AGENDA #14
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Justin Coleman, convener, Continuing Concerns Committee
SUBJECT: Recharge of Continuing Concerns Committee
DATE: June 12, 2006
PURPOSE
The purpose of this memorandum is to request that the Town Council recharge the Continuing Concerns Committee to more broadly address the types of concerns surrounding race, class, power, economics and social justice that currently face the Town of Chapel Hill.
BACKGROUND
After the renaming of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., there were many suggestions and ideas that remained unimplemented. The Continuing Concerns Committee was formed to address these suggestions and ideas.
The Committee had its first meeting in early 2006; the members quickly determined that the charge seemed limited to addressing this short list of concrete ceremonial and symbolic ideas, while they joined the group under the impression that it would address larger and more complex social issues in Chapel Hill.
DISCUSSION
The Committee has sought to craft a statement of mission that will clarify the work of the committee, so that its work together might be more fruitful and so that members of the community who inquire about the committee will have a more clear understanding of the committee’s purpose and task. The consensus is that the Committee seeks to transcend the role of solely recommending and monitoring the implementation of purely ceremonial events; rather it seeks to create and encourage open and honest dialogue between members of the community. It expects to make recommendations that promote positive and healthy interactions between all ethnic groups, taking a variety of perspectives into account. In light of these concerns, we have crafted the attached statement.
RECOMMENDATION
The Committee recommends and requests that the Town Council recharge the Committee in a way that focuses on the substantive issues of race, economics, social justice, and power, in addition to the exciting ceremonial and symbolic goals.
ATTACHMENTS