Monday, July 2, 2012
South Avenue: New Stuff
Today at 3:15 the Town of Oriental published a set of significant amendments to the contract with Chris Fulcher. The public hearing is tomorrow night at 7:00. Not good.
Show Me Your Papers?
I'm a bit bemused by some of the rhetoric about the Affordable Care Act. A member of my family links to some of it on his Facebook page. "Today marks a sad day in the history of America. With the Supreme
Court's decision, Americans have lost the right to be left alone..." one of the links announces. As opposed to when? I wonder. As opposed to 1792 under the Militia Act? As opposed to the Alien and Sedition Acts? As opposed to the Civil War draft, both North and South? As opposed to being required to register for the draft and with the Social Security Administration?
A big question in all this is whether government is to be effective or not. The "Real ID" Act is what computer programmers call a "kludge." That is, a clumsy work around.
There is a way to provide a national ID card, used for all purposes. If effected, it would provide useful tools for keeping track of immigrants, tourists arriving on tourist visa, students on student visas, and all the other ways Foreign citizens arrive here. Every advanced European country has such a system. It can even be used to show eligibility to vote. It would sort out domicile for purposes of state taxes, child custody, eligibility to run for office, license plates, replace draft registration (except for the draft physical) and keep track of where potential draftees live, etc.
Good article on the concept by Bill Keller in today's New York Times. If we were really serious about immigration, voting, driver's licensing, etc. We might institute such a system.
But the present mish-mash serves many purposes. Among others, "libertarians" and other brands of conservatives want the government out of their business but into everyone else's.
It reminds me of Mississippi's former tax on illegally sold beverages. Baptists and others of their ilk could point with pride to statewide prohibition of distilled beverages. Those who sold such beverages paid the state tax and bought federal liquor licenses. Both of those entities were happy. The State Tax Collector collected the tax but was prevented by law from blowing the whistle on those who paid the tax. It was no more illegal to sell to high school and college students than to anyone else. Sheriffs had to get their share of the take under the table, but they were used to that. They might schedule a show raid near election time. Just a cost of doing business.
Something like that is going on with foreigners. If we kept effective track of everyone, what would the "view with alarm" crowd do?
A big question in all this is whether government is to be effective or not. The "Real ID" Act is what computer programmers call a "kludge." That is, a clumsy work around.
There is a way to provide a national ID card, used for all purposes. If effected, it would provide useful tools for keeping track of immigrants, tourists arriving on tourist visa, students on student visas, and all the other ways Foreign citizens arrive here. Every advanced European country has such a system. It can even be used to show eligibility to vote. It would sort out domicile for purposes of state taxes, child custody, eligibility to run for office, license plates, replace draft registration (except for the draft physical) and keep track of where potential draftees live, etc.
Good article on the concept by Bill Keller in today's New York Times. If we were really serious about immigration, voting, driver's licensing, etc. We might institute such a system.
But the present mish-mash serves many purposes. Among others, "libertarians" and other brands of conservatives want the government out of their business but into everyone else's.
It reminds me of Mississippi's former tax on illegally sold beverages. Baptists and others of their ilk could point with pride to statewide prohibition of distilled beverages. Those who sold such beverages paid the state tax and bought federal liquor licenses. Both of those entities were happy. The State Tax Collector collected the tax but was prevented by law from blowing the whistle on those who paid the tax. It was no more illegal to sell to high school and college students than to anyone else. Sheriffs had to get their share of the take under the table, but they were used to that. They might schedule a show raid near election time. Just a cost of doing business.
Something like that is going on with foreigners. If we kept effective track of everyone, what would the "view with alarm" crowd do?
Boat Names
Who would name a boat Yoknapatawpha? And why? A good brief essay on boat naming, history and literature explains.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
South Avenue: Just DO Right
For the past six months I have hoped the Oriental Town Board would just DO right. No luck so far.
It's not right to sell or barter a right of way, which the town doesn't own - it holds it in trust for the public. Once dedicated and accepted, a right of way is forever.
It's not right to obtain waterfront property to improve public access to the water and not protect it with deed restrictions, conservancy or some other method (example: Lou-Mac Park) to remove temptation from future town boards to sell it.
It's not right for a town board, faced with a contract of dubious legality (towns can't sell or barter streets - contract looks like a sale) without seeking written advisory opinion from experts, such as School of Government and Attorney General.
If, for the sake of argument, the Attorney General advises that the contract is legal, it's still not right not to follow scrupulously the provisions of North Carolina General Statutes (Section 160A, Article 12 - Sale and Disposition of Property). Waving arms and repeating "the right of way is worth NOTHING" doesn't hack it.
It's not right to sell or barter a public trust for purely private interests.
It's not right not to tie the town's hands. Hard as it may be to grasp, ownership of property by the Town is a private interest - the Town is a proprietor like any other concerning real estate parcels, but is only a trustee of streets and other dedicated public amenities. Town ownership doesn't make a lot a public interest. That's why citizens sometimes need to insist that town-owned property intended for public use have that use protected by deed restrictions or otherwise.
It's not right to focus on the outcome of a transaction and pay no attention to process. It is right process that makes a transaction legal, transparent and in the long-term public interest.
It's not too late to make it right.
It's not right to sell or barter a right of way, which the town doesn't own - it holds it in trust for the public. Once dedicated and accepted, a right of way is forever.
It's not right to obtain waterfront property to improve public access to the water and not protect it with deed restrictions, conservancy or some other method (example: Lou-Mac Park) to remove temptation from future town boards to sell it.
It's not right for a town board, faced with a contract of dubious legality (towns can't sell or barter streets - contract looks like a sale) without seeking written advisory opinion from experts, such as School of Government and Attorney General.
If, for the sake of argument, the Attorney General advises that the contract is legal, it's still not right not to follow scrupulously the provisions of North Carolina General Statutes (Section 160A, Article 12 - Sale and Disposition of Property). Waving arms and repeating "the right of way is worth NOTHING" doesn't hack it.
It's not right to sell or barter a public trust for purely private interests.
It's not right not to tie the town's hands. Hard as it may be to grasp, ownership of property by the Town is a private interest - the Town is a proprietor like any other concerning real estate parcels, but is only a trustee of streets and other dedicated public amenities. Town ownership doesn't make a lot a public interest. That's why citizens sometimes need to insist that town-owned property intended for public use have that use protected by deed restrictions or otherwise.
It's not right to focus on the outcome of a transaction and pay no attention to process. It is right process that makes a transaction legal, transparent and in the long-term public interest.
It's not too late to make it right.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Quote Of The Day: Lies
"A lie is like a cat: you need to stop it before it gets out the door or it’s really hard to catch."
Charles M. Blow, NYTimes
Charles M. Blow, NYTimes
Friday, June 29, 2012
Runoff Primary
No, don't runoff, the primary's not over.
You may not have noticed, but the 2012 primary election to determine the party nominees for the election in November isn't over yet. Yesterday the polls opened at Pamlico County's Board of Elections for voters to cast their ballots in five primary contests in which the outcome has not yet been decided.
The second (or runoff) primary is legally just a continuation of the first primary.
Election day for the second primary is July 17. Primary results will not be official until a week after the second primary, when county boards of elections conduct their canvass of votes. A week after that, the state board holds its canvass. That's when the count becomes official.
We even have one contest in November for which the filing deadline is next week. One seat on Pamlico County's Soil and Water Conservation Board will be on the ballot - a nonpartisan county-wide election. The filing deadline is July 6.
Oh, by the way, North Carolina is one of only eight states (all former members of the Confederacy) with runoff primaries.
You may not have noticed, but the 2012 primary election to determine the party nominees for the election in November isn't over yet. Yesterday the polls opened at Pamlico County's Board of Elections for voters to cast their ballots in five primary contests in which the outcome has not yet been decided.
The second (or runoff) primary is legally just a continuation of the first primary.
Election day for the second primary is July 17. Primary results will not be official until a week after the second primary, when county boards of elections conduct their canvass of votes. A week after that, the state board holds its canvass. That's when the count becomes official.
We even have one contest in November for which the filing deadline is next week. One seat on Pamlico County's Soil and Water Conservation Board will be on the ballot - a nonpartisan county-wide election. The filing deadline is July 6.
Oh, by the way, North Carolina is one of only eight states (all former members of the Confederacy) with runoff primaries.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Health Care: More Detail
As experts review the 193-page Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, some of the consequences of the decision are becoming more clear. The majority ruling on Medicaid, for example, could have some truly bizarre consequences.
Here is an article that spells out some of the detailed results.
Here is an article that spells out some of the detailed results.
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