Bad blood is beginning to boil between Rep. Bill Faison (who represents much of Orange) and the Orange County commissioners — specifically chairman Barry Jacobs. Faison is the legislator who made sure that a new regional airport to replace UNC Chapel Hill’s Horace Williams would be sited in Orange County no matter any complaints from commissioners. Jacobs has been complaining for months that the commissioners have been ignored by UNC. From the Chapel Hill News (emphasis is mine):
Faison said he amended the airport authority bill to limit the authority’s jurisdiction to Orange County. He says he wanted to make sure if an airport got built, the benefit would come to Orange County and that the commissioners could not stop it.
“I was really concerned if we didn’t get it tied down to the county that they would subtly sabotage the whole process,” Faison said.
What we’re seeing spill into the public square is another sign of the policy and political disconnect between the two Orange counties:
Faison is more attuned to the middle-class families who live in northern Orange and who have been pushed to the limit by the county’s oppressive 99.8 cent property tax rate. He says it’s important that the airport would generate revenue from a non-property tax source.
Jacobs and the other commissioners are aligned with the Chapel Hill/UNC crowd that controls policy and politics in the county. It’s these liberals who consistently support tax hikes and growth of government. The commissioners are known for imposing restrictive regulations on growth and development, and have shown little or no interest in cutting county spending or reigning in their insatiable desire for more money.
