ALDERMEN ADD REHAB LIKE TROSA TO AGENDA

CARRBORO -- Attracting a rehabilitation program to help people with drug
problems and subsequently reduce crime will be one of the new items the
Carrboro Board of Alderman voted to look at this year.

At a retreat Monday, the aldermen decided to add to their priorities this
and other items for consideration -- including reducing the number of times
they meet each month.

"Crime is connected to substance abuse," Alderman Jacquie Gist said. "It's
a public health problem that becomes a crime problem.

"I know some really good people who have been hooked on crack. I'd love to
see them have some alternatives."

Gist proposed that the board look at developing a strategy to attract a
TROSA-like "de-tox/rehabilitation" program in Carrboro.

"TROSA is a beautiful model," Gist said.

Located in Durham, Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers has
developed a number of businesses that serve as vocational schools to help
substance abusers get clean and become self-sufficient. These businesses
include brickwork, moving, landscaping, construction, a frame shop and an
auto body shop.

Gist said she also planned to draft a resolution asking the General
Assembly to decriminalize certain drugs, particularly marijuana.

"I personally support de-criminalization of all drugs and go to a treatment
model," Gist said.

The aldermen have passed resolutions in the past, such as proposing a
moratorium on the death penalty, that call for a change in state law, Gist
said.

The board voted to have an economic development retreat, which will include
a look at Alderman John Herrera's suggestion that the board try to come up
with a fast-track review process for developers that meet town community goals.

"I've heard complaints from developers about the amount of time it takes to
get approval for a project," Herrera said.

Aldermen discussed the possibility of making such a sped-up approval
contingent on a developer meeting such conditions as allocating a certain
percentage of affordable housing units.

Speeding up the process could help attract more businesses downtown, too,
the aldermen said.

Aldermen will also look at developing a tenants' bill of rights, possibly
by way of a licensing process for landlords.

"State law is not very supportive of tenants," Herrera said.

"Municipalities do have the power to make sure these folks are getting what
they paid for . that things get fixed in a reasonable amount of time," he
said. "This might help us get rid of the slum landlords."

Gist said she would be supportive of this because many people, especially
recent immigrants, were paying substantial rents for sub-standard housing
but were afraid to complain.

The town would have to take into account the increased staff time to
administer such a licensing requirement and charge a substantial licensing
fee to cover this cost, Alderman Diana McDuffee said.

The board would also have to consider whether landlords would -- or could
- -- pass this cost on to tenants, Alderman Alex Zaffron said.

Other new proposals, added to the agenda, include having a sister city in
Mexico, naming a major road after Martin Luther King Jr. and developing a
new logo that better communicates the town's cultural aspects.

"The big 'C' has got to go," Herrera said of the current logo.

Herrera also advocated reducing the number of monthly meetings for the board.

Fewer meetings would give aldermen more time to spend in the community and
would also make it more possible for others, including different ethnic
groups and people who work two jobs, to participate in town government,
Herrera said.

And, the reduced number of meetings, proposed as three, instead of four,
per month, would force the board to be more effective, or as Alderman Mark
Dorosin put it: "We're like this fish that grows to whatever the size of
the tank is. If you give us time, we'll take it."

Herrera pointed out that other town boards, such as Chapel Hill's, meet
twice a month. But Mayor Mike Nelson said that these were official meetings
and that these boards also had other work sessions throughout the month.

Nelson also said that he did not think that fewer meetings would work
because the board tried having three meetings a month for two years, but
voted, in November, to change it back to four times.

"It just wasn't working out for us," Nelson said.

McDuffee said she had found it more difficult to meet three times because
the meetings ran later and affected her work day the next day. Others also
said that aldermen found that they were too tired to make important
decisions near the end of these long meetings.

But in a 4-to-2 vote Monday, aldermen decided to look again at reducing the
number of monthly meetings.