Agenda - 10-20-2015 - 6a - Minutes

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8 1 estimated that $10 million will be needed to implement a plan for affordable housing in 2 Orange County. She asked the Board to delay making a decision about the bond and 3 use those few months to work out a real plan for affordable housing. 4 Daniel Bullock provided written comments, incorporated here by reference. 5 Gary Bird said he is a member of several school improvement teams in the 6 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS). He said his concern is the older 7 infrastructure in many of the schools, and he encouraged the Board to use the bond 8 funding for renovations of these older schools to insure the safety of the students and 9 teachers. 10 Barbara Redmond said she is a homeowner at Phoenix Place (affordable 11 housing), and these homes would never have been built without bond money from the 12 2001 bond. She asked them to support affordable housing in the 2016 bond. 13 Mark Marcoplos said he is on the Housing Authority Board. He said it should first 14 be acknowledged that the process for this bond should include transparency, but it has 15 not. He said many members of the public here tonight did not get a chance to hear the 16 Board's April discussion about the bond. He asked the Board to reconsider and add 17 affordable housing as part of the bond. He asked the Board to walk the talk with real 18 funding and a real plan. He urged the Board to make this social investment. 19 Margaret Samuels, a social worker, said she has worked with families in the 20 community in many areas, with one of them being education and early education. She 21 thanked the Board for its ongoing commitment to education. She said the Board is the 22 last line of defense for the school systems. She asked the Board to support the schools 23 with the bond referendum. 24 Dan Levine said he is a lifelong Orange County resident, and he urged the Board 25 to add affordable housing to the bond referendum. 26 Rani Dasi said she is asking the Board to expand the bond offer to cover school 27 capital needs, as well as affordable housing needs. 28 Ellie Kinnaird said she is a member of the Affordable Housing Advisory Board and 29 is here to ask them to support affordable housing in the bond referendum. She said 30 Orange County is not exempt from poverty, and children that live in poverty do not do well 31 in schools. She asked the Board to allocate $10 million in the bond for affordable 32 housing. 33 Jonzella Bailey Pridham asked the Board to fund safe, affordable housing in the 34 bond. She said the community is full of people with great potential, and willingness to 35 work but lack somewhere safe to live. 36 Sharon Barrett said she is the Vice President for Advocacy for the CHCCS Parent 37 Teacher Association, and she hoped that the Board would expand the bond to include 38 other issues. She said CHCCS parents are tired of organizing to petition the Board 39 annually for more school funding. She asked the Board to do the right thing and fund the 40 schools. 41 Andrew Davidson said he is the Vice Chair of the CHCCS School Board, and this 42 bond debate has caused an impression of adversarial relationships between the schools 43 and other entities. He said the schools need at least $125 million for capital 44 improvements. He said this massive funding need cannot be accomplished any way 45 other than a bond. 46 Art Sprinczeles said he is Assistant Chair for the Orange County Affordable 47 Housing Advisory Board and asked the Board to support affordable housing in the 2016 48 bond.