Orange County NC Website
2 <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> PUBLIC CHARGE <br /> The Chair acknowledged the public charge. <br /> 2. Public Comments <br /> a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda <br /> Frances Castillo said she is the Chair of the Human Relations Commission (HRC), and <br /> wanted to share the exciting news that the annual book read will be held virtually this year. She <br /> said the book will be Give Us the Ballot- the Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America. She <br /> said the discussion will be held on September 13th, from 3-5 p.m. She said the author is Ari <br /> Berman, and it is hoped that he will be able to join the discussion. She said the books read's <br /> mission statement is: "To engage, educate and enlighten residents regarding the right to vote <br /> in America. The anticipated result is to motivate residents to participate, not only in the 2020 <br /> election, but in all electoral processes: the ballot has been given, go the polls and cast it". She <br /> said this is a bipartisan discussion, and the desire is to have all residents vote. <br /> Riley Ruske said Sunday June 14th was Flag Day. He said a citizen's petition was given <br /> to the Orange County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) last fall, asking the Board to recite the <br /> pledge at the beginning of each meeting. He asked the Board to vote on his petition. <br /> Chair Rich said the Board has discussed this petition, and decided it wanted to discuss <br /> the petition in person, and not at a virtual meeting, and as such this petition discussion has <br /> been moved to September. <br /> b. Matters on the Printed Agenda <br /> (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda <br /> below.) <br /> 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members <br /> Commissioner McKee said he had no comments. <br /> Commissioner Greene said she had no comments. <br /> Commissioner Marcoplos said he had no comments. <br /> Commissioner Bedford expressed her appreciation to all staff, employees and Chair <br /> Rich for working during this pandemic, and keeping the County running. She encouraged <br /> residents to get vote at home ballots. <br /> Commissioner Price said for those who have known Ellen Reckow, the Metropolitan <br /> Planning Organization (MPO) honored her after her 30 years of public service. <br /> Commissioner Price congratulated students for completing a challenging year. <br /> Commissioner Price requested letters of endorsement to David Price for cosponsoring <br /> the justice and policing act, as well as to Roy Cooper for the North Carolina Taskforce for racial <br /> Equity and Criminal Justice. She said she would like to work with the Sheriff on issues such as <br /> no knock warrants, and to keep the community informed. She said to would like to encourage <br /> the Sheriff's office to continue to use de-escalation. <br /> Commissioner Dorosin said as society looks at the role of police, he would like the <br /> Board to have a serious discussion of Security Resource Officers (SROs) in the schools. He <br /> said many school districts have severed relationships with these police across the country. He <br /> petitioned to set up a committee with members from the Orange County Board of <br /> Commissioners and the school districts to discuss this topic. <br />