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1 <br /> APPROVED 10/18/22 <br /> MINUTES <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> BUSINESS MEETING <br /> September 20, 2022 <br /> 7:00 p.m. <br /> The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Business Meeting on Tuesday, <br /> September 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. at the Whitted Human Services Center in Hillsborough, NC. <br /> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Renee Price, Vice Chair Jamezetta Bedford, <br /> and Commissioners Amy Fowler, Sally Greene, Jean Hamilton, and Anna Richards <br /> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Commissioner Earl McKee <br /> COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: John Roberts <br /> COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Bonnie Hammersley, Deputy County Manager <br /> Travis Myren, and Clerk to the Board Laura Jensen. (All other staff members will be identified <br /> appropriately below) <br /> Chair Price called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. All commissioners were present <br /> except Commissioner McKee. <br /> Chair Price expressed condolences to the families of Devin Clark and Lyric Woods, two <br /> teenagers who were killed in Orange County over the weekend. She encouraged people who <br /> are interested to rely on information posted by the Orange County Sheriff's Office in order to <br /> avoid the spread of misinformation. <br /> 1. Additions or Changes to the Agenda <br /> None. <br /> Chair Price dispensed with reading the public charge. <br /> 2. Public Comments (Limited to One Hour) <br /> a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda <br /> Dale Hodson read the following statement: <br /> "My name is Dale Hodson and I'm here about your anti-picketing ordinance. <br /> A quote from the Sheriff regarding the Orange High football event: <br /> a small group of protesters assembled ... Neither side ... engaged in ... criminal activity, nor <br /> engaged in speech that went outside ... the free speech that is protected by the ... Constitution <br /> ... No crimes were committed, no one was injured ...' So, what the Sheriff included, but Carrie <br /> Doyle didn't in her statement to you, was that several of the protesters were displaying large <br /> BLM and `Pride' banners — this wasn't a one-sided protest. And yet this is the free speech you <br /> want to ban. You have been misled. From the beginning, this ordinance has been driven by the <br /> content of speech. The Orange County Schools Board revealed this with their racist screed <br /> from October of last year. They list their motivations: `white nationalist displays,' `harm <br /> deepened by White people,' `ties to white supremacy,' `adults motivated by racist self-interest.' <br /> You are being duped by the OCS Board with their racist myths. Parents were protesting <br /> because of the OCS COVID rules, not because they were white. You've used the Wake County <br /> picketing ordinance as a model for Orange County. However, in Wake County, and in Chapel <br /> Hill as well, there are no special restrictions around schools or playgrounds — why is Orange <br /> County going such a different direction? Orange County - once home to freedom marches and <br />