Wednesday, July 27, 2016

County dollars for a hotel???

Take a look at the last three paragraphs on the last page of this weeks Chatham Record. That is where Chatham County very quietly gives notice of a plan to distribute county dollars to a private developer for a hotel somewhere in Chatham County.

According to the notice a public hearing for this cash giveaway will be held during the Commissioner's meeting on August 15 at 6:00 pm at the Historic Courthouse in Pittsboro.

Now, a hotel in the county might be nice. But is this something that you want your tax dollars going to support? I do not recall reading about expending public funds for this project in the latest county budget.

Is there an analysis that shows this is an investment and not a giveaway to some developer? If it is an investment, will our tax bills go down in the future? Is this another case of the open and transparent government our current county commissioners profess, or just a case of taxing and spending?

It is OUR money. Vote in November.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Who is running for County Commissioner?

We should all know by now that two county commissioner seats are on the ballot this fall. I was curious about what public information each of the candidates has provided about their positions on the issues. We should all watch for evolving positions over the next four months.

Seeking District 1 Commissioner
Karen Howard is the incumbent Democrat. Howard's mailing address is Chapel Hill and is a former attorney. She ran unopposed in 2014 to fill a position vacated by Sally Kost and is now running in an opposed election.
Ms Howard has published almost no information about her positions on Chatham County. Her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/Howard-for-Commissioner-2016.
I cannot find a reelection website for her.

Emmett (Jay) Stobbs is the Republican challenging Karen Howard. Stobbs' mailing address is Durham. He is a West Point graduate and a retired Army officer and was a manager at Northrop Grumman. Stobbs has information on his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/jay4chathamnc/, and he has a website at www.jay4chatham.com.

Seeking District 2 Commissioner
The incumbent commissioner for District 2 is Mike Cross. Cross was defeated by Mike Dasher in the Democrat primary. Cross lost the support of the Chatham Democrat Party leadership after voting against county-wide zoning which is supported by the other Democrat commissioners (Howard, Hales, and Crawford). Read about that at http://www.chathamforward.com or here.

Mike Dasher is the Democrat seeking the District 2 Commissioner position. He has degrees in political science and finance, and runs a business developing residential properties. Dasher  lives in Moncure. His Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/DasherForChatham/ and he has a website at http://www.mikedasher.org.

Peyton Holland is running as an Independent (placed on the ballot by petition of county voters after the Primaries). In the past Holland has voted as a Republican. Holland lives in Moncure and has a graduate degree in management from NC State. He works as the Executive Director of SkillsUSA North Carolina. His Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/OurChatham/ and his website is http://www.ourchathamnc.com.

Personal opinion follows
I chuckled when I saw a post on Dashers Facebook page stating that Howard and Dasher encourage citizen participation in a government that is thoughtful, deliberative, and transparent. I have not seen those qualities displayed yet by Commissioner Howard in the discussions about county-wide zoning.

Also interesting is that Mike Dasher runs a business developing residential properties. Will that be a conflict of interest for him during zoning discussions around residential development?

Anyway, (with the exception of Karen Howard who has seems to have no published political position) check out the political promises on each candidates Facebook page and website, and watch how those pledges evolve until the election. Remember to vote in November, and after the election try to hold your representatives to the commitments they make.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Zoning and the Ag Advisory Board

A few days ago Dr. Dykers mentioned on the Chatham Chatlist that the Ag Advisory Board had voted to recommend against county-wide zoning. Wanting to read the minutes for myself, I looked to the County website and found that the minutes for Ag Advisory Board meetings were not posted. 

After I submitted a formal records request, the County posted some of the Ag Advisory Board minutes at http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=1795 (January 2016 not yet posted as of this writing). 

From the Ag Advisory Board minutes, this is the timeline of their zoning discussions in 2015:

March 10, 2015 - Ag Advisory Board notified that the Planning Board and Commissioners are looking at zoning restrictions and countywide zoning. George Lucier and Brian Bock from the Planning Board agreed to seek Ag Advisory Board input on County issues regarding agriculture.

April 14, 2015 - Ag Advisory Board was told that the Planning Board is considering four zoning options, and that the entire county does not need to be zoned at this time. Commissioner Hale said that the county needs zoning as another leg to the County comprehensive land use plan. The Ag Board requested more information about zoning and its impact on agriculture. Commissioner Petty supports an open zoning approach that names the industries that cannot be allowed in the County without due process.

June 9, 2015 - Ag Advisory Board told that that County Commissioners have charged the planning board to develop land use regulations. Commissioner Hales stated that zoning is a comprehensive process and can take a long time, and that a comprehensive plan is ideal but there are short-term needs that are immediate.

September 8, 2015 - A report to the Ag Advisory Board stated that the Planning Board votes on zoning were tied, and that nothing was passed; also that the Planning Board defeated a motion to define western Chatham County as that west of US 421.

November 11, 2015 - the Ag Board voted to support the Planning Board recommendation not to zone the entire County. Voting for that proposal: Dr. Dykers, Chip Price, Terrill Ellington, Ronnie Vaughn, Larry Hicks. Voting against the proposal: Cathy Jones, Sharon Day, Bobby Tucker, Esta Cohen. 

So what? 

Two items are worth noting. First is that the meeting minutes of the Ag Board were not available to the County citizens until I made a formal request to County staff. That begs the question of how much other County business has not been made widely available. The County has been forthcoming when directly asked about meeting minutes; if they are available, why not post them? The result of not posting is to wonder what the County does not want widely known.

Second, and more disturbing, is that again a County board of citizens voted against the blanket R1 and R5 zoning process and the County Commission appears to ignore that input. Are the County advisory boards merely window-dressing? If so, lets either get rid of them or change their charters.

Finally, thank you Dr. Dykers for bringing this to our attention!

And finally, if you are not registered to vote, do so. Study the candidates positions for local, state and national elections. Put a circle around November 8 on your calendar and vote for those who best represent your values.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Ag Council Advisory Minutes?

One week ago I submitted a formal records request to Chatham County requesting the Ag Council Advisory Minutes for 6/9/2015, 4/14/2015, 3/10/2015, and 2/10/2015. I have been told that in these minutes are a formal recommendation NOT to blanket zone Chatham County, and I want to read it for myself.

Thus far I have not received anything from the county, other than an electronic acknowledgement that my request has been received.

I sent the County an email this morning asking how long I should anticipate waiting. We'll see if these minutes ever appear.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Analyzing the Zoning Discussion

I was curious if there was any pattern to who spoke out for and against zoning or the zoning process at the June commissioner's meeting and the recent planning board meeting. Here is what I found:

Of about 49 total speakers
  • 15 spoke in favor of zoning
  • 32 spoke against zoning or the current zoning process.


Of those 15 speaking in favor of zoning
  • 13 are registered Democrats, and
  • 2 do not seem to be registered to vote in Chatham county. 
No registered Republicans or unaffiliated voters spoke in favor of zoning.


Of those 32 speaking against zoning or the current zoning process
  • 4 are registered Republicans,
  • 10 are registered Democrats,
  • 10 are registered Unaffiliated, and
  • 8 do not seem to be registered to vote in Chatham county. 

Also interesting is the make up of the Planning Board, and of the County's planning staff.
The Planning Board consists of 5 registered Democrats, 1 registered Republican, and 4 registered Unaffiliated.  

The County planning staff has 2 registered Democrats, 2 registered Unaffiliated, 1 registered Libertarian, and 2 that I could not find in the voter registration file. There are no registered Republicans on the County planning staff.

Overall party affiliation is about what I expected. Since the County has more registered Democrats than Republicans, it is not a big surprise that more Democrats expressed an opinion than Republicans. Neither is it surprising (at least, to me) that Democrats are much more in favor of zoning than are  Republicans. It is disappointing that there are no Republicans on the county planning staff. But more zoning regulations means more workload for county staff which means more government staffing which means - well, you can take it from there.

What IS MORE disappointing are the number of people who do not seem to be registered to vote. How else can you make your opinions heard in the election process? If you haven't registered to vote, please go to http://www.chathamnc.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=27281 RIGHT NOW and get it done.   

Then in November look at which candidates best support what you believe, regardless of your past party affiliation, and cast your vote accordingly.  

Note: want to look up party registration? Go to https://vt.ncsbe.gov/voter_search_public/.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Open Government in Chatham County - Ag Advisory Board

After Dr. Dykers posted on Tuesday’s Chatlist about his Ag Advisory Board recommendation that opposed county-wide zoning, I sought a copy of the meeting minutes in order to read it for myself.

For those of you not following the Chatlist, here is Dr. Dyker's posting:



Alas, the Ag Advisory Board meeting minutes are not posted online, even though the County website indicates they get posted after each meeting. See http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=1795.

When asked, a County representative politely responded that the Ag Board is redoing the ordinance that covers this board, and are developing bylaws. They will let me know when minutes get posted. The website also shows that the Ag Board meets four times per year, but has not had a meeting in the last 13 months. One can wonder if last June was when the Ag Board opposed county-wide zoning.

In the meantime, I sent a formal records request to the County for the 2015 meeting minutes of the Ag Advisory Board. When I receive them I will post the information to my blog. 

But more importantly, any citizen can request County public records by submitting the on-line form at https://chathamnc.seamlessdocs.com/f/PublicRecords. I highly encourage everyone to do so when information is not posted in a timely manner. Records of the County belong to the county citizens, and public access to public information ensures that we will continue to have transparent government for the County.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Planning Board Subcommittee minutes ARE online

I previously posted that Chatham County has not posted meeting minutes of the Planning Board Subcommittee meetings.

Since then, Renee Paschal, our County Manager, has told me that these minutes are available electronically, despite my being told by two different county employees that they were not being posted. A big thanks to Ms Paschal for clearing this matter up for both county citizens and for county staff.

The minutes and other information are not found in the normal County Meetings section of the county website. They can be accessed at ftp://ftp.chathamnc.org/Zoning/.

There are several dozen files at this location, and they are not clearly labeled as to their contents. I plan to download them and I will try to write a summary once I have read them.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

County Minutes not posted online

The Chatham County website is a wealth of information about our county government. At least, usually. The problem is that many county meetings have not been posted online.

First, though, what is the North Carolina law about open meetings?
Meetings of county public bodies must be conducted openly. North Carolina official policy is that government operations are the business of the people.

Next, what are county public bodies?
All government boards, commissions, committees, or councils are public if they have two or more members, if their members are elected or appointed, and if they exercise a legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administrative, or advisory function. Of course this definition includes the commissioners meetings. It also applies to the planning commission and its subcommittees.

Finally, which public bodies have to keep minutes?
All of them: every public body is required to keep full, accurate minutes of all portions of all official meetings, including closed sessions.

So what?
Minutes of the Commissioner’s meetings, of the Planning Board, and the Planning Board subcommittees must be kept and must be made available to the citizens.

What is the problem?
Most of the Commissioner’s meeting minutes are on the county website. But as of the 5th of July, the minutes from April 2016 forward have not yet been posted.

More concerning is that none (Zero! Zip!) of two particular county public body meetings have been posted - the ‘Planning Board Subcommittee-Alternatives to open use zoning’, or the ‘Planning Board Subcommittee-Land Use’.

Planning board subcommittee meeting minutes would give us insight into the deliberations about zoning within the western portion of the county.

I asked county officials about why those minutes were not posted. One answer I received was that county staff have been so busy with new committees plus the Comprehensive Plan and rezoning they have not had time to post minutes of zoning meetings. Another, different answer was that they are not required to post those minutes online. The county did agree that these meeting minutes must be kept, and they told me that I could request specific pieces of information by filling out a Public Records Request. I asked to be emailed the minutes from 6 meetings related to zoning discussions. If I get that information I will post it to my blog.

Requesting information might work great if you can take time off to go to the county courthouse, if you know what to ask for, and if you can wait for county staff to provide the information. While that seems to comply with the letter of the law, it certainly does not provide easy access to information. This is a particular problem for those who cannot make it to the courthouse during business hours.

I am very disappointed by the response I received from the County Staff who are employees of the citizens of the County.

So, County Staff, how about helping citizens get access to information that belongs to the county citizens, particularly about such a divisive issue as county-wide zoning?

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Zoning questions and answers

I was contacted by a local reporter with some questions about Chatham County zoning. Here are those questions and my answers.

What is your main issue with Karen Howard, Hales, Dasher, and others who seek to zone the county? What is your primary concern, and can you give an example of what you fear may happen?

I have several issues with the zoning approach by the Board of Commissioners. The current Board is using a one-size-fits-all zoning approach (R1 and R5 housing zoning) to impose a poorly-defined desire to limit uncontrolled growth in the agricultural portions of the county. They are doing this despite a contrary recommendation by the County Planning Board, doing this prior to the county comprehensive plan being completed, and they ignore concerns of those being zoned. This will lead to even more east-versus-west divisions within the county, and will prevent landowners in the rural western portion of the county from using their own land as they see fit.

What are some examples of the commissioners ignoring public input ("my way or the highway" approach you mention in your article on Chatham Journal)?

One example is Commissioner Howard’s ‘I’ve heard nothing’ comment at the county zoning meeting. Another is Commissioner Hale’s declaration that she will see zoning in the county even if it means she is a one term commissioner. These approaches encourage divisiveness within the county.

I've heard there is talk of suing the board of commissioners? Are you a part of that effort?

No

Who would be a couple of good people affected by zoning to contact about their concerns/their opposition to the zoning?

You could contact any of the several concerned citizens who spoke in opposition to zoning at the county zoning meeting at the Historic Courthouse.

What about the argument that zoning is necessary to prevent a firing range from going in next to a daycare or animal refuge, etc.?

The Planning Board and two of the commissioners believe that there are other less invasive means of controlling growth - through open-use zoning, through existing county regulations, through environmental regulations, or other means. Zoning may be the most appropriate method but zoning without county by-in or without a good plan is likely to create additional political divisions within the county. Is an animal refuge better than a firing range? Is a daycare better than a pottery studio, a tractor repair shop, or a solar energy farm? The current approach mandates that every new, expanded or modified business in the newly-zoned areas of the county is subject to the whims of the planning board and county commission.

What about the argument that development is coming in one way or another from Wake and Orange and the eastern part of the county, and thus zoning is necessary to preserve the rural parts of the county--to confine a manufacturing plant or housing subdivision to one part of the county and leave the rural parts untouched?

A well-thought out zoning approach may be the right solution for the county. This approach, of R1 and R5 zoning, merely means that the western half of the county is zoned to build housing. How will that preserve the rural parts? The R1 and R5 definitions define housing restrictions for the county, and do not address manufacturing. Zoning as currently directed by the Commissioners is imposing unnecessary government control over the legal uses of one’s own land.