Re: BOCC talk

[Jean Hamilton]

Dear Josh Ravitch,

 

On behalf of the Orange County Board of Commissioners (BOCC), thank you for attending the public hearing and sharing your concerns about the Chapel Hill Public Library especially its handling of Jewish American Heritage Month. 

We appreciate the feedback as budget season nears the end with a Budget Work Session on June 4 where commissioners discuss and vote on amendments to the County Manager’s Recommended Budget.

Sincerely,

Jean

 

Jean Hamilton, Chair

Orange County Board of Commissioners

---

From: Josh Ravitch <ravi...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2026 3:26 PM
To: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>
Subject: Fwd: BOCC talk

 

CAUTION: External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless verified. Report suspicious emails with the Phish Alert Button located on your Outlook menu bar on the Home tab.



Dear commissioners, I appreciate your efforts, particularly when you sit through long sessions of the often redundant comments from we citizens! Below I’ve attached a slightly revised text of my comments and photos. My apologies for losing my place midstream last night…I was not feeling well due to my neurological issues, but felt our comments were unique and that the BOCC and public needed to be made aware.

Kind regards…Josh Ravitch

Thought of the Day—“When with reasonable men, reason. When with humble men, plead. But when with tyrants, give no quarter .” (From the Warsaw Ghetto)

“Good evening, Commissioners.

Sure, the CH Library honored Jewish American Heritage Month (JA).

Belatedly, starting the weekend of May 15, the month half over, UNC graduated and library empty, attention turned elsewhere. They knew May was Jewish American Heritage Month long before. I know because I alerted them.

Sadly, I must alert you that it now appears library leadership are playing additional games that hide and minimize the impact of Jewish American Heritage Month. 

Photos (samples attached below) that our group obtained show the initial display from May 15, when the JA display is adjacent to the Asian display, facing library patrons walking by. Additional photos were obtained during the May 22nd holiday weekend, and demonstrate that the Asian display is still facing patrons walking by. However the JA display has been rotated so that it’s facing away from patron attention and walking paths, and is next to a display of “Staff Picks.” One has to be looking for the display to see it. Note too that the Asian display has appropriately been up the whole month, as these displays typically are.

I don’t cry “antisemitism” as a habit…but the pattern here is troubling. Is library leadership counting on community pressure to get the $600K being discussed, while also covering for seeming antipathy towards the Jewish people?

I also note that CH seems to believe that throwing money at all budget shortfalls is the only way to address the issues. I see the library as a town and county asset that used to collect fines for overdue books. Do I believe this involved enormous budget-changing sums?  No…But this helped convey the attitude that borrowers of books had some responsibility for upkeep of our library, and that raising taxes to provide funds is not the only option to consider.

 Thank you for your consideration…”

The photo below is from the weekend of May 15.  Note the Jewish display is adjacent to the Asian display. While it’s not clear from this photo unless you are familiar with the library layout, these displays are facing towards the flow of traffic where they could be readily visible.

The photo below is from Memorial Day weekend. Note the display to the right of the JA is “Staff Picks,”not the Asian display anymore, and both displays face towards the rear of the library, not the flow of traffic.

[Josh Ravitch]

Dear Jean, I’m wondering if a recording is available of the public speakers at the May 28th session of the BOCC budget discussion? If so, could we be given access to the recordings?

Thanks for passing this on to the county clerk, whose name I confess I forgot.

Kind regards...Josh Ravitch 



<cidE748FE71-3F5F-4F9F-AADA-789E4E403D96.jpeg>

[Laura Jensen]

Mr. Ravitch,

The meeting video is located here: https://orangecountync.cablecast.tv/show/60?site=1

Laura Jensen

Get Outlook for iOS

---

From: Josh Ravitch <ravi...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2026 11:21:31 PM
To: Jean Hamilton <jham...@orangecountync.gov>
Cc: ALL_BOCC_MANAGER_CLERK <OCB...@orangecountync.gov>; amjoc...@aol.com <amjoc...@aol.com>
Subject: Re: BOCC talk