Agenda 10-01-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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2 1 session could be interpreted as a refusal to consider opposing views, or an intent to forge an 2 ordinance, which limits the rights of some citizens, under the guise of public safety. He said 3 personal convenience of the BOCC should not be the primary concern regarding meetings. 4 Chair Rich said the Board will bring this issue for discussion at a work session soon. 5 Riley Ruske said he submitted a petition about the Pledge of Allegiance being recited at 6 Board meetings at the September 3 meeting, and a follow up BOCC actions list states that it will 7 take 2 months to write a letter back to him. He said a second, more complex petition was listed 8 as "done," indicating a lack of consistency in responding to citizen petitions. He made another 9 petition for the BOCC to: 10 1. create a written process, or procedure, for handling citizen petitions, which includes 11 timelines for completion of actions by the BOCC. 12 2. direct Orange County management to permanently post this procedure on the Orange 13 County website homepage, with a sincere invitation to the citizens of Orange County to 14 avail themselves of the petition process for better communication to the Board. 15 3. direct Orange County management to establish and maintain a database of petitions 16 submitted to, and actions taken by the Board, and provide a link to that database in the 17 above posted procedure. 18 4. To complete all these actions by November 1, 2019. 19 20 Riley Ruske said taking these actions would provide for more open communication 21 between citizens and the Board, and hopefully reduce distrust that citizens have for the Board. 22 He said if the Board chooses to deny this petition, it should provide a written and verbal 23 statement as to why. He said today is Constitution Day, recognizing 232 years since the 24 Constitution was ratified. 25 26 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 27 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda 28 below.) 29 30 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 31 Commissioner McKee referred to the meeting follow-up actions, and the petition 32 regarding the pledge of allegiance, which noted a letter will be drafted for an information item. 33 He said he hopes a copy of this letter will be sent to the petitioner. 34 Commissioner Bedford said, this afternoon, at least three Board members watched a 35 webinar from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) about the 36 opioid crisis. She said the state website contains a lot of information. 37 Commissioner Price said she has been in touch with Ralph Gabellieri and his wife Elaine 38 Malek-Madani, who are interested in naming a body of water near their home to Glass House 39 Creek. She said, in order to do so, they need a letter of recommendation from a governing 40 board. She provided the necessary information, and asked if it would be considered at agenda 41 review. She said the couple is working on all the necessary criteria, and there is no apparent 42 conflict. 43 Commissioner Price said she went to the Family Success Alliance (FSA) celebration on 44 Sunday, which was wonderful. 45 Commissioner Price said she attended the ABC Board meeting, and reported that the 46 new store in Hillsborough is moving along on time. 47 Commissioner Price said there will be a Climate Strike event on September 20t" at 48 Peace and Justice Plaza, and she hoped that any students wanting to attend would be allowed 49 to do so by their administrators. She said this is a teachable moment for the students. 50 Commissioner Greene said as the Board representative to the Partnership for 51 Homelessness, she and others will be visiting Dr. Allison DeMarco's social work class to