and incumbents Easthom, Merritt, Ed Harrison and candidate Penny Rich were recently endorsed by the local Sierra Club.The endorsements have linked Kleinschmidt to typical Chapel Hill politics, centering on social and environmental issues.Easthom, Kleinschmidt and Harrison earned the most votes for council seats in the 2005 election.“The strength of voices behind Mark show the progressive community has found their candidate,” Capowski said.Taking a new turnA growing number of residents are frustrated with empty Franklin Street storefronts and stalled development projects.“It has to do with the economy, the tax bills that we’ve received, the fact that people are getting kind of tired of it,” said Bruce Ballentine, president of the local Citizens for Responsible Government chapter. “They want local government to be concerned about spending.”Aiming to shed the town’s reputation of being unfriendly to businesses, Czajkowski and council candidates Jon DeHart, Gene Pease and Matt Pohlman are running with business-oriented platforms.DeHart is a banker, while Pease is CEO of a software company and Pohlman is a financial consultant.Eighty-one people signed a petition to cast a bloc vote for the quartet. Some also throw software engineer Will Raymond into the bunch.Labels not inclusiveGraduate student Brooks Pearson, campaign manager for Rich, said lumping candidates as “pro-business” or “pro-environment” is unfair.“All eight of them want to revitalize downtown. Every citizen in Chapel Hill wants to see Chapel Hill revitalized,” she said. “Their platforms aren’t all that different.”Pearson added that Rich, a chef, is a business owner, making the anti-business label ironic.The opposite is also true, Pease said.“I’ve been an entrepreneur and businessperson,” he said. “That doesn’t mean a pro-business person can’t be pro-environment.”Pease said candidates mainly differ in how aggressively they would pursue solutions like anti-panhandling ordinances and more parking when it comes to downtown.Zinn donated to both candidates but switched to Czajkowski when she recognized financial issues to be most important this election.She said the town is becoming less liberal in its politics.“Chapel Hill has attracted a different group of people, people who believe in Chapel Hill’s history of social liberalism, but who say, ‘At what cost?’” Zinn said. Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/15/09 11:45pm)
Kevin Wolff announced Thursday he will end his campaign for Chapel Hill mayor.
(10/15/09 5:00am)
One candidate is continuing to outraise and outspend the others in the race for mayor of Chapel Hill, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he has more support.Matt Czajkowski raised $23,629 — more than his opponents, Augustus Cho, Mark Kleinschmidt and Kevin Wolff, combined, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday.Czajkowski, a Chapel Hill Town Council member, has spent $13,043, almost four times any other candidate’s spending, for everything from a reception with former UNC men’s basketball coach Bill Guthridge to a $400 photo shoot for his Web site.His money comes from more than 200 donors, several of whom gave the maximum $250 allowed by Chapel Hill ordinance.Although Czajkowski’s private donations are more than quadruple those of Kleinschmidt, the finance reports show Kleinschmidt as having nearly as many donors — 196 compared to Czajkowski’s 201.Czajkowski raising more than $21,000 triggered a “rescue fund” payment to Kleinschmidt, who is part of voter-owned elections.The program uses public funds to help finance the campaigns of those who participate. In addition to the $9,000 he can receive from the program, Kleinschmidt will receive $4,000 in rescue funds, N.C. Board of Elections spokesperson Amy Strange said.Kleinschmidt’s September report shows he has raised $4,505 from individual contributions and a political committee. Voter-owned elections rules prohibit participants from raising more than $4,500, so the extra $5 will have to be returned.Kevin Wolff originally signed up for voter-owned elections and would have received rescue funds. But he was disqualified after loaning himself $10,000.Wolff has raised $10,275 so far, which includes 14 individual contributions and the loan to himself.Cho’s latest report, filed Friday, shows he has raised $1,642, which, besides a $200 donation from his campaign treasurer, all came from his own money.Czajkowski hosts receptionsDonors to the Czajkowski campaign include UNC Health Care CEO Bill Roper, the Kenan family and Guthridge.The reports also show Czajkowski spent hundreds of dollars on invitations to receptions featuring Guthridge and John McAdams, CEO of the John R. McAdams Co., a land development design firm.These types of gatherings are commonplace during election season, said former Chapel Hill mayor Jonathan Howes.“That is the bread and butter of politics in Chapel Hill,” said Howes, mayor from 1987 to 1991. “Receptions at private homes, by people who are public figures, well-known, people whose houses you want to go to — that’s a very important element to any campaign in Chapel Hill.”But no other candidate has reported events or receptions.Howes said the gatherings help candidates personally connect with voters in small communities like Chapel Hill.Cam Hill, a former council member who donated to Kleinschmidt, said Czajkowski spends more than other candidates on these events.“It’s normal to have gatherings, but usually they’re absolutely as bare bones as possible,” Hill said. Czajkowski beat Hill for the final council seat in 2007 by only 63 votes.Czajkowski also outraised his opponents that year, collecting $20,777. He loaned himself $12,000, more money than any candidate spent. This year, he hasn’t used any of his own money so far.“Some people argued I bought the election, which to me is a little insulting to the electorate in Chapel Hill,” Czajkowski said. “I spent $10,000 more than somebody else, and people were dumb enough to think somehow I swayed them with that? I have real issues with that view.”The golden ruleSugarland Bakery owner and Czajkowski campaign donor Katrina Ryan said campaign financing is especially important in Chapel Hill due to its limited media coverage.“You don’t have a lot of free opportunities to get your message out to people,” said Ryan, who ran for Carrboro’s Board of Aldermen in 2007. “Every voter that you talk to costs.”But Czajkowski and his supporters have emphasized the importance of the campaign’s issues rather than its funds.“I don’t think money raised should be viewed as a negative impact on a candidate’s ability to do a job,” said Randy Cox, who supports Czajkowski.But more money gives candidates more exposure.“In politics the guy who spends the most money does win,” Ryan said. “It’s sort of the golden rule.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/09/09 4:25am)
Kevin Wolff is hoping the third time’s the charm.The attorney ran for mayor of Chapel Hill unsuccessfully in 2005 and 2007, losing to Kevin Foy both times.But Wolff said he can win in this year’s four-person field and give residents the more conservative voice they’ve been looking for.“I don’t think the other three candidates give the representation for the majority of the people here in Chapel Hill,” he said.Wolff is running against candidates Augustus Cho, Matt Czajkowski and Mark Kleinschmidt.Wolff, a Republican, said the Town Council needs more political diversity — the reason behind a recent campaign move.In the past couple of weeks, Wolff placed half-page advertisements in local newspapers calling on Czajkowski, who is registered as unaffiliated, to drop out of the race, asking residents to “keep Matt where he’s at.”Wolff said he reasoned that Czajkowski, who has two years left on his Town Council term, could remain on the council as Wolff’s ally. He said in the ad Czajkowski currently has no allies on the council.“Keeping Matt where he’s at is ultimately most effective,” Wolff said. “Matt is no better off being mayor.”Wolff, who worked for 13 years for General Motors, said one way to revitalize downtown is to make the process of opening a local business easier.He said Chapel Hill too often gives out special-use permits to developers, which add extra steps they must go through before opening.“Make it special once again,” Wolff said. “We need to make the approval process much less subjective.”Wolff said that as mayor, he would address the town’s panhandling problem at the root — by ending homelessness in one two-year term.“Knowing Kevin, when he sets his mind to something he will do it,” said Mary Wolff, his wife. “If he doesn’t, he’s said to people he will not run again.”Wolff has taken a critical stand against spending money on some town projects, such as the plan to turn downtown’s Lot 5 parking lot into a condominium-retail development.As a holder of three degrees from Youngstown State University and Indiana University, Wolff emphasized working proactively with the University.This includes continuing to advocate for Carolina North, the University’s future satellite academic campus.“A lot of who I am is a result of getting that education,” Wolff said. “I’m not one to be an obstructionist with the University.”Mary Wolff ran in the Board of Orange County Commissioners primary election in 2008 as a Democrat, and had she won, would have run against her husband in the general election.But despite their political differences, she said Kevin Wolff is the right choice for mayor.“You do need a dialogue,” Mary Wolff said. “It takes many different ideas to come to the table to come to the right solution.“And if he doesn’t achieve what his goals are, he’ll gladly step aside,” she said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(10/07/09 4:19am)
Two years ago, Matt Czajkowski’s supporters criticized the Chapel Hill Town Council for voting 9-0 on several key issues.“Where’s the dissent, you know?” Czajkowski said. “If there’s not votes against it, does that mean what they’re approving is perfect?”Two years later, the votes are no longer unanimous.Czajkowski, one of four candidates running for mayor of Chapel Hill, has a reputation for being the “lone dissenter” on many Town Council decisions, but he said that status should help him, not hurt him, in the upcoming election.Czajkowski is running against Augustus Cho, fellow Town Council member Mark Kleinschmidt and Kevin Wolff.Czajkowski cited a 2008 vote in which the board nearly approved a proposal that would have given council members lifetime health care benefits.As the only opposing vote, he sparked the dialogue that eventually persuaded the other members to change their votes, Czajkowski said.Gregg Gerdau, a friend of Czajkowski and a member of the Friends of the Downtown board of directors, said that night Czajkowski saved Chapel Hill residents millions of dollars by pulling the proposal off the consent agenda.“I was very happy to see someone stood up for the taxpayers and pulled it,” Gerdau said.Czajkowski, a retired investment banker, moved to Chapel Hill 11 years ago from New York. He said he decided to run for public office in 2007 after learning that his neighbors could no longer afford to live in Chapel Hill due to high property taxes, which he said have almost tripled since 2000.Czajkowski said he hopes to freeze any increases in town property taxes for two years.As mayor, Czajkowski said he would work to make Chapel Hill an arts hub by inviting artists to open galleries and encouraging frequent Franklin Street performances.The registered Independent said if forced to choose a party, he would go Democrat. But he has never been able to bring himself to register that way.“I just don’t believe either party has a monopoly on good ideas,” he said.With two Republicans running for mayor and multiple businessmen running for Town Council, he said his election might have caused a change in the dynamics of town government.“I think people have actually seen that I didn’t turn out to be the Neanderthal some people tried to paint me as,” he said.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/22/09 5:08am)
A project that could bring an elementary school to the Northside community is still trying to gain approval.The proposed three-story Northside Elementary School would cover 100,000 square feet and serve 585 students in the historically black neighborhood.Disagreeing with one of the layout details presented at Monday’s public hearing, the Chapel Hill Town Council pushed its decision to grant planners a special-use permit to Oct. 28.Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ward disapproved of the amount of space provided for cars in the drop-off area by Caldwell Street.He said the large space — almost 900 feet of driving area — would lead to excessive carbon emissions when parents line up their cars every morning and afternoon.“What’s the air quality with 900 feet of stacking distance?” Ward said. “We can’t live like we could 20 years ago. That’s the last century’s way of doing business.”Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Superintendent Neil Pedersen said with six or seven buses planned to serve the school, up to 80 percent of Northside students could ride the bus.“Realistically, some parents offered public transportation will choose to drop off their student by car,” Pedersen said.But the drop-off lane Ward called “abysmal” to the environment contrasts with planners’ otherwise environmentally friendly approach to building the school.Architect Steve Triggiano said the building’s windows would be oriented as to allow as much natural daylight into the school as possible.Northside would also flush its toilets with rainwater from outdoor cisterns and heat its water with solar panels, he said.Without the board’s approval of the drop-off area, the N.C. Department of Insurance would reject the entire project, Triggiano said.Plans to bring a school to the site between Church Street and Edwards Street have been in the works for more than a year.The eight-acre site is the former location of the Orange County Training School, the first local public school for black students.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu
(09/16/09 4:55am)
County officials approved the time line of a plan that could turn N.C. 86 into a four-lane expressway, but not before voicing concerns about the project and demanding some changes.The N.C. Department of Transportation and two local transportation planning organizations presented their comprehensive transportation plan to the Orange County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.The commissioners took issue with the department’s choosing N.C. 86 as the site of a future expressway instead of their preference, N.C. 70.“We were not part of the decision-making process,” said Commissioner Barry Jacobs.Transportation Engineer Sarah Ezzell said the department chose N.C. 86 based on the amount of traffic reduction needed, but Jacobs said the change would reduce traffic only 16 percent.Jacobs said the department made their plan without considering commissioner input.“Once things go on a D.O.T. map … it is very hard to get them off,” Jacobs said. “They kind of reappear like vampires without the stake driven properly through the heart.”The board also approved the release of a survey to Orange County residents asking them which aspects of local transportation need improvement.The survey would have been released Wednesday but Commissioner Alice Gordon requested some changes to the language.One of the questions she suggested changing was the one regarding N.C. 86, mentioning the 16 percent traffic reduction.Commissioner Mike Nelson said he was pleased when board members called the presentation acronym-heavy and opaque.“Thanks for pulling the curtain back on the wizard and making some of this clearer,” Nelson said to the board.The project is set for completion by 2030.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/15/09 4:06am)
Some downtown parking could become free, and parking meters could accept credit cards if recommendations discussed Monday by the Chapel Hill Town Council are adopted.The board discussed three ways to alleviate downtown’s notoriously inconvenient parking — eliminating fees at some lots after 6 p.m., changing payment methods at meters and raising meter costs.One of the three lots considered for free parking was the high-traffic lot at 100 E. Rosemary St.Town business management director Kenneth Pennoyer said the estimated annual revenue loss from that lot alone would be $163,200, too much of a loss to justify the move.But the other two lots, one on West Rosemary Street and one on West Franklin Street, would together lose less — $48,360 annually.Pennoyer also proposed an increase in meter rates from $1 per hour to $1.25 per hour.The increase in parking meter rates would encourage downtown visitors to use off-street parking, he said.“Basically it provides more opportunity for parking turnover on the street,” Pennoyer said.The town also heard plans to depart from traditional meter-feeding methods.Pennoyer shared three methods Chapel Hill could make parking easier: converting existing meters to debit or credit card-accepting meters, building pay stations that would serve eight meters each and adopting pay-by-phone technology.Several cities, including Charlotte and Raleigh, have already begun transitioning to the pay-station option, he said.Despite its initial $107,000 price tag, council members gravitated toward the individual card-accepting option.“This is something that makes parking easier in downtown,” councilman Ed Harrison said. “It looks more expensive up front, but it tends to pay off pretty well.”The council will discuss adoption of the proposals at a future meeting.The motion to accept the recommendations passed 6-1, with Laurin Easthom opposing. She said rather than increasing parking meter rates, the town should look for other sources of revenue.“This is the wrong message to send, that the town of Chapel Hill is raising parking rates,” Easthom said. “Parking is hard enough in Chapel Hill. The last thing I want to do is raise rates.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(09/10/09 4:26am)
Editor’s note: This is the first in a monthly series that will focus on changes at local businesses.
(09/02/09 4:30am)
A fourth option in Orange County’s ongoing waste transfer station search was met with overwhelming disapproval Tuesday night, leaving the county’s Board of Commissioners with few options and little time left to decide.The offer’s rejection has put the board under pressure to find an acceptable site for a waste transfer station to ship trash out of the county when the current landfill runs out of room in three years.The newly proposed 10-acre site, a county-owned property west of Millhouse Road, lies less than a mile away from an earlier proposal closer to the existing landfill, where the historically black and low-income Rogers Road neighborhood has vehemently opposed a site in their community.Despite several residents speaking against the newest proposal, the board ultimately approved a motion to keep all four proposed sites as possibilities. Two other options — a piece of land off Highway 54 and a Chapel Hill-owned spot off Millhouse Road — have not been popular with county residents either. The last option, sending the county’s waste to a Durham station, is not viewed as a long-term solution.Although many of the residents who spoke urged the board to consider more locations, Commissioner Steve Yuhasz said that wouldn’t guarantee they would find an attractive solution.“That’s with the idea that if we reopen the process it’ll come up with a better site, one that won’t be near anyone in this room,” said Yuhasz, who said he favored the county-owned Millhouse site. “We’re under time constraints. I don’t see the value in putting the process off for another six months or a year.”Many of the residents who spoke criticized the board for considering an option so close to another proposed location.“If a waste transfer station is not good for one side of Millhouse Road, it won’t be good for the other,” said David Caldwell of the nearby Rogers Road community.Residents also pointed to the potential site’s proximity to the Emerson Waldorf School and the risk of increased traffic in the area as reasons against it.With no end to the debate in sight and the clock ticking on the county landfill’s lifespan, Nelson said the board might have to settle for a short-term solution.His proposal to have Hillsborough’s waste temporarily transferred to Durham was rejected by the board.The board did not set a deadline for its final decision.“We need to extend the life of that landfill for as long as we can,” Nelson said. “I think we’re going to need it.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/26/09 4:27am)
A local celebrity once banned from dancing at Carrboro’s Weaver Street Market is once more forbidden from the co-op — or its parking lot, at least.Bruce Thomas clashed once again with Carr Mill Mall authority when mall manager Nathan Milian asked him to stop parking in its lot earlier this week.Milian requested Thomas park in the lot by the Armadillo Grill across the street, where mall employees park.In 2006, Thomas began frequenting the Weaver Street Market, performing yoga and interpretive dance to the live music performed on the lawn on Thursdays.Milian banned Thomas from dancing at the co-op, initiating a three-month controversy that led Carrboro residents to sign petitions and dance on the lawn in protest.Thomas was allowed to dance again when the mall’s owner and representatives from Carrboro government met with Milian and created an open space policy for the mall.“It really bothers me as … one who really values what Carrboro stands for: an inclusive, liberal, open place to live,” friend Caryl Feldacker said.But lately, Milian said Thomas has spent more time hanging around the co-op than anything else.“I haven’t seen him dance in a long time,” he said. “It’s at the point that he’s loitering.”Alderman Dan Coleman said he doesn’t expect board members to get involved.“It’s private property. It’s up to their discretion how they manage their lot,” he said.Thomas’s struggle for the right to dance earned him the nickname “Footloose Bruce.” He said the voice of God told him to face his fear of embarrassment and start dancing. It was the same voice he said he heard about 30 years ago before attempting to rob a bank as a part of a radical Muslim group in Newark, N.J.Thomas said he spent 17 years in prison, where he studied religion, philosophy, yoga and bread-making.Now he lives in Chapel Hill and works at the Chestnut Ridge Camp and Retreat Center in Efland.But Carrboro is his favorite place, and after the conversation with Milian, Thomas is finding it harder to visit Carr Mill Mall.“First it was ‘Let Bruce dance,’ now it’s ‘Let Bruce park.’ What next?” Thomas said. “It’s a shame I have to come up here and wonder.”Still, Milian said that he did not single out or discriminate against Thomas. “It’s the point at which you’re no longer conducting business,” Milian said. “When he stays here all day, he’s not a customer.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(08/25/09 1:34am)
When Chapel Hill Town Council member Bill Strom resigned this month, it wasn’t the loss of a 10-year town politician that turned heads. It was the timing.Strom resigned two weeks after the filing window for November elections closed, meaning any hopeful candidate missed out on the chance to run for his empty seat.Now, the council gets to appoint Strom’s replacement.Strom had served the town since 1999, including four years as mayor pro tem. He was two years into his third term on the council, which would have expired in 2011.He issued a press release upon his resignation but has not endorsed a replacement.“The timing of my resignation was for personal reasons and also allowed me to complete some town council and Triangle Transit initiatives I’ve worked on for some time,” Strom said in an e-mail.Council member Laurin Easthom said the board will formally announce the vacant seat at their Sept. 14 meeting, when the council will begin discussing Strom’s replacement.She also said she was unaware of the reasons for Strom’s resignation.“He had his own reasons he has not shared,” Easthom said. “The facts are: He has resigned, his seat is open, and the council sitting currently has got to deal with it.”Reaction in Chapel Hill has been mixed, but some voters speculated that Strom intentionally let the deadline pass.“It looked like he was gaming his resignation so as to force the council to make a choice, rather than give voters the opportunity to choose,” said resident Barbara Crockett.Ruby Sinreich, operator of left-leaning blog Orange Politics, said that since the details are still murky, the burden is on Strom to dispel rumors about his resignation.“He probably has the answer, but we don’t know what it is because he hasn’t said,” she said. “It would be better if he would be more public and more transparent.”With November’s Election Day on the horizon, debate has generally shifted from Strom’s motives to what comes next.Since four seats are up for grabs on the board this year, voters like Crockett are calling for the council to appoint the fifth place finisher.But Sinreich said the council should not lock itself into an arrangement too quickly.“Any assumption of automatically appointing the fifth place vote-getter won’t make sense,” she said. “The difference between fourth and fifth could be a million miles.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.