Friday, July 19, 2013

Drama At The Board Of Elections July 19, 2013

My wife and I arrived at Pamlico County Board of Elections a little after 10:00 am today to find that everything was calm and orderly. Lisa Bennett and the newly appointed Board had everything under control. One incumbent Oriental Commissioner was sitting quietly at a table outside the office reading through the filing papers for nearly two hours. Perhaps in indecision.

At that point, we already knew that Bill Sage and Lori Wagoner had filed for mayor of Oriental, and ten candidates had filed for the five commissioner slots, including the former town manager and a slate of his supporters.

Two more candidates filed, both from the old village of Oriental. Finally the incumbent, Barbara Venturi, got up from the table, went into the Director's office and filed for commissioner.

So as filing closed, Oriental had two candidates for mayor and thirteen for commissioner. Here is the story from Town Dock.

If past elections are any guide, that won't be the end of the story.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Filing Deadline For Municipal Elections

The deadline is noon on July 19th at the Board of Elections office at Bayboro (for Pamlico County).

So far, for the Town of Oriental, ten candidates have filed for the five seats (all at large) on the Town Board of Commissioners. Two incumbents (Warren Johnson and Barbara Venturi) have not yet filed for commissioner and no candidates have filed for mayor.

There may be yet more surprises in store tomorrow.

In the rest of the county, filing vacancies are:

Alliance: Three commissioner slots;

Arapahoe: Mayor and one commissioner slot;

Bayboro: Full slate;

Mesic: Full slate;

Minesott Beach: one commissioner slot;

Oriental: Mayor;

Stonewall: Full slate;

Vandemere: One commissioner.

Note: There is no upper limit on number of candidates who can file. If there are not enough candidates to fill all of the elected seats in a Town, the County Board of Elections has authority to extend the filing deadline one week, but no longer. If there remain an insufficient number of candidates, vacancies are filled by write-in votes.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Pamlico County: New Board Of Elections Sworn In

There was a brief but well-attended ceremony at the County Board of Elections office in Bayboro at noon today. This is the time set forth in North Carolina General Statutes on the third Tuesday in July of every odd-numbered year, when newly-appointed Board of Elections members are sworn in for two year terms.

I was honored and deeply touched by remarks of the new Chair, Jennifer Roe and the Director of Elections, Lisa Bennett. It meant a lot to me.

I think the County is blessed with a good board that will serve the voters well in coming years.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Seventy Years Ago: Battle Of Kolombangara

The night of July 12/13, 1943, in the Solomons near Kolombangara, three light cruisers and ten destroyers of TG 36.1 (Rear Admiral Walden L. Ainsworth) engage one Japanese light cruiser (Jintsu) and five destroyers (Rear Admiral Izaki Shunji) escorting troop-carrying destroyers. Japanese torpedoes damage U.S. light cruisers Honolulu (CL-48) and St. Louis (CL-49), and New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Leander (which has replaced the lost Helena (CL-50)). Destroyer Gwin (DD-433), damaged by torpedo, is scuttled by Ralph Talbot (DD-390). Destroyers Woodworth (DD-460) and Buchanan (DD-484) are damaged by collision. Japanese light cruiser Jintsu is sunk by cruiser gunfire and destroyer torpedo; and destroyer Yukikaze is damaged.

At this stage of the conflict, nearly two years into the war with Japan,The US Navy still had no idea about the range, speed and explosive power of the Japanese 24" Long Lance torpedo, carried by all Japanese cruisers and destroyers. US forces continued to close Japanese surface ships to fire their own torpedoes, not realizing they were well within range of the Long Lance.

Cruiser Helena was lost a week earlier in the nearby battle of Kula Gulf.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/USS_Honolulu_after_Kolombangara.jpg
A single Long Lance torpedo did this damage to the bow of USS Honolulu.

Today's New York Times Debate - Is North Carolina A Good Model For State Budgets?

No, it isn't.

Here's the debate.

Later today I'll give my take on the issue. The real question is: "good for whom?"

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.


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.