The report card

By Larry Hicks
Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008

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Pittsboro, NC - I attended the State of the County meeting Monday night. The highlights of Commission Chair George Lucier's presentation struck me in four ways; 1) we in Chatham County have been way behind the eight ball in positioning ourselves for our future, and 2) we now have a Board of Commissioners that fully understands where we are and what it takes to succeed, 3) this board, all five of them, are willing to make the difficult choices in order to piece together the action steps of success, and 4) progress is being made.

In the previous post the Chatham Coalition issued its report card of Commissioners Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross. This is fine and their prerogative. I would suggest, however, that we take a look at the big picture, instead of 'cherry-picking' issues and offering subjective assessments. A more holistic view and assessment of the actions of our Commissioners can be found in the State of the County address (the first of its kind in Chatham).

In 2004 the vast majority of citizens in Chatham called for change and elected Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross to the Board. Commissoners Barnes and Cross took office in the minority. There was no desire by the existing BOC to plan, to initiate actions steps in targeted infrastructure, to discuss growth and its impact on schools, to push for true economic development, and to protect our environment.

In short, Chatham's future and its adopted strategic plan were being ignored. It was Barnes and Cross that first planted the flag of change for Chatham. In 2006 an overwhelming majority of the County elected three more to the Board, reaffirming the desired direction for Chatham's future. All five now have to make the hard decisions in heading us in the right direction. Do they always make the right choices? No. Do they always agree with each other? No. Do they have the right vision of Chatham County? YES. Are they actively striving to fullfill that vision? YES.

I suggest that folks take the time to review the details of the State of the County, and the websites of Patrick Barnes and Mike Cross.

Not everyone is going to be pleased with every single decision. However, from the wholistic perspective, I believe we have a great team. Progress is being made, but there is much to be done. We are heading in the right direction. Why change that?

Larry Hicks is the campaign manager of the Committeee to Elect Patrick Barnes