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Yay Billy! Thank you for being so relentlessly creative. You're fighting the good fight.

I saw Billy play for the first time at Liminal Festival a few weeks ago. I was pretty blown away! first time I'd ever seen anyone pull off a good Residents cover!.

I like all but the 1st option! How about a luge?

Read "Save Your Neighborhood and Yourself with WAHM" for more on Extortion, Corporate Raiding and other Gross Injustices against James Thomas Webb Master Builder, which continue and are being investigated by Federal and other authorities...STAY TUNED...www.theWAHM.org

I was unimpressed by the yearly move of students from one school to another. That was unnecessary, to my untrained eye. However, I do believe in the value of desegregation, and worry that this provincial attitude that is the loudest (not necessarily the majority, just the majority of people who voted) will mean that kids in poor parts of town will get fewer resources, and perpetuate a cycle of substandard education and subsequent poverty. Currently schools in some of the worst neighborhoods have stellar reputations. Hunter, Washington, Combs...kids in affluent areas benefit from the magnet school system as much as the local kids do. That's all at risk now. So, enjoy walking your child to your local school, and enjoy your "win." Ignore the larger problem that will undoubtedly result. Segregation helps no one.

Joe,

There were agreements made between UNC, the town, and IFC earlier this year. Can you please outline when public comment was solicited to approve those agreements? Who made those agreements? When were they made? Was there a public meeting over suitability of the site and what services would be appropriate for the site before we jumped into a building design? No, there was not.

Is it your position that it is just fine for communities to site social services where ever they want because there are no EPA restrictions? Please share with me where you think the line would be crossed with regards to siting facilities. Two drug rehabs and three shelters in 1/10th of a square mile? 3 and 4? NC law prohibits placing all of public housing in one area. Does this not fit into that same logic? Please share with readers what social services density situation would be too much for a small area in your opinion.

You state "I did write that opponents to the shelter site said they did not oppose the IFC's work." However, I find the wording of "None of the Chapel Hill residents who passionately spoke before Town Council on the relocation of the shelter was so bold as to openly oppose IFC's work." to imply that you think that *had* the residents been bold enough, they would have "openly opposed" IFC's work. Other readers, how do you interpret the wording?

Lastly, this is filed under "Home > News > Orange County", but it clearly crosses the line into OpEd or Commentary and should be categorized as such.

MarkP, I'd like to make two corrections and an observation to your post.

First, you are wrong that there's been no public process on siting the shelter. The meeting that is the subject of this article is part of that public process, and it's where the IFC made a presentation and where residents weighed in. It was the first avenue of many for the public to participate. We'll keep you updated as the process progresses.

Secondly, it's not exactly analogous to compare the Rogers Road situation to this one. The EPA has national standards on environmental justice for siting a landfill or waste transfer station in minority neighborhoods. Nothing similar exists for siting a shelter. I also find it difficult to equate a location to process garbage with a location to rehabilitate the homeless.

Lastly, I did write that opponents to the shelter site said they did not oppose the IFC's work. They simply disagree with the site. Some even thanked the IFC for the good it does in the community.

Thanks for reading. As you posted, the public's input is important as this moves forward, so I appreciate your thoughts.

"facilitate homelessness by allowing panhandling"? Surely I'm missing the context or point of his comment. I'm pretty sure that banning panhandling isn't going to put anyone in permanent housing. If he really believes that, he needs to do some real homework on the issue. NC State has a distance ed class on Hunger & Homelessness (SW495)...

Joe, your article leaves out the fact that *every* drug rehab and homeless shelter in Orange County will be located within 1/10th of a square mile with this proposal. In that same 1/10th of a square mile is public housing, the southern human services center, and the senior center. Is that the way to equitably distribute social services in a community that prides itself in being fair?

Using your logic, the Rogers Road folks were NIMBYs. Sure, they were already burdened 2 landfills, but those will be closed, right? So all that will be open is a measly little transfer station. Hey, the transfer station would be put on free land, so that's all that matters, right? These two situations are exactly the same when it comes to overburdening a tiny part of our community. The Rogers Road folks were unfairly dumped on even with the 2nd landfill and likewise so is this part of North Chapel Hill with social services.

You also completely ignore the backroom brokering that led to this arrangement without any public input. Mark Schultz of the Chapel Hill News pointed this out in an editorial a while back.

I bet that every single person at the hearing is in favor of IFC's work and wants a homeless shelter. Your statement to the contrary is unsupported by the facts and is below the belt. The speakers at the hearing simply want the shelter to be sited with with a real site search with real parameters as to what makes a good site vs. a bad site (concentration of social services, proximity to 2 large preschool programs, proximity to most active children's park in county). Those folks want a true, honest site search, just like the "do over" of the trash transfer station.

Billy Sugarfix is a monument to the greatest of human invention and he is an American Hero. Billy presents himself to the world without pretense. Keep on rocking in the free world, Billy Sugarfix!