As much as I’d like to run the lowest cost competitive campaign, this year we need a few more dollars to get the message out.
Please consider contributing not more than $100 to our campaign to bring Will’s pragmatic, practical and fiscally prudent leadership to our Town Council.
Further information here.
A big thank you to all the folks who contacted and encouraged me to run.
Below is my formal announcement, more posts to follow:
Will Raymond Announces Run for Chapel Hill Town Council 2009
Chapel Hill, NC – July 17th, 2009
I am taking the next step in my eight year continuum of public service to Chapel Hill by announcing my candidacy for Town Council.
After listening to hundreds of my fellow citizens during the Sustainability Task Force’s nine recent public forums, it is clear that Chapel Hill’s residents want to move forward on a different path for the next decade.
Moving Chapel Hill forward will require common sense leadership that is innovative, experienced, tested and prepared to follow our citizens’ mandate to change course.
Successfully working with a variety of community organizations, advisory boards, the Town Council and Orange County Board of Commissioners in the past, I have taken on some of the thorniest, toughest and, occasionally, most controversial issues facing our community.
Listening to the community, gathering the best advice, with conviction and thoughtful fortitude, I have been unwavering in my support of reasonable growth policies, fiscal prudence, environmental protection and transparent government operations.
As my understanding of these challenges deepened, so has my sense of responsibility for making sure our community thrives when meeting them.
The next four years finds Chapel Hill at a crossroads. Addressing these four issues will be vital to our community’s sustainability:
I have lived in the Chapel Hill area for two decades, the last 16 years a stones throw from UNC’s Carolina North. My wife, Ellie Reinhold, is a local artist and founding member of the wonderful Hillsborough Gallery of Arts cooperative. We currently live along Mt. Bolus, one of the older (and quite delightful) neighborhoods close to downtown, with our twelve year-old son Elijah.
Ellie, Elijah and I have deep roots in this community. We chose this exciting, diverse, vibrant, forward – looking community to make our home at a time when a couple of modest means could get their foot in the door.
Professionally, the last 21 years I have been a successful chief information officer of thriving startups, a technical manager in RTP, an independent software developer and an entrepreneur.
Negotiating decades of technology boom and busts, I know growing a sustainable business concern owes as much to building a strong, independent, flexible, respected workforce as to watching dollars and cents. We need that understanding to pervade our Town’s operations.
Over the last 8 years I have served our community in a variety of roles:
Beyond these groups, I participated as an involved citizen in the Town’s Budget Advisory group, Orange County’s transfer site selection process, the County’s decision to create election districts, the University’s Leadership Advisory Committee and other initiatives with direct impact on our community’s well-being.
Through hard work, due diligence and dogged persistence, I have already helped improve Chapel Hill and seen many of my suggestions integrated into the fabric of our Town and County.
As a member of the Town Council, on behalf of our whole community, I will continue to bring my strong work ethic and proven public service commitment to shepherd our Town through some trying but eventually rewarding times in a way that validates and bolsters our Town’s progressive reputation.
As your representative, I pledge to continue to listen to and cultivate all of the diverse viewpoints which are a hallmark of this community, to work diligently on those key issues to ensure our Town’s viability and to make sure that the door opens wide – and stays open – for folks, like Ellie, Elijah and I, who choose to not only live here but grow and prosper here.
Contact:
Will Raymond, Candidate 2009 Chapel Hill Town Council
willraymond.org
209 Mt. Bolus Rd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-360-9939
campaign@willraymond.org
I believe there’s usually a better way to do almost anything and, as a business person, well understand the value of customer complaints as a tool for driving improvement.
Complaints are like canaries in the coal mine alerting you to developing negative conditions – many organizations, though, would rather kill the canary than respond to their plaint.
In 2005, then Town Manager Cal Horton, made sure that the candidates for office were tied into Council’s information stream. This included citizen mail, status reports, early agenda items and advisory board work product.
After the 2005 election, I asked Council to make this information available to the wider public. In spite of professing an interest in transparent governance, the majority of Council decided not to expose our residents to citizen complaints or alert folks early to developing policy problems.
The Chapel Hill Police Department reports that last night’s Halloween bash, attended by 82,000 folks, went fairly well – at least based on the numbers:
Simple Affray(4),Assault on a Female (1),Simple Assault(2),Drunk and Disruptive(3),Assault on an EMS(1),Disorderly Conduct(1),Assault on an LEO(2),Resist and Delay(3),Failure to Disperse(1).
Orange County Emergency Medical Services responded to thirty-one calls and eight people were transported to UNC Hospitals. Twenty-one of the calls were related to intoxication.
Sounds good but not everyone was happy about our Town’s effectiveness:
The control on our street, NORTH STREET off Hillsborough tonight was ridiculous! By 10PM, the street was filled with cars that didn’t belong here. I spoke with the “traffic control” people and they said “…nobody told us anything…”. They let anyone down the street to park who asked them to, they had no cones until they found some up near Rosemary Street, and had no clue what they were supposed to do. This is the most ridiculous traffic control during Halloween I have ever seen. Someone at the Town needs to take control of this Halloween disaster and protect the neighborhoods from the thousands who invade the Town each year.
There is no reason to spend this much tax money on an event and NOT
protect the people who live here!
Now, we could look at this an isolated complaint, be comfortable with the overall numbers and not investigate any further OR we could look at this as an opportunity to do better next year.
If elected, whether it is Halloween traffic on North Street or a citizen being verbally abused by staff or an unwillingness to drag a dead deer off a residents front lawn for disposal, I will not ignore complaints.
Instead, I will look at each as an opportunity to do better.
I called Jennifer Strom last week to see if the Indy would provide me the courtesy of a response to their endorsement comments. She said they would. Here’s my response:
I’m baffled by the Indy’s comments on my and Mike Kelley’s candidacies.
I’m mystified by your endorsement of Indy editor Jennifer Strom’s husband Bill Strom, incumbents Sally Greene and Cam Hill, all who voted to build extensively into the Booker Creek resource conservation district.
I’m perplexed. I haven’t called for environmentally insensitive development on Booker Creek let alone authorized it.
And I’m disappointed. How do you chastise Chapel Hill School Board candidate Mike Kelley’s attendance record given his personal circumstances? Beyond insensitive, it was ill-informed.
Where was the balanced investigative journalism we have come to expect from the Indy?
I used to give the Indy’s endorsements automatic credence. Any readers who do so this year will be misled.
I’ve written here and here why I think the Indy missed the boat on my candidacy.
As far as Mike, here’s what happened February, 2006 (N&O)
Police charged an elderly driver they say injured a mother and daughter selling Girl Scout cookies when she backed into a troop’s cookie booth outside a grocery store over the weekend.
Chapel Hill police charged Thelma McBride Holloway, 77, of 105 Elizabeth St., Chapel Hill, with failure to reduce speed to avoid collision.
Holloway was backing her 1991 Lincoln out of a parking spot Saturday afternoon in front of the Harris Teeter at University Mall when her foot slipped off the brake and onto the accelerator, according to a police report.
The car ran up the sidewalk and hit Elise Michelle Hoffman, 44, and her daughter Anne Katherine Kelley, 11. Both were taken to UNC Hospitals. The hospital would not release their conditions Monday afternoon.
On Sunday, Lt. Leo Vereen said the accident broke both of Hoffman’s legs, and Anne’s collar bone and one of her legs.
Hoffman and Anne are the wife and daughter of Mike Kelley, a member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education.
Since reading the Indy’s strange comments on Mike I’ve had some time to talk to folks I know and trust about his candidacy. Overwhelmingly they say he’s meticulous, has responded to folks concerns and, even with a family tragedy, discharged his responsibilities in full.
Here’s what one of his opponents, and Indy endorsee, Jamezetta Bedford, said on the Indy’s website:
…I feel compelled to disagree with the statement that Mike Kelley’s job “has prevented him from attending many forums and activities beyond his basic duties.” Each board member volunteers to serve as liaison to two or three school improvement teams (SITs) and various district committees. Some are scheduled during the work day, some in the early morning and some in the evening. We divide them up at our first December meeting each year based upon the interests and schedules of our board members.
Mike has faithfully attended the SIT meetings most months (board members are only expected to attend once a semester) and has served on our technology advisory group, one of the health advisory committees, as well as liaison to the Special Needs Advisory Council this past year. I would not want a board composed of only retired or unemployed members. By the way, our board will receive an award next week from the NC School Boards Association to recognize that all of our members completed at least 12 hours of board development training this past year, again showing the investment of time each makes to this service.
I like her point about a balance board with more than “retired or unemployed members”.
There are many more statements of support here.
Here’s what UNC Law professor Eric Muller said Are the Indy’s Endorsements Heartless or Worthless? It’s One or the Other over on his ‘blog Is That Legal?.
Bill Strom, at the recent Democrat Candidate Forum, used a quote attributed to Daniel Patrick Moynihan to try to make some point “…you are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.”
Maybe he could share that quote with the Indy’s editor (and his wife) Jennifer Strom.
The Indy is free to express an opinion but it shouldn’t ignore the facts – which, in my case, I did the opposite of what their endorsed candidates did and in Mike’s, that he had an obvious and completely understandable reason for his actions.
The Indy found fault with my style of dissent. I’m a big guy, have a deep voice and am passionate about my well-researched issues. I believe I’m respectful in my appearances before Council (example). Folks have told me that I’m tough but fair. The Indy’s criticism, no matter how emotionally worded, is, in the end, subjective – their job, to shape opinion.
The Indy’s suggestion that I wanted to despoil Booker Creek further is not supported by either the facts or any reasonable inference (as I discuss here).
What inference could the Indy draw about the incumbents – Sally Greene’s, Cam Hill’s, Bill Strom’s – willingness to put development above the health of Booker Creek?
Well, no inference is required as the record clearly shows that all three were willing to contribute to Booker Creek’s ills for the sake of economic development.
I’ve attended many Council meetings over the last 6 1/2 years. Once there, I usually stay to learn about the issues before our Town. That’s why I know that Bill, Cam and Sally voted June 30th, 2004 to approve Eastern Federal’s 10 screen, 38,000 square foot, nearly 200 parking space theater directly adjacent to Booker Creek.
Read the rest of this entry »
In 2005, the IndyWeek endorsed my candidacy, this year they didn’t.
Even though I had more experience serving on the Town’s Technology Board, Horace-William’s Citizen Committee and Downtown Parking Task Force, I didn’t expect a nod.
Why not?
Read the rest of this entry »
Oct 16
Buying an election. Can it happen here? I know I lost to a candidate in 2005 that had spent 2 1/2 times – more than $8+ thousand – on his campaign. I pledged then, as I pledged this year, to run the lowest cost campaign possible – to walk the talk of election reform – to set an example to encourage folks to run even if they can’t tap $250 per throw contributors.
If there’s been one surprise to me this year is that the incumbents, with the notable and appreciated exception of Jim Ward, have rejected their pre-election claim to run low cost campaigns. Worse, these are the same folks that have pontificated on voter-owned elections and the need for candidates from all economic strata.
Robert P., over on BlueNC posted this home-made video supporting John Edwards on his attempt to run on the issues instead of trying to buy an election result:
I hadn’t heard of this organization prior to this election but they appear to have been active for the last 10 years.
Friends of Affordable Housing is a non-partisan Political Action Committee that has been active in selective elections within Orange County during the last 10 year. The organization was first organized to support the Orange ballot for Affordable Housing Bond Money. The committee has also periodically sent questionnaires to candidates running for Orange County Commissioner and Chapel Hill Town Council.
Core members of the committee felt the residents of Chapel Hill should have the opportunity to know the positions of the various candidates running in 2007 for Chapel Hill Town Council. The Committee felt the relocation of the IFC, the transition to more attached multi-story housing, the opportunity for more affordable housing in Carolina North, and the possibility of selective use of “payment in lieu” of affordable housing units were issues of significant concern for Chapel Hill residents. The committee members are all long standing residents of Chapel Hill. The four review committee members have extensive executive committee experience in non-profit boards including the IFC, Habitat for Humanity, Dispute Settlement Center, YMCA and various Orange County boards including the Commissioners Committee on Affordable Housing. Committee members have also consulted with staff members of several of the Affordable Housing providers.
The NC Board of Elections has informed us that Friends of Affordable Housing does not have to register as a formal PAC for the 2007 election because we will not be raising money to support a specific candidate or issue.
They weren’t active in the 2005 race even though there was a slew of known affordable housing related issues before the Council.
Dear Candidate:
As you know, initiatives to increase the stock of all types of affordable housing in Chapel Hill have been an election issue for many years. In order to give Chapel Hill residents a better understanding of your position on this critical subject, Friends of Affordable Housing has developed a 7-item questionnaire asking you to address some of the current issues.
…
A review committee of the Friends of Affordable Housing will review your responses and may endorse specific candidates prior to the November election. Your comments will also be made available to the general public.
Thank you for your cooperation; we look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
The review committee: Natalie Ammarell, Rev. Richard Edens, Susan Harvin ,Richard Leber
They obviously understand that maintaining and expanding affordable housing opportunities will require even more attention of the new Council than the last two years.
Here are my answers to their questions.
Friends of Affordable Housing Questions for Chapel Hill Mayor and Town Council Candidates
1. Please describe your commitment to creation of affordable housing initiatives in Chapel Hill.
I’m dedicated to continuing our Town’s commitment to providing affordable housing in Chapel Hill.
We need to re-evaluate, though, our current initiatives, our capability to manage our affordable housing stock and to rebalance the types of housing we’re currently providing.
With that, we also need to adopt fiscal policy that helps folks keep the most affordable housing they have – their current homes. We’re already seeing a trend of long-term residents, after decades of contributing to our community, being “shown the door”.
Those just starting out, can’t even get their foot in the door without substantial incomes.
Finally, we need to make sure our Town’s growth policies align with our housing goals.
RAM Development, the Town’s private partner on the Lot #5 boondoggle, is proposing to replace the somewhat affordable apartments with hundreds of big-ticket condos. Developments that displace existing affordable housing stock, like Hillsborough 425, are part of Chapel Hill’s future.
We need to make sure, though, that we anticipate the consequences of those displacements.
2. Please give your opinion about the actions taken by Town Council in the last 4 years to increase the stock of affordable housing in Chapel Hill.
I commend the Council for their intent. I applaud their successes. But, we could’ve done better.
Too much in lieu money, not enough square footage. Necessary reform in managing our housing stock or being able to adapt to changing conditions left undone for too long. Opportunities like Roger Perry’s %30 offer at East 54 or Greenbridge’s Northside neighborhood in-fill proposal missed. Rebalancing the kind of housing we offer, not adequately addressed.
3. Given the current impasse with the County, what would you do as a Town Council member to proactively advance the effort to find a new site for the IFC Men’s Residential Facility?
a. Would you oppose locating the facility in certain parts of town (e.g., downtown; near Seymour Center)?
I would like to see the IFC split the food service and the shelter functions. As far as the Men’s Shelter, our Town – if a leadership vacuum exists at the county level – has a responsibility to manage this process. I believe the Town should work with the IFC, proactively, along four basic thrusts.
One, develop criteria that incorporates both the IFC’s requirements for just the shelter component and our Town’s goals for development, transit and neighborhood preservation.
Transit opportunities, accessibility to health and other social services are a few of the criteria I would suggest.
Two, once we have the mutually developed criteria, find the site that best suits our joint needs. Our community needs to be involved in both the development of relevant criteria and the selection of the site.
Locating on Homestead makes sense, especially over Eubanks or Millhouse but there might be better sites based on the decision matrix the IFC, other interested parties and the Town develops.
Three, our Town could provide some logistical support to the IFC in developing a task list to move the shelter.
The Chamber asked me if I’d support pulling the IFC’s lease on the existing shelter location. No way I did say that our Town should help develop a punch list of items with specific performance goals and a timeline to hold the IFC to – but taking a punitory tack is – in my estimation – a poor strategy.
Four, we need to bring our community into the process early, educate the public on the relevant issues and, proactively, publish a guide on how the Council will measure the success of this project. If Council affirms, as I believe we’ll be able to do, that the population at the Men’s Shelter will not increase criminal activity in surrounding neighborhoods, we should already be prepared to assess that activity and report back if reality matched our projections.
4. What new programs do you envision to increase the stock of affordable homes in Chapel Hill?
a. Do you think priority should be given to one type of affordable housing (e.g., transitional housing, special needs, rentals, small condo’s, larger owner occupied detached homes) over another?
We need to rebalance our housing stock based on a few criteria. First, what is the most diverse kind of stock we can reasonably manage using existing resources? Second, look at partnering on denser developments like Raleigh’s Carlton Place (I wrote about this development here: http://citizenwill.org/2007/03/21/raleighs-carlton-place-a-downtown-affordable-housing-commitment-worth-emulating/ ). Third, like Carlton Place, re-evaluate rental housing within our current mix.
b. What type of affordable housing should be built in Carolina North and on the Greene Tract?
I would like to see affordable housing developed on the Greene Tract that is akin to that of the Homestead Park neighborhoods. I would also like the housing to be on the eastern side of the tract to integrate into those neighborhoods, take advantage of existing and new amenities, be closer to existing transit, take advantage of new transit capabilities (depending on what happens at Carolina North) and avoid damaging some of the more ecologically sensitive areas.
The University has suggested that housing on Carolina North will be market driven. I would like to see a mix of units that parallels the stock that UNC commissions.
5. In the last year, Town Council has approved three mixed-use developments: 54 West, Greenbridge and Ram’s Lot 5. Under Chapel Hill’s Inclusionary housing policies these developments will generate almost 100 affordable one and two bedroom condo units. However, these units will not serve lower income families with children.
a. In your opinion, do current policies provide the types of affordable housing that are really needed? If not, what should be changed?
As you might be aware, I’ve been critical of the Town’s Lot #5 development for a number of reasons. The project is fiscally irresponsible, the original affordable housing stock was not family friendly, the affordable housing parking was off-site (second class citizens), the condo fees were steep and not capped, the condo units – especially the larger ones – will most probably server the student community, measurable energy efficiency and environmental standards were dropped, and on and on. You can read my web site – citizenwill.org – for a detailed discussion on these and other Lot #5 ills.
For all my criticism of the majority of the Council’s decision to take on this money pit, I am happy that Cam Hill did accept my recommendation to resize some of the affordable units to accommodate families. Will families find them inviting? I’m not sure.
Considering Lot #5’s location, I’m quite concerned that the Council never took my call to look at affordable living as well as affordable housing seriously. What is the cost of living in one of these units if you should be on the lowest economic rung of those that can purchase a unit? Will the economics of that location end up making this housing more transitional in nature than was originally anticipated?
The units at East54 strike me as being more family friendly. I was encouraged, at least until the Harris-Teeter moved, that a mix of services were within easy reach. I was discouraged though by the Landtrust’s assessment that these units would be transitional in nature. And, of course, continue to be concerned we couldn’t take advantage of the developers offer to build %30 affordable housing.
With Greenbridge, I believe our philosophy of integrative units, a good goal, interfered with an excellent opportunity to acquire more square footage. The rejection of the proposal to build family units within an existing adjacent neighborhood was disappointing. Our Town policy should be flexible enough to adapt to exceptional opportunities that don’t diverge greatly from our housing goals.
b. Can Chapel Hill’s Inclusionary housing policies be utilized to generate affordable rental housing? If you think so, please explain how such rental housing would be managed and maintained.
From my understanding, the existing inclusionary policies don’t align with encouraging development of rental housing. As the inclusionary zoning process continues, we need to make sure rental becomes more of an option.
6. Many affordable homes are “aging” and will require significant maintenance. Is it appropriate for public funds to be used for long-term maintenance? If so, what sources of funds should be used?
I’m interested in the proposal for a rotating loan fund to assist folks in maintaining their properties. This loan fund, if created, needs to come from monies outside the general fund. I would not support additional Town debt – via bonds or other mechanisms – to fund this loan program.
7. Do you think “payment in lieu” of affordable housing construction should be accepted from builders? If so, what guidelines should be used and how should these funds be used?
Over the last five years, my sense is the Council is accepting way too much in lieu monies over square footage. We’re asking developers to create housing. Housing built now will not only help relieve some of our current demand but also be cheaper than housing built 5, 10 , 20 years out.
If we ask for housing, we should get housing.
Delay is not our friend. Easy money also erodes are discipline. Square footage over in lieu money should be our guiding principle.
Here’s my answers to the Chapel Hill News candidate questionnaire. If the answers seem a bit terse, it’s because brevity was required.
POLITICAL PARTY AND EXPERIENCE:
While I’ve collaborated with the Orange County Democratic Party for many years on GOTV efforts, been a poll sitter,
literature distributor and have supported local Democrats, usually with sweat equity, in their runs, I am an
independent voter.Until the party realistically deals with state mandated torture, the two on-going wars, the shredding of the Constitution and begins to address key domestic issues such as health care and the increasing split between segments of our citizenry, I will remain unaffiliated.
CIVIC ACTIVITIES AND OTHER AFFILIATIONS:
- Member of Electronic Frontier Foundation
WHY SHOULD YOU BE ELECTED?
Chapel Hill is at a crossroads.
Do we want a diverse community that honors the contributions of our eldest residents, where young couples and working folks can get their foot in the door or is Chapel Hill reserved for those buying publicly underwritten million-dollar condos?
Good intentions have to be backed by sound fiscal policy and real public accountability.
Borrowing millions from the rainy day fund, engaging in a risky Downtown project whose cost has escalated $500,000 to $8.5 million, when our debt payment is tripling is not responsible.
I will work to return Chapel Hill’s sound foundation so all of us can flourish.
1) Please describe your vision for downtown Chapel Hill and assess the council’s current approach to revitalization.
We need to build on the uniqueness of our Downtown by preserving and improving its human-scale charm.
Let’s invest in simple, cost effective, traditional amenities over risky, costly investments with poorly understood and unmeasured returns.
Let’s start with a family friendly pocket park, decent bathrooms, a water fountain and repaired sidewalks. Simple “you are here” directories to assist visitors in finding public and commercial services would make Downtown more inviting.
Let’s take up the low and no-cost Downtown parking improvements the Downtown Parking Task force suggested instead of raising parking rates as Hill and Foy argued for.
The current revitalization effort is open-ended, too expensive – rising from $500K to $8.5M in one year with no end in sight – and puts all our development “eggs” in one basket. The incumbents have resisted efforts to set measurable goals and make timely reports of successes or failures.
If possible, we need to restart the process using measurable goals, an appropriate and fiscally sound commitment of public resources and an approach that doesn’t risk all for an unknown return.
2) Please describe your vision for Carolina North, noting any disagreements with the university’s announced plans.
For many years I have called on UNC to use its incredible research savvy to build a world-class campus pioneering the best in “green” technologies.
To conform to that vision, UNC had to design a campus that was transit-oriented, partially housed its workforce and worked within some serious self-imposed constraints – few parking spaces, a defined energy budget, minimum footprint, cohesive infrastructure, monitored off-site noise, water, air, light impacts.
To achieve these goals, UNC must build within an established master plan.
Further, building upon the successes of the University’s Carolina North Leadership Advisory Committee (LAC), I suggested we work to create a new, sustained framework for further dialog and negotiation. That framework should incorporate the diverse interests of our community within an open, transparent process to work through the next 15 years of issues.
Doing incremental build-outs, like the recently proposed Innovation Center, without a master plan or a framework for further discussion is untenable.
3) How would you respond to persistent complaints about panhandling?
As the only candidate who works Downtown, I’ve experienced the problems first-hand.
I’ve also seen a troubling shift in our community’s attitude – troublemakers all, seems one current perception. Worse, for a few citizens, the face of that population is always a minority one.
My observation? Aggressive panhandling has taken a backseat to the loutish, aggressive behavior. Concrete steps – focusing on those bad behaviors, policing the worst offenders – should come first. Structural changes – moving benches, increasing police presence in a few places, better lighting – should reduce this sometimes frightening Downtown backdrop.
Practical approaches like “Real Change from Spare Change”, will soon shift the economics of begging – reducing panhandlers’ revenue – while bolstering our other efforts to help the homeless.
Finally, the majority of the folks hanging out Downtown are not causing problems. Some are odd but harmless. Our Downtown policy must be focused, goals-oriented – not broadly punitive if we are to succeed.
This year the NRG decided to vet the candidates via email. In 2005 they held interviews and presented the audio responses. Trying to be thorough, I went a bit overboard this year. Figuring no one would want to wade through 10 pages of answers, I tried to boil down this final response to the NRG.
In its Comprehensive Plan, Chapel Hill is committed both to denser urban development and to protection of existing neighborhoods. Do you see any conflict between these goals and what do you feel is the best way to achieve them?
There are trade-offs, thus conflicts between the goals of high density and neighborhood protection.
To start, in any discussion of density we need to establish the limits of growth. I’ve been using the concept of “carrying capacity” as a guide.
Carrying capacity is a multi-dimensional evaluation of an ecosystems ability to maintain a particular population. In biology, this usually means water, food and habitat. In Town, we need to add, for instance, the ability for to maintain a diverse and healthy socio-economic balance within our community. We all can’t live in million dollar condos or pay an extra couple hundred bucks in taxes each year.
We don’t currently assess density to that level of detail. I believe we should at least start thinking within those terms as it will help us create a more sustainable outcome.
Another general problem with our comprehensive plan is that our process for upgrading our goals as our understanding improves is broken.
We need to implement a continuous review process, as suggested by the former chair of the Planning Board, to review our goals in light of achievements to-date, successes and failures. Not only do we need to be more nimble in managing our Town’s comprehensive plan, we need to be much more inclusive in drawing upon our community’s expertise.
Three recent omissions in our planning process provide examples of where we need to improve.
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