[Durham INC] Fw: News From Durham People's Alliance
Ken Gasch
Ken at KenGasch.com
Sun Feb 8 08:40:34 EST 2009
Would it not be wise to speak to the developer before casting stones? Or,
are all developers sinister villains who are guilty until proven innocent?
Ken Gasch
REALTOR®/Broker
Seagroves Realty
www.KenGasch.com
C: 919.475.8866
F: 866.229.4267
-----Original Message-----
From: inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:inc-list-bounces at rtpnet.org]On
Behalf Of Melissa Rooney
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 11:37 PM
To: inc-list at durhaminc.org
Subject: [Durham INC] Fw: News From Durham People's Alliance
Please see the People's Alliance's Statement-- against the
Developer-paid Jordan Lake Survey -- posted in their Feb 5 newsletter
(attached below).
Shouldn't the INC make a statement on this issue at our Feb meeting?
It would be best if someone other than me brought this forward, since I've
already been at the helm of the resolution for responsible development as
well as the petition for an Independent Jordan Lake Survey (
http://www.petitiononline.com/jrdnsrvy/petition.html )
Thanks in advance for your concern and help in this very serious
matter!
Melissa (Rooney)
Feb 5 Statement in the PA newsletter:
"Recently the Durham County Commission voted, 3-2, to support a
survey of the boundary of Jordan Lake paid for by a developer who stands to
benefit from a change in the lake's official boundaries. PA responded in a
letter to the County Commission:
"The Durham People's Alliance opposes modifications of the Critical
Watershed Boundary of Jordan Lake based on a survey paid for by a private
developer with obvious self-interest.
We are disappointed that a majority of CountyCommissioners voted to
send to the state Water Supply Watershed Protection Program for approval, a
survey that a developer has paid for that coincidentally shifts the normal
pool boundary away from the developer's property, thereby increasing its
value many times over. No matter the accuracy or inaccuracy of the survey,
this is a dangerous precedent and does not serve the best interests of the
citizens of Durham. Any adjustments to the normal pool boundary and
critical watershed boundary should be made only on the basis of an impartial
and independent survey by a firm hired by the Durham County Commissioners."
The full PA statement can be seen on the PA website:
www.durhampa.org."
--- On Fri, 2/6/09, Durham People's Alliance
<durhampa at mindspring.com> wrote:
From: Durham People's Alliance <durhampa at mindspring.com>
Subject: News From Durham People's Alliance
To: mmr121570 at yahoo.com
Date: Friday, February 6, 2009, 11:05 AM
Durham People's Alliance
Activist Agenda
February 5, 2009
In This Issue
New Beginnings: Dave Austin selected for PA
Coordinator role
PA Office -- Space to Share
PA Website & Database Rejuvenation
PA sustenance.
PA Advocates Against Electronic Billboards
Jordan Lake Survey -- Unbiased?
Immigrant Solidarity Committee of Durham
being Organized
Third Annual NAACP HK on J March
"Gotta Go: Ethics in Exile" Film Series
Hunger No More -- A hunger Crisis Conference
Campaign for Decent Housing in Durham Feb
Meeting
Best Recent Read: "Whatever Happened to the
Jobs"
Quick Links
Quicklink 1
Quicklink 2
Quicklink 3
Dear PA members, friends, sustainers
The PA Activist Agenda will normally focus
on upcoming events sponsored by progressive organizations in the community
and state. But in this issue we want to start with news from PA itself.
Thanks for hanging in there with us through the last few months while we
dealt with some interesting issues. We're back!!
New Beginnings: Dave Austin selected for
coordinator role
Dave Austin, who was recently selected to
fill the Coordinator position, is a long-time PA member - a Coordinating
Committee member for 3-4 years in the early 90s, and PA-PAC coordinator for
4-5 years in the late 90s. An ex-Peace Corps volunteer (Western Samoa
'70 - '72), Dave worked in worker advocacy organizations - the Carolina
Brown Lung Association and the NC Occupational Safety & Health Project
(NCOSH) for 10 years after graduating from the UNC SPH in 1976. He then
worked at the UNC Environmental Resource Project for a year, next created
and directed the workplace-giving United Way alternative, N.C. Community
Shares (still going strong), and then worked for 17 years at RTI, before
leaving 2 years ago. He and his wife Pam George have recently moved
"downtown" (behind Duke East), and have one daughter, Kemen. He's happy to
have a closer connection to PA members, happy to see so many friends still
on PA membership lists, happy to see lots of people he doesn't know on those
lists (!) and happy to provide his youthful (??!!) energy and exuberance to
this project.
PA Office -- Space to Share
Dave is working out of the PA office in the NC
Democracy South building at the corner of Broad and Iredell streets in
Durham. PA was sharing this small office, and its cost, with one other
tenant, who has now, unfortunately, left. Sharing the cost was financially
advantageous to PA, so we'd like to find another co-tenant. If you know
someone or some organization who would be content to share our small space
for a small cost, let Dave know (682-7777 or email:
durhampa at mindspring.com).
PA Website and Database Rejuvenation
The PA CC has hired Andy Edmonds to give the PA
website a much needed overhaul, and to analyze database needs and
capabilities.
Andy grew up in Pennsylvania and moved to Durham
in 2005 after earning a Masters in Geography from the University of South
Carolina. He and his wife, Jenny, were married in January of 2006 and held
their wedding reception in Bay 7 of the American Tobacco Historic District.
Andy is currently a stay-at-home dad with their first child, Robbie. Andy's
interests in theater, kayaking, and hiking have led him to hold volunteer
positions with the Carolina Theatre and the Durham Open Space and Trails
Commission. He also sits on the Preservation Durham Board of Directors and
has coordinated, for the last three years, the Saturday morning, historic
downtown Durham walking tours. Andy has led over 20 tours and developed the
organization's first Ghost [building] Tour, held this past Halloween. AND
he knows websites and databases!
PA Sustenance
The abrupt loss of the previous PA staff person
in June, 2008, together with many demands on PA Coordinating Committee
volunteers, created a problem for PA's cash flow. Because appeals were not
regularly sent out, money was not regularly flowing in. Surprise! One
high priority is improving the system for reminding you what good work PA
does, how important your donations are, and how pleased we are to see them
on a regular basis. Not the least reason of which would be to increase staff
hours from 10 to a more reasonable 12 hours/week. Look for more in the
newsletter, and in your personal mail or email for our appeal for your help
to get back on track. Soon.
PA Advocates Against "Electronic Billboards"
At a recent membership meeting, Durham People's
Alliance voted to oppose a billboard industry initiative that would allow
electronic billboards to be installed along Durham area highways. These
bills boards waste energy, pose safety challenges, and reduce the quality of
life for neighborhoods that already put up with traffic noise. IN addition,
federal law requires that, if future Durham citizens ever want. to remove
billboards they would have to reimburse the company for the costs of the
billboard AND the future revenue the billboard would generate. The revenue
generated by electronic billboards would make such action cost prohibitive.
Electronic billboards would be here forever.
The full text of the PA resolution can be seen
at www.durhampa.org , and the issue will be covered in more depth in the
upcoming PA newsletter.
PA takes (some) County Commissioners to task for
Jordan Lake survey vote
Recently the Durham County Commission voted,
3-2, to support a survey of the boundary of Jordan Lake paid for by a
developer who stands to benefit from a change in the lake's official
boundaries. PA responded in a letter to the County Commission:
"The Durham People's Alliance opposes
modifications of the Critical Watershed Boundary of Jordan Lake based on a
survey paid for by a private developer with obvious self-interest.
We are disappointed that a majority of
CountyCommissioners voted to send to the state Water Supply Watershed
Protection Program for approval, a survey that a developer has paid for that
coincidentally shifts the normal pool boundary away from the developer's
property, thereby increasing its value many times over. No matter the
accuracy or inaccuracy of the survey, this is a dangerous precedent and does
not serve the best interests of the citizens of Durham. Any adjustments to
the normal pool boundary and critical watershed boundary should be made only
on the basis of an impartial and independent survey by a firm hired by the
Durham County Commissioners."
The full PA statement can be seen on the PA
website: www.durhampa.org.
Immigrant Solidarity Committee of Durham being
organized
Immigrant Solidarity Committee of Durham being
organized -- volunteers needed. Inaugural meeting: 2/18/09.
Immigrant Solidarity Committee of Durham -- a
project of the American Friends Service Committee. The objective:
Triangle residents working together to promote welcoming and compassionate
attitudes towards our immigrant neighbors.
Inaugural meeting: Wed. Feb. 18 from 6:30-8:30pm
(6:30 Meal provided; 7:00 meeting begins) Place: Durham Friends Meeting --
404 Alexander Drive, Durham, 27705
Contact: Lori Khamala 336-413-8905,
LKhamala at afsc.org
Please let me know if you are coming, so we can
plan for food. Call also if you have questions or need child care.
Workplace raids creating a culture of fear.
Routine traffic stops leading to detention for months. Deportations tearing
apart families. Cities passing discriminatory ordinances. Media pundits
dehumanizing members of our community. People of good will throughout the
state are fed up with the hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric filling our
airwaves and the mean-spirited actions being taken against immigrant
neighbors. Now is the time to unite in support of our immigrant brothers and
sisters and work together to change the discourse into one that acknowledges
the humanity of all members of our community.
Third Annual NAACP HK on J March in Downtown
Raleigh
February 14, 2009 - 3rd Annual NAACP HK on J
March in Downtown Raleigh
HK on J: Historic Thousands on Jones Street
So far, more than 75 organizations have joined
together and thousands of North Carolinians have marched and rallied in
support of HK on J's 14-point civil rights agenda. In 2009, the HK on J
coalition will commit even more vigorously to this agenda, as well as reform
of the criminal justice system to prevent prosecutorial misconduct against
any person, regardless of race. See the entire agenda at
http://www.hkonj.com/.
"Gotta Go: Ethics in Exile" Film Series
2009 Ethics Film Series at Duke University:
"Gotta Go: Ethics in Exile" continues TUE 2/24. 7pm. Griffith Film
Theater, Bryan Center, West Campus, Duke University, Durham.
The 2009 series features four documentaries
about people forced into exile, whether by political, economic, or natural
causes. They find themselves questioning what constitutes home, who
constitutes authority, and where a sense of meaning and truth resides. The
films encourage us to consider the ideas of place and displacement. Free
and open to the public. Free parking available in the BryanCenter parking
deck. Refreshments provided.
**TUE 2/24 -- THE AXE IN THE ATTIC
**TUE 3/24 -- THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
**TUE 4/24 -- PRIMO LEVI'S JOURNEY
For more detailed information: 919-660-3033 or
kie at duke.edu
Hunger No More -- A Hunger Crisis Conference.
2/27-28/09
Hunger No More - A Hunger Crisis Conference
The Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi,
11401 Leesville Rd., Raleigh
The Franciscan Coalition for Justice and Peace
invites you to join us as we host a hunger crisis conference on Feb. 27 &
28, 2009. Entitled "Hunger No More," this conference will assemble
individuals from all over the country to address ways people of faith and
good will can respond to hunger at home and abroad. For more info or to
register see - http://www.franciscancoalition.org/HungerConference.php or
contact 919-847-8205 ext 267, joseph.wolyniak at stfrancisraleigh.org
Registration - Regular ($40.00); Student ($20.00); Hardship ($20.00)
Campaign for Decent Housing in Durham --
February meeting
Campaign for Decent Housing in Durham.
Meeting Tuesday, February 17, 5:00-6:00pm
Place: City Neighborhood Improvement Services;
Golden Belt Building 2, 3rd floor; 807 E. Main St. on Morning Glory Ave.
Work on our 2009 Goals: - Foreclosure
prevention - Vacant house reuse - Neighborhood planning - Energy
efficient homes - Housing for people who are homeless. Questions?
Contact: Lorisa Seibel, Durham Affordable Housing Coalition: 683-1185.
Best Recent Read: "Whatever Happened to the
Jobs" -- NC Justice Center
Best Recent Read: "Whatever Happened to the
Jobs -- A Tale of Two Economic Cycles" by John Quinterno at the NC Budget
and Tax Center of the NC Justice Center. Go to www.ncjustice.org for the
full report.
Durham People's Alliance
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