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17 <br /> Maria Justice said she is on the board for the Friends of the Passmore Center. She asked the <br /> Board to examine what she characterized as a contradiction in the proposed budget: projections show <br /> that Orange County residents aged 60 and older will comprise 26% of the population by 2035, yet the <br /> budget proposes $3.5 million in capital project funding while allowing existing community needs to go <br /> unmet. She expressed opposition to Pay-Go proposals that fund new projects while current operational <br /> needs remain unfunded, and asked that the Board not reduce staffing at the Department on Aging, <br /> given the Passmore Center's growing population. She also raised a specific concern about the purchase <br /> of a $32,000 commercial lawnmower despite the county contracting mowing services. <br /> Lori Russell said she will take her seat on the Board of Education in July. She spoke on her own <br /> behalf, acknowledging the Board's service and process. She stated she moved to Orange County for the <br /> schools and accepted higher taxes as a trade-off for a community committed to excellent public <br /> education. She said that Orange County Schools has not raised certified teacher supplements in a <br /> decade, while Wake, Durham, Guilford, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro, all within commuting distance, now <br /> pay significantly more. She noted that the county's proposed living wage increase to $20.02 per hour for <br /> county employees acknowledges that county workers cannot afford to live in Orange County at current <br /> wages and argued the same logic must apply to school employees who face the same cost-of-living <br /> pressures. She also noted that declining enrollment figures obscure real growth in Exceptional Children <br /> (EC) and multilingual learner populations, which come with legally mandated obligations that do not <br /> scale with headcount. <br /> Lloyd Adler-Johnson said he is an Orange County resident and a paramedic for Orange County. <br /> He noted that Orange County is served by eight Advanced Life Support ambulances for approximately <br /> 150,000 residents, with only six running 24-hour coverage, and that the county regularly experiences <br /> surges in 911 demand requiring mutual aid from Durham, Alamance, Chatham, and Person Counties. He <br /> stated that this situation has persisted for years. He reported that previously planned wage increases for <br /> EMS personnel have been suspended indefinitely, meaning EMTs earning at or near the living wage will <br /> continue to fall behind as costs of living rise. He also noted that paramedics in training who signed <br /> contracts with the county in exchange for training now face being contractually obligated to work at <br /> lower wages than expected, which he said sets the stage for current workers to leave for better-paying <br /> agencies and compounds recruitment challenges. <br /> Marie Sykes said she has been an Orange County resident for 2 years, but moved a lot of a child. <br /> She described her upbringing as a Navy family, always finding community in libraries. She also noted <br /> that her cousin is a part-time staff member at the Chapel Hill Public Library who would face job loss <br /> under the proposed budget cuts, and that UNC's library science program, which is one of the top in the <br /> world, produces many of the library's staff members. She noted that even charging $65 to each of the <br /> 15,000 out-of-town cardholders would make up the deficit from proposed cuts but argued that those <br /> most at risk are those who simply cannot afford library cards and would lose access entirely. <br /> Rachel Bearman advocated for additional funding for the Department on Aging. She said the <br /> Department on Aging serves as an exemplar for the rest of the state on what should be done to serve <br /> older adults aging in community. She asked the Board to reconsider eliminating the shared social worker <br /> position with DSS. <br /> Brian Link said he is the President of the CHCCS Association of Educators, and is a social studies <br /> teacher at East Chapel Hill High School. He said he is heartened by the solidarity shown in the room <br /> tonight. He acknowledged that the Board has a hard job and that no one should be placed in the <br /> position to choose between serving the aging population, providing affordable housing, and funding <br /> public schools. He charged the community to stand with the Board of County Commissioners. He <br /> thanked the County Manager for his effort in producing a recommended budget document that includes <br /> an increase to the schools and thanked the Board for including Pay-Go funding that will continue to fund <br />