What is going on in Pittsboro?

Several local business owners are upset about the renovation of downtown Pittsboro and the way plans are being developed that ignore their business interests.

I have heard that the circle around the historic courthouse is being reduced to one lane (how will that impact truck traffic?), that angled parking will be replaced with parallel parking (have you been practicing how to parallel park?) and that parking lots used during the day, such as the Presbyterian Church lot, will be cut off from the public.

Those do not sound very business friendly.

There is an amazing lack of information about the downtown Pittsboro renovation. I have gone through the calendar year 2016 minutes (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0C58b8Uq5MTOTJhUFlOY0o5WVk) of the Pittsboro council and found only four references:

January 25: Commissioner Fiocco stated there were presentations to the property owners.
April 11: Manager Gruesbeck has a drawing from Kimley Horne (the design firm?).
May 09: Mayor Perry said Commissioner Farrell indicated they are still working on the circle and a couple other things.
May 23: Mr. Musarra (who is he?) gave a presentation. A link to the presentation is included in the commission minutes but the link does not work.

I did find a presentation dated June 16, 2014 called the Pittsboro Downtown Vision Plan. It states that consultants spent two whole days in Pittsboro, and then talked with about a dozen  citizens and elected officials. That report is on my blog at https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0C58b8Uq5MTU1ItNjB3MktSWTg. It indicates a goal for parallel parking despite drivers and shoppers disliking it but it apparently that provides more room for bike lanes. The four corners of around the Courthouse Circle should become parks. Also, the  presentation says that there are opportunities to relocate businesses. That alone would worry me if I owned a business in Pittsboro.

Do we really want Pittsboro to become another Chapel Hill? That same presentation calls for Pittsboro to be described as Artistic, Night Life, and Organic (whatever Organic means in this context).

There are many suggestions in this presentation that Pittsboro does need: improved sidewalks, buried power lines, better crosswalks. However, parallel parking, constricting traffic around the circle, and closing parking lots sounds like things Pittsboro does not need.

So, Pittsboro leadership, how about providing more information on the plans and the logic behind decisions? Also, a big question - where is the money coming from, and who are the special interests that will profit from these renovations?

Shout-out to Hickory Mountain

Two days ago the citizens of Chatham County celebrated our democracy and voted in elections. One may agree with some outcomes and not with others. What we should all agree on is that, at least in Hickory Mountain, neighbors came together and participated in a friendly manner to decide important issues. Here are a couple of the stories I was told from there.

Electric power went out sporadically across areas of the precinct on Tuesday morning. This impacted voting - the polling booths were dark inside and the authorizations to vote (ATV, a document which stands in for identification) could not be printed, but paper backup was used. Right after the power went out the County was notified and started to make arrangements for assistance.

One of the local residents brought a small generator, lights, and extension cords. Another local resident brought in five flashlights for use in the booths. Other voters used the flashlights on their cell phones. One voter brought in a flashlight as she knew power was out.

No one seemed anxious, or worried about the integrity of the vote, or complained about voter suppression. This was neighbors working with neighbors, despite one of the national parties doing some serious arm-twisting as voters went into the polling place.

Thanks to everyone who voted. I hope that each one of you voted in a thoughtful manner, unswayed by national political corporations and news media with their own agenda. Let us continue to act as neighbors in this beautiful county and wonderful country we call home.

Comprehensive Land Use Plan

Chatham County is moving forward with its comprehensive land use plan. This will impact ALL of us in Chatham County, for better or worse, for years to come. Sources tell me there have been some spirited discussions at the Comprehensive Planning meetings between those desiring more centralized control and those desiring more individual freedom.

If you have not seen the draft map of planned land use, showing areas for agriculture, towns, neighborhoods, parks and so on, it is available on my blog here.

Once you have studied the map, and looked at the plan for YOUR property, you may have more incentive to participate in the planning process. The county has posted more information and how to get involved at http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?page=1860.

This is your future in Chatham County. Get involved.

Shout-out to the Pittsboro Street Fair

Yesterday was the Pittsboro Street Fair - a great opportunity to meet people, eat funnel cakes, and shop for crafts. And we could not have had a nicer day. Thanks to everyone who organized, participated, and attended.

And a thanks to Sheriff Roberson and his deputies. Our Sheriff seems to be very engaged with the community and always interested in meeting the county citizens and hearing their thoughts and ideas.

I also had a chance to meet two Commissioner candidates - Jay Stobbs and Peyton Holland. Both were walking among the crowd and listening to what we were thinking. Those who did not seem to be visible were Karen Howard or Mike Dasher.

Shout-out to Chatham Co Board of Elections

I voted this week.

Despite having to work my way past a group of partisans shouting at me to take a Blue Ballot, once inside the Pittsboro voting station I was met with pleasant and professional paid staff and volunteers. They quickly asked for my name and address (no ID, but that is another story) and within a couple minutes I had my paper ballot and had voted.

A big thanks to the staff and volunteers during what must be a difficult period, both due to partisanship in the County and the illness of the Elections Director. And a huge thanks to Chatham County for retaining paper ballots and not moving to electronic voting machines. Paper ballots give me confidence that my vote is counted. The electronics in a machine can go haywire for a variety of reasons. An ink mark on paper is reassuring.

Go vote - either vote early, or vote on Election Day. This is an important election.

If you say a lie often enough it becomes truth

In the Chatlist from Wednesday this week Mr. Markatos commented on the Commission Meeting discussing zoning and the comments by Karen Howard. His discussion is not correct regarding that Howard is addressing two hecklers from the crowd.

If you listen carefully (at about 1:22 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtpfpjRrRLs), this is the statement Howard makes: Even those voices that spoke did not give meaningful input on what was being discussed.

Howard is clearly showing her disdain for the Chatham County citizens who took time to speak for or against zoning, as the meeting was strictly for show anyway.

I would say this continues a trend at the County level, but since we have heard almost nothing from Howard in the past couple months that would not be true.

It does seem to be true at the national level, however. The ruling class of the media, politicians, entertainment figures, and university professors seem to consider most of those living outside their sphere, those of us who are bitter and cling to guns and religion, those of us who are a basket of deplorables, those of us loyal American NRA members who are enemies, as ignorant rubes that have to be enlightened. This spills over to the local politicians.

It is our responsibility to vote, but only if we make informed votes not dictated by one or the other of our national Political Corporations (I could have said Political Parties, but both parties really are corporations that exist solely for their own benefit, not for your benefit). One party wants you to vote the Blue Ballot, the other party wants you to vote whatever color ballot they are using. Do not vote how a Political Corporation tells you to vote. Think, research, and then vote your own ballot. You have a few days left of early voting. Make your vote count.

Matthew is gone but certainly not forgotten

Hurricane Matthew has come and gone. As I write this many of my fellow Chatham citizens remain without power, or have to boil their water, or remain in their homes because of high water, or a host of other issues.

So my question is - did we learn anything over the weekend?

A shout-out to the NC Department of Public Safety and the Chatham County Emergency Management department for keeping us informed. Also a shout-out to Duke Energy - their crews have been working hard to get the power turned back on. 

Also a shout-out to the Central Carolina SKYWARN folks. A ham radio friend advised me to listen to their broadcasts (you can hear them on the internet at http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/5620/?rl=rr) and that was about the most informative way to find out information around the area.

I was NOT impressed by the local FM radio stations, particularly one public radio station nearby who seemed much more interested in discussing a presidential candidates stupid comments than in reporting useful storm information. Until my power went out the local TV stations were the most useful.

What else? Were YOU prepared for the storm? Food, water, gas for a generator, flashlight batteries and so on? I recall a guy some weeks back talking on the Chatlist about a citizens emergency program. At the time I did not think much about it, but after the past few days that might be a really good idea. This was not the first nor will it be the last disaster to hit our area.

So, now for the cleanup, and then back to local politics!