[Durham INC] Durham's new mom and dad

Mon Jun 7 15:37:32 EDT 2010

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Melissa Rooney 
  To: inc-list at rtpnet.org 
  Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 2:54 PM
  Subject: [Durham INC] Fw: Activist Alert - Rezoning Hearing Scheduled June23rd, Other Progressive News and Events

  Baby's here -- we got back from the hospital yesterday afternoon...so not much time to type.

  Please see the link to the petition against the 751 South rezoning case below. And PLEASE forward to anyone and everyone you know who is (or would be) concerned about this development on what was (and I believe still should be) protected land on the shores of Jordan Lake.

  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/VoteNo751

  Another suggestion -- post it on your Facebook site, blog site, etc....
  Melissa

  ----- Forwarded Message ----
  From: Durham People's Alliance <durhampa at mindspring.com>
  To: mmr121570 at yahoo.com
  Sent: Fri, June 4, 2010 2:51:10 PM
  Subject: Activist Alert - Rezoning Hearing Scheduled June 23rd, Other Progressive News and Events

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                    Durham People's Alliance
                    Activist Alert!
                    June 4, 2010

                          Choose Your News !  
                          Update on 751 
                          Education Committee  
                          Lobby Day 
                          Volunteers Needed 
                          Support Affordable Housing 
                          NC Homebuyer Protection Act 

                    Dear PA Members, Friends, Sustainers - 

                          This Activist Alert - More 751 updates, Education Committee Meeting reminder, and other progressive news and events!

                    Your Weekly 751 S Update  

                    What would an Activist Alert be without an update on the 751 S rezoning case? There were so many twists and turns in the past two weeks, it was hard to keep up! 

                    Highlights include:*

                      a.. The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) proposing a closed door session to discuss rezoning on May 24th (further interfering with customary procedures for rezoning). 

                      b.. The session was canceled due to property owners neighboring the proposed site made a timely filing of a protest petition in anticipation of the June 1st hearing (after the appeal to the Board of Adjustment was withdrawn).
                      c.. One of the owners signing the petition is the government of a neighborhood association. Even thought the signatures of such organizations on protest petitions in past cases have been found acceptable, Durham County government has cast doubt on the ability of such organizations to execute protest petitions. 

                      d.. The BOCC, following communication with the developers' attorneys, again rescheduled the hearing on the rezoning to June 23rd, in order to give the developers time to overcome the protest petition.
                    Some pretty interesting work by your elected officials!

                    Please mark your calendar for the BOCC hearing on June 23rd at 7:00 p.m. The BOCC needs to see YOU and hear from YOU (can thousands of Durham voices be louder than these developers?) 

                    Have you signed the petition yet? Post it as your Facebook status! http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103188929985&s=529&e=001l6zz6oSzkfPRZj0kDGF4Kh8Tmd6lZyNSrjNbuTo-dppFvVJLP1Ho5fzNnAMIFb1ycarK_g13OchsjmH9zdPS3A4lSaSLMGnx5qcrDnBGJiZve5K8RAoKmCJafmWFoxcIbY4Np6WMhI8=

                    Also, mark your calendar for the evening of Thursday, June 17th! This is the day of our Relay Race event. More details to come soon. We need VOLUNTEERS for this fun event. 

                    We also need volunteers to make phone calls - it is critical we get as many people at the June 23rd meeting as we can.  

                    Call or email us today to sign up! Contact Kate at durhampa at mindspring.com

                    *Highlights from the INC resolution against 751S rezoning that is under consideration.

                    Education Committee Meeting  - Mark your Calendar

                    The PA Education Committee will Meet on Thursday, June 10th at 7:00 p.m, at the Main Library (3rd Floor Conf. Room). 

                    The agenda will include:

                      a.. A review on what happened with the budget and what PA wants in the future. 

                      b.. Ongoing discussion about the use of funds 

                      c.. Discussion about achievement. 
                      d.. Plan for meeting with the new Superintendent, Becoats. (See his "entry" plan here: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103188929985&s=529&e=001l6zz6oSzkfPuezUZZ1VJT_GVJiDIH7XHjC_5pLEs53le0wVQRsHl_Z-UoF1bP-sB7zMlKlXhTYqIWoFHHD2A_6wzcckWIGJG1SybuzMufskVkkP8gukv5wWXhhuekntjO0lwmERe0k3PYYsLJDO8IKqGjt3IGsIo)

                    Please Join Us!
                    RSVP to Kate at durhampa at mindspring.org 

                    Collective Bargaining Lobby Day

                    Come help fight for Collective Bargaining!

                    We must show NC legislators that our movement is growing and we cannot afford to ignore the voices of public employees any longer.  Public employees are the experts on making North Carolina run, we can't do it without them.

                    Tuesday June 15, 2010
                    9am - 1pm at the General Assembly in Raleigh 
                    (and across North Carolina!)

                    9am: Registration and Orientation at State Archives auditorium
                    10am: Public Employee Collective Bargaining Speak-out in Bicentennial Plaza
                    10:45- 1pm: Lobbying and meetings with House and Senate leadership and key committee members

                    To RSVP, please email: info at nchope.org

                    Volunteers Needed! 

                    The PA-PAC Needs Volunteers for the Run-off Election on June 22nd! 
                    Steve Martin, our PA endorsed candidate for School Board (4B), is facing a run-off challenge and needs poll workers! Turn out is expected to be low, so poll work will be even more important. 
                    Please sign up for a shift by clicking on the following link: 
                    http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103188929985&s=529&e=001l6zz6oSzkfMN1NgdGzx1-Zawi8vofE-0M08pjMLMCrdk1jA4EPAp3q_AGY_AQT6jz07NP3cKQF2NBOLP1vqvRHpL7bR8-QNz14TiwRKejodcQvns0jZErYo6O0OskF0JIxWPvaLwWO-9IoD4e5_5DVRVLUA8EbaI2GvNBf6uBaKZARhbtitHzrKaVO3OIIrA2Y5L-EyIqd6RbuJ16fRiyw==

                    Elaine Marshall to Open Durham Campaign Office
                    Please sign up on the website to volunteer for Elaine. They will need volunteers to make phone calls. Sign up here to work with her campaign: Volunteer!

                    People's Alliance Outreach Needs YOU!
                    PA has been very successful in communicating our message to the community at the Farmers Market lately. Please sign up for an easy, fun shift and help us connect with more progressives in Durham! Email Kate at durhampa at mindspring.com

                    Support Affordable Housing

                    Campaign for Decent Housing will meet regarding Rental Inspections Proposals (PA supports this initiative). Please join them at their upcoming meeting: Tuesday, June 7th, 5:00--6:00 p.m. at Stanford L. Warren Library, 1201 Fayetteville St. 27707. 

                    Durham Affordable Housing Coalition (DAHC) needs your help to convince the City and County that it is even more important in a recession to support affordable housing.  We are leading the effort to counsel your neighbors who may lose their homes due to loss of a job, young families who want to buy their first home, and seniors, disabled, and others on a fixed income, trying to afford a home.

                    DAHC need your support for affordable housing and housing counseling at City and County budget public hearings on June 7 and 14, respectively.  Please attend the City Council budget public hearing on Monday, June 7, at City Hall.  The meeting begins at 7:00PM.  To make comments at a public hearing, citizens can sign up at the meeting or in advance by contacting the City's Clerk's Office at 560-4166.  Also, you can communicate with all of the City Council members, you can send an email to Council at DurhamNC.gov.

                    Please join DAHC to ask the City Council to:

                    1.  Restore $30,000 for housing counseling.  DAHC's housing counseling grant from the City is proposed to be cut in half from $60,000 to $30,000.  The other $30,000 is needed to continue to offer one-on-one housing, budgeting, and credit counseling for homeowners, homebuyers, and renters, including residents of the Southside community.  Counselors help homeowners save their homes from foreclosure.  Our counseling is required for first-time homebuyers who apply for down payment assistance in the City homeownership program.  Counseling helps homebuyers make good decisions about how much home and mortgage they can afford.  This program protects buyers from getting in over their head, and protects the investment of the City.  For families in arrears, we help them find ways to get current and stay current with their bills.  In addition to preventing foreclosure, budget and credit counseling helps renters qualify for quality homes and job seekers qualify for employment.  

                    2.  Support a Penny for Housing.  Sign our petition to present to City Council at this meeting.  It asks the City to designate $500,000 for special needs housing for homeless and disabled individuals.  There is $289,000 in the proposed budget, but we really need $500,000 to leverage other funding and make new permanent supportive housing a reality. (Here is a link to the online petition for the Penny for Housing: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103188929985&s=529&e=001l6zz6oSzkfPIty9r2AxMdwM4foLjvEuCPFAqclF5CJJnoamkP66sVybya2kbYRR_9BHygobGM1XeJZ_9JW_RF0DpURYhaStd-uwx3Y92NJNCJBlZb5Taagxcm-oVp8HWPm-liI6PKG3pidkOZIr9fQel-6A44riF

                    3.  Continue the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.  Encourage the City and County to continue to fund DAHC to implement the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness and write the 2010 HUD Homeless Continuum of Care grant.  The Continuum of Care grant brings over $800,000/year from the federal government to Durham for affordable housing and services.  Since 1995, DAHC has written this grant with great success in increasing permanent, affordable housing for disabled and formerly homeless residents.  Success in writing this community-wide application is critical to build housing and sustain nonprofits with operating funds for existing housing.

                    Please ask the County Commission to continue funding DAHC as the lead agency for the Continuum of Care grant and 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.  You can speak at the County budget hearing on Monday, June 14, 7:00pm, at the old County Courthouse. You can also contact all of the County Commissioners at: commissioners at durhamcountync.gov

                    PA and the DAHC believes everyone deserves a home.

                    Homebuyer Protection Act

                    The NC House Judiciary Committee II (J2) will meet next week to discuss SB1015, the Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act, sponsored by Senator Josh Stein.  This bill would prohibit foreclosure rescue scams, a critical step at this time when so many NC homeowners have fallen behind on their mortgage and are desperately looking for ways to save their home.  The bill also addresses abusive real estate practices that take advantage of vulnerable North Carolinians looking for an alternative path to homeownership, such as lease with an option to buy transactions, "rent to own" contracts, etc. 

                    Please click here to take action! 

                    Tell the NC House Judiciary Committee II to please vote Yes on SB 1015, the Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act.  This bill will help NC homeowners facing unprecedented job loss and risk of foreclosure by prohibiting foreclosure rescue scams.  It will also protect unsuspecting homebuyers from a range of predatory real estate practices that stand in the way of sustainable homeownership.  

                    PROGRESSIVE DURHAM NEEDS YOU! 
                    Please join or renew your membership today to ensure a progressive voice in Durham is heard loud and clear! 

                    PA relies 100% on donations and memberships from community members, such as you! Please consider joining at a household rate, or sustainer rate. If these are not affordable, please contribute what you can to help PA continue to fight for Social & Economic Justice for Durham! 

                    Single Membership: $35
                    Household Membership: $50
                    Sustainer Membership: $51-100 or more

                    Click Here to Join TODAY!

                    OR - Join using PayPal! 

                    Durham People's Alliance

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