To date, I’ve appeared numerous times in print, had a brief commentators spot on WCHL, a few compressed blips on local TV news, this year’s televised Sierra Club forum and the broadcasted WCHL forum. Read the rest of this entry »
Video killed the radio star…
October 15th, 2005Busy weekend!
October 15th, 2005Saturday the Daily Tarheel editorial board is interviewing candidates with an eye towards endorsements.
The DTH, unlike some of our other news organizations, has covered most every candidate event and forum this election cycle. Following up on that coverage will be a comprehensive voter’s guide released concurrently with the beginning of early voting at Morehead Planetarium.
Speaking of editorial boards, I had a very pleasant and wide-ranging conversation with editor/publisher Brenda Larson, editor Mark Schultz, news editor Don Evans and old-hand Dave Hart of the Chapel Hill News Thursday. It’s rather special that we have three print (and ‘net) news organizations, the DTH, the CHN and the HeraldSun, covering our community.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sierra Club Endorsement!
October 12th, 2005Thank you Orange-Chatham Sierra Club for placing your trust in my candidacy.
The
Will Raymond has been one of the most outspoken and effective citizen activists in Chapel Hill in recent years. We look forward to him using his talents to advocate for the environment as a member of Town Council. In particular we are excited about his initiatives to promote energy efficiency in town buildings. He will also work to protect lesser known creeks in the Chapel Hill area and to minimize the number of single occupancy vehicles causing air pollution and traffic congestion at Carolina North.
We strongly encourage Sierra Club members and any residents of Chapel Hill who care about the environment to support these four candidates in the November 8th election. They are the best hope for a Town Council that will always make reducing environmental impact a top priority as Chapel Hill grows bigger.
The Sierra Club is an active force for positive and progressive action in our community – to be included in their company is humbling. I’m thankful for the confidence and support that both the local and state chapters have expressed with this endorsement and will work to extend that trust by continuing to be a strong advocate for our environment.
Very kind words
October 12th, 2005Today’s Daily Tarheel printed a colorful review of my campaign and did a great job of including some of the highpoints.
Gregg Gerdau, Chairman of Chapel Hill’s Technology Advisory Board had some very kind words:
“Will is one of the brightest people I’ve ever met, ever,” he said.
“Where he’s strong, he’s an expert, and where he doesn’t know, he’s able to figure out very quickly and understand,” he added.
Thank you Gregg!
I’ll continue to work hard on behalf of our citizenry to open our governance process, lower the bar to participation, improve our operational efficiencies and to create a municipally-sponsored network to both bridge the digital-divide and to innovatively spur low-impact, high value, economic development.
Register or regret?
October 12th, 2005I will be doing my regular Pit appearance Thursday, Oct. 13th, 11:30am to 1:00pm.
I will be asking students to update their registrations prior to the Oct. 14th deadline, calling, once again, for the students to send a clear message to the wider community by “breaking a thousand” votes in this election and engaging students in a conversation on the issues before the coming Council.
See you there, Will
UPDATE:
Three new voter registrations and 37 conversations. A good day at the Pit!
Two Neighborhoods
October 11th, 2005UPDATE:
I spoke with some of the folk working at Aveda today and got a clearer picture of the situation. The manager was pleased that a police officer came by to ask about the problems and to clarify what the Town could do to protect our Downtown business folk.
ORIGINAL POST:
I work in downtown Chapel Hill above a company called Aveda.
I’ve worked in that location for nearly five years. I’ve wandered those downtown streets for over two decades.
You might be able to tell from my picture that I’m a big, bear-like guy. In all my years around downtown, I’ve experienced a minimum of hassling or attempted intimidation.
My neighbors don’t appear as lucky:
CHAPEL HILL — Some Franklin Street business owners warned a downtown group Monday that if safety doesn’t improve, they may take their businesses elsewhere.
Though reported crime in Chapel Hill’s downtown business district is down this fiscal year over last, those working downtown say their employees and customers don’t feel safe.
Patrick Thompson, owner of the Aveda Institute at 200 W. Franklin St., said that his students and clientele, mostly women, are frequently harassed and that one employee was assaulted downtown.
“If one of those students gets attacked, our business is done,” he told the board of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, formerly known as the Downtown Economic Development Corp.
and the HeraldSun
CHAPEL HILL — Members of a downtown booster group heard repeated charges Monday that the town needs to do a lot more to enhance public safety in the downtown business district.
Both downtown business owners and those who work in the area complained vociferously about crime in the town’s commercial center, and spoke of a “deep-seated fear” of violence against customers and employees.
Patrick Thompson, owner of the Aveda cosmetology school and retail shop on West Franklin and Church streets, said his director had been assaulted and three students harassed in the downtown since the business opened last year.
Speaking to the board of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, Thompson said most of his students and customers were women, and that many had a certain “deep-seated fear” about the possibility of attacks that was real but hard to express.
“If one of these students gets attacked, our business is done,” said Thompson. “It’s that simple.
“I want to speak the truth,” he added. “I hope everyone here gets committed around putting more police on the streets. There is no police presence on the streets, at least in my experience, and I’ve been here fairly regularly.”
Though separated by mere inches in the same building and navigating the same geography, we work in two neighborhoods.
In their neighborhood, the owner tells us of his women student’s, customer’s and employee’s real “deep-seated fear” of possible attacks.
In my neighborhood, I enjoyably amble about from West End to Downtown day in, day out.
In their neighborhood, their local and out-of-town students have been harassed and an employee assaulted.
In my neighborhood, whether day or night, I walk bear-like along their dangerous avenues, recognizing the reclining regulars, rarely hassled even for change.
And though the fear is about the possibility of attacks – the perception of impending danger instead of the danger itself – the results can be equivalent. As candidate Jason Baker pointed out during tonight’s forum, if we lose a business to reality or to a misperception of reality, we’ve still lost a business.
And while the loss of a business is bad, worse is the thought that we can’t build a bridge from their dark Downtown-scape to the safe and vibrant Downtown my family and I enjoy.
I’ll see if I can walk the streets as a visiting Aveda student instead of a longtime Chapel Hillian. I’ll visit their neighborhood. Then, maybe, I’ll understand how to bring our two neighborhoods back to one.
Let it rain!
October 6th, 2005Students, rain willing, I will still be making my regular Thursday 11:30am visit to the Pit on Campus if you want to visit with a candidate that not only wants your vote but is willing to show up on Campus to earn it.
If it is raining, and I hope it does for our parched Town’s sake, I will reschedule.
In either case, I look forward to seeing you at the Daily Tarheel forum tonight, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., in Greenlaw 101.
Corralling the Community
October 4th, 2005For those readers that can take a looong lunch or want to skip the Daily Tarheel forum Oct. 6th, UNC will be presenting their current Master plan for campus.
Last May I had the opportunity to ask why they had quietly removed 3 residential halls from the plan and what that meant for the promise of a “bed for every head”. Of the few citizens attending, only a handful were prepared with detailed questions – like Diana Steele’s about “why had UNC sited buildings on top of her house on Mason Farm Rd.?” – quite possibly because there was no real lead time to evaluate the materials presented. Read the rest of this entry »
Metaphor?
October 3rd, 2005Rounding the point – South Topsail beach – by starlight at low tide… Read the rest of this entry »
Metaphor Too?
October 3rd, 2005After serenely Zenning out by starlight, I return to the street lit domain of rental houses. Read the rest of this entry »
Light fun at today’s Festifall
October 1st, 2005I’ll be attending today’s Festifall in Chapel Hill to hand out some literature, visit with folk and generally jawbone about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Candidate Laurin Easthom has graciously loaned me a spot at her table located in front of the new Hotel/torndown grand old Bus station.
I’ve also arranged a small campaign surprise. Why don’t you come by and check it out?
Bali
October 1st, 2005Bali, its people, its landscape, moved me and my family deeply. Beyond the touristy hype is a place of incredible spirituality, beauty and kindness. It really is one of the wonderous places of the world. Read the rest of this entry »
The Pit and the Pendulum
September 28th, 2005Thursday, 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.
Read the rest of this entry »
You can’t say what?
September 28th, 2005One 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.
Sierra Club Candidate Forum – Town Hall
September 27th, 2005Chapel Hill Council and Mayoral Candidates meet at the 1st televised forum of the year. If you watch on the boob-tube, I’m the only one with a beard 
!
UPDATE:
Interesting forum with mostly good questions. Former Councilmember and continuing activist Joe Capowski did a great job moderating – firm but friendly. Besides an excellent turnout by our local Sierra Club membership, Joe Herzenberg, Cam Hill and Sally Greene also attended. Nice to see to their friendly faces.
Great ‘blog coverage by Tom Jensen at the two-year old OrangePolitics.
Rob Shapard’s HeraldSun coverage.
And the Daily Tarheel.
Quick comment on the DTH coverage. I actually did endorse the purchase of Erwin Trace – a great strategic move to preserve a natural corridor along New Hope creek. Eventually, 15, 20 years out, this corridor will be one of the backbones of our natural byways. I also said that Erwin Trace is a rare opportunity well worth seizing but now we need to turn our attention to preserving as many of our Town’s creek basins as possible – including creeks that might not even have a name.
Again, looking 15, 20, 50 years out, these creeks offer a “natural” (as in obvious) corridor for preservation. A number of these creeks actually connect with our existing greenways and will provide effective walkable connectivity between locales like UNC-North and the rest of Town.