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Council hears plans
for election program
Public hearing approved for May 14
BY ARIEL ZIRULNICK
SENIOR WRITER
A public financing program to
fund local elections will move on to
a public hearing following approval
from the Chapel Hill Town Council
on Monday.
Although the resolution passed
without dissent, many on the coun
cil expressed reservations for the
voter-owned election program that
will fund campaigns for local office
with public money. It is intended
to open up the election process to a
broader array of candidates.
Concerns and confusion
expressed by council members hint
ed that there could be significantly
more friction at the public hearing.
Many were worried that the
proposal, which is filled with dol
lar amounts and complicated fund
ing schedules, will be too difficult
for the public to understand well
enough for a healthy discussion
next month.
“This is filled with details,"
Major Pro Tern Jim Ward said. “It’s
going to take a while for the com
munity to digest what was said,
what was proposed.’
Mayor Kevin Foy said the key
will be to get the word out early
TOWN COUNCIL
FROM PAGE 3
Several council members ques
tioned the wisdom of making the
change only a few weeks after Stage
3 restrictions went into place.
“Why not wait a while?’ council
member Bill Strom asked.
Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation
Director Butch Kisiah told the
council that his department will
lose about $350,000 if Stage 3
ECONOMY
FROM PAGE 3
North Carolina in shortfall status,
according to an N.C. budget office
spokesman.
An expected slowdown in con
sumer spending also could have an
impact.
Sales tax growth, a major source
of state income that reflects con
sumer confidence, was 3.6 percent
from July 2007 to January 2008.
That number is below the state
average of 5.8 percent, but above
the forecasted 2.9 percent.
North Carolina has missed some
BUDGETS
FROM PAGE 3
ues in major areas. Miami saw a 5.7
percent decrease in property values
between 2006 and 2007, and the
Tampa area saw a 12.2 percent
decrease.
Kentucky has a budget deficit
estimated at S9OO million for the
next two years. The state enacted a
3 percent higher education fund
ing cut in July 2007 and has since
added an additional 3 percent
cut, according to the University of
Kentucky fiscal office.
Preparing for potential cuts
The effect on UNC-system fund
ing for this academic year is not
expected to be significant With the
economic downturn expected to con
tinue through 2009, the real crunch
will be felt when the budget for the
2008-09 school session is created.
“We’re going to make it through
this year fine,” said Rob Nelson,
UNC-system vice president for
finance.
“We’ll have to see what kind of
impact the economy has on our
budget for the next fiscal rear and
the year after that."
On some system campuses,
about 70 percent of academic fund
ing comes from the state’s general
fund.
So far, the fund is doing fine,
thanks largely to prudent estimates
of growth, said an N.C. budget
office official who asked to speak
for the office as a whole.
According to a fiscal research
report released in February, gen
eral fund revenue stood $l4O mil
lion ahead of its sll.l billion target
Collections were running 1.25 per
cent better than expected.
Gov. Mike Easley will present his
2008-09 budget to the legislature
the first week of May, and Nelson
said he expects the UNC-system’s
budget to shrink.
The key, he said, is working with
the N.C. General Assembly on get
ting funds directed to the Board
of Governors’ priority areas: giv
ing funding to campus safety, fac
ulty salaries and research, increas
ing the number of teachers and
nurses and contributing to North
Carolina’s economic expansion.
Contact the State & National
Editor at gtntdesk@unc.edu.
enough for Chapel Hill residents
to fully discuss and comprehend
the program.
“It does seem like something
that’s unusual enough that we
should use nontraditional ways of
publicizing it," Foy said, suggesting
that a link to the program summa
ry be placed on the home page of
the town of Chapel Hill Web site,
where other major agenda items
typically are placed.
The document currently available
online is a more concise version of
the full proposal. A lengthier, more
detailed staff report also exists, and
council member Bill Strom sug
gested that document also be made
available on the Web site.
Council member Bill Thorpe
had a more traditional suggestion
for increasing public awareness
and understanding of the VOE
program, which is meant to make
the local electoral process more
accessible.
He plans to lead a community
information session to field ques
tions from Chapel Hill residents
about the program's intricacies.
“I want as much time as we can
get," he said. “This is a big, big
change."
restrictions remain in place.
Reservoirs are 70.4 percent full,
but water levels still are the low
est that they ever have been at this
point in the year.
“It is not risk free, but we can go
back to more stringent restrictions
in very short order should the need
be there," OWASA board member
Mac Clarke told the council.
Contact the City Editor
at ritydesk@ unc.edu.
of the negative effects of the nation
al housing crisis, another factor in
the national downturn.
The South saw an average
5.4 percent drop in home values
between 2005 and 200" During
that same period, the Raleigh-Cary
area was up 4 percent, Durham
rose 5.6 percent and Charlotte
increased 3.3 percent.
While North Carolina has not
experienced serious economic
problems from the current credit
crunch, rural areas are still facing
the economic problems they did
before anyone began talking about
sub-prime loans, said Harvey
Goldstein, a UNC professor of city
and regional planning.
“This state is still in a long period
of transition to a knowledge-based
economy," he said.
Senior icriterAmy Eagleburger
contributed reporting.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk(a unc.edu.
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“I want as much
time as we can get.
This is a big, big
change ."
BILL THORPE, CHAPEL HILL TOWN
COUNCIL MEMBER ON PROPOSED CAMPAIGN
FINANCING CHANGES
However, members of the com
mittee who drafted the proposal
are eager to get it finalized so that
those considering running for office
in 2009 can plan accordingly.
The initial resolution asked for
a public hearing on May 12, but a
closer look at the agenda for that
business meeting revealed an
alreadv-busy evening.
Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos
proposed pushing back the hear
ing to May 14, the same night as a
budget hearing. The amended date
passed with ease.
Every step taken with the voter
owned elections program is being
observed by communities around
the state who are interested in imple
menting similar programs, council
member Mark Kleinschmidt said.
Asheville and Greensboro are
waiting for the legislative approval
they hope will come following Chapel
Hill’s experimentation, he said.
“A lot of folks are looking to take
some version of what were done here
and do it themselves," Ward said.
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@ unc.edu.
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News
Aldermen to consider
trail expansion funding
BY JEFF WOODALL
STAFF WRITER
Plans to expand the Bolin Creek
greenway trail into Carrboro will
more forward tonight if the Board
of Aldermen accept funds needed
to begin planning.
The proposed greenway, a multi
purpose park trail, could be backed
by federal funding and would
extend the trail north along Jones
Creek.
“Greenways encourage people
to be more physically active, and
they promote the walkability
of communities,” said Brendan
Moore, facilities administrator
for Carrboro.
“Once they are completed, they
also serve as a way for people to get
from one part of town to the other
without using a car.”
A funding request for the plan
ning and construction of the
greenw'ay, along with another at
Morgan Creek, was first submitted
by Carrboro in 2003.
The request was prompt
ly approved, securing about
$1.45 million in local funds
from the Durham-Chapel Hill-
Carrboro Metropolitan Planning
Organization and from the federal
Surface Transportation Program.
Nationally, with rising gas prices
and other health and environmen
tal issues, greenways are experienc
ing an upswing in support.
“People really w'ant to have ways
to bike and walk around their
communities," said Tanja Wiant,
communications coordinator for
the East Coast Greenway Alliance,
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ATTEND THE MEETING
Time: 7:30 pm. today
Location: Carrboro Town Hall
Info: www.ci.carrboro.nc.us
a group that aims to create an
“urban greenway" from Maine to
Florida.
Even larger metropolitan areas,
such as Boston, are planning more
greenways based on the popularity
of others, Wiant said.
The Bolin Creek greenway
expansion project is a joint effort
between towns to extend the exist
ing trails.
Adena Messinger, transportation
planner for Carrboro, said commu
nities slated for construction on
the northern side of Homestead
Road are trying to incorporate the
greenways into their community
designs.
Both the Bolin Creek and
Morgan Creek greenways would
be set in place to connect to those
already in Chapel Hill.
Once completed, these initial
trails could find their way into the
downtown areas of Carrboro and
Chapel Hill.
Philip Duchastel, a member of
Can-boro's Greenways Commission,
said he thinks an increase in safety
and traffic organization could be
reached ifWeaver Street were used
for greenway purposes.
“We have bike lanes in Canboro,
but once you get toward Weaver
Street and the downtown, they just
disappear." he said. “This is a big
problem for families riding."
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Heidi Wolin walks on the Bolin Creek
greenway with her nieces Isabel,
4, and Stella, l.The trail might be
approved for more funding tonight.
Duchastel also said he opposes
the extra parking structures the
town plans to build for the gre
enways.
He said a way to eliminate the
need for the parking structures
would be to connect the greenways
more directly to residential areas.
“We want people to easily be
able to walk and cycle to the gre
enways and have them connecting
and interconnecting residential
areas."
Contact the City Editor
at ritydesk@unc.edu.
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