This has been a hard week for North Carolinians who love the coastal region -- and those who work hard at preserving what is best there. Earlier this week David Stick, noted author, historian and coastal conservationist, died at age 89. He had a rich and full life and a world of friends.
But this morning came terrible news that 57-year-old Jim Stephenson, policy analyst for the N.C. Coastal Federation and a tireless advocate for protecting our coastal resources, had died in Raleigh. Stephenson lived in Morehead City but rented an apartment during legislative sessions, where he spent a lot of time tracking coastal legislation specifically and promoting what he saw as good environmental policy in general. The Coastal Federation announced on its Web site this afternoon that he had died early Thursday of a heart attack or stroke.
Bearded and bespectacled, Jim was the perfect advocate and thinker about the environment, which involves some highly technical issues. He was a patient man who spent a lot of time explaining the science as well as the mechanics and the politics of environmental issues. Before he joined the Coastal Federation he was executive director of the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, and prior to that he was an adviser to officials in his home state of Pennsylvania.
In this legislative session he worked hard on a number of issues, including plans to allow construction of terminal groins at various N.C. inlets as well as construction of the state's first concrete plant on the Northeast Cape Fear River in Wilmington.
I think Jim had a lot of adversaries in his work, but I don't know of a single enemy. That's all the more remarkable because coastal controversies boil at high speed and tempers often flare. He was well regarded as a quiet man, level-headed, thoughtful, civil and determined. I'll miss his advice and counsel -- and those who revere our coastal areas will miss his efforts to preserve our shorelines and keep our coastal waters clean.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Stay should halt Alcoa license process, Stanly County says
Opponents of Alcoa Power Generating Inc. have hailed a state administrative law judge's decision blocking at least temporarily the issuance of a state water quality permit that Alcoa needs to proceed with its request for a renewal of a 50-year license to operate hydroelectric dams on the Yadkin River. Alcoa used to be a major employer, producing aluminum at its Badin facility, but now has a relative handful of N.C. employees.
Gov. Bev Perdue has joined opponents in opposing a renewal of the license, although recently her administration issued the water quality permit. Then Stanly County objected to issuance of that permit, and Perdue has intervened on behalf of Stanly County and the public interest issues it raised about water quality in the Yadkin. That's an interesting development, considering how close Alcoa came to getting the permit last year and this year.
Yesterday, Alcoa issued a statement saying the stay would not impede the license renewal process: "Despite the stay, FERC can issue a new long-term license for the Yadkin Project. Any changes to the 401 certificate will be subsequently incorporated into the FERC license," Alcoa said.
But a lawyer for Stanly County challenges that assertion and has written the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to say it would be "premature" to issue a license prior to determination about the state water quality permit.
Here's part of what Stanly County said last night:
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners is commending the May 26 decision by Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster granting a injunction barring the issuance of a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, based on an appeal and motion filed by attorneys for Stanly County. The ruling by Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster delays granting Alcoa the permit until the full appeal is heard and thus denies Alcoa from meeting all of the requirements for its re-licensing application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for another 50-year monopoly of control of water rights on the Project, which includes dams and powerhouses along a 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin River at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls Reservoirs in Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly counties.
An attorney representing Gov. Bev Perdue’s office informed Judge Webster during the hearing that the Governor wished to be heard as a “friend of the court” in order to satisfy her obligation to serve the interest of the public. The Governor’s brief noted that she “intends to vigorously oppose” Alcoa's license because the relicensing brought up questions involving “the welfare of our environment, the life of the Yadkin River and, ultimately, the health and safety of the people of this state.” The attorney representing NCDENR did not oppose the request, agreeing with the Governor’s attorney that a stay of the issuance of the permit is in the public interest.
The appeal of the 401 certification alleges that NCDENR neglected to follow federal Clean Water Act requirements and state provisions regarding water quality protections and environmental review in order to issue the certification May 7, despite the agency’s own reports that found “significant contamination” including PCBs at the Alcoa site on Badin Lake, which is part of the Project that flows into the Yadkin River via Narrows Dam in Stanly County. As part of their argument for issuing a stay, Stanly County cited a recent report by the Division of Water Quality (DWQ), which is part of DENR, that revealed that state acknowledged contamination in the Project’s swimming areas, found some PCBs which came from Alcoa’s operations in the Project and recognized that Alcoa is in violation of water quality standards for dissolved oxygen in the Project.
Alcoa must receive the state’s water quality certification in order to obtain a new license to operate the Project. If Alcoa receives the FERC license, it will have an exclusive monopoly on water rights to conduct hydroelectric operations on the upper Yadkin River for another 50 years, and the opportunity to make tens of millions in profits selling electricity generated from waters belonging to North Carolina citizens. Unlike other companies that generate electricity in North Carolina, Alcoa is not required to operate under rules by the N.C. Utilities Commission, and in fact sells much of its electricity outside of the state on the power grid rather than to N.C. customers.
There is a process underway to offer an alternative stewardship of the Project via a bill establishing the Yadkin River Trust, set up by the State of North Carolina. Already approved by the state Senate, it now awaits voting in the state House. It is believed Gov. Perdue will sign it into law if approved by the General Assembly, given her recent statement and actions.
Gov. Bev Perdue has joined opponents in opposing a renewal of the license, although recently her administration issued the water quality permit. Then Stanly County objected to issuance of that permit, and Perdue has intervened on behalf of Stanly County and the public interest issues it raised about water quality in the Yadkin. That's an interesting development, considering how close Alcoa came to getting the permit last year and this year.
Yesterday, Alcoa issued a statement saying the stay would not impede the license renewal process: "Despite the stay, FERC can issue a new long-term license for the Yadkin Project. Any changes to the 401 certificate will be subsequently incorporated into the FERC license," Alcoa said.
But a lawyer for Stanly County challenges that assertion and has written the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to say it would be "premature" to issue a license prior to determination about the state water quality permit.
Here's part of what Stanly County said last night:
The Stanly County Board of Commissioners is commending the May 26 decision by Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster granting a injunction barring the issuance of a 401 Water Quality Certification to Alcoa for the Yadkin Hydroelectric Project, based on an appeal and motion filed by attorneys for Stanly County. The ruling by Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster delays granting Alcoa the permit until the full appeal is heard and thus denies Alcoa from meeting all of the requirements for its re-licensing application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for another 50-year monopoly of control of water rights on the Project, which includes dams and powerhouses along a 38-mile stretch of the Yadkin River at High Rock, Tuckertown, Narrows and Falls Reservoirs in Davie, Davidson, Rowan, Montgomery and Stanly counties.
An attorney representing Gov. Bev Perdue’s office informed Judge Webster during the hearing that the Governor wished to be heard as a “friend of the court” in order to satisfy her obligation to serve the interest of the public. The Governor’s brief noted that she “intends to vigorously oppose” Alcoa's license because the relicensing brought up questions involving “the welfare of our environment, the life of the Yadkin River and, ultimately, the health and safety of the people of this state.” The attorney representing NCDENR did not oppose the request, agreeing with the Governor’s attorney that a stay of the issuance of the permit is in the public interest.
The appeal of the 401 certification alleges that NCDENR neglected to follow federal Clean Water Act requirements and state provisions regarding water quality protections and environmental review in order to issue the certification May 7, despite the agency’s own reports that found “significant contamination” including PCBs at the Alcoa site on Badin Lake, which is part of the Project that flows into the Yadkin River via Narrows Dam in Stanly County. As part of their argument for issuing a stay, Stanly County cited a recent report by the Division of Water Quality (DWQ), which is part of DENR, that revealed that state acknowledged contamination in the Project’s swimming areas, found some PCBs which came from Alcoa’s operations in the Project and recognized that Alcoa is in violation of water quality standards for dissolved oxygen in the Project.
Alcoa must receive the state’s water quality certification in order to obtain a new license to operate the Project. If Alcoa receives the FERC license, it will have an exclusive monopoly on water rights to conduct hydroelectric operations on the upper Yadkin River for another 50 years, and the opportunity to make tens of millions in profits selling electricity generated from waters belonging to North Carolina citizens. Unlike other companies that generate electricity in North Carolina, Alcoa is not required to operate under rules by the N.C. Utilities Commission, and in fact sells much of its electricity outside of the state on the power grid rather than to N.C. customers.
There is a process underway to offer an alternative stewardship of the Project via a bill establishing the Yadkin River Trust, set up by the State of North Carolina. Already approved by the state Senate, it now awaits voting in the state House. It is believed Gov. Perdue will sign it into law if approved by the General Assembly, given her recent statement and actions.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Judge blocks Alcoa's water quality permit
An administrative law judge in Raleigh has at least temporarily blocked a state permit that Alcoa Power Generating Inc. needs in its quest for a renewal of its federal license to continue operating its hydroelectric dams on the Yadkin River. Gov. Bev Perdue has intervened in that process and last week asked the administrative judge to stay the permit issued a few weeks earlier by her administration's Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Alcoa issued the following Wednesday afternoon:
The decision to grant a stay represents another unnecessary delay in the relicensing of the Yadkin Project. The water quality certificate was issued after nearly two years of scrutiny by water quality experts in the N.C. Division of Water Quality, and we are surprised that Gov. Perdue publicly disagreed with their decision by supporting a stay.
The Division of Water Quality defended its decision to grant the 401 certificate, saying it issued the right decision for the right reasons, and we are confident that the 401 certificate will be upheld.
Despite the stay, FERC can issue a new long-term license for the Yadkin Project. Any changes to the 401 certificate will be subsequently incorporated into the FERC license.
For more information on the company, see www.alcoafacts.com and http://yadkinproject.blogspot.com.
For information about opposition to the license renewal, see www.ncwaterrights.org.
Alcoa issued the following Wednesday afternoon:
The decision to grant a stay represents another unnecessary delay in the relicensing of the Yadkin Project. The water quality certificate was issued after nearly two years of scrutiny by water quality experts in the N.C. Division of Water Quality, and we are surprised that Gov. Perdue publicly disagreed with their decision by supporting a stay.
The Division of Water Quality defended its decision to grant the 401 certificate, saying it issued the right decision for the right reasons, and we are confident that the 401 certificate will be upheld.
Despite the stay, FERC can issue a new long-term license for the Yadkin Project. Any changes to the 401 certificate will be subsequently incorporated into the FERC license.
For more information on the company, see www.alcoafacts.com and http://yadkinproject.blogspot.com.
For information about opposition to the license renewal, see www.ncwaterrights.org.
On the death of David Stick
It would be nearly another half century before I met David Stick, but when I was a boy and first got my hands on his "Graveyard of the Atlantic: Shipwrecks of the North Carolina Coast," I gobbled up every word he wrote, every description of the rugged inlets and treacherous shoals along our coastline, every sail plan from skysails and royals down to the spanker on a four mast bark.
Those days spent with his book -- and the wonderful map with exotic coastal features such as Caffey's Inlet and Swash Inlet, now closed, and Corncake Inlet -- kept alive in memory and song by Bland Simpson and his Red Clay Ramblers colleagues -- carried me away to another place in time.
And the names! There were Chicamacomico and Big and Little Kinnakeet, where lifesaving stations operated. And the tales of derring-do -- "Each Man a Hero", "From Sail to Steam" and "The Romance is Gone" -- lamenting the passing of an era because steamships probably meant the last of the big Outer Banks shipwrecks -- fired my imagination and made me want to go to sea. Years later my wife and I spent as much time as we could spare along the coast, sailing to some of the places Stick wrote about and gunkholing in our fishing boat in others.
I finally met David Stick on a breezy December afternoon in 2003 shortly before the centennial celebration of the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. A mutual acquaintance was showing me around, and drove me over to Stick's house among the huge old live oaks and wispy Spanish moss of the maritime forest back near the sound side of the island. He was gracious, professing to remember my writings from my days on the old Greensboro Daily News years earlier, and inquiring about the paper's editor Bill Snider and a few other giants of an earlier day in Tar Heel journalism.
Stick, by the way, was not a native North Carolinian, but you can't tell that from his writing. He came to us as a boy from New Jersey, and served as a combat correspondent in World War II in the Marines along the way. But he was otherwise as thoroughly North Carolinian as it's possible to be.
When I read of his death Sunday at age 89 it saddened me to know that such a productive historian and folklorist of the N.C. coast had passed away. His 11 books are a living memorial to the depth and breadth of his knowledge. He wrote among other things "Graveyard of the Atlantic" (1952), "The Outer Banks of North Carolina" (1958), "The Ash Wednesday Storm" (1987), "Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America" (1983) and edited my favorite, "An Outer Banks Reader" (1998). The latter is a marvelous compendium of other folks' writings about the Banks, from early explorers to contemporary times. Writers include Rachel Carson, who did groundbreaking environmental work in the marshes near Beaufort, John Dos Passos, who wrote about “The Campers at Kitty Hawk” named Wilbur and Orville, and Observer writer Elizabeth Leland's piece "The Crab Picker" from her own book "Our Vanishing Coast" in 1992.
The summer reading season is upon us and there are a lot of good books to read, but if you haven't read David Stick in a while, or ever, you can't go wrong with “An Outer Banks Reader.”
Those days spent with his book -- and the wonderful map with exotic coastal features such as Caffey's Inlet and Swash Inlet, now closed, and Corncake Inlet -- kept alive in memory and song by Bland Simpson and his Red Clay Ramblers colleagues -- carried me away to another place in time.
And the names! There were Chicamacomico and Big and Little Kinnakeet, where lifesaving stations operated. And the tales of derring-do -- "Each Man a Hero", "From Sail to Steam" and "The Romance is Gone" -- lamenting the passing of an era because steamships probably meant the last of the big Outer Banks shipwrecks -- fired my imagination and made me want to go to sea. Years later my wife and I spent as much time as we could spare along the coast, sailing to some of the places Stick wrote about and gunkholing in our fishing boat in others.
I finally met David Stick on a breezy December afternoon in 2003 shortly before the centennial celebration of the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. A mutual acquaintance was showing me around, and drove me over to Stick's house among the huge old live oaks and wispy Spanish moss of the maritime forest back near the sound side of the island. He was gracious, professing to remember my writings from my days on the old Greensboro Daily News years earlier, and inquiring about the paper's editor Bill Snider and a few other giants of an earlier day in Tar Heel journalism.
Stick, by the way, was not a native North Carolinian, but you can't tell that from his writing. He came to us as a boy from New Jersey, and served as a combat correspondent in World War II in the Marines along the way. But he was otherwise as thoroughly North Carolinian as it's possible to be.
When I read of his death Sunday at age 89 it saddened me to know that such a productive historian and folklorist of the N.C. coast had passed away. His 11 books are a living memorial to the depth and breadth of his knowledge. He wrote among other things "Graveyard of the Atlantic" (1952), "The Outer Banks of North Carolina" (1958), "The Ash Wednesday Storm" (1987), "Roanoke Island: The Beginnings of English America" (1983) and edited my favorite, "An Outer Banks Reader" (1998). The latter is a marvelous compendium of other folks' writings about the Banks, from early explorers to contemporary times. Writers include Rachel Carson, who did groundbreaking environmental work in the marshes near Beaufort, John Dos Passos, who wrote about “The Campers at Kitty Hawk” named Wilbur and Orville, and Observer writer Elizabeth Leland's piece "The Crab Picker" from her own book "Our Vanishing Coast" in 1992.
The summer reading season is upon us and there are a lot of good books to read, but if you haven't read David Stick in a while, or ever, you can't go wrong with “An Outer Banks Reader.”
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Readers fire back on 'What happened in Raleigh?'
In a Sunday column I asked readers whether they thought the 1977 gubernatorial success amendment had anything to do with the problems of late with public corruption in Raleigh, and to send me a note. A lot of them held Democrats responsible -- they were, after all, in power when most of the problems occurred. And a lot of readers hold the news media responsible for not getting onto the problems sooner. Here's a sample of what they said:
A Charlotte businessman wrote:
As someone who has adopted North Carolina as his home only a decade ago, I enjoy learning some of the history of our great state.
You raised the question as to whether the fact that our governor could serve as a second term help led to his ethical lapses. The two are mutually exclusive. While power can corrupt and the ability to continue to raise money and run for office can feed the abuse of power, the underlying bad character must first exist. To limit the term of a governor because he or she may take liberties in his or her second term is managing to the lowest common denominator.
If we elect men and women of high character, we should not have to worry about them becoming corrupt or abusing their positions. Character should not be impacted by the amount of time they serve.
In the case of Mike Easley, it wasn’t the second term that allowed him to abuse his privileges, it was the lack of accountability and transparency of his daily activities that provided cover. How many times did the schedule he released to the press appear blank. Either he was truly not doing anything or he did not want anyone to know what he was doing. Either scenario is not good. He conditioned the press and his constituents that his activities were not to be questioned. After a while, we stopped asking, unless the activities were very visible signs of poor judgment. In the end, he had to possess the character which would allow these transgressions. No one made him or his wife make bad choices. And a second term just gave him more time to exhibit bad conduct.
I am in favor of term limits. I do think that the longer someone stays in office, the more difficult it becomes to defeat them, regardless of their performance. Fresh ideas and energy in public office are also essential. We need to return to the days of the citizen legislator instead of career politicians. However, for the office of governor, which in our state is not overly powerful, two terms seems reasonable.
There is another group of elected officials who should be examined in this discussions. As a state government, we do not limit the terms of our state senators or state house members. If you need examples of representatives and senators who have considerable power and influence derived from their positions and lack of term limits, it is the leaders of the majority party in both houses. They have the ability to raise campaign funds in the $1M range where as a typical challenger in any district struggles to raise $50 - $100k. We have several examples of favoritism across this state – special project and money going to parts of the state that serve as the home of these powerful legislators.
To ensure good government in the Old North State, we should elect men and women of good character, and we should limit the terms of state legislators. It becomes difficult to be the progressive state of our past, when our ideas are stale due to the same people walking the halls of Raleigh decade after decade.
From a Charlotte reader:
I think you are probably right in this column. Long time incumbency has caused even more problems and corruption in the Congress.
I still think there is a lot more to the Mike Easley era than we know. For a Governor to be that reclusive is just bizarre.
Another reasder:
Governors' tenures? Hard to say. Like your article outlines, there are arguments both ways. With each succeeding crisis/problem of state government, such as the Easley one in which we currently find ourselves, though, reforms by a democratic system operating under rule by law are the best vehicle for carrying us through. Let's hope any resulting reforms will be more than cosmetic ones.
A reader from Lancaster, S.C. said:
The short answer to your question is, this was just Democrats doing what Democrats do - as the old saying goes, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." - Lord Acton!!! In this particular case, the more corruptly involved of the two Easleys, Mike, seems to be more a "behind the scenes guy" in his corruption, allowing his more outwardly corrupt spouse, Mary, to speak for the family, who, rather than slink back in the shadows like Mike, she has taken the Hillary Clinton tack and simply throws it into your face (via her lawyer), a typical tack of Democrats on the whole, although Republicans hereabouts have been known to play these games too.
On the whole, I guess we can understand and almost forgive Mike Easley, because he only did what forerunners have done and will continue to do - simply rape the system behind the scenes. Ah, but Mary, she's not content to play behind the scenes, her forte is more to throw it in our faces as if to say, "I did it and what are you going to do about it?" Or, as our recently elected president has said, "I won the election, what are you going to do about it?"
In your job of observing the political scene and writing about it, you have the privilege of reporting these examples of man's ability to corrupt the system, though probably never in your experience have you had the privilege to report on a husband and wife in such a manner.
My own feeling about both state and federal politics now is that the American people have given, through their ignorance, the Democrat Party a nearly veto proof Congress and a President who is making sure he can enact all his socialist ideas before the populace gets wise. The problem may be that he is going on this "toot" in so blatant a manner that the people are already wise to his act and I suspect that the next election may make some inroads into the Republicans taking back some of this majority. Regardless of your politics, I think these few months of the Obama administration are proof of the foolishness of giving any one party absolute control. Each night when I say my prayers, I thank the Good Lord for the likes of Barrack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barney Frank!
Another reader:
I agree with all three of the articles on this (the Sunday Viewpoint) page. We do not need two term governors yet your newspaper always endorses the second term Democrat. George Bush and Bill Clinton tried to get line item veto on the budget and senate bills, but I never saw any support from your paper. Now Gail Collins complains about an addition to a federal bill. Taylor Batten suggests the symphony go to wealthy individuals and businesses to raise an endowment yet you support people who want to redistribute the wealth and cut business profits with higher taxes. Then you wonder why some people worry about the news. You reap what you sew.
Bill James wrote:
What is the difference between Easley taking a cushy bunch of trips in exchange for appointments to high paying and high impact boards and…..
Jim Black engineering the appointment of his lieutenant (Culpepper) to a Board where he gets pension credit for all those low paying years in the legislature?
He works for 15 plus years earning $15k a year and then resigns the legislature and goes on a board that pays $115k earning pension credit at about 7 times his historical pay.
Because he finishes his state term at the higher pay, he gets a retirement pension that other legislators would only dream of. Did he earn that six figure pension? Nope. Just got it because he knew the folks and got himself appointed to the board that allowed him to transfer his pension credits from the legislative pension plan to the state one that covers that board.
You all act like Easley was the exception. He is the rule. The Democrats have been crooks in NC for decades.
Then there is the ‘tax-free’ nature of the daily allowance that is paid whether or not the folks show up. Those in the majority get put on ‘year round’ boards earning a ton of supposedly non-taxable pay never included on their tax returns.
If you are in the House and ‘play ball’ with the majority you get on committees and you make a lot of money. If you don’t – no committee assignments – and no money. You get this tax-free money (about $110 a day approx) even on holidays, Saturdays and Sundays when they aren’t even there.
Heck of a system these Democrats have.
A Charlotte businessman wrote:
As someone who has adopted North Carolina as his home only a decade ago, I enjoy learning some of the history of our great state.
You raised the question as to whether the fact that our governor could serve as a second term help led to his ethical lapses. The two are mutually exclusive. While power can corrupt and the ability to continue to raise money and run for office can feed the abuse of power, the underlying bad character must first exist. To limit the term of a governor because he or she may take liberties in his or her second term is managing to the lowest common denominator.
If we elect men and women of high character, we should not have to worry about them becoming corrupt or abusing their positions. Character should not be impacted by the amount of time they serve.
In the case of Mike Easley, it wasn’t the second term that allowed him to abuse his privileges, it was the lack of accountability and transparency of his daily activities that provided cover. How many times did the schedule he released to the press appear blank. Either he was truly not doing anything or he did not want anyone to know what he was doing. Either scenario is not good. He conditioned the press and his constituents that his activities were not to be questioned. After a while, we stopped asking, unless the activities were very visible signs of poor judgment. In the end, he had to possess the character which would allow these transgressions. No one made him or his wife make bad choices. And a second term just gave him more time to exhibit bad conduct.
I am in favor of term limits. I do think that the longer someone stays in office, the more difficult it becomes to defeat them, regardless of their performance. Fresh ideas and energy in public office are also essential. We need to return to the days of the citizen legislator instead of career politicians. However, for the office of governor, which in our state is not overly powerful, two terms seems reasonable.
There is another group of elected officials who should be examined in this discussions. As a state government, we do not limit the terms of our state senators or state house members. If you need examples of representatives and senators who have considerable power and influence derived from their positions and lack of term limits, it is the leaders of the majority party in both houses. They have the ability to raise campaign funds in the $1M range where as a typical challenger in any district struggles to raise $50 - $100k. We have several examples of favoritism across this state – special project and money going to parts of the state that serve as the home of these powerful legislators.
To ensure good government in the Old North State, we should elect men and women of good character, and we should limit the terms of state legislators. It becomes difficult to be the progressive state of our past, when our ideas are stale due to the same people walking the halls of Raleigh decade after decade.
From a Charlotte reader:
I think you are probably right in this column. Long time incumbency has caused even more problems and corruption in the Congress.
I still think there is a lot more to the Mike Easley era than we know. For a Governor to be that reclusive is just bizarre.
Another reasder:
Governors' tenures? Hard to say. Like your article outlines, there are arguments both ways. With each succeeding crisis/problem of state government, such as the Easley one in which we currently find ourselves, though, reforms by a democratic system operating under rule by law are the best vehicle for carrying us through. Let's hope any resulting reforms will be more than cosmetic ones.
A reader from Lancaster, S.C. said:
The short answer to your question is, this was just Democrats doing what Democrats do - as the old saying goes, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." - Lord Acton!!! In this particular case, the more corruptly involved of the two Easleys, Mike, seems to be more a "behind the scenes guy" in his corruption, allowing his more outwardly corrupt spouse, Mary, to speak for the family, who, rather than slink back in the shadows like Mike, she has taken the Hillary Clinton tack and simply throws it into your face (via her lawyer), a typical tack of Democrats on the whole, although Republicans hereabouts have been known to play these games too.
On the whole, I guess we can understand and almost forgive Mike Easley, because he only did what forerunners have done and will continue to do - simply rape the system behind the scenes. Ah, but Mary, she's not content to play behind the scenes, her forte is more to throw it in our faces as if to say, "I did it and what are you going to do about it?" Or, as our recently elected president has said, "I won the election, what are you going to do about it?"
In your job of observing the political scene and writing about it, you have the privilege of reporting these examples of man's ability to corrupt the system, though probably never in your experience have you had the privilege to report on a husband and wife in such a manner.
My own feeling about both state and federal politics now is that the American people have given, through their ignorance, the Democrat Party a nearly veto proof Congress and a President who is making sure he can enact all his socialist ideas before the populace gets wise. The problem may be that he is going on this "toot" in so blatant a manner that the people are already wise to his act and I suspect that the next election may make some inroads into the Republicans taking back some of this majority. Regardless of your politics, I think these few months of the Obama administration are proof of the foolishness of giving any one party absolute control. Each night when I say my prayers, I thank the Good Lord for the likes of Barrack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barney Frank!
Another reader:
I agree with all three of the articles on this (the Sunday Viewpoint) page. We do not need two term governors yet your newspaper always endorses the second term Democrat. George Bush and Bill Clinton tried to get line item veto on the budget and senate bills, but I never saw any support from your paper. Now Gail Collins complains about an addition to a federal bill. Taylor Batten suggests the symphony go to wealthy individuals and businesses to raise an endowment yet you support people who want to redistribute the wealth and cut business profits with higher taxes. Then you wonder why some people worry about the news. You reap what you sew.
Bill James wrote:
What is the difference between Easley taking a cushy bunch of trips in exchange for appointments to high paying and high impact boards and…..
Jim Black engineering the appointment of his lieutenant (Culpepper) to a Board where he gets pension credit for all those low paying years in the legislature?
He works for 15 plus years earning $15k a year and then resigns the legislature and goes on a board that pays $115k earning pension credit at about 7 times his historical pay.
Because he finishes his state term at the higher pay, he gets a retirement pension that other legislators would only dream of. Did he earn that six figure pension? Nope. Just got it because he knew the folks and got himself appointed to the board that allowed him to transfer his pension credits from the legislative pension plan to the state one that covers that board.
You all act like Easley was the exception. He is the rule. The Democrats have been crooks in NC for decades.
Then there is the ‘tax-free’ nature of the daily allowance that is paid whether or not the folks show up. Those in the majority get put on ‘year round’ boards earning a ton of supposedly non-taxable pay never included on their tax returns.
If you are in the House and ‘play ball’ with the majority you get on committees and you make a lot of money. If you don’t – no committee assignments – and no money. You get this tax-free money (about $110 a day approx) even on holidays, Saturdays and Sundays when they aren’t even there.
Heck of a system these Democrats have.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Getting the Jims mixed up -- governors, that is
A lot of readers let me know right away that I had missed by four years the date when Jimmy Green became lieutenant governor. He won that post in 1976, not in 1972 as I wrote. I flat got my Jims mixed up. I was reminded of that Friday night at a North Caroliniana Society Dinner honoring Jim Holshouser, the mountain lawmaker from Boone who won the governorship in 1972, the first Republican to win the office in the 20th Century. Another Jim was elected that year, as there would be for elections to come. Jim Hunt won the lieutenant governorship in 1972, and moved to the governorship in 1976. He won two terms as governor, followed in 1984 and 1988 by another Jim -- Jim Martin of Mecklenburg. And, of course, Jim Hunt won two more terms as governor after Jim Martin, leading to speculation that you had to be named Jim to become governor in the last third of the 20th century. For 28 years, our governor was a guy named named Jim. Among the things these Jims had in comon, one speaker noted Friday -- all were Presbyterians. Mike Easley, a Roman Catholic, finally broke the Jim trend, winning the governorship in 2000 and 2004.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Out-of-control lawmakers pawing pages? Again?
What's this? Out-of-control legislators from Alamance County pawing innocent teenage pages in the state House of Representatives? Again? Say it ain't so, Joe!
It may not be so, but so far the accounts collected by House Sergeant and Arms Bob Samuels don't sound good. Fellow Republican legislators said state Rep. Cary Allred, R-Alamance, had alcohol on his breath, a heated exchange with House Speaker Joe Hackney, planted a kiss on either the lips or the cheek of a page on the House floor and committed what one legislator called a "full body hug" and what another said was a "gruesome bear hug" -- possibly twice --on the night of April 27. Here's a link to Ben Niolet's story. He also was stopped and later ticketed for speeding that night.
Allred says there's nothing to it other than a "witch hunt," and added that he not only sponsored the page, she's more like a granddaughter. But there's obviously more to this. Rep. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, House Minority Whip, said he urged Allred to settle down that night, and Allred said, "I am 62 years old, and I'm worth $2 million. People ought to show me respect."
I don't think Allred fully understands this, but even if he was worth $100 million, they wouldn't respect him in the House because of his propensity to pop off at every opportunity. Allred likes to debate, especially about legislation he thinks is bad. An example: The recent smoking ban bill, he argued, would lead to the creation of smoking speakeasies where people would go to smoke illegally. With his bass voice, he's a frequent objector, especially if he sees legislation as reflective of an overbearing government diminishing person freedom. He doesn't see the virtual eye-rolling from members of both parties when he jumps to his feet to debate a bill.
Allred's contention that it was nothing more than a grandfatherly kiss bestowed upon a family friend misses a key point: Many families sent their sons and daughters to Raleigh for a week to be pages, but they don't expect them to be embarrassed or hugged or kissed or made a spectacle of on the House or Senate floor, or anywhere else in Raleigh, by a legislator. A handshake will do just fine, thank you.
Any many parents remember the case of Ken Miller, another legislator from Alamance County who was accused of kissing the hand -- or slobbering on the hand -- of a page. Miller, also a Republican, was the object of an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee in 1996 before he was formally censured by the full House in public session. The ethics committee chair that session was Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie. She said that Allred's hug of the page on April 27 was the closest thing she had ever seen to sexual battery, according to Samuels' report.
Samuels' report on what happened that night now goes to the Legislative Ethics Commission for its consideration. It's not Allred's first experience with ethics panels. When he was in the state Senate in the early 1980s, the legislative ethics committee looked into whether Allred violated the legislative code of ethics. He had written 1,100 physicians on his pharmaceutical company's stationery seeking their input on bills in a committee he served on. He asked the doctors to remember his company and its sales agents when they came calling.
The ethics committee ruled his actions "could be construed as a violation" of the ethics law and directed Allred to send an apology for his actions to each doctor he had written. At the time, Allred said the ethics panel was making a mountain out of a molehill.
It may not be so, but so far the accounts collected by House Sergeant and Arms Bob Samuels don't sound good. Fellow Republican legislators said state Rep. Cary Allred, R-Alamance, had alcohol on his breath, a heated exchange with House Speaker Joe Hackney, planted a kiss on either the lips or the cheek of a page on the House floor and committed what one legislator called a "full body hug" and what another said was a "gruesome bear hug" -- possibly twice --on the night of April 27. Here's a link to Ben Niolet's story. He also was stopped and later ticketed for speeding that night.
Allred says there's nothing to it other than a "witch hunt," and added that he not only sponsored the page, she's more like a granddaughter. But there's obviously more to this. Rep. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, House Minority Whip, said he urged Allred to settle down that night, and Allred said, "I am 62 years old, and I'm worth $2 million. People ought to show me respect."
I don't think Allred fully understands this, but even if he was worth $100 million, they wouldn't respect him in the House because of his propensity to pop off at every opportunity. Allred likes to debate, especially about legislation he thinks is bad. An example: The recent smoking ban bill, he argued, would lead to the creation of smoking speakeasies where people would go to smoke illegally. With his bass voice, he's a frequent objector, especially if he sees legislation as reflective of an overbearing government diminishing person freedom. He doesn't see the virtual eye-rolling from members of both parties when he jumps to his feet to debate a bill.
Allred's contention that it was nothing more than a grandfatherly kiss bestowed upon a family friend misses a key point: Many families sent their sons and daughters to Raleigh for a week to be pages, but they don't expect them to be embarrassed or hugged or kissed or made a spectacle of on the House or Senate floor, or anywhere else in Raleigh, by a legislator. A handshake will do just fine, thank you.
Any many parents remember the case of Ken Miller, another legislator from Alamance County who was accused of kissing the hand -- or slobbering on the hand -- of a page. Miller, also a Republican, was the object of an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee in 1996 before he was formally censured by the full House in public session. The ethics committee chair that session was Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie. She said that Allred's hug of the page on April 27 was the closest thing she had ever seen to sexual battery, according to Samuels' report.
Samuels' report on what happened that night now goes to the Legislative Ethics Commission for its consideration. It's not Allred's first experience with ethics panels. When he was in the state Senate in the early 1980s, the legislative ethics committee looked into whether Allred violated the legislative code of ethics. He had written 1,100 physicians on his pharmaceutical company's stationery seeking their input on bills in a committee he served on. He asked the doctors to remember his company and its sales agents when they came calling.
The ethics committee ruled his actions "could be construed as a violation" of the ethics law and directed Allred to send an apology for his actions to each doctor he had written. At the time, Allred said the ethics panel was making a mountain out of a molehill.
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