Local Carrboro Political Fun? IGX

I had to give up on creating a modular building company town co-operative enterprise here where I live in Carrboro, NC. I am not really sure of what part of me is such an inspiration of exclusion from anything not done as it has been done. I think I have lived in Chapel Hill and Carrboro for 15 years now. Its reputation is as a forward thinking place embracing all classes.

As it is in the US overall there is a dismissive attitude towards the experienced over the certified.

I was badly affected by the stories of my Grandfather who had careers as an Engineer, efficiency expert, and an Episcopal Priest somewhere in Harlem. His only degree was in Divinity from what I know.

I tried to find the exact information, but failed at some attempt when I was living in the City.
But I’d gotten the idea that you could just gain a set of insights and be capable and things would turn out well.

The academic institutions with their higher and higher prices must make it absolutely without exception mandatory that HR never ever hires or promotes anyone without their papers these days.

Academic institutions have a great bit more power over the policies of the nation than you, or I ever imagined.

During WWII they lobbied for higher ages for the draft to maintain their student enrollments. Now tremendous loans, debt assets have been generated for the books as students are made to understand they will have to work hard and have no security with out a college degree. The history of Capitalism in the US has been one of expanding markets and compromise.

The rise of finance as a major part of the US economy has dictated less and less to export. So eating the young is one solution for the smart financial engineers who practice what I characterize as “Play” capitalism.

While watching the Cold War roll along I noted the rich numbers accounted in the US, and the Party Members of the USSR. Accounting for differences in the populations, Party Membership, and powerful
I had to give up on creating a modular building company town co-operative enterprise here where I live in Carrboro, NC. I am not really sure of what part of me is such an inspiration of exclusion from anything not done as it has been done. I think I have lived in Chapel Hill and Carrboro for 15 years now. Its reputation is as a forward thinking place embracing all classes.

As it is in the US overall there is a dismissive attitude towards the experienced over the certified.

I was badly affected by the stories of my Grandfather who had careers as an Engineer, efficiency expert, and an Episcopal Priest somewhere in Harlem. His only degree was in Divinity from what I know.

I tried to find the exact information, but failed at some attempt when I was living in the City.
But I’d gotten the idea that you could just gain a set of insights and be capable and things would turn out well.

The academic institutions with their higher and higher prices must make it absolutely without exception mandatory that HR never ever hires or promotes anyone without their papers these days.

Academic institutions have a great bit more power over the policies of the nation than you, or I ever imagined.

During WWII they lobbied for higher ages for the draft to maintain their student enrollments. Now tremendous loans, debt assets have been generated for the books as students are made to understand they will have to work hard and have no security with out a college degree. The history of Capitalism in the US has been one of expanding markets and compromise.

The rise of finance as a major part of the US economy has dictated less and less to export. So eating the young is one solution for the smart financial engineers who practice what I characterize as “Play” capitalism.

While watching the Cold War roll along I noted the rich numbers accounted in the US, and the Party Members of the USSR. Accounting for differences in the populations, Party Membership, and powerful r
London banks and the UK the Caymans and Cook Islands, well that’s where the money goes. The average guy in the Caymans doing the honest jobs of the day, ending with meals at the television gets about 40 grand a year with benefits for taking care of the rich and giving them drinks in good weather, on a nice little island.

Your parents and the rest of us must have cars, or be trapped into limited options for where we can go for the prosaic or extraordinary.

In Chapel Hill the University has unique legacy powers of governance. I am told it is unique to the world for a University to control so much of how a community and even the County is governed. What does it mean when the Chancellor can throw out State Legislation?

As far as labor is concerned it is let off from any leadership in wages for it is prohibited from hiring at rates higher than private industry may pay for comparable jobs. For labor that is significant when the University is the major employer, capable of crowding out any other businesses. As well in this era there have been no private industry raises for labor in 30 years at least.

For the Academics, meaning teachers and administrators there has been competition for the best in their fields of research and course instruction. Whatever might be paid by any University in the world for the talents and presence of a famed teacher and research leader.

What that means overall the regular people cannot compete for living space on what they might be paid when the prosaic work is to be done, done by someone.

So then for Labor it becomes a hopeless situation.

I did not get involved in any politics locally that I was not well experienced with. Either I had done the job, or done the job and backed it up with study. Because my lifetime goal has become the founding of a nation of airports, I wrote letters to the Editor regarding the management practices of the University regarding Horace Williams.

In normal places such an asset is operated by the Town and County Governments, who find that the ports are of great aid in attracting and becoming bases for a range of businesses. I’ve seen NC State Transportation lists of airports from the NC State Transportation Department, Aviation Department, and the airports contribute a good deal.

For the entire time I have lived in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the University has promised to close the airport.

Prior to the time of my move to Chapel Hill, there was the same promise given over and over to residents who were afraid of the airport and its airplanes. People believed that it would be shut down any day.

Then there became the plan to build a satellite campus there, and it all became a matter of time. Because an airport of a county is an important economic multiplier, it was felt that a replacement for Horace Williams ought be found.

A good deal of money was spent on consultants who wanted to locate a “Reliever” airport capable of handling an airliner, because the Feds will pay about 90 percent of what that costs because the FAA want “Reliever” airports.

It was a horror to the County Citizens, this concept, for who knew what the University Airport Authority with right of Eminent Domain in their hands, might do.

I myself wanted the County to have an appropriate airport for its needs, which are apparently for the most part, corporate and private small planes and small jets.

An Airport Authority was authorized by the State of NC Legislature. Heavily weighted with University Teachers and Administrators, it was still understood by then, because of these letters to the Editor that I was most qualified for a civilian seat on the proposed Airport Authority, and I met with State Senator Ellie Kinnard, and Dean of the Medical School Kevin Fitzgerald.

On leaving Fitzgerald, after an interview, stated the University could work with me.

Without any warning or consultation an oppositional group went into see Holden Thorp the Chancellor at that time and succeeded in having the Airport Authority squashed by pledging to close the airport, nullifying any perceived reason for an Airport Authority by some reasoning that does not make sense unless you accept that the University has the unchallenged right to operate the Local Community Airport of Orange County, any way it wants.

I was completely caught off guard, and Ellie Kinnard was gracious at the time to call me before I found this all out otherwise.

Kevin Fitzgerald never contacted me at all.

Many perceived that the pledge meant that there would never be an airport in all of Orange County.

The reason Holden Thorp promised to close the airport, obviating any need for an Airport Authority to administratively maintain it and make it into the asset that the people of the County deserve, was that the University and the Authority by extension was to have the power of Eminent Domain, and many persons of Orange County did not trust the University with such power because of their record, and how they had used the power of Eminent Domain in the history of the University uses of power.

A very nice building had been promised to be razed for some other building. It had been where the studios of 91.5 WUNC were. It was torn down and plans were changed and it became a parking lot.

Overall people familiar with the operating practices of the University did not trust it, so the solution was to promise to close the airport, not find a location for a replacement, and leave Orange County without any airport.

Whatever reasoning makes this possible, and accepted as proper, escapes me.

Many of the locals that I came into contact with put signs in their yards, No Airport County, and some yelled at me, others said the University could not be trusted.

The man who had the power to make promises Mr. Holden Thorp, was forced to resign because his administration allowed for years and years athletes to represent the University on the sports fields who were made eligible to compete through fraud.

Why it is that someone who was so incredibly a failure as the empowered Chancellor can leave as a legacy, bequeath to us all a stunted and discredited set of decisions that are allowed to stand, more than irritates me.

Remember now, it had only been the merit of my writings that had put me in a position to help influence the management practices of Orange Counties Local Community airport. I had become recognized as a competent thinker when it came to the airport.

For a long time I imagined it being moved to the Landfill on Eubanks near the NASA Land that is Duke Forest, controlled by NASA so it would not be touched, and the Landfill couldn’t expand there.

I recently did consult with the County Engineer on that line of thinking, and found that 30 years down the road that might be possible. How the road Eubanks might be rerouted was one of his concerns. I have asked them to think about where an appropriate airport in the county might be located.

Ideally the airport would for Orange County, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill be close to railroad tracks, the super highway, and the river and the ocean. Well there is no river till the Eno, and for Carrboro and Chapel Hill, the ocean is the air.

Really where Horace Williams is, is ideal.

The “Big Lie” is that it will any day be closed, but in fact it will be open forever, according to the airport manager. At the minimum the airport is to be open for 8 years.

It is unfair to the people of the County to not know either way because an airport for a landlocked community is an important asset for all classes.

It takes 10 to 15 years to locate and get FAA certifications for a new airport. For years and years the State Legislature insisted that Horace Williams not be closed without the establishment of a replacement for it.

I had renewed my agitations for changes in how Horace Williams was managed after Holden Thorp was gone, and Carol Folt was installed. Apparently Chancellor Folt makes decisions by not making any decisions, and not letting anyone know much about what she thinks.

A few times I have been lectured by persons in power. If not insulted and condescended to or lectured I have been told to look at the plans on the web. “Go to the website.”, or “Good Luck.”, you know what I mean. Of course when I talked to the city of Chapel Hill’s engineer about what was really being done, I did get the impression there was all the time in the world. There was no deadline to do anything about anything was the way he saw things.

For working people looking for work, three weeks and they have to make serious decisions about where to live, and what to. Options get slimmer and slimmer.

I have to regard the conflict as a fun fight, or part of my duty when it is miserable to be mistreated and spoken down to. I am really too old and too experienced to be spoken to the way persons in power have around here.

In the case of the modular building cooperative enterprise Dave Andrews spoke to me about the Town’s refusal to consider such a thing in a manner I cannot remember since high school in Greensboro.

With some engineers on line who had worked to help displaced Haitians secure strong housing that was cheap, we developed plans that used shipping containers. Shipping Container converting has become a mature industry.

Nothing can be done for Haitians because of the entrenched corruption. It is further flawed in regards to who can get a deed to property. Mobsters control the clean water.

So goes Haiti so goes Western Civilization far as I can tell. It sure seems headed that way.

In my judgement there really cannot be fair housing in the community as long as there is no surplus of housing. The studies indicate that internationally only modular building techniques can keep up with demand. As they are ignored, or prevented, you pretty much ensure that the result is that shanty towns and slums are created. The steel box that is a container is strong, and can be stacked. When one graduates to folding editions of modular housing, transportation is easier and cheaper.

When slums are created in NC, they are somehow hidden, out of town, across the line into the other counties, out in rural america where live rusting cars and totems of appliances.

For here I had wanted to make some prototypes the engineers could look over. I wanted to make kitchens and bathrooms that would roll into the containers, finished off with a standard wiring harness and insulation. If we made them here and were successful with zoning and land that is very high priced calling for less expensive units to be put on them, then mortgages could come down to manageable levels.

Of course you cannot be sure of things till they are done. Habitaflex in Quebec is very good at doing the sort of thing I am speaking of. I suggested Annette Stone see if the company would want to come down here, find out what it would take. Dave Andrews interjected again to reiterate the administration refused to even entertain a suggestion that was far away from me in any way.

Nepal could use housing that was capable of being delivered by helicopter, and Habitaflex makes such housing. Galaxy Homes is a company in California making modular housing that is able to come in at 85 dollar a square foot. They refused to speak with them to find out what it would take to establish a factory here, where there is willing labor. I had nothing at all to gain by this time, regardless of my interest in making things that solve a problem.

The problem of “affordable” housing was created when Ellers and Company bought up three apartment complexes in anticipation of the increase population that would have employment at Carolina North, where the airport is. Ellers began renovating units and refusing to renew leases and otherwise aiming at converting the units they bought so as to increase the rents. Ellers and Company refused to accept HUD vouchers that a number of working class families needed in order to live where they were living. This was at the root of the manufacture of the affordable housing crisis that happened under the noses of those in Local Community Government.

People locally were asked to open their homes to the poor, and rent to them.

Seemed to me that if the community had a population interested in taking in the poor, they would have already been at it.

Building modular units there at the airport would work well for local labor, and could, if mentally installed into the options for space where the mission of the University was to be continued, could likely satisfy the needs of that mission.

The story now is that Carolina North will be built over by Finley Golf Course somewhere on land the University owns over there.

There were four of these out at the airport

From my visit to Horace Williams this past week.

I have become the Vice Chair for the Town Hall Precinct of the Democratic Party. I have so far rejected the idea of running for mayor or an alderman seat. However I would support an oppositional candidate if they were interested in pursuing policies that changed the Zoning restrictions, making an inventory of all available housing both rental and for sale or development. Doing what was possible to advance options for Labor, and increasing opportunities for working people.
I approve of the recent decision to allow for more farming in the buffer zones. I would like to see a tall urban steel frame farm built. I suggest Civil Defense Shelters be restocked and the signage for them put back up and polished. Since my main issue is the management of the airport, I would better attempt a position as a County Commissioner.
I want to see produced a Television Show of Disc Golf using Local and Touring Musical Talent. This is intended to advance the Television and Motion Picture Industry, and help fill the new hotels with either crews, and or tourists. I consider the expenditure on brochures wasted money on what I call “fire starters”. The reason to create a TV Show such as I conceive of is also that tourists are positively known to like to visit places they see on national television. My most personal chapter in

    Poor Buzz and Stories from Warnings for My Daughter

, covers some of this, as well as aspects of my career in Television and Movie production.
I’ve gotten old and I will be happy to get back half of what I used to be physically. I have a business method in my back pocket that would be a great success combining a Labor Service with a Research and Development arm.
I now consider myself a librarian of work.
Would you support me politically for an office? I have learned the “Resolutions” format. I bought an edition of Roberts Rules of Order. It was written by the Engineer Henry Roberts. This proves the worth of work by engineers in the area of governance.

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About Russell Scott Day

I come from sailors and priests. My aim is to prevent apocalyptic riot, better known as nuclear war, when I was growing up. Creating a nation of airports will create the peace enough environment to prevent apocalyptic riot. I had a vision due to a period of boredom and bliss like the Aleph of Borges. That is the story I learned and was made up and happens.

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