Orange County NC Website
5 <br /> 1 Strong Fathers Program, which is a strengths based intervention program for fathers <br /> 2 overcoming cycles of family violence. She said Behavioral Insights also provides partner abuse <br /> 3 intervention, anger management classes, and pretrial sentencing plans. She said these <br /> 4 programs equip participants with skills, and offer alternatives to jail time. She thanked the <br /> 5 BOCC for its support. <br /> 6 Elvira Mebane said she is the President of United Voices of Efland Cheeks, and thanked <br /> 7 the Manager and the BOCC for their support. She asked if recommended funds for part time <br /> 8 positions could be transferred to their personnel line items, so as to create a more effective and <br /> 9 efficient use of the funds. She thanked the Manager, and asked the BOCC to approve the <br /> 10 recommended budget. <br /> 11 Cordelia Heaney said she is the Executive Director of the Compass Center for Women <br /> 12 and Families, which empowers clients to navigate challenging times in their lives. She said the <br /> 13 Center promotes social justice and gender equity through a unique array of services: <br /> 14 workshops, teen pregnancy prevention education, community education, domestic violence <br /> 15 court advocacy, 24 hour domestic violence hot line, etc. She said the Center serves about 5000 <br /> 16 people annually, and thanked the BOCC for its support. She reviewed several highlights of the <br /> 17 past year, and plans for the upcoming year. She said there is great need for the Center's <br /> 18 services, especially pertaining to domestic violence services. <br /> 19 Brenda McCall said she is a volunteer with Project Engage, which serves seniors and <br /> 20 those with disabilities. She said a huge need of this population is flexible, assisted, on-demand <br /> 21 transportation. She said medical services are increasingly de-centralized, making transportation <br /> 22 more difficult and outside of the regular Orange Public Transit (OPT) routes. She asked the <br /> 23 BOCC to please fund on demand transportation services. <br /> 24 Sophie Suberan thanked the BOCC for its efforts for the community. She said she is <br /> 25 here to speak about funds allotted for School Resource Officers. She encouraged the BOCC to <br /> 26 consider using these funds for restorative justice purposes, rather than School Resource <br /> 27 Officers. She said this would employ the same type of people, but shift the paradigm approach. <br /> 28 She said this line of thinking relates to House Bill 280, and could offer partnership opportunities <br /> 29 to bring the restorative justice process into the schools. <br /> 30 Chris Walker said he is a veteran teacher in OCS, and has four children who have <br /> 31 attended the schools. He thanked the BOCC for increasing the supplements this past year, and <br /> 32 asked that the full budget be approved. He said the financial changes made by the BOCC and <br /> 33 OCS last year allowed many people to reinvest and live in Orange County. He said he hopes <br /> 34 this will continue. <br /> 35 Laura Streifeld said she is the Executive Director of Preserve Rural Orange, and read <br /> 36 the following comments: <br /> 37 In considering the budget, Preserve Rural Orange requests County Community Relations, <br /> 38 Planning, IT and Legal Department resources dedicated to making public information more <br /> 39 available and accessible to citizens promptly and proactively, including the following: <br /> 40 1. Planning Department Postings of public documents regarding projects of <br /> 41 interest including communications and submissions from all County <br /> 42 departments, as they are written and submitted, searchable by key word and <br /> 43 date. <br /> 44 2. Audio recordings of Board of Adjustment meetings and hearings posted <br /> 45 online and publicly accessible immediately after each meeting. <br /> 46 3. Video recordings of each BOA meeting (as at BOCC meetings), with <br /> 47 searchable agendas. <br /> 48 4. BOA meetings to take place one month following a BOA meeting or <br /> 49 hearing, in order to improve minutes. <br />