Statement on the Leadership Advisory Committee for Carolina North
By Ken Broun

I thought it useful if I gave some additional information with regard to this committee, announced by Chancellor Moeser in his letters to Mayors Foy and Chilton and Chair Jacobs.

The purpose of the committee is to get community input on Carolina North from as broad a range of interests as possible.  The process is intended to produce a set of principles that will guide the University in its preparation of plans that will be submitted to the local governing bodies in their regulatory functions.  It is a University committee, to be appointed by the Chancellor, because it is formed for the purpose of giving information to the University, not for the purpose of reaching any decisions, final or tentative, by the community’s governing bodies.

The Chapel Hill Town Council and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen will be asked to select three persons each for membership on the committee.  Their appointees can, but need not be, elected officials.  The Orange County Board of Commissioners will select two persons.  The University will appoint three administrators to the committee.  In addition, there will be representatives from the University faculty (including faculty members who have indicated general support for the project and those who have raised questions about it).  The University will also ask for representation from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School Board, the business community, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and a representative of the governor. 

The committee will also consider the possibility of hiring a facilitator to work with it in the process.  It will also consider the possibility of creating subcommittees or task forces to work on specific issues such as transportation, fiscal equity, housing and environmental concerns.   I anticipate that the work of the committee will continue throughout calendar year 2006.  A report to the Chancellor will be made in early 2007. 

In addition to views of the committee members, the committee will also seek the opinions of the public at large.  The meetings will be open and televised if feasible.  There will be ample opportunities for persons not on the committee to address the committee publicly or by written or electronic communication.  

The University’s previous concept plans will be off the table for purposes of this process.  Whether such plans would re-emerge in the same or in modified form or would be discarded is a decision that will be made by the University administration after receiving the recommendations of the committee. 

I think I also need to make my own position clear.  I have no stake in any plan for Carolina North, whether developed by the University or anyone else. This project will have the most significant effect of any development in Orange County since the establishment of the University.  My purpose in serving is to try to facilitate a process in which the final plans developed by the University are developed with full knowledge of the concerns of the community at large.  I am receiving no compensation from any source for my work with the committee, either monetary or in terms of reduced obligations at the School of Law.  I am teaching a full, indeed a heavier than usual, load and continue to try to do significant writing and service in my areas of teaching interest. 

I welcome questions or comments from any concerned person. My e-mail address is ksbroun@email.unc.edu