Wednesday, July 10, 2013
First Candidate Files For Oriental Town Commissioner
I just learned that one Oriental resident has filed to run for Town Commissioner: Tony Tharp. Six and a half more days in the filing period.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
July 8th Hearing On Oriental Land Swap
Regular readers know that I filed a complaint last August against the Town of Oriental for bartering a public right of way (Avenue A) for a parcel of property.
Towns across the United States don't own public rights of way - they hold them in trust for the public. They may not sell rights of way, as the City of Los Angeles attempted to do in the 1920's. They may not barter a right of way.
This is as close to settled law as we have in municipal law.
But the Town of Oriental has put forward the novel proposition that they have the right to sell or exchange rights of way just like any other property they may own in fee simple. They even argued that legal theory in Pamlico County Superior Court and won dismissal of my complaint. Before the presiding judge entered his order, they closed a second public right of way (South Avenue) as a part of the exchange bargain.
I appealed the dismissal. Mr. Kirby Smith of New Bern is representing me in the appeal.
When the Town closed South Avenue, I filed a complaint about that action (there is only a thirty day window to complain).
The Town filed a motion to dismiss my South Avenue complaint and also filed a motion for sanctions against me for so filing.
The case was heard Monday afternoon. The judge did not grant either of the Town's motions. Instead, he stayed any further action on my complaint until after action by the Court of Appeals on my first complaint.
During the course of about a half-hour hearing, Judge Nobles seemed to understand my theory of the case enough to allow the possibility I might prevail. He utterly rejected the Town's motion for sanctions. "It is you who are at fault," he declared to Town attorney Scott Davis and Mayor Sage, "for the existence of two suits, not Mr. Cox."
He prudently decided to wait for the North Carolina Court of Appeals to act. I think it was a wise decision.
By the way, I am not the Lone Ranger in this effort. Many other residents of Oriental have supported and encouraged the effort at every step of the way.
Towns across the United States don't own public rights of way - they hold them in trust for the public. They may not sell rights of way, as the City of Los Angeles attempted to do in the 1920's. They may not barter a right of way.
This is as close to settled law as we have in municipal law.
But the Town of Oriental has put forward the novel proposition that they have the right to sell or exchange rights of way just like any other property they may own in fee simple. They even argued that legal theory in Pamlico County Superior Court and won dismissal of my complaint. Before the presiding judge entered his order, they closed a second public right of way (South Avenue) as a part of the exchange bargain.
I appealed the dismissal. Mr. Kirby Smith of New Bern is representing me in the appeal.
When the Town closed South Avenue, I filed a complaint about that action (there is only a thirty day window to complain).
The Town filed a motion to dismiss my South Avenue complaint and also filed a motion for sanctions against me for so filing.
The case was heard Monday afternoon. The judge did not grant either of the Town's motions. Instead, he stayed any further action on my complaint until after action by the Court of Appeals on my first complaint.
During the course of about a half-hour hearing, Judge Nobles seemed to understand my theory of the case enough to allow the possibility I might prevail. He utterly rejected the Town's motion for sanctions. "It is you who are at fault," he declared to Town attorney Scott Davis and Mayor Sage, "for the existence of two suits, not Mr. Cox."
He prudently decided to wait for the North Carolina Court of Appeals to act. I think it was a wise decision.
By the way, I am not the Lone Ranger in this effort. Many other residents of Oriental have supported and encouraged the effort at every step of the way.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Fix The Potholes
Trying to explain what government actually does to people who don't believe in government can be very frustrating.
I have explained from time to time that the function of government is to fix potholes. Both figurative and literal potholes.
Anyone who has driven very far on our highways in recent years knows we have a lot of potholes.
Economist Mark Thoma posted an essay today on fixing things. It is worth reading.
In another post, Robert Frank writes from Berlin that "austerity doesn't work if the roof is leaking." Apparently the Germans have figured out they need to fix stuff. And it helps their economy.
I have explained from time to time that the function of government is to fix potholes. Both figurative and literal potholes.
Anyone who has driven very far on our highways in recent years knows we have a lot of potholes.
Economist Mark Thoma posted an essay today on fixing things. It is worth reading.
In another post, Robert Frank writes from Berlin that "austerity doesn't work if the roof is leaking." Apparently the Germans have figured out they need to fix stuff. And it helps their economy.
Adam Smith And Cooperation Among Humans (And Dogs)
Not long ago, economic historian Brad Delong published some snippets of information for students in one of his courses. One snippet was a quote from Adam Smith about dogs and trading:
"Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog.... When an animal wants to obtain something either of a man or of another animal, it has no other means of persuasion but to gain the favour of those whose service it requires. A puppy fawns upon its dam, and a spaniel endeavours by a thousand attractions to engage the attention of its master who is at dinner, when it wants to be fed by him. Man sometimes uses the same arts with his brethren, and when he has no other means of engaging them to act according to his inclinations, endeavours by every servile and fawning attention to obtain their good will. He has not time, however, to do this upon every occasion. In civilised society he stands at all times in need of the cooperation and assistance of great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce sufficient to gain the friendship of a few persons....
"[M]an has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is in this manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offices which we stand in need of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love...."
Jeff Weintraub observes that this passage from Adam Smith is both clever and deceptive. It sets up a false dichotomy and ignores other forms of cooperation among both dogs and man. Weintraub's essay is very much worth reading and can be found
here. Not everything works through the magic of the marketplace.
"Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog.... When an animal wants to obtain something either of a man or of another animal, it has no other means of persuasion but to gain the favour of those whose service it requires. A puppy fawns upon its dam, and a spaniel endeavours by a thousand attractions to engage the attention of its master who is at dinner, when it wants to be fed by him. Man sometimes uses the same arts with his brethren, and when he has no other means of engaging them to act according to his inclinations, endeavours by every servile and fawning attention to obtain their good will. He has not time, however, to do this upon every occasion. In civilised society he stands at all times in need of the cooperation and assistance of great multitudes, while his whole life is scarce sufficient to gain the friendship of a few persons....
"[M]an has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favour, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me that which I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is in this manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offices which we stand in need of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love...."
Jeff Weintraub observes that this passage from Adam Smith is both clever and deceptive. It sets up a false dichotomy and ignores other forms of cooperation among both dogs and man. Weintraub's essay is very much worth reading and can be found
here. Not everything works through the magic of the marketplace.
Friday, July 5, 2013
1776 For Economists - And Historians
1776 was not only the year of America's Declaration of Independence - it was the year Adam Smith published Wealth Of Nations.
As it turns out, Smith had quite a lot to say about colonies and colonizers. Here is a selection of his views. Of particular note is Smith's prediction: "From shopkeepers, tradesmen, and attornies, they are become statesmen and legislators, and are employed in contriving a new form of government for an extensive empire, which, they flatter themselves, will become, and which, indeed, seems very likely to become, one of the greatest and most formidable that ever was in the world."
As it turns out, Smith had quite a lot to say about colonies and colonizers. Here is a selection of his views. Of particular note is Smith's prediction: "From shopkeepers, tradesmen, and attornies, they are become statesmen and legislators, and are employed in contriving a new form of government for an extensive empire, which, they flatter themselves, will become, and which, indeed, seems very likely to become, one of the greatest and most formidable that ever was in the world."
150 Years Ago: July 4 At Vicksburg And Gettysburg
Many momentous events in American history have occurred on July 4. The first announcement of the Declaration of Independence was just one of many.
July 4, 1826: former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on that day;
July 4, 1831: former President James Madison died;
July 4, 1863: Confederate forces surrendered at Vicksburg, ending a long siege and putting the Union in command of the entire length of the Mississippi River, cutting the Confederacy in half and isolating the West;
July 4, 1863: Confederate forces at Gettysburg under command of Robert E. Lee begin a long retreat that was to end nearly two years later at Appomattox.
July 4, 1943: Task Group 36.1 moves into position for assault on New Georgia, Solomons Islands the following day, beginning in earnest the long retreat of Japanese forces that was to end two years later in Tokyo Bay.
Today's New York Times prints a thoughtful essay by Paul Krugman, entitled e pluribus unum. I recommend the essay, though I have a slightly different take on some of Krugman's thoughts.
"Is America in 2013," Krugman asks, "in any meaningful sense, the same country that declared independence in 1776?" Krugman's answer is "yes."
My answer is "maybe."
Krugman emphasizes on the one hand how different the country is now from 1776:
"America in 1776," he points out, "was a rural land, mainly composed of small farmers and, in the South, somewhat bigger farmers with slaves. And the free population consisted of, well, WASPs: almost all came from northwestern Europe, 65 percent came from Britain, and 98 percent were Protestants."
Ethnically, he emphasizes, "we are...very different from the founders. Only a minority of today’s Americans are descended from the WASPs and slaves of 1776. The rest are the descendants of successive waves of immigration: first from Ireland and Germany, then from Southern and Eastern Europe, now from Latin America and Asia. We’re no longer an Anglo-Saxon nation; we’re only around half-Protestant; and we’re increasingly nonwhite."
I am one of that diminishing minority of Americans descended from the WASPS of 1776. All of my ancestors were here by then.
Before I buy into Krugman's assurances that "we are still the same country that declared independence all those years ago," I feel compelled to point out that from the beginning of our history, Americans have had vastly different visions of what the country is and should be.
From 1789 until 1865, there was a clear conflict between the vision of 1776 ("all men are created equal") and the vision of the Constitutional Convention, which facilitated slavery and other serious constraints on liberty. Even so, the Constitution gave lip service to "form a more perfect union" and "secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity."
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address rescued the vision of 1776 from obscurity. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments went far toward incorporating that vision as an integral element of the Constitution.
A good thing to remember in this Sesquicentennial year of America's Civil War.
We remain a Democracy. Securing the blessings of liberty is still up to us.
July 4, 1826: former Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on that day;
July 4, 1831: former President James Madison died;
July 4, 1863: Confederate forces surrendered at Vicksburg, ending a long siege and putting the Union in command of the entire length of the Mississippi River, cutting the Confederacy in half and isolating the West;
July 4, 1863: Confederate forces at Gettysburg under command of Robert E. Lee begin a long retreat that was to end nearly two years later at Appomattox.
July 4, 1943: Task Group 36.1 moves into position for assault on New Georgia, Solomons Islands the following day, beginning in earnest the long retreat of Japanese forces that was to end two years later in Tokyo Bay.
Today's New York Times prints a thoughtful essay by Paul Krugman, entitled e pluribus unum. I recommend the essay, though I have a slightly different take on some of Krugman's thoughts.
"Is America in 2013," Krugman asks, "in any meaningful sense, the same country that declared independence in 1776?" Krugman's answer is "yes."
My answer is "maybe."
Krugman emphasizes on the one hand how different the country is now from 1776:
"America in 1776," he points out, "was a rural land, mainly composed of small farmers and, in the South, somewhat bigger farmers with slaves. And the free population consisted of, well, WASPs: almost all came from northwestern Europe, 65 percent came from Britain, and 98 percent were Protestants."
Ethnically, he emphasizes, "we are...very different from the founders. Only a minority of today’s Americans are descended from the WASPs and slaves of 1776. The rest are the descendants of successive waves of immigration: first from Ireland and Germany, then from Southern and Eastern Europe, now from Latin America and Asia. We’re no longer an Anglo-Saxon nation; we’re only around half-Protestant; and we’re increasingly nonwhite."
I am one of that diminishing minority of Americans descended from the WASPS of 1776. All of my ancestors were here by then.
Before I buy into Krugman's assurances that "we are still the same country that declared independence all those years ago," I feel compelled to point out that from the beginning of our history, Americans have had vastly different visions of what the country is and should be.
From 1789 until 1865, there was a clear conflict between the vision of 1776 ("all men are created equal") and the vision of the Constitutional Convention, which facilitated slavery and other serious constraints on liberty. Even so, the Constitution gave lip service to "form a more perfect union" and "secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity."
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address rescued the vision of 1776 from obscurity. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments went far toward incorporating that vision as an integral element of the Constitution.
A good thing to remember in this Sesquicentennial year of America's Civil War.
We remain a Democracy. Securing the blessings of liberty is still up to us.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Pamlico County Municipal Elections
Municipal elections in North Carolina occur in November of every odd-numbered year. In case you missed it, 2013 is an odd number.
So you don't have to worry about the election for four more months, right?
Not exactly. As Town Dock reminds us this morning, if you want to run for municipal office, you need to file your candidacy during the filing period beginning noon Friday, July 5, 2013 and ending at noon July 19.
Even if you don't want to run for office but would like to see some new office holders, talk to others about running. Encourage them.
It matters.
So you don't have to worry about the election for four more months, right?
Not exactly. As Town Dock reminds us this morning, if you want to run for municipal office, you need to file your candidacy during the filing period beginning noon Friday, July 5, 2013 and ending at noon July 19.
Even if you don't want to run for office but would like to see some new office holders, talk to others about running. Encourage them.
It matters.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Court Hearing(s) Update: July 8 Schedule
We've been a bit busy moving back into our hurricane damaged home Unfinished but livable), so I have made few posts. Here's what's new:
Town of Oriental has filed a motion to dismiss my appeal of the closing of South Avenue: On calendar for Pamlico County Court House at 2:00 pm July 8;
Kirby Smith, attorney retained to pursue my appeal of the order Judge Alford entered April 10 granting Town's motion to dismiss my appeal of closing of Avenue A, has filed a motion for a stay: On calendar for Pamlico County Court House at 2:00 pm July 8;
I have filed a motion for a temporary injunction against further actions by Town transferring rights of way to Chris Fulcher or anyone else until after completion of appellate process;
Town of Oriental has filed a motion against me alleging that I violated Rule 11 of North Carolina Civil Procedures and seeking sanctions: On calendar for Pamlico County Court House at 2:00 pm July 8.
Busy Monday at court next week.
Town of Oriental has filed a motion to dismiss my appeal of the closing of South Avenue: On calendar for Pamlico County Court House at 2:00 pm July 8;
Kirby Smith, attorney retained to pursue my appeal of the order Judge Alford entered April 10 granting Town's motion to dismiss my appeal of closing of Avenue A, has filed a motion for a stay: On calendar for Pamlico County Court House at 2:00 pm July 8;
I have filed a motion for a temporary injunction against further actions by Town transferring rights of way to Chris Fulcher or anyone else until after completion of appellate process;
Town of Oriental has filed a motion against me alleging that I violated Rule 11 of North Carolina Civil Procedures and seeking sanctions: On calendar for Pamlico County Court House at 2:00 pm July 8.
Busy Monday at court next week.
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