Is It Enough To Follow The Money?

A few days ago, I suggested that following the money is a good way to determine what is really going on in the political process. The key question, I suggested is "who benefits and who pays?"

Yesterday's New York Times offered a different analysis. In his article, "Forget The Money, Follow The Sacredness," Jonathan Haidt offers an alternate explanation of the American political process. He explains politics as a "competition among coalitions of tribes."

"The key to understanding tribal behavior," Haidt explains, "is not money, it’s sacredness. The great trick that humans developed at some point in the last few hundred thousand years is the ability to circle around a tree, rock, ancestor, flag, book or god, and then treat that thing as sacred. People who worship the same idol can trust one another, work as a team and prevail over less cohesive groups. So if you want to understand politics, and especially our divisive culture wars, you must follow the sacredness."

I don't deny that Haidt has a good point regarding voter behavior. On the other hand, how does it come about that a particular person, place or thing becomes viewed as sacred?

Sacred things don't necessarily become that way by growing organically from grass roots. The idea of sacredness is usually planted, watered, fertilized and nurtured by forces with a lot of money and power.

The mechanics of how this is done are examined in today's New York Times  in an opinion piece, "The Uses Of Polarization."

The central question seems to be whether our admittedly flawed political process can be improved. I am reminded of Winston Churchill's observation that Democracy is the "worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

So what is to be done?

Once again Churchill has a suggestion: "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?"

Preparation For Overseas Movement - Spring 1942

Here is a picture of my dad during the organization of the 27th Air Depot Group, US Army Air Corps at Mobile, Alabama, spring of 1942. This picture was framed and sat on the mantel over my grandmother's fireplace during the war.

Look closely and see the backward writing. The photographer flipped the negative when he printed the photo, so it was backward when Daddy signed it. I flipped it back in photoshop.

Of course, I had to have my own uniform, complete with rolled-up sleeves.

Just a few weeks earlier, we had moved on the base at Tallahassee. Here is a photo of me and my then six or seven month old brother, John.

This is the house we moved into in Greenwood, Mississippi, in February of 1942 before Daddy went on to Mobile. No dependents were allowed once preparation for overseas movement began. These are my grandparents, parents, me and my little brother (sitting in Mother's lap). We wouldn't see my dad again until the summer of 1945.

This was seventy years ago.

Cut And Run Strategy - History

It's a bit disconcerting to hear various leaders talk about how important it is to leave behind a stable government in Afghanistan.

Just how are we going to do that?

Our record of accomplishment in nation building (in other people's nations) isn't all that sterling. We ran the Philippines for half a century, for example, and more than six decades after we turned the government over to the Philippinos, the country has yet to become a showcase of democracy.

That wasn't President McKinley's promise when we decided to occupy the country.

Take Vietnam. We decided in 1946 to assist France in its reoccupation of French Indo-China (as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were then called). That didn't turn out well. In 1954, at the time of Dien Bien Phu, President Eisenhower decided against direct intervention, but we provided advisers and lots of equipment. In 1961 Kennedy sent even more advisers and equipment. By 1965, we owned the war.

In 1973, President Nixon withdrew the last American troops. In 1975, North Vietnamese forces conquered the entire country.

Upshot: after thirty years of war, loss of nearly 60,000 US servicemen and millions of Vietnamese lives, we achieved the same outcome that had been available in 1946 at virtually no cost.

There are times when it is best to stop throwing good money (and lives) after bad. But deciding to do so after the nation has made a commitment is hard to do.

Still, withdrawal always has to remain an option. It was Senator Aiken of Vermont, I believe, who advised President Johnson to just "declare victory" and bring the boys (they were mostly male warriors then) home.

Good advice.

How To Hold Water

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. \

John W. Gardner

Per Capita Growth In Government Spending

Economist Mark Thoma has an interesting post today on his blog. He has done an analysis of real per capita growth in government spending under every president since Lyndon Johnson.

It turns out that the most austere was Bill Clinton and next most austere is Barack Obama. Spending growth was less under Jimmy Carter than it was under Nixon-Ford or under Reagan. Here is Thoma's graph:

http://economistsview.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b33869e2016763df2c09970b-popup

On Taxing The Rich And Other Options

I want to share some thoughts I recently sent to a relative concerning taxation.

This was triggered by a recent spate of what I view as mean-spirited comments about how lucky poor people are, since they don't have to pay income tax. Of course, if they have a job, they pay payroll tax and Medicare tax, as well as state taxes like sales tax and property taxes (if they own anything at all).

The discussion has become more heated since the disclosure that many super wealthy individuals pay income tax at a lower rate than their secretaries.

A frequent question is, "what's fair?" This may be the wrong question. I think a better question is, "what taxation policy leads to greater general prosperity?" That is, "what works best?" But we need to keep the goal in mind - improved general prosperity.

I shared the following thoughts:

There is, of course, a whole literature on taxation issues. Some of it is even interesting. I commend to your interest the article at this link and the ensuing discussion.

I find the idea of taxing the superrich at a marginal rate of 70% intriguing. Some things I know because I have lived a long time and have been paying attention for most of that time. I know, for example, that the period of greatest general prosperity in this country (say, 1946 to 1976) was also a period of high marginal income tax rates and a very progressive tax structure. It was also a period of powerful (or at least influential) labor unions.

In that period, banking was a pretty boring activity. Bankers were generally stolid and unimaginative, but reliable. Interest rates were low. Regulations to insure a stable banking system were pretty strict. Savings and Loans played an essential role in expanding the nation's housing stock at affordable prices.

There was great concern after the war over the possibility of high inflation, but also over the possibility of a postwar depression. Neither happened, in part because we had a skilled bunch of economists working to bring us in for a soft landing. Elements of the solution: GI Bill took millions of returning GI's off the labor market during a crucial period; the Marshall Plan provided the wherewithal to foreign countries to buy industrial and agricultural products from us (anti-depressant); great pent up demand for housing and automobiles as well as other durable goods, plus significant savings accumulated during the war (war bonds, etc) when there was little to buy, anyhow and what there was was rationed.

These were all practical measures, mostly driven by what works.

My view of economics is that it should continue to be driven by what works, not by theories (or conjecture or assertion) divorced from reality and unsupported by real world data.

By the way, if you are looking for a country with low (or no) taxation, little regulation, etc. I can think of several.  Somalia comes to mind.

I have no problem with the idea that people with little income should pay no income tax.

I do have a problem with measures favoring one kind of income over another. Why shouldn't we value wages and salaries at least as high as dividends and capital gains?

How about a flat income tax deduction? Same for everybody. You want to buy a mansion? Fine. You get the same housing deduction as the guy who rents. 

Just a thought.

Follow The Money

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General Prosperity Or Particular Prosperity?

Along the same lines as yesterday's post by Robert Reich is an interesting examination of why business leaders aren't calling for economic stimulus. As this article points out, in the 1940's business leaders joined together to press for a substantial federal stimulus to protect against a postwar depression.

It worked.

Even in an earlier period, Henry Ford recognized that if his workers couldn't afford to buy his products, his factories wouldn't prosper. So he paid well and prospered greatly himself.

But in today's world, executive compensation is divorced from the overall performance of the economy. For that matter, it seems divorced from executive performance in any normal sense.

This needs attention.

Public Morality

It seems like every even year, we have a flurry of political rhetoric about SEX. For many, it seems that morality = SEX and associated discontents.

There is a different view: public morality has to do with questions of who benefits and who pays. Government's principal activity is to make the rules that control economic outcomes. Members of the public who believe the deck is being stacked against them should see this as the moral issue of our day.

There are those who spend a lot of time thinking and analyzing such issues. Foremost among them is Robert Reich.

I commend to your attention his latest article, "The Difference Between Public And Private Morality."

The heart of his argument: "There is moral rot in America but it’s not found in the private behavior of ordinary people. It’s located in the public behavior of people who control our economy and are turning our democracy into a financial slush pump. It’s found in Wall Street fraud, exorbitant pay of top executives, financial conflicts of interest, insider trading, and the outright bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign 'donations.'"

That hits the nail on the head.

White Man's Burden II?

I spent my adult life in defense of democracy. Not because our own democracy is perfect, but because it has the chance of standing up to various forms of authoritarianism and despotism. I was not an anticommunist crusader. I did support the late George Frost Kennan's approach of defending American interests by containing Soviet power.

At the same time, I agreed with the late Marshall Shulman's view of the Soviet-American conflict as a "limited adversary relationship," not an apocalyptic one.

Through all of the Cold War period, I never thought the United States had an obligation to establish democratic regimes in other countries. Not our job. Beyond our power.

My entire life has been spent against a backdrop of war and rumors of war. But the most important efforts in defense of democracy have been right here in the USA.

Authoritarianism and despotism continually lurk in the wings. And they have deep pockets.

The overwhelming question was raised by Abraham Lincoln: can a nation "of the people, by the people and for the people" long endure. The "existential threat" so frequently mentioned by the G.W. Bush administration, comes not from abroad, but just as in 1861, it comes from ourselves.

These thoughts are pondered in the somber light of the actions by an American sergeant in Afghanistan. That sergeant's systematic murder of sixteen Afghan citizens in their beds for no apparent reason highlights the tensions between our servicemen and local residents in Afghanistan.

Here, in an article by David Rieff, is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking examinations of our proper role in the world I have seen recently. It's worth reading and pondering. 

Maybe it's time to bring our forces home.

Throwing Eastern North Carolina Under The Bus?

Today's article in the News and Observer about possible tolls on I-95 should be a wake-up call. Tolls for Pamlico County commuters may be just the beginning.

Is there anyone out there who thinks tolls on I-95 won't shift traffic across North Carolina further inland? Say, through Raleigh and Charlotte?

Will that be good for business in Eastern North Carolina? Not likely.

I know that I-95 is projected to become congested along its entire link by 2030. But toll booths are likely to increase, rather than alleviate, congestion.

Contributing to the problem is that both the US Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Department of transportation are really just the same old highway departments of old. They love pouring concrete and building bridges. They don't yet (and may never) address transportation as a system. The function of the system is to move goods and people from where they are to where they need to be.

Roads and highways aren't the only way to move people and goods around. Rail, for example, is much more energy efficient than trucking. Most energy efficient of all is water transport. We have lots of water here in Eastern North Carolina. Here's a plan to use it to alleviate congestion on I-95.

Let's have no tolls on any North Carolina highways.

Blame Game

When Oriental resident Greg Piner wrote Phil Berger, President Pro-Tem, NC State Senate about the ferry toll issue, Mr. Berger answered:

“Unfortunately, the financial mismanagement of our predecessors in the legislature created a staggering $2.5 billion budget deficit – the worst in state history."

Mismanagement? Has Mr. Berger noticed that, beginning in 2008 the United States suffered the greatest economic downturn since the great depression? There were a lot of reasons leading to the collapse of our financial system and the "great recession" that followed, but financial management actions of the North Carolina legislature are not among them. As any elected official well knows, but some refuse to admit for partisan reasons, financial crises cause reduced revenue and increased safety net expenditures.

Mr. Berger continues: "It [the deficit] forced us to make tough decisions to fill that hole and balance the budget – including implementing a minimal user fee to offset a small percentage of the cost of coastal ferries, which are funded by every taxpayer in North Carolina."

Not exactly. The deficit was large, but it didn't force any particular measure. Governor Perdue submitted a balanced budget to the legislature that did not include tolls for commuter ferries and did not include the massive cuts in education funding contained in the legislature's bill that the governor vetoed.

The tolls were not necessary. Nor do they contribute measurably (or perhaps even at all) to balancing the budget. The tolls, as well as massive cuts in funding for public education, resulted from decisions made under Mr. Berger's leadership. They represent his priorities and those of Mr. Tillman in the House.

What You Don't Know Won't Hurt Us

Judging from the current primary campaigns as well as what has happened in many states when Republicans take over, the new operative slogan might be, "what YOU don't know won't hurt US" (with apologies to Paul Krugman for my blatant plagiarism).

Alternatively, "billions for defense but not one cent for public education (let the kids fend for themselves)."

Another possibility: "we don't need no stinkin'" (pick one or more)
1.  Early Childhood Education;
2.  Higher education;
3.  Research;
4.  Free highways;
5.  Facts (facts have a known liberal bias);
6.  Foreigners;
7.  Diversity;
8.  Stimulus;
9.  Economic Development ("REAL Enterpreneurs spend their OWN money");
10.Networks (except for Fox). 

All Hat And No Horse

(And not much under the hat, either).

Where is Molly Ivins when we really need her?

In 1776, my ancestor Roderick Rawlins was born in Guilford County, NC.

He didn't stay there. He migrated to Tennessee, Kentucky, across the Ohio to Indiana and Illinois. In 1845 he and his extended family moved by wagon train to the Republic of Texas. Many of his descendants are still there.

If I had been born in Texas instead of Oklahoma, I would count as a seventh generation Texan. Come to think of it, I once lived in Texas, so I can still claim that.

I know about the posturing that goes on in Texas and the foolish policies that result.

Here's one: Texas has cut funding to Planned Parenthood by two-thirds, leaving poor women without affordable health care clinics for themselves and their children.

Texas could, of course, pick up that function itself.

Fat chance!

This is the Texas corollary to the doctrine of less government. Target: women.

But you can buy a firearm with no waiting period, no registration and can carry a rifle or shotgun into any establishment without hindrance. Need a machine gun? No problem.

Religion is really big in Texas.

STEP II

I attended last Friday's STEP II forum at the Pamlico Community College's Ned Delamar Center. It was a bit discouraging.

The point of the STEP effort is to develop an economic development plan. As I have said before, the difference between economic development and business development is that business development seeks a bigger piece of the pie for a business owner. Economic development seeks to bake a bigger pie.

The criteria for a successful economic development program is increased economic activity, particularly jobs.

STEP II has decided the most promising areas to focus on are:

1. Tourism;
2. Agriculture;
3. Marine Trades.

Personally, I would reverse the order. I think our most valuable asset is the water, and the most promising area for economic activity that brings jobs. Working waterfront, including seafood industry, is already a more substantial economic engine in Eastern North Carolina than tourism.

Still, last Friday's discussion was interesting. The conclusion I drew about tourism is, we don't have enough attractions for tourists and, if we did, we don't have enough accommodations.

I think a more promising approach is to seek "Lone Eagles," but this requires better high speed internet access.

County Board Of Elections

Ms. Judy Smith, who has for the past two years served as the Republican member of the Pamlico County Board of Elections, submitted her resignation to the State Board of Elections, effective today.

I want to thank Judy for her contributions to our work over the past two years. We regret her departure.

Ms. Smith has been a particularly diligent and hard-working board member, who has made a strong contribution to the Board's work. Administration of elections is a complex and challenging part of doing the people's business - in fact, it is essential to a democracy.

I wish all the best to Judy and to her husband, George in the years ahead.

Thank you, Judy.

The Economics Of Global Warming

Those who want to read a scholarly, dispassionate examination of the alleged controversies over global warming, may wish to read an article by the Yale economist, William D. Nordhaus in the March 22 edition of the New York Review of Books. In his article, "Why The Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong," Nordhaus takes an economist's perspective in analyzing an article in the Wall Street Journal by sixteen scientists.

This isn't as strange as it may seem. GW skeptics often base their opposition to mitigation efforts on the alleged economic effect, as well as on statistical arguments. When you take on statistics, you are playing on an economist's home field.

I won't try to summarize Nordhaus' article, but I strongly recommend you at least take a look at his statistical graphs. Bottom line: the global warming trends of the past century track very closely with mathematical models that include greenhouse gas emissions as well as natural causes. For the past half century, the models that exclude greenhouse gas emissions do not track with actual rises in temperature.

Water, Water Everywhere

Once again at last night's county commissioner meeting, one of the commissioners bragged that NC-20, the lobbying organization funded in part by taxpayers of the 20 coastal counties, had successfully persuaded the Coastal Resources Commission not to adopt the report of the CRC science committee forecasting a sea level rise of as much as one meter (39 inches) by 2100.

She explained that adopting the report might withdraw 1.3 million acres in Eastern North Carolina from future use. She also explained that it might raise insurance rates.

My problem with that is, I am about to raise my house 36 inches. Before doing so, I would like access to the best available scientific assessment of sea level rise. That extra three inches could be crucial, if not to me personally, at least to my heirs.

Is ignorance better than knowledge? I don't think so.

If we build on 1.3 million acres that shouldn't be developed, who pays the damages when the water rises? Is NC-20 going to pick up the tab?

I don't think so. The rest of us will.

Yesterday's New York Times printed a very illuminating article about sea level rise, hurricane damage and the outer banks. Read it here.

Whenever a significant hurricane hits the banks, it makes new channels across the islands, severing roads and destroying bridges.

One sensible suggestion by scientists (who keep telling us that the outer banks aren't stable) is to replace the bridges with ferries.

It would be cheaper and more reliable.

By the way, there is no bridge to Okracoke and the tourist industry there does just fine.

The Power Of Wind

Tonight's meeting of the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners received an information briefing from the Wind Capital Group concerning their planned wind farm in Pamlico County. The briefing also addressed issues concerning technical developments in wind generation of electrical power, power distribution, costs and environmental effects.

Wind Capital Group has built and operated wind farms elsewhere in the country, mostly in the mid west. The company's information addressed issues including the percentage of time the wind turbines will produce electricity (about a third of the time); cost per KW to generate electricity (less than nuclear, a bit more than coal, but in the general ballpark and costs keep coming down); noise (45-50 dBA - about the same as a conversation at home in a quiet suburb); adverse effect on the atmosphere (none to speak of - in same ballpark as hydroelectric power).

Tonight's briefing contrasted greatly with that of Dr. John Droz, who briefed the commissioners a month ago. Whereas tonight's briefing presented actual verifiable facts, complete with numbers, Mr. Droz provided a rant. There were no facts that could be verified - only strongly worded opinions. Don't take my word for it - read one version of the Droz briefing on his own site.

If you find any actual facts in the Droz briefing, please let me know.

As for me, I don't quite understand what the fuss is about. Anyone who believes or claims to believe that wind power can replace fossil fuels is either a fool or a liar. But no one promoting wind power or solar power or for that matter nuclear power, claims that it can solve our power generation problem.

A lot of foolish assertions are made.

Last week, for example, I came across an attack on electric automobiles. "What they really are," the author asserted, "is coal-powered automobiles." OK. Some might be. They also might be powered by natural gas. Or water turbines. Or by the tides. Or by the sun or the wind or nuclear power.

When you plug your car's charger into an outlet, you don't know how that particular power was generated. It doesn't matter. It's a game of percentages. Anything we can do to reduce the percentage of our transportation powered by high pollution sources is a plus. Even using better insulation.

Wind powered automobiles? Pretty neat idea.

YOYO's, WITTS, AND TROLLS

I've been thinking about the ongoing flap about ferry tolls.

So has Greg Piner, who has done an excellent job of clarifying the issue for Representative Frank Iler of Brunswick County.

Representative Iler, from his statements, seems to be an adherent of the YOYO philosophy: "You're On Your Own."

But the central idea of public assets is that we get together as a people, take up a collection, and commonly fund the infrastructure that holds us together as a state both socially and economically. After all, as Mr. Piner points out, "We're All In This Together." So Mr. Piner seems to be a WITT.

Count me as a WITT.

I've already explained about TROLLs.

Do not ask for whom the trolls toll - they toll for us.

Social Security

I don't read the obituary pages. But one can't escape the headlines. One message comes through loud and clear:

A lot of people my age are dead.

But a lot of them aren't.

Which brings up today's column by Gail Collins and the forthcoming anniversary of William Henry Harrison's inauguration in 1840.

What does this have to do with Social Security and the current presidential election?

Read Gail Collins' column and find out.

Sustainable Policies

I was pretty astounded to read recently that the Wake County Board of Commissioners by a vote of 4-3 rejected a study they themselves had commissioned to balance growth, environment and economics. The Republican majority (one of whom is seeking election as Lieutenant Governor and another of whom is running for the 13th Congressional District) rejected the report. It made no difference that the head of the commission was Republican. Apparently the very idea of wise management of our resources is some kind of Democratic plot. You can read about it here.

This sort of foolishness grabs my attention. It is of a piece with the successful effort to prevent the Science Panel of North Carolina's Coastal Resources Commission from considering sea level rise above 22 inches.

It fits right in with those who deny climate change.

I grew up in tornado country. I don't remember anything quite like last night's tornado blitz across fifteen states. The polar ice cap is plainly melting. Some glaciers I witnessed in my youth in Alaska have disappeared.

Something is plainly happening. We need to foresee and prepare for the consequences.

We cannot dismiss the threat as one of Oriental's commissioners did to me last week by claiming that global warming was "made up" by Al Gore.

One of the things that is happening is population. In my life time, the population of the United States has more than doubled. It is now about 2.4 times what it was when I was born.

The world population is growing even faster. It was about 2.3 billion when I was born and is about 7 billion now.

A decade ago, the best estimate was that the world's population was about three times the number that could sustain a European level consumption. By now, it is probably four times as much.

We are killing the planet, and will eventually kill ourselves.

Can we keep this future from happening? I don't know. But we won't improve our chances by refusing to study and plan. It's what rational humans do. As presidential candidate Ross Perot once observed, "The difference between human beings and rabbits is that we can think and reason." Let's prove him right.

The Billy Goats Gruff

Yesterday I asked in passing whether ferries have trolls. I now realize some readers may not recognize the reference.

It has been about seventy years since I first read the story about the Billy Goats Gruff. Since then, I have always associated trolls with bridges. So, since our ferries play the role of bridges, I naturally wondered if they could have trolls.

Since, in the story of the Billy Goats Gruff, the troll was attempting to exact a particularly high toll (the life of a goat), I thought there might be a connection.

The story ends with the troll's demise, done in by his excessive greed.

Governor Perdue Takes On The Toll Trolls

This just in:

Perdue orders 1-year moratorium on new ferry tolls

Read the entire article on News and Observer site here.

Read more here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/crosstown/perdue-orders-1-year-moratorium-on-new-ferry-tolls#storylink=cpy

Toll Tale Told

Some illustrations just can't be improved upon. Here is artist Laura Turgeon's take on the ferry toll issue. What more is there to say?

Do ferries have Trolls?

House Bill 200

Last week, the County Commissioners not only failed to adopt a measure to hire a lobbyist, they also failed to pass a measure authorizing the County Attorney to research issues surrounding a possible law suit by the county seeking injunctive or other relief from the tolls. The attorney explained that he would have to research a number of issues, including whether the county government has standing to bring a suit or whether only a citizen or taxpayer has standing. He would have to research court precedents for case law on point, including a review of North Carolina constitutional law.

This morning's session did not reexamine the issue of going to court.

Is a suit worth pursuing? Would there be a chance of success in a court, especially since a suit would have to be filed in Wake County Superior Court rather than in Pamlico County? I don't have a clue.  But in addition to the provision of North Carolina General Statutes that appear to prevent turning a previously toll-free highway into a toll road, there are some constitutional provisions that seem at odds with H200:

I won't post the entire bill of 343 pages. But it is interesting to look at the pertinent provisions. 


First, what was the bill about? Here is the stated purpose:

"GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

SESSION LAW 2011-145

HOUSE BILL 200

AN ACT to Spur the creation of private sector jobs; reorganize and reform state government; make base budget appropriations for current operations of state departments and institutions; and to enact budget related amendments.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

PART I. Introduction and Title of Act

TITLE

SECTION 1.1.  This act shall be known as the "Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2011."

INTRODUCTION

SECTION 1.2.  The appropriations made in this act are for maximum amounts necessary to provide the services and accomplish the purposes described in the budget.  Savings shall be effected where the total amounts appropriated are not required to perform these services and accomplish these purposes and, except as allowed by the State Budget Act, or this act, the savings shall revert to the appropriate fund at the end of each fiscal year."

In other words, it was presented as an appropriations bill. But here are the ferry provisions:

"Transportation/Ferry Division Tolling

SECTION 31.30.(a)  Effective April 1, 2012, G.S. 136‑82 reads as rewritten:

"§ 136‑82.  Department of Transportation to establish and maintain ferries.

The Department of Transportation is vested with authority to provide for the establishment and maintenance of ferries connecting the parts of the State highway system, whenever in its discretion the public good may so require, and to prescribe and collect such tolls therefor as may, in the discretion of the Department of Transportation, be expedient. The Board of Transportation shall establish tolls for all ferry routes, except for the Ocracoke/Hatteras Ferry and the Knotts Island Ferry.

To accomplish the purpose of this section said Department of Transportation is authorized to acquire, own, lease, charter or otherwise control all necessary vessels, boats, terminals or other facilities required for the proper operation of such ferries or to enter into contracts with persons, firms or corporations for the operation thereof and to pay therefor such reasonable sums as may in the opinion of said Department of Transportation represent the fair value of the public service rendered.

The Department of Transportation, notwithstanding any other provision of law, may operate, or contract for the operation of, concessions on the ferries and at ferry facilities to provide to passengers on the ferries food, drink, and other refreshments, personal comfort items, and souvenirs publicizing the ferry system."

SECTION 31.30.(b)  The Board of Transportation shall toll all ferry routes no later than the effective date of subsection (a) of this section but is encouraged to begin tolling on all routes before that date. In establishing tolls for ferry routes under G.S. 136‑82, as amended by this section, the Board of Transportation shall consider the needs of commuters and other frequent passengers."

The establishment of tolls for previously toll-free segments of the state highway system  is arguably not an appropriations measure, but a revenue bill.

Because the effect of the measure on citizens affects Craven, Pamlico, and Beaufort Counties, it is also arguably a local bill.

Here is what the NC Constitution has to say about revenue bills and local bills:

"ARTICLE II

LEGISLATIVE

"Sec. 23.  Revenue bills.

No law shall be enacted to raise money on the credit of the State, or to pledge the faith of the State directly or indirectly for the payment of any debt, or to impose any tax upon the people of the State, or to allow the counties, cities, or towns to do so, unless the bill for the purpose shall have been read three several times in each house of the General Assembly and passed three several readings, which readings shall have been on three different days, and shall have been agreed to by each house respectively, and unless the yeas and nays on the second and third readings of the bill shall have been entered on the journal.

"Sec. 24.  Limitations on local, private, and special legislation.

(1)        Prohibited subjects.  The General Assembly shall not enact any local, private, or special act or resolution:

(a)        Relating to health, sanitation, and the abatement of nuisances;

(b)        Changing the names of cities, towns, and townships;

(c)        Authorizing the laying out, opening, altering, maintaining, or discontinuing of highways, streets, or alleys;

(d)       Relating to ferries or bridges;

(e)        Relating to non-navigable streams;

(f)        Relating to cemeteries;

(g)        Relating to the pay of jurors;

(h)        Erecting new townships, or changing township lines, or establishing or changing the lines of school districts;

(i)         Remitting fines, penalties, and forfeitures, or refunding moneys legally paid into the public treasury;

(j)         Regulating labor, trade, mining, or manufacturing;

(k)        Extending the time for the levy or collection of taxes or otherwise relieving any collector of taxes from the due performance of his official duties or his sureties from liability;

(l)         Giving effect to informal wills and deeds;

(m)       Granting a divorce or securing alimony in any individual case;

(n)        Altering the name of any person, or legitimating any person not born in lawful wedlock, or restoring to the rights of citizenship any person convicted of a felony.

(2)        Repeals.  Nor shall the General Assembly enact any such local, private, or special act by the partial repeal of a general law; but the General Assembly may at any time repeal local, private, or special laws enacted by it.

(3)        Prohibited acts void.  Any local, private, or special act or resolution enacted in violation of the provisions of this Section shall be void.

(4)        General laws.  The General Assembly may enact general laws regulating the matters set out in this Section."

 As to form, it may be argued that H200 is a general law. As to the substantive effect of the ferry provisions, though, it is arguably a local bill.

The provision requiring tolls for segments of the state highway is certainly a revenue provision, not an appropriation provision, and therefore improperly included in H200.

Fodder for attorneys?

Pamlico County Ferry Lobbyist

This morning at a brief 9 o'clock meeting, Pamlico County commissioners voted 4-3 to hire an experienced local lobbyist to undo the Republican legislature's measure establishing tolls on our two commuter ferries. Both ferries are shown in DOT transportation system maps as segments of state highway 306. The tolls, possibly as high as $7 per one-way trip across the Neuse, will be a heavy burden on workers who commute to and from Havelock.

The three commissioners who voted against hiring a lobbyist expressed doubt that the measure will succeed, and frustration that it wasn't attempted by our elected legislators. Commissioner Ollison expressed the view that the tolls are "a done deal."

My view: there is a risk of failure, but the consequences of the tolls on the county's economy are substantial.

In a democracy, there are no permanent "done deals."

Ferry Terminal

Here is a scan from this week's County Compass of the ferry terminal planned for Cherry Point. Cost: who knows? But it's pretty certain to exceed a million dollars. Let's say a million and a half.

Cost of collecting the tolls? About a million dollars.

Annual additional revenue ordered to be collected: three million.

Amount gained by ditching the tolls and leaving the terminal as it is? two and a half million.

Shortfall? Half a million, much of which will be recovered from reducing the ferry schedule.

Anyone still think the toll is about the budget?

Are Corporations People?

Two years ago in its decision in the case of Citizens United, the US Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects the speech of corporations as thoroughly as it does the speech of individuals. Or as one of this year's presidential candidate explained, "corporations are people."

Now the Court is faced with a slightly different issue: can corporations be sued for actions that violate the civil rights of individuals overseas, including taking part in repression, torture, executions and other civil rights abuses. Corporations argue that only individuals can be so charged. The issues are addressed in today's New York Times.

So, do corporations have the rights of individuals in one case, but are not responsible for corporate acts in another? Here is a more detailed look.

The world wonders.

The Real Science Of Heads In The Sand

A couple of years ago a graduate student telephoned, wanting to interview me. It turns out she was doing research on planning approaches in North Carolina coastal communities concerning anticipated sea level rise.

I had to tell her that in Oriental we had done no planning at all, save for the decisions by individual homeowners to raise their houses to the standards required by Pamlico County.

I wasn't personally worried, since my house hadn't been flooded during Isabel. Wrong! I should have been. The house was flooded by Irene and suffered significant damage. I will now have to raise it about three feet to meet county standards.

But wait. The Science Panel of North Carolina's Coastal Resources Commission has determined that a rise of 1 meter (39 inches) is the most likely scenario by 2100. I can tell you from experience that three inches in a house (difference between 36 inches and 39 inches) can wreak havoc.

There's more. Other states have concluded a sea level rise between 3 and 4 feet is the minimum expectation by 2100. It depends on how much of the Greenland and Antarctic icecaps melt by then.

But not to worry. Our local lobbying organization for 20 coastal counties, in part supported by tax money from Pamlico County, and aided by our appointed representatives to the Coastal Resources Commission, successfully kept the Emergency Management division from reporting on the effect of a one-meter rise.

Justification: "we insist on REAL science." Presumably "real science" consists of waiting until we get seriously flooded and collecting the data. "We don't need no stinkin' analysis." Read all about it in yesterday's News and Observer in an article by a real scientist with no known connection to real estate developers.

This Is The Way We Starve The Beast - One Bite At A Time

Today's commuter ferry tax story fits in with a theme I wrote about almost exactly a year ago here. This latest move is just more evidence that the ferry issue isn't about budgets. It's about services to citizens.

Commuter Fairy Hijinks

The commuter fairy made two visits this week - last night, when County Compass printed an artist's rendition of the planned new ferry terminal at Cherry Branch and today's announcement by DOT that five ferry runs each way will be cancelled as of March 1.

Town Dock, who broke the story, asked if this move, which complied with state legislative directives to reduce ferry operating costs, would remove pressure to institute tolls. The answer: "no, these are two separate issues."

More evidence that this isn't about budgets. See my earlier analysis here.

Original Intent

There is a theory of judicial review holding that judges should determine the meaning of the US Constitution on the basis of "original intent."

I always thought that was a bit flaky, especially since the drafters of the constitution kept no official journal of the proceedings. No minutes. No agreement among the participants as to the purpose and intent of each passage. No record of the debates.

So how can we deduce "original intent?"

On a smaller scale, we have had much speculation about why the NC State Legislature decided to insist on tolls for our commuter ferries.

That particular sausage was made behind closed doors, and the reasons were not debated or communicated to the Department of Transportation.

So we are left to guess at the original intent. But some participants have given a few hints. Here are various theories, conjectures and explanations:

1. The legislature was faced with a large deficit and had to do something to reduce it. This is something. Therefore they had to do it.

Comment: a) The legislature didn't do this. Only the Republican members of the General Assembly did it. b) Governor Perdue's budget would have been equally effective at reducing the deficit;

2. The General Assembly wanted to reduce government. Translation: Republicans in the General Assembly wanted to reduce government services to those who need them;

3. The General Assembly had to look in obscure places to find enough money.

Comment: a) Balderdash! It wasn't about money and it wasn't about deficits. That is plain from the provision that ordered the collection of a certain amount of gross revenue, with no possibility of achieving the same budget figure with DOT economies either with ferries or elsewhere. b) The ordered target of five million dollars in revenue is about two-tenths of one percent of the budget deficit.

4. One astute local observer offers the following explanation: It was an effort by the Republican legislature to slap Governor Perdue and her supporters in Eastern North Carolina without damaging the state's relations with the military hierarchy as a cutback in the highway 70 and highway 17 projects would have.

Comment: a) This is plausible. b) It arguably also avoids arousing the big city residents who want enhanced weekend access to the beaches.

I'm sure there are other explanations. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive. When you get 170 legislators working on an appropriations bill, each may have his or her own reasons.

Clearly, the welfare of Pamlico County and her citizens was not among them.

Legislative Calendar

For those who are interested, here is a link to the legislative calendar of the North Carolina General Assembly.

New Web Site In The County

The furor over over the legislature's decision to impose a commuter tax on Pamlico County continues to grow. County citizens determined to make sure this is not yet a "done deal" have started a new web site, tollfreeferry.org, with up to date information on the facts and the controversy.

Make sure to check it out.

Sign a petition.

Sign up for a bus trip to Raleigh.

Stay up to date by following towndock.net as well. Check out the letters. They keep coming in.

Just learned from Town Dock that the County Commissioners will reexamine last night's tie votes at a special meeting Monday, February 27 at 9:00 am.

All Politics Is Local - Pamlico County Version

Last night's meeting (Feb. 20) of the Pamlico County Commissioners failed to adopt a measure to join adjoining counties in hiring a lobbyist to work the state legislature for repeal of the Ferry toll. The vote was a tie - three commissioners for (Mele, Heath and Delamar) and three opposed (Spain, Brinson and Ollison). Commissioner Holton was absent for only the third time in the past ten years.

The commission also failed to adopt a motion to allow the County Attorney to expend up to $5,000 to research legal issues connected with a possible law suit, including the issue of whether the county has standing to file such a suit. That motion failed by the same vote.

How could that happen? One reason may be that residents of the three districts represented by Mr. Spain, Mr. Brinson and Mr. Ollison don't believe that they are affected by the tolls. I believe no one from those three districts spoke out against the tolls at last week's public hearings.

Representation in this country has always been based on geography. That is, representatives were supposed to represent the interests of the constituents in their own districts, not necessarily the population at large. This has been true from as early as 1750, when the phrase "no taxation without representation" was first used. The Parliament contended that they provided "virtual representation" to all subjects of the crown, wherever they lived. Americans rejected that view. We still do.

So don't expect members of any elected body to represent the general welfare of the entire municipality, county, state or nation instead of the welfare of the district from which they were elected. It isn't in our genes.

Political Scholar Richard Neustadt made the point decades ago (during the Kennedy administration) that the challenge of alliance diplomacy was to convince enough people and the right people on the other side that what we want to accomplish is what is also in their interest. It seems to me this principle applies to all politics and diplomacy if anything is ever to be accomplished.

On Making Various Kinds Of Sausage

Tonight's meeting of the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners offered a number of examples of the hazards of sausage-making. When combined with the revelations made during last week's public hearing on ferry tolls by NCDOT, it provides the raw material for a text book on American Politics at the state, county and local level. There is also a connection to national politics.

I won't tackle the whole thing in tonight's post, but I recommend reading Town Dock's report on How Pamlico County Got Stuck With Ferry Tolls.

The story illustrates themes such as: American theories of representation; the practice of representation; the "all politics is local" view; the tension between "I vote for the candidate, not the party" and actual policy outcomes; and why party matters, more so the higher you go up the political ladder.

I'll try to develop these themes over the next few days.

Let Us Now Praise Eccentrics

My recent comments on eccentrics has drawn a response. Just to avoid misunderstanding, I am not opposed to eccentrics. The late Mr. Faulkner himself (who I used to encounter strolling the streets of Oxford, MS.) might be described as eccentric. At least unconventional. In some circles, my own status as a non eccentric is at least in dispute. By the way, I am impressed at the picture of Mr. Faulkner's sailboat on Sardis Lake, gliding along above the former wildlife habitat of the Tallahatchie bottom, where William Faulkner once hunted bears.

Campaign Speeches You Probably Didn't Know About

Fifty-two years ago, John F. Kennedy tackled the issue of his religion and confronted leaders of conservative southern baptists who feared he would take his orders direct from the Vatican. The heart of his speech is worth recalling:

"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute -- where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be a Catholic) how to act and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote -- where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference -- and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

"I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish -- where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source -- where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials -- and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

"For, while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew -- or a Quaker -- or a Unitarian -- or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that led to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today, I may be the victim -- but tomorrow it may be you -- until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped apart at a time of great national peril.

"Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end -- where all men and all churches are treated as equal -- where every man has the same right to attend or not to attend the church of his choice -- where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind -- and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, both the lay and the pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood."

It is worth comparing this speech of 52 years ago with one uttered during this year's campaign. Here is one candidate's more recent take on the same set of issues.

Tolling The Ferries

Monday night, February 20 at 7:00, the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners will discuss and consider possible action on Ferry Tolls. This was triggered, at least in part, by the disclosure at last week's DOT hearing that there is a provision in North Carolina General Statutes against converting "any segment" of the nontolled State Highway system to a toll facility. The provision is as follows:

"G.S. 136-89.187  Page 1
§ 136-89.187.  Conversion of free highways prohibited.
The  Authority  Board  is  prohibited  from  converting  any  segment  of  the  nontolled  State
Highway  System  to  a  toll  facility,  except  for  a  segment  of  N.C.  540  under  construction  as  of
July 1, 2006, located in Wake County and extending from the N.C. 54 exit on N.C. 540 to the
N.C. 55 exit on N.C. 540. No segment may be converted to a toll route pursuant to this section
unless  first  approved  by  the  Metropolitan  Planning  Organization  (MPO)  or  Rural  Planning
Organization (RPO) of the area in which that segment is located.  (2002-133, s. 1; 2006-228, s.
3; 2008-225, s. 5.)"

Examination of the map of the state transportation system made available to attendees make it plain that both the Minnesott ferry and the Aurora ferry are segments of state highway 306.

Unfortunately, the "Authority Board" mentioned in the law is the North Carolina Turnpike Authority board, not the state legislature.

So we need to review the North Carolina Constitution with a fine-tooth comb. I have a couple of ideas, but they aren't ready for prime time yet.

Eccentricities, Etc.

I popped into Town and Country not long ago to buy some essential item and was delighted to run into one of our long-time residents, Tony Tharp.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will reveal that Tony hails from Leland, Mississippi, where Highway 61 of blues fame crosses Highway 82, about a dozen miles from Greenville, where my family lived when I attended Ole Miss. He also once worked for a friend of mine, Hodding Carter, editor and publisher of the Delta Democrat-Times, affectionately known as the DDT. Leland is not very far from where the Southern meets the Yellow Dog.

Tony arrived in Oriental not long before I did, but unlike me (though some may disagree), he is a bit eccentric. This characteristic is not unknown among Oriental residents, I believe.

I learned that Tony is once again expressing his eccentricities in a web site, tonytharp.com.

Check it out. You may be alternately amazed, amused and enlightened. Perhaps even occasionally enraged.

He posts his entries from his sailboat, Yoknapatawpha. Those of a literary bent will recognize the name. Few know, though, that the late William Faulkner kept a sailboat on Sardis Lake near Oxford, Mississippi. In the 1950's, the sailboat was maintained by another Mississippi eccentric, V.P. Ferguson.

I'll bet even Tony doesn't know that.

Busy Week In River City [Oriental]

It has been a busy week here along the Neuse River.

A week ago, the Oriental Town Board approved "in principal" the abandonment of public rights of way near the intersection of South Avenue and Avenue A in return for a donation of land on the harbor by Mr. Chris Fulcher. Details to be negotiated.

On Monday this week, the candidate filing period opened for federal, state and county elections. The filing period ends at noon on February 29th. The most prominent person to file last Monday (Feb. 13) was Mr. Norm Sanderson, incumbent member representing Pamlico County and part of Craven County in the NC State House. He filed to run for election to a vacant seat in the State Senate.

Earlier on Monday morning, the Oriental Board of Commissioners held a workshop on restoration of Town Hall, damaged by hurricane Irene. The board gave Town Manager Bob Maxbauer the go-ahead to expend funds on interior demolition, preparing for a major rebuilding and rearrangement of space. This project has been talked about for years. Irene finally pushed it to the top of the agenda.

Bob Maxbauer also has the town's public works crews out cleaning up along Raccoon creek, improving drainage and generally giving the town a beauty treatment. This is a continuation of his effort, the results of which can be seen along Wall Street and the intersection with South Avenue.

Most dramatic of the week's events was the somewhat raucous meeting of disgruntled Pamlico County residents at the Delamar Center at Pamlico Community College Wednesday night. At that meeting, Department of Transportation officials attempted to explain the various schemes for determining toll rates. Bottom line: DOT has no discretion in this matter, because the Republican state legislature requires DOT to charge, exempted two routes from the increases, and overrode the governor's veto.

This is an ongoing story. More to follow as the Pamlico County Commissioners meet next Monday night (Feb 20) to consider what actions to take.

Thoughts On South Avenue

I've been checking into the limits imposed by Neuse River Buffer, CAMA and our own Growth Management Ordinance. It looks like, if the proposed exchange goes through, there may be enough room on the lot for a 20'x30' building and about four parking places.

There is much talk about what could be built there, but it would help to see some sketches.

In the meantime, a number of residents have sent letters to Towndock.net, published here.

We have not yet learned how the Board plans to deal with possible legal obstacles.

South Avenue Deal

This evening, the Oriental Town Board of Commissioners by a unanimous vote of the four commissioners in attendance approved "in principal" to accept a counter offer by Mr. Chris Fulcher concerning the exchange of property. Details to be negotiated in a contract to be reviewed by the board. Public hearing to be held on the issue of vacating public rights of way currently owned by the town. The proposed map:

This is somewhat better than the earlier proposal here, but there still may be devils in the details. Lawyers for the two sides will negotiate.

Some commissioners, responding to skeptical comments by attendees, emphasized that the rights of way the town is giving up are "worth nothing." I think the truth is more complicated. To be sure, the town cannot sell the rights of way, because the town is not the owner of the underlying fee. But, if abandoned, there is clearly a tangible value to the land freed for sale, transfer or use by the fee owner. To truly understand the value to the recipient, it might be of interest to have a valuation of the real estate value of the land being abandoned by the town. Clearly it is not "nothing."

Earlier this week, the mayor spent a long time talking about the "intangible" benefits of the negotiation. I think the benefits to the public of public access to the water are a concrete benefit of living in the Town of Oriental, not just an "intangible" benefit. It is why people move here.

There were options open to the town had the Board wanted to use the existing South Avenue right of way to build a welcome center, public rest rooms, a museum, or any other purpose associated with public access to the water. It could, for example, have offered to purchase the underlying fee from the fee owner, either through negotiation or by exercising eminent domain. It might have been difficult and costly, but it would have been possible.

As it is, there will be building restrictions due to the fact that about half of the area to be donated to the town is within the 50 foot Neuse River Buffer and subject to building restrictions. It would be interesting to know what can be built there within those constraints.

A major advantage to the public of a dedicated and accepted right of way is that it cannot be sold, only abandoned. This provides better protection of the public interest than if the same property were owned outright. The town's governing body has the legal right to purchase and sell property at will. I would be happier if the property to be donated in this case were dedicated to the public for the purpose of public access to the water, including building of appropriate facilities to support public access. An example of a restricted donation to the town is Lou-Mac Park. We should look at this model.

Renewable Energy

Monday night at the Pamlico County Commissioners meeting, a guest offered his views on why renewable energy sources (specifically wind energy) would be bad for Pamlico County: it costs more, it can't completely replace other forms of energy, its savings are exaggerated, it will reduce employment and it will chase tourists away. Since we currently have no wind generators in Pamlico County, I assume that means we must be awash in tourists, money and jobs.

Not exactly.

Since the meeting, though, I have been remembering a form of renewable energy that cost nothing but a bit of sweat, toil and tears.

Here is a picture of me and Joe Willie in Holmes County, Mississippi, gathering wood for the kitchen cook stove. Joe Willie chopped and both of us carried. About 1943:

Respect Your Betters

I was not quite four years old when I was introduced to the culture of the South. I had been raised in Oklahoma by Texans. I spent a number of my growing up years in Florida and Mississippi, but I really was a westerner, not a southerner.

My Mississippi grandmother tried valiantly to correct my deficiencies by teaching me to show proper respect for my elders, and also to show respect for my "betters."

Betters, of course, were those distinguished by higher social position or wealth. I remember my grandmother paying her respects to the owner of the biggest local plantation by curtseying to him.

My grandmother's lessons never took. I had already learned at an early age that I was an American. I had equals, but no betters.

Appeasement in Oriental?

There were some curious aspects to last night's meeting of the Oriental Town Board.

1. Although many members of the public attended, apparently hoping to learn more about South Avenue property negotiations, only two members of the public commented during the comment period. Neither appeared to be enthusiastic supporters of the proposal as it apparently exists. Grace Evans reminded the Board that back in the 1980's when she served on the Board, the Board adopted a policy not to transfer any more street ends to private ownership.

2. Perhaps one of the reasons more members of the public did not speak is that the proposal received from Mr. Fulcher has never been introduced at a business meeting of the Town Board nor was it tabled at Tuesday's meeting. Neither has it been posted on the Town's official web site. Following the public comment period, the mayor gave an exposition of his views of the issue, but there was no explanation of the procedure to be followed in considering the proposal, and the facts provided were sketchy at best.

3. Comments by the mayor and a few by members of the board seemed to constitute a discussion, but No Motion Had Been Made. There should be no discussion without a motion. The board did vote on a motion to go into closed session to deliberate on negotiating strategy. But we still have no official introduction of the matter to be negotiated.

4. Most curious, the mayor spent about fifteen minutes (I didn't time it) explaining that an important benefit of the proposal is the intangible benefit of improved relations with the Fulchers and the Henrys. He implied that a history of strained relations between the Town and Mr. Fulcher and the Town and Mr. Henry was caused by the Town Board's insensitivity to the concerns of both families.

I think it is a mistake to personalize policy disagreements. It is the duty of the Town Board, acting as our governing body, to protect and defend the long term interests of the residents, acting in accordance with state law. To that end, the Town has adopted a zoning ordinance (GMO) and has accepted responsibility for public rights of way established under North Carolina law. These laws apply to everyone in the town. Equally.

I wasn't here at the beginning of policy conflict between the Town of Oriental and Mr. Fulcher or the conflict over right-of-way law with Mr. Henry. But I have read the files. The conflicts weren't personal - they were business.

Both Mr. Fulcher and Mr. Henry have been successful businessmen. There was a time when businessmen were seen as "hard-nosed," meaning rational in action, making decisions on the basis of cold, hard fact. And on the basis of both personal and business interests. It would be good for the Town Board to assume this is still true.

I hope the Town Board will pursue negotiations concerning South Avenue in the same spirit - that is, in a rational effort to pursue the best long-term interests of the citizens of Oriental, protecting public access and use of the water.

What's The All-Fired Rush?

Just received the following:

"From: <townhall@townoforiental.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 8, 2012 at 3:49 PM
Subject: Special Meeting Called
To: cechele@yahoo.com, larsum@aol.com, pstyron@embarqmail.com, barbventuri@gmail.com, kwjohnson@centurylink.net, bill@sagelaw.net
Cc: Pamlico News <editor@pamliconews.com>, Jeff <jeff@compassnews360.com>, Melinda <info@towndock.net>, Charlie Hall <chall@freedomenc.com>

I hereby call a special meeting of the Oriental Town Board of Commissioners for 4:00 PM on Friday, February 10, 2012, at First Baptist Church fellowship hall for the purpose of considering terms of property acquisition transaction at Raccoon Creek.

Bill Sage, Mayor"

This sounds like something may be happening, but it isn't clear what. If I find out more, I'll share more thoughts.

Local Bill Shenanigans

Thirty-five years ago, the North Carolina state legislature passed a local bill taking away the right of municipalities in Pamlico County to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) subject to the same conditions that apply in all of the other 99 counties in North Carolina. In essence, this deprives citizens of Pamlico County of equal protection of the laws.

The original local bill also added preconditions to annexation that did not apply in other counties. The annexation provisions were repealed in 1983 by another session law, Chapter 636, Senate Bill 107, Section 37.1.

I believe Chapter 478, House Bill 1045 of the North Carolina General Assembly 1977 Session is an example of abuse of the local bill system and should be repealed.

NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1977 SESSION

CHAPTER 478

HOUSE BILL 1045

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 160A OF THE GENERAL STATUTES RELATING TO ANNEXATION BY MUNICIPALITIES IN PAMLICO COUNTY.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 160A-44 is hereby amended by adding a new sentence at the end of the first paragraph to read:

"No territory in Pamlico County may be annexed under the provisions of this Part by any town or city with a population of 1,000 or less according to the most recent federal decennial census."

Sec. 2. G.S. 160A-25 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph.

"No territory in Pamlico County may be annexed under the provisions of G.S. 160A-24 through G.S. 160A-30 by any town or city with a population of 1,000 or less, according to the most recent federal decennial census, unless the persons living in the area to be annexed vote in favor of annexation and the governing body shall not adopt an annexation ordinance until after a favorable vote has been obtained in the area to be annexed."

Sec. 3.  G.S. 160A-360 is amended by adding a new subsection (k) at the end thereof to read:

"(k)      No town or city in Pamlico County having a population of 1,000 or less, according to the most recent federal decennial census, shall exercise any extraterritorial jurisdiction or powers outside its corporate limits pursuant to the provisions of this Article."

Sec. 4. This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 7th day of June, 1977.

Fulcher Proposal Plan View

Here is the drawing that Mr. Chris Fulcher submitted to the town with his proposal for the town to close South Avenue and Avenue A, in return for which he would donate to the town 5,001.17 square feet of property as outlined in the bold marks. Included in that 5,001.17 square feet are 890 square feet within the South Avenue right of way (which, under his proposal would no longer be a public right of way).

Note that if the dock under construction were to become the new town dock, it would be very constraining for boaters on the southwest side of the dock. It would be much more comfortable for boaters if the distance from the dock to the edge of the property were the same to the southwest as it would be to the northeast.

By comparison, if the town were to build a dock centered on the South Avenue terminus, even taking into account the mandatory CAMA setback of 15 feet from adjacent riparian property owners, the town would have approximately 64 feet to work with. Even if the dock were to be 10 feet wide, that would leave 27 feet on each side for boaters to use without encroaching on the buffer, much less on the riparian boundary.

In short, Mr. Fulcher's proposal looks like a tight squeeze.

Another set of considerations relates to the effect of the town abandoning the South Avenue right of way on public access to the parcel Mr. Fulcher proposes to donate. The proposal appears to allow only a 20 foot access from the remaining public right of way into the parcel leading to the dock. Is this enough? What about parking? What about access needed to load boats?

A lot of things to consider.