Will Raymond for Council in 2005

Thursday, September 29th, I’ll be back for my 2nd formal visit to the Pit – 11:30am-1:00pm. Yes, I was on campus Monday but that was more of a “drop in”.

I continue to field questions on the sensibility of approaching the student community. I’m optimistic that this year the pendulum will swing back and that a campus population so internally and nationally political will turn their attention to our local elections and to local involvement. The DTH and other student groups are doing their part by putting together a list of 40 reasons students should be involved. I hope it gets well publicized.
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One of the incumbents in our campaign is very adept at dodging issues.

While it is wise to take counsel, to study an issue and weigh alternative resolutions, at some point, as an elected official and leader, you must take a stand. Maybe it will upset your neighbors, maybe it will generate bad press, maybe it will hurt your long term political prospects – but you must eventually form and express an opinion. In the bureaucratic world, when pressed to answer, you might be able to dodge by endlessly shuffling paper or invoking important sounding harrumphs – such as our incumbent – about his quasi-judicial standing.

There is such a thing as quasi-judicial standing. As a Councilmember you must weigh all sworn evidence and testimony entered at a public hearing before making a “ruling” on an issue. Until the hearings are closed, due process demands that you can’t make a fixed decision.

But, as Chapel Hill’s Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos pointed out in this 1995 memo, and in every subsequent election year, that doesn’t preclude an incumbent from commenting on open issues that have quasi-judicial standing.

When asked about the merits of…[a] pending quasi-judicial application, preface your response with some comment to the effect that:

1. “This is a matter which is pending before the Council…
2. the evidence has not all been presented…

…[etc.]…

Having so prefaced your remarks, I think it would be reasonable and acceptable to proceed with your comments on the merits…

The memo is very clear on how an incumbent can bracket their statements and still use their First Amendment right to speak and be heard.

So, fellow citizens, it’s time to pull that quasi-judicial veil aside and talk to the man behind the curtain.

He has every Right and responsibility to answer.

How well do you know Chapel Hill?

Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be posting photographs of topical places to stimulate a little discourse and maybe a little electoral fun. Tonight I’m initiating the “contest” with two photographs and a small hint.
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Is it true that effective conservation almost needs to become a reflexive act?

I’m lucky I had adults in my life – my parents, my friend’s parents, relatives, neighbors – that internalized the lessons of economy and reflexive conservation. Maybe they were like my father, who hailed from a large family whose generosity never flagged though they were more than pinched by the Depression. Maybe they were like my next door neighbor, a Cherokee, that grew up not only in severe circumstances but suffered the privations of a second-class citizen. Maybe they were farm folk, like the Finleys, that understood you saved this years bounty because next year might be a bust.

Whatever the reason, these folk demonstrated daily the practical application of a simple idea: “waste not, want not.” Hey, they weren’t saints, and they weren’t always consistent, but from them, somewhere along the way, I internalized the lessons of “turn that light off” or “close the door, you’re letting the heat out” or “stop idling the car”. I’m not always consistent or reflexive either but I do try to be aware of the environmental impacts of my behavior and modify my life accordingly.

It appears this Town Transit worker needs to internalize a few lessons in conservation.

One of these must go!

Monday, while I spent an hour Downtown campaigning, I noticed this Town-owned Transit department SUV quietly idling in front of the Varsity. I’d say the sidewalk temperature was 90 degrees, give or take. For quite awhile this worker sat making notes on his clipboard, I suppose in a bubble of A/C, while buses pulled in and out. Why did he stay in his SUV, idling $3.00/gallon gasoline, instead of moving into one of the many air conditioned restaurants/cafes/ice-cream stores that offer an easy vantage? Was it just an aberration? Unthinking behavior?

Is it possible for an organization to become reflexively conservative?

Chapel Hill Transit is selling the message that reflexive use of public transportation is good for the environment. What are we doing in Chapel Hill’s Town government to internalize the lessons of conservation? How many other vehicles like this SUV are in the Transit fleet? How many SUVs are active in our whole fleet? Why do we need SUVs at all?

I just got a note from Town Manager Cal Horton that the fleet usage data I requested a while ago will finally be available (some statistics like these that are partially outlined in this April 25th’s agenda item).

This behavior is not atypical. Nearly daily I’ve seen part of our own fleet of “leather-seated SUVs” idling in the heat or cold. I’ve seen supervisors hanging out of their car windows, chatting away, while they burn off more of our tax monies. I’m sure this particular staff member was performing a basic duty – making sure the buses ran on-time, transit staff was courteous, passengers boarded without problems – all laudable activities.

My problem is the unthinking waste. Maybe it just didn’t reflexively occur to them to cut-off their vehicles.

As a Councilmember I will provide leadership to speed our Town’s laggard implementation of the “Green Fleets” initiative. I applaud the Town’s recent purchase of a 1000 gallons of the currently cheaper than diesel biodiesel (and wonder if my recent email to Council helped spur some action) but we need to do more than work on statistics.

We need to take immediate steps to rightsize our fleet (no more “leather-seated SUVs”), to set specific goals for reducing fuel usage by upto %10, to reward departments and employees that hit those targets and, most importantly, to instill in our organization a bone deep appreciation for conservation.

Will Raymond for Town Council

Tapping into Chapel Hill’s talent, innovation and creativity.

campaign@willraymond.org
willraymond.org

209 Mt. Bolus Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (919) 932-1380

Dear Neighbor,

It started with a streetlight. A few years ago I asked the town to fix a light shining brightly into my family’s home off Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. After months of bureaucratic runaround, I turned to Council for relief and unintentionally began a journey towards a seat on that same body.

I’m an engaged parent, homeowner, Carolina North watchdog, community technology advocate, exponent of a new budgeting process, and now a candidate for Town Council. Through detailed research, public advocacy, and personal resolve, I have already had more success in altering the path our Town follows than I once thought possible. Still, I know I can do more. My journey, in and beyond government, has prepared me to step forward to lead when others will not, to decide when others equivocate, to negotiate firmly even when others quail at a “gun held to their head”. I will be vigorous and forthright in my work to build on a consensual vision of our Town’s future – a future, I believe, that will reaffirm Chapel Hill as a Town for the Ages.

Here are just a few of my recent activities:

• proposed that the Downtown Economic Development Commission extend wireless Internet (Wifi) downtown (including into the neighborhoods of Pine Knolls and Northside) – a forward-looking effort to spur economic development while bridging our community’s digital divide.
• called for the Technology Advisory Board (on which I now serve) to actively shape our town’s future, to expand the use of collaborative technology, to improve operational efficiencies, to move to an open and non-proprietary infrastructure, to ensure open access to information now and in the future.
• dug into the town budget to identify cost savings, proposed a better process for monitoring expenses.
• worked to protect our civil liberties and prevent the privatization of police powers.

As your Town Council representative, I will:

• challenge UNC’s current administration to create a more imaginative, forward-thinking, and collaborative design for Carolina North.
• continue to bring my experience as an entrepreneurial Chief Information Officer of a multi-million dollar DOT.COM to bear on the town’s use of technology to heighten our economic profile and to strategically improve our operations, procedures, and infrastructure.
• creatively make Downtown a family friendlier destination by establishing a state-of-the-art play area in a prominent location.
• initiate quarterly budget reviews by the Council, by a standing citizen’s panel and by the community.
• issue quarterly fiscal report cards detailing expenditures to date, bond liabilitiesand bond draw downs so ALL of us can help keep town spending in line.
• support the goals of the Stormwater Utility but end its fee-based funding.
• continue to strive to “think sideways” and suggest solid business practices and established innovations to progressively and cost effectively enhance our Town’s quality of life.

If you share my goal of a vital, creative, diverse, innovative, natural and sustainable town, please help my campaign: volunteer for a few hours, display a yard sign, make a contribution (no more than $100, please), write a letter, and be sure to tell your friends: In 2005, Everybody Votes Raymond!

Yours,

Breaking news: Will’s campaign endorsed by UNC’s Students for a
Progressive Chapel Hill!

Thanks to Anton Zuiker “striking while the iron was hot” after the Triangle Blogger Con, a group of local bloggers started meeting together on a fairly regular basis.
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Making the rounds today is this (possibly pay-walled) N&O article on how the Triangle is a great place to do “tech” business.

Raleigh-Durham ranked first or second in six of the study’s eight critical performance measures. The categories were designed to measure the cost of doing business, the cost of living and the quality of life.

Yes, Chapel Hill is a part of the Triangle but we need to forge ahead and be apart from the Triangle.

Investing in a municipally-sponsored network and improving our Town’s technology infrastructure, while demonstrating our tech savviness, will also lower the cost of doing tech business. Jettisoning the development ideals of car-crazy Raleigh-Durham, leveraging this new infrastructure, will help improve our quality of life.

Both will heighten our economic attractiveness – distinguishing Chapel Hill as a city on the rise.

Even though my first “official” day of Pit-sitting (something a lot less uncomfortable than it sounds) doesn’t happen until Wednesday, I dropped by the Pit for a couple moments Monday to leave some materials for the ever helpful Students for a Progressive Chapel Hill and ended up staying an hour.
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Last night I put a button on the site.

My first bucket of pennies came from my fantastic Mac-using mother-in-law and former long time Chapel Hillian, Meredith R.

This makes the second contribution I’ve received from a relative.

My first was from my bicycle daredevil son E.

E. paid my filing fee of $5 from his own pocket.

Thanks E. and Meredith R. for all the great support!

I recently completed a questionnaire for one of our Town’s more prominent institutions that consisted of a dozen queries. We live in a sound bite society, but I was a bit surprised that for a Town like ours, one going through several concurrent evolutions, the answers were restricted to: Yes, No, Unsure.

Hmmm…anyone that’s spoken with me knows I have problems squeezing nuance into a 30 second reply. Imagine the difficulty I had with this questionnaire. Luckily, I was allowed to expand with three specific proposals for improving Town:

As Chapel Hill transitions from Town to City we need to cultivate economic activity throughout Town. That starts with a creating a new EDC, doing a real survey of all business activity and creating a strategic plan for economic development that looks 5,10,20 years out.

We need to get creative and realize we can support innovative economic activity by supporting a municipally-sponsored broadband service. Besides advertising Chapel Hill as a Town on the (technology) rise, it attracts low impact businesses that employ our next generation of consumers.

Finally, we need to revisit some traditional amenities that have all but disappeared in Chapel Hill. Drinking fountains and attractive public restrooms are a good start. And to make Downtown family friendlier, I’m calling for a state-of-the-art, world-class, “mom, do we have to leave” play structure in a prominent Downtown location.