Heard on the Street Posted: Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 Say hello to Earl
As we prepare for the last long weekend of summer, most all attention is turned to Hurricane Earl. It will likely be late tonight before we truly learn just how this dangerous storm will impact our state, but Governor Perdue and our emergency preparedness officials have done an outstanding job of getting us ready to deal with the aftermath of this hurricane.
Your intrepid reporter is among those along the coast who are anxiously awaiting the unwanted arrival of this storm. Winds have increased, tides are higher and we are awaiting the rain that is expected to begin in late afternoon. Most everywhere you go people have taken precautions. It wasn`t too many years ago that Hurricane Dennis visited our coastal area during Labor Day. We remember well the State-East Carolina football game played during a driving rain as Dennis lumbered off our coast, finally coming ashore at Atlantic Beach.
As a member of the media I must report that the TV media has done a superb job of informing and instructing viewers of the storm and actions they should take to be prepared. Radio and TV are never truer to their purpose than in these times and they should be commended, especially WCTI-12 in New Bern and WITN in Washington. Well done.
R`s leading D`s
Public Policy Polling, a Democratic survey organization, reports today that in generic polling Republicans lead Democrats in legislative races by a 49-41 margin. Most observers we have talked with concede Democrats will lose control of the state Senate but more and more are speculating whether Democrats can hold control over the House.
This could be very interesting. Republicans will not want to raise taxes so it will be quite a challenge to see if they can cut the estimated three billion dollars in anticipated budget deficits next year. Some boldly say they can. We don`t think it can be done without major damage to education, Medicaid and other human services. 80 percent or 13.6 billion of our 17 billion dollar budget is expended in health and human services and education, leaving only 3.4 billion for the operation of all the rest of state government.
If it weren`t for redistricting, Democrats would let Republicans control. But Republicans, being in the minority for so many years, have long espoused changing the redistricting process. Wonder if they would sing the same song if they controlled the legislature. Even so, court challenges could likely tie up final redistricting implementation (as has been the case) for several years, long enough for Democrats to regain control if Republicans don`t rule wisely.
We do have something for which to look forward!
A rose by any other name
Even as the Democrats announce that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer will be the speaker of the Vance-Aycock dinner in Asheville this October, many want to change the name of the event to eliminate Charles B. Aycock`s name. While Aycock has long been acknowledged as the education governor in our state, his racist activities during the turn of the century have revealed a side Democrats don`t want to cherish.
The Party`s executive committee has recommended it be changed to Vance-Lucas in honor of Jeanne Lucas, the longtime Durham legislator. We suggest this needs more thought. Some loyal Democrats are saying this obvious play to African Americans neither reflects the significant contribution such an event should honor nor does it make the party more inclusive to all. Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt and others have made a more significant contribution. If an African American is to be selected, they say, how about Henry Frye, the first elected black legislator in the 20th Century and the first to be Chief Justice of our Supreme Court.
One more chance
The committee tasked to make recommendations about the next Highway Patrol Commander has, as expected, recommended the leader come from within the ranks of the Patrol. The report also says there should be a zero tolerance for bad behavior, that troopers should phone in every time a person of the opposite sex is in a patrol vehicle and troopers should live in the area to which they are assigned. North Carolinians might be willing to give current patrol leaders one more shot at cleaning up this organization. But only one.
Ross under fire
It took less than a week after Tom Ross was named the new President of the University System before the shots started flying. Civitas has unleashed an attack, claiming Ross was connected with ACORN, because the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation gave the group a grant. Then there`s the news about his serving on the board of Blue Cross even as Brad Wilson was a member of the committee selecting the new president. Wilson recused himself but Raleigh accountant Walter Davenport, who also serves on the BOG and the Blue Cross board didn`t.
Charities funding education
There was an interesting article in today`s Charlotte Observer about major charities in the Queen City providing funding to help education, specifically to help reduce the gap between minorities and whites in the school district. Look for us to talk about this subject on next week`s NC SPIN.
Supreme Court decision deserves discussion
Last weeks decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court refusing to release those prisoners who had been sentenced to life imprisonment has created a lot of conversation. Plaintiffs felt the court should have acknowledged good behavior time as a reduction of sentences but the court said only the Department of Corrections had the authority to make that decision. Look for this week`s NC SPIN panel to discuss this topic.
Court job attracts 13
Governor Perdue appointed Cressie Thigpen last week to fill the Court of Appeals seat held by Jim Wynn, who was finally approved to a federal bench. Thigpen knew that he would have to stand for election in November. This also opened up a filing window for others wanting the seat. 13 filed to fill the slot. The best known and only two persons to have successfully run for election statewide are Harry Payne, former two-term Commissioner of Labor and Doug McCullough, who won a seat on the Appellate Court in 2000 and was defeated in 2008.
This will be an interesting election on several fronts. First, none of the candidates has a long time to raise money for a statewide contest and will most likely depend on public funding, assuming they can raise the required matching fund requirement in short order.
Secondly, this election will use an instant runoff system. Gary Robertson of the Associated Press explains it this way. “The voters rank their top three candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes, election officials turn to the ballots of voters whose first-choice candidate was eliminated and count how many of them made one of the two top vote getters their next highest choice. Those choices are added to the original counts of the two leaders. The candidate with the most combined votes is the winner.”
It is likely that with so many candidates no one would get the required 40 percent needed to win outright, so the candidates must strive to be one of the top two. This puts a different spin on the selection process and might adversely affect Thigpen, even though he will run as an incumbent.
Some have raised the issue whether Payne, currently working in a high level position in doling out and accounting for the state`s federal relief funds, might be in violation of the state`s Hatch Act, which prohibits a state employee from running for office. Because this is a non-partisan election it is thought unlikely that the Hatch Act prohibits Payne`s campaign. The UNC School of Government wrote a blog piece on this subject in February of this year that makes it clear a covered employee cannot run in a partisan election. Read the piece.
Other candidates include Superior Court Judge Mark Klass, who lost a bid for another Court of Appeals seat, Jewel Ann Farlow, a 2008 Appeals Court candidate, Greensboro residents John Bloss and Stan Hammer, Daniel Garner of Wake Forest, Wesley Casteen of Wilmington and Raleigh`s Chris Dillon, Anne Middleton, John Sullivan and Pamela Vesper.
We will talk about this and update all elections on next week`s NC SPIN.
South Carolina 6, North Carolina 21
The Reason Foundation`s 19th Annual Highway Report was just released and showed that South Carolina had the 6th best highways in the nation, while North Carolina ranked 21st. UNC Charlotte Professor David Hartgen has long been associated with this organization and has appeared on NC SPIN before, talking about our roads. You can read the report and look for more information on a future NC SPIN.
Every six seconds
Did you know that someone turns sixty every six seconds in this country? Get ready for the Baby Boomers to once again make dramatic changes on our society. How might North Carolina benefit from this large group of aging citizens? Read My Spin, “Get ready for the boomers.”
Water Forum registration opens
We`ve been telling you about the day-long conference NC SPIN is sponsoring on October 12th at the Brownstone Hotel in Raleigh. We can now give you all the details you might want, along with registration information. The “Who`s Who” in Water in North Carolina will be there and presenting informative information about this vital issue. We hope you will join them. Here`s the link to get the details. Registration costs $60 and includes continental breakfast, hot lunch and handouts. This is a day that we promise will be well worth your attendance.
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