Chris Fitzsimon Supporters of clean and fair elections are coming to Raleigh Wednesday to urge state lawmakers to expand public financing to more Council of State and local government races. You would think providing campaign funds for candidates who’d rather not owe special interests anything after they are elected wouldn’t be that controversial.
Category: Opinion
Verbatim
Editor’s Note: Following is a proclamation recently adopted by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen recognizing the graduation of the first class of Carrboro High School. WHEREAS, Carrboro High School opened in August 2007 as the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certified High School in North Carolina; and WHEREAS, June 13, 2009…
Letter: Paper should report the facts
Shame on The Carrboro Citizen! Shame on you! Shame on Mark Chilton! Any doubt about whether Carrboro’s recent loan to The Carrboro Citizen would bias it by enabling pandering to the town’s leadership was surely set to rest by your decision to disregard, as its editor, objectivity and professionalism when you decided to publish Mr….
For the record: Cool water
Like many other local agencies, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority is trying to figure out just how to tighten its belt and still fulfill its obligations to its customers. The utility is poised to increase rates, and board members predict rate increases in the years ahead as well.
For the record: School’s out
That cheering and shouting you may have heard around noon Wednesday was the collective expression of joy of tens of thousands of school children turned loose for the summer. If you were near Carrboro Elementary School shortly after that, the soft serenade that followed was the faculty bidding their charges adieu.
For the record: Some budging on taxes
Some members of the North Carolina House have apparently gotten a grip on their senses and are crafting a revenue package to try to lessen what is shaping up to be a devastating array of cuts. Even if it passes, the extra $784 million raised by the combination of sales taxes, hikes in income tax…
Harvesting the facts in Carrboro
Mark Chilton Residents keep asking me: Could it be true? Could the home of the area’s best farmers’ market be out to destroy the few remaining farms in its jurisdiction? Of course, the answer is a resounding “No!†As mayor, I am highly committed to local farming and, as I told a group of farmers…
Caught between revenue and a hard place
Chris Fitzsimon When the long-awaited House revenue package was unveiled Tuesday morning in the Finance Committee, it was significantly more progressive than expected. That was evident from both the tax provisions in the package and the spirited opposition it sparked from Republicans and a handful of conservative Democrats. The plan would end a long-standing tax…
No action on global warming
Mike nelson Last week 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. There are two reasons to consider prohibiting them (an action, by the way, that Carrboro…
For the record: Website comments
Just a reminder that we have a general policy that comments to our website be signed as you would a letter to the editor. The exceptions to this policy include short, congratulatory remarks (as in, “Way to go, Anoop!â€) and comments by individuals who have compelling reasons to protect their anonymity.
For the record: Slash and Burn
There has been an increasing drumbeat of late that this state cannot simply cut its way out of this fiscal crisis. And, as noted elsewhere on this page, there is some solid reasoning that cutting state services and jobs is the surest way to increase the intensity of the economic downturn. Still, there is an…
A few budget reminders
Chris Fitzsimon The House budget process continued out of the public eye Monday as appropriations subcommittees were scheduled to present their proposals for unprecedented budget cuts to the top budget writers. The plan is to send the revised reports back to the subcommittees for a vote this week, with the full House taking up the…
One way to help
Steve Peha (“From gap to chasm,†May 7) points out that the Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools’ achievement gap between white and black students is greater than ever this year. He concludes that if nothing is done about it, it will be a foregone conclusion that bank account size or skin color will be the determinants of…
Cuts at U Lake
This may be your last chance, Carrboro. As part of OWASA’s draft budget for the fiscal year 2009-10, it is planning to cut the number of days that we have access to University Lake from four days down to just two. This means that for five days of the week, the best you will get is a distant…
Millhouse Road site move was rude, unecessary
Rick Kennedy With all that money in Chapel Hill, you would think the town could afford some manners for its mayor. Yet here we are, considering a waste transfer station site proposed by Mayor Foy, an action all his own, conceived without consulting the town council, commissioners or citizens. Fortuitously for him, the site is…