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live in Orange County. We would live in Charlotte or Cary, and I just think that there is such a <br />lack of leadership that people are being led by their noses by developers who are telling us that <br />big box stores for the future. They're already the past, they're already failed, they're already <br />abandoned and empty and scars on the landscape. I just think that, with more Ph. D's per <br />square foot than you can shake a stick at, this County ought to be able to come up with <br />something beneficial to the future. He said big boxes are part of history and he said this county <br />ought to come up with something that is beneficial for the future. I just don't think we're trying. I <br />think the sales tax revenue is great, but it's going to cost a lot of money. I read in the paper <br />today, $314,000 for three firemen in Carrboro for three years. That's not trucks, that's not a <br />building, that's not equipment. And three firemen aren't going to do it; I believe the first <br />gentleman that spoke was a fireman. My father always told me, there's two kinds of wealth in <br />the world -what you can make and what you can dig out of the ground. This spends wealth <br />rather than produces wealth. It spends wealth on credit cards. We're already hopelessly <br />indebted in this country. It produces jobs that are low-wage. I don't want my child cooking <br />burgers at Red Robin. With all the Ph. D's here, I know we can find something better. I'm trying <br />to think of ideas, I'm a college dropout, I'm a small business guy, but I know that there's going to <br />be a lot of money, especially if the Democrats win, for green technologies. The people that <br />thought of RTP could have put a mall there. Why can't Orange County be known for something, <br />why can't we create a green technology center that trains new trades people that creates new <br />jobs and new technologies. I just think it's very short-sighted, and we have enough malls. <br />There's one 17 miles that way and 20 miles that way. That's all the shopping I need to do, and I <br />just think it's short-sighted. We can say no to this, I think. I have not paid enough attention to <br />local politics, but I'm going to start counting who votes for what, and elections are close by. I <br />think that people are concerned about this as whether this is the direction we want the County to <br />go. <br />Anita Badrock: I have been sworn in. I currently serve as the Chairman of the Economic <br />Development Committee for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, and I also serve <br />on the citizen's advisory committee for the Orange County Economic Development <br />Commission, which is not taking a position tonight on this particular project. I would like to <br />come to you as a 30-year resident of Orange County, as a small business owner, who has <br />owned a small, local business in Orange County for a long time, and as a partial owner of <br />another business, to encourage you to support this project for a couple of reasons. First of all, I <br />know that for the last 15 years, we've had that economic development district identified through <br />a process that involved a lot of public input, a lot of hearings around the area, and we came up <br />with three economic development districts. But I didn't know until I came tonight that we've <br />actually been looking at that particular site for economic development for 25 years. So we have <br />for a long time been waiting for the right thing to go into this district. The current proposal <br />proposes 130 acres out of a 900-acre piece of land for development to fill what we have <br />identified as a gap in Orange County, which is retail services. The stuff that your own staff <br />showed you tonight showed you clearly that we have retail leakage that's going into other <br />counties. Our residents are spending money elsewhere, and I'd like to see them spend that <br />money here, because I'd like to see those voluntary tax contributions go to give my son's <br />teachers a raise. And I'd like to see it used for Sheriff's Deputies and for emergency personnel, <br />and to provide and mental health services to residents who need it. It is consistent with the <br />County's Economic Development Strategic Plan in terms of promoting non-residential <br />development for the taxbase. It is part of the identified gap, as I mentioned earlier, and most <br />importantly, I think this project allows for the rest of that property to be considered for other uses <br />down the road. As a local business owner, I know that my business, when I've had a retail <br />outlet, has done better when good, high-quality regional and national retail has been around it. <br />So, I think that the developers have stated that that's their goal. We're fortunate that these are <br />