Council update
Sally Greene
Subject: Council update
Date: October 27, 2008 11:16:29 PM EDT
To: sally....@gmail.com
Dear friends,
At tonight's Town Council meeting, the item that would have been the
main discussion item was deferred. We deferred a decision on UNC's
Innovation Center to Nov. 24, at the university's request. Other
items that garnered most of the discussion, including potential
enactment of a new conditional use zone designed for high-density
projects, were also deferred.
For me, the highlight of today's events came earlier. In the morning,
I spent an hour in Town Hall talking with a delegation from Botswana.
These were members of Botswana's Independent Electoral Commission:
Mrs. Ruth Lemme Kgafela, Councillor, Botswana National Front; Mrs.
Moggie Mosetsenathebe Mbaakanyi, Member of Parliament, Lobatse
Constituency, Botswana Democratic Party; Mr. Gaontebale Mokgosi,
Youth Political Program Officer, Botswana National Youth Council; Ms.
Joyce Mmanthobatsang Mothudi, Secretary, Caucus for Women in
Politics, and Parliamentary Candidate, Botswana Congress Party; Mrs.
Martha Judith Sayed, Deputy Secretary, Independent Electoral
Commission; and Mr. Richard Rhee Senthumoleng, Senior Elections
Officer, Independent Electoral Commission. They are here on a 10-day
program to learn about the U.S. electoral system, with a special
interest in how we work to increase citizen participation in the
election process, "especially amongst the majority sectors of the
population, namely youth and women." That is, they made it very clear
to me the majority of Botswana's adult voting citizens are women!
This delightful and I trust productive visit is sponsored by North
Carolina's International Affairs Council. The group was invited by
the Department of State through the IAC's International Visitor
Leadership Program.
The goals of the IAC are to foster tolerance, deepen cultural
understanding, educate citizens about global affairs, and create
linkages between North Carolina and the world. Founded in 1973 by
Gov. Terry Sanford, today it is proud to be "the only organization
that annually brings more than 500 visitors from more than 100
countries to Central and Eastern North Carolina."
http://www.iacnc.org/default2.aspx
It was a privilege and an enriching experience to speak with them. I
wish them all the best, and I'm glad to know about this fine North
Carolina program.
