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2 <br /> <br />2. Public Comments 1 <br /> 2 <br />a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 3 <br />Susan Attermeier said she is here to speak in support of the living wage, and she is on 4 <br />the steering committee of the Orange County Living Wage. She said there is some discussion 5 <br />about employing custodial and cafeteria works within Orange County schools, or outsourcing 6 <br />the job. She said these jobs are in the low wage job group, and presented a handout. She said 7 <br />when people are paid a living wage, they pay more income tax, need less government support, 8 <br />and purchase more goods and services. She said the Orange County Living Wage has worked 9 <br />hard to get employers to raise the wages of their lowest paid workers, and these efforts have 10 <br />lead to increases totaling $600,000-$700,000. She said these funds come back into the 11 <br />community, and leads to a positive cycle. She referred to an article in the NY Times on this 12 <br />topic. 13 <br /> 14 <br />b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 15 <br />(These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda 16 <br />below.) 17 <br /> 18 <br />3. An nouncements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 19 <br />Commissioner Burroughs said she continues to be moved to discuss her views on the 20 <br />history of the confederacy, and she read an excerpt from the PBS article, “The Weeping Time”: 21 <br /> 22 <br />“In March of 1857, the largest sale of human beings in the history in the United States 23 <br />took place at a racetrack in Savannah, Georgia. During the two days of the sale, 24 <br />raindrops fell unceasingly on the racetrack. It was almost as though the heavens were 25 <br />crying. So, too, fell teardrops from many of the 436 men, women, and children who were 26 <br />auctioned off during the two days. The sale would thereafter be known as "the weeping 27 <br />time." The owner of the slaves, Pierce Butler, had inherited the family's Georgia 28 <br />plantations some twenty years earlier, along with his brother John. But Pierce had 29 <br />squandered away his portion of the inheritance.” 30 <br /> 31 <br />Commissioner Burroughs said Pierce Butler was one of her forebearers, and there is 32 <br />nothing of which to be proud. 33 <br />Commissioner Jacobs said at the next meeting he would like a status update on the 34 <br />projects with the mobile home park communities. 35 <br />Commissioner Marcoplos had no comments. 36 <br />Commissioner Rich said the Visitors’ Bureau (VB) met last weekend, and is having an 37 <br />ongoing conversation about AirBnB’s, and asked if John Roberts would look into what options 38 <br />are available for the County regarding these businesses. 39 <br />Commissioner Rich reviewed activities from the weekend: Northside block part at the 40 <br />Jackson Center; sold out National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 41 <br />(NAACP) Banquet; and the 21st Community Dinner. 42 <br />Commissioner Rich thanked the Human Relations Commission (HRC) for putting on the 43 <br />discussion about the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and the proposed changes that 44 <br />may be forthcoming about the flag. She said this was not a conversation, but mostly people 45 <br />making statements back and forth from opposing sides. She said it did not feel that anything 46 <br />changed, and, while it was a good first step, more needs to be done. 47 <br />Commissioner Price said she attended the first Orange County conversation about 48 <br />opioids, which had a host of attendees from the State and the County. She said the next day 49 <br />was the inaugural local Re-entry Council Program. She said she attended the North Carolina 50