In My Opinion

Chatham's water plans all wet
[Jun. 1, 2006] I am very concerned about the path you all have apparently headed down to obtain additional water supply for Chatham County. A decision was made some 15 years ago by your predecessors to utilize Lake B. Everett Jordan for the long term water needs of the county. That decision was sound then and it is still sound. Lake Jordan is the most reliable and cheapest water source that the county can ever have. By Ronald D. Singleton, PE

Chatham water system in trouble
[Mar. 3, 2006] Will Baker, Chatham County Water Utilities Director, resigned as of March 3, citing lack of management support in the County and continuing interference in water utility management. Mr. Baker, apparently notified the County Manager three weeks ago of his intention to resign, unless he was given the necessary administrative and managerial authority to run the department and to report directly to the County Manager. By John Hammond

Cary annexing a "cow plop"
[Feb. 22, 2006] A forty five acre parcel in Chatham County is being considered for annexation by Cary this Thursday,Feb. 23 at the Town of Cary complex on Academy Street at 6:30 pm. This annexation petition is what I refer to as a cow plop; that is, it is non-contiguous annexation to the city limits of Cary. By Sally Kost

The Chatham horror: A poe'm
[Jan. 14, 2006] Once upon a morning D.R. Eerie, while we pondered confused and leery, over many quaint and curious lines of accountancy. Despite the sense of the open meeting, facts of course "they are so fleeting, no one will catch that we are cheating." Quoth the raven "D. R. E."

Our options for voting machines are better than BOE says
[Jan. 14, 2006] A couple weeks ago I wrote a letter to the Chatham Chatlist entitled “Why Should I Care About Voting Machines?” A few days later nearly a hundred people showed up at a poorly advertised forum on voting machines. After watching the salesman demonstrate his machines, the forum was opened to questions & answers. The Board of Elections were unwilling to talk about the cost of these machines until after the Q&A period. Many in the audience felt they were being deceived and didn't hesitate to vocalize this feeling. By John Bonitz

Board of Elections selects the wrong new voting machine option
[Jan. 11, 2006] On Wednesday evening, January 4, 2006 the Chatham County Board of Elections held a public forum to address the decision the County must make (as mandated by the State) on new voting machines for the county. In a presentation both systems (the Optical Scan Tabulation System and the Direct Record Election System DRE) merits were shown. A spirited question and answer session followed. By Nick Meyer

Why should I care about voting machines?
[Jan. 2, 2006] Here in Chatham County we vote on good-ol reliable paper ballots, which are then counted by a mechanical optical scanner device. For many years this has been our system. The machines are old and expensive to maintain, but people know them and trust them. Plus you've got durable paper ballots to recount, if need be. By John Bonitz

Why put out the asphalt welcome mat for developers?
[Nov. 22, 2005] My name is Mark Barroso and I represent Chatham First, a grassroots group organized to oppose a big box store in north Chatham and a new Wal mart in the county. It is puzzling to us why this commission would rush willy-nilly into putting out the asphalt welcome mat for developers who want to maximize their profits at the expense of your citizens stuck in traffic, stuck with North Raleigh ugliness and stuck with the tax bill that comes with a community that is only a bedroom for the rest of the Triangle. By Mark Barroso
Also: Chatham First

Unleashing uncontrolled urbanization into Chatham county
[Nov. 21, 2005] Tonight you are set to open wide the gates to the Netherworld by unleashing uncontrolled urbanization into our county. I know that some of you, at least, genuinely think you're helping us, but you're wrong. You would know this if you were willing to actually listen to the well-qualified expert citizens of the county who have been presenting you with reasoned arguments and thorough documentation for years and years. But you don't listen. By C. E. Bollinger

Commissioners propose to back bankrupt company
[Nov. 21, 2005] I have looked at all the possible rationales for the American Moulding and Millwork Company/Goldston sewer project and find that the only rationale that makes sense is that it is being pushed by someone holding elective office to cement their political base in southwestern Chatham by demonstrating he can bring home the bacon, i.e., sewer to Goldston’s three hundred and fifty-one inhabitants before the 2006 election, regardless of the financial risk to county taxpayers. Given the significant limits on sewer capacity of this line to Goldston and the high probability that AM will be liquidated it cannot be described as either economic development of infrastructure and/or job creation but appears to be best characterized as political pork masquerading as such. By John Hammond

Morgan's special interest campaign machine is at it again
[Nov. 7, 2005] Chris Walker appears to have taken his campaign strategy for the Bunkey Morgan, ReMax and Newland play book. Walker's last minute attack ad in the Chatham Record and his turn to computer based robot telephone calls are classic examples of the Morgan special interest machine. What they don't know is robot telephone calling is among the least effective political campaign tools. It appears that Walker like the Morgan machine cannot run a clean campaign based on issues or his record and has turned late in the campaign to negative attack ads. By John Hammond
Also: It Took a Village

Why I support a "developer" for mayor?
[Nov. 2, 2005] I recently joined a progressive political action committee, Pittsboro Together, that has endorsed candidates in the upcoming November 8 Pittsboro town elections. These endorsements are based on candidates’ positions on issues such as open government; planned and smart growth; support for recreation, parks, and the arts; reliable and clean water and sewer services; downtown revitalization; and economic development promoting small business and well paying jobs. By Jeffrey Starkweather

Developers have a bigger say in Chatham than do the citizens
[Oct. 24, 2005] I just had to write to express my concern about what I feel is the hijacking of the voting by Commissioner Patrick Barnes concerning the addition of more lots to the Homestead neighborhood adjacent to Jordan Lake. Evidently Mr. Barnes was requested by County Attorney Bob Gunn not to vote on this issue because of Mr. Barnes' publicly stated position against development that would drain into Jordan Lake. By Lynn Hayes

County wins planning award thanks to volunteer input
[Oct. 22, 2005] I noticed on the County website, that Chatham County has won the top award from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association for the development of its Compact Community Ordinance. The press release states, "The development of the ordinance involved many long hours of work by the county's Land Use Plan Implementation Committee over nearly two years, with input from hundreds of citizens." By Larry M. Hicks