Charlotte politician seeking 12th District seat visits Winston-Salem

NC Rep. Rodney Moore meets with Democratic leaders in Winston-Salem.

A state lawmaker from Charlotte with his eyes on the 12th Congressional District seat currently held by US Rep. Mel Watt made a foray into Winston-Salem to make his case to a small group of Democratic leaders yesterday.

NC Rep. Rodney Moore was introduced by NC Rep. Ed Hanes Jr., a Forsyth County lawmaker, during the informal question-and-answer session at Mayor Allen Joines' campaign office.

The district, which snakes along the Interstate 85 corridor from Charlotte to parts of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem in the north, has been represented by Watt of Charlotte since 1993. Hanes told Moore that any Charlotte candidate who wants support from northern-tier voters will have to persuade them that he will provide equitable representation.

"I don't know how true it is, but I've heard there's been some perceived communication gap between different government entities," Moore said. "And so I just want to tell you that I'm going to be very open and accessible."

Watt's nomination by President Obama to head the Federal Housing Finance Administration has prompted a slew of Democratic politicians to put themselves in contention for the seat, which will be decided by a special election. In addition to Moore, NC Sen. Malcolm Graham (D-Mecklenburg) and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools attorney George Battle, along with two Guilford County state lawmakers, Alma Adams and Marcus Brandon.

Brandon made a converse move by campaigning in Charlotte over the July 4 holiday.

Graham topped a recent Public Policy Polling poll with support from 31 percent of likely voters, followed by Adams, with 22 percent. NC Rep. Beverly Earle of Charlotte carried 8 percent, while Brandon garnered 5 percent. Moore polled near the bottom, drawing 3 percent, along with former Mecklenburg County Commission chair Harold Cogdell.

The small group that gathered to hear from Moore included Winston-Salem Councilman Derwin Montgomery, Forsyth County Senior Democrats President Jim Shaw and the Rev. John Mendez.

Moore said depending on when Watt is confirmed the special election to determine his replacement could wind up being folded into the general election in November. The candidate said he would take a bipartisan approach to governing if elected to represent the 12th Congressional District, which leans heavily Democratic.

"I see that Washington, for the most part, right now it's just not functioning properly," Moore said. "It's a whole lot of soundbites, whether you're a Republican and you get on Fox News and you expound the party philosophy, the conservative philosophy; most of the time if you're a Democrat you're on MSNBC and you're expounding the Democratic philosophy, the liberal philosophy. I don't believe you can govern that way. You have to be able to talk to one another and get things done, even if you don't agree with each other."

Moore said, if elected, he would emphasize education, advocate for veteran services, use his relationship with US Secretary of Transportation of Anthony Foxx (who is the former mayor of Charlotte) to bring highway and bridge funding to the district and promote energy independence.

NC House debating repeal of protest petition this afternoon

In the midst of efforts to radically restrict access to abortion that have drawn unfavorable national attention, the Republican-controlled NC General Assembly is considering a legislation to repeal a tool currently held by property to curb unwanted developments that threaten to destabilize neighborhoods and erode values.

The protest petition provides that if a certain percentage of property owners adjacent to a parcel subject to rezoning sign a petition, then approval of the rezoning by a city council requires a super-majority vote of 75 percent. The supermajority requirement allows approval of rezoning requests that are considered critical for economic growth, but prevents changes that have caused significant concerns from being rubber-stamped by council comprised of members that receive substantial campaign contributions from developers. Use of the protest petition often results in concessions from developers to soften the impact of development considered intrusive by neighbors.

Property owners in municipalities across the state have been able to use the protest petition since the early 20th century, but in 1971 Greensboro was mysteriously exempted by the General Assembly. Citizens and responsive members of the Guilford County delegation restored the provision in 2009.

Now, the General Assembly is considering abolishing the protest petition across the state. The measure is tucked into  S 112, an omnibus regulatory reform bill whose primary sponsor is Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Duplin, Johnston, Sampson).

Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), who led the fight to restore the protest petition in Greensboro, said she plans to run an amendment. She said Rep. Jon Hardister, her Republican colleague from Greensboro, has pledged to speak in favor of the amendment.

Check back at this space frequently for updates.

UPDATE, 4:25 p.m. 

Legislation approving sweeping restrictions on access to abortion has passed its third reading in the House. When the session resumes at 4:30 p.m., Speaker Thom Tillis said the House will debate S 112, which includes the measure to repeal the protest petition. Tillis said he intends "to move the bill out before the end of this week."

UPDATE, 4:41 p.m.

Rep. Tim Moffitt (R-Buncombe), chair of the Regulatory Reform Committee, is discussing the legislation. The long title of the bill is "an act to improve and streamline the regulatory process in order to stimulate job creation, to eliminate unnecessary regulation, and to make various other statutory changes."

UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.

Moffitt passes right over Section 13.3 regarding the repeal of protest petitions, moving on to a measure to allow bed and breakfasts to provide three meals a day.

UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.

Rep. Tom Murry (R-Wake) and Rep. William Brawley (R-Mecklenburg) are reviewing some other sections. Now I understand why Moffitt didn't address the protest petition. Apparently, that one was assigned to another lawmaker.

UPDATE, 5:02 p.m.

Brawley explains the rationale behind repealing the protest petition: "This is a part of zoning that dates to the 1920s. At that time, zoning laws were very slight. And because of the wide latitude within a permission, neighbors were given the opportunity to create a need for a supermajority. That is less necessary now because with the granularity of our current zoning ordinances — CDs and so many other things that — that regulation is probably not needed. It's frequently used as a tool to get lots of concessions and run up costs, but I don't know that it any longer contributes to the health and safety of the people."

Brawley notes that the supermajority requirement sets a higher threshold than is required to override a veto by a governor, and restores zoning decisions to a simple majority vote. He adds that local elected officials can run for reelection on their records.

UPDATE, 5:08 p.m.

Moffitt reads an amendment to clarify that pending protest petitions will be honored if the legislation is approved.

UPDATE, 5:14 p.m.

Keith Brown of High Point: "It will be a sad day for any neighborhood or property owner in North Carolina who is involved in a rezoning case to not have the power of the protest petition and to see that they slipped this repeal of the protest petition without any discussion in a local government committee or any discussion at all is ridiculous."

From Doug Clark at the News & Record: "Is this the kind of regulatory reform legislators promised?"

UPDATE, 5:39 p.m.

Extensive debate taking place right now on employment protections for deputies on the NC Industrial Commission. Lawmakers have also discussed a section to regulate hotel emissions of carbon monoxide, no doubt prompted by a recent tragedy in Boone.

UPDATE, 5:44 p.m.

Tillis says there are seven additional amendments to work through before voting on the bill. "Sadly."

UPDATE, 6:09 p.m.

Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) introduces an amendment to strike the section repealing the protest petition. Harrison argues that many zoning boards are stacked with developers and "this just evens the playing field."

Rep. William Brawley (R-Mecklenburg) opposes the amendment. "There is ample opportunity for citizens input."

Rep. John Faircloth (R-Guilford) agrees with Brawley, arguing it's not fair to allow 5 percent of property owner who are neighbors to require a 75-percent supermajority vote.

Rep. Jonathan C. Jordan (R-Ashe, Watauga) clarifies that the ordinance gives whoever owns 5 percent of the adjacent property line rather than 5 percent of adjacent property owners the ability to invoke the protest petition. "Five percent! You can now change your vote from not a super-majority, but an ultra-majority.... We've all heard how the ultra-conservatives are taking over. This is an ultra-majority vote."

Rep. Charles Jeter (R-Mecklenburg), a former member of the Huntersville Town Council, said in his experience the protest petition has worked well. "It was not an onerous obstacle," he says, "because typically they were 5-0 anyway unless they were controversial. It was effectively used in Huntersville."

Rep. Alma Adams (D-Guilford) speaks in support of preserving the protest petition. "It gives citizens an opportunity to have a voice," she says. "We have a voice here; they should have a voice back home."

UPDATE, 6:10 p.m.

Harrison's amendment seeking to strike language repealing the protest petition fails by a vote of 35 to 76.

UPDATE, 7:47 p.m.

The House has voted 84-28 to repeal the protest petition across the state of North Carolina, as part of an omnibus regulatory reform bill.

Harrison, via e-mail: "I was disappointed that Hardister did not speak in favor of the amendment as he said he would. (Hardister was getting worked outside the chamber by homebuilder lobbyists.) He said he did vote for the amendment."

Atelier Around the World artists' reception -- July 1

The African American Atelier, Inc. hosted the Atelier Around the World artists' reception inside of the Greensboro Cultural Center to celebrate artwork from children ages six to sixteen on July 1.

The artists’ reception culminated the Atelier Around the World community outreach and visual arts programs. Started in 1993, the three-pronged Atelier Around the World seeks to immerse children in visual arts with the help of professional artists, teachers and assistants. The Adopt a School-Art After School programs, Saturday Enrichment Workshops and the three week Murals, Minds and Communities summer camp conjoined under one roof to celebrate the works of art completed by young participants.

How does the election affect the Piedmont Triad's political clout?

What does it mean for Guilford County to have a legislative delegation whose members are heavily weighted on the Democratic side (not counting partial representation by Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Stan Bingham) while both chambers of the General Assembly are flipping to the Republicans?

NC Senate:
27: Don Vaughan (D)
28: Gladys Robinson (D)

NC House:
57: Pricey Harrison (D)
58: Alma Adams (D)
59: Maggie Jeffus (D)
60: Marcus Brandon (D)
61: John Faircloth (R)
62: John Blust (R)

Notably, Adams and Jeffus both currently hold chairman seats on the House Appropriations Committee – seats now in jeopardy considering that incoming Republican House Speaker Skip Stam has the prerogative of appointing members of his own party to the plum positions on the committee in January.

And while Republicans are better represented in the Forsyth County, the delegation includes a prominent Democrat who is poised for a demotion with her party losing control of the Senate. Sen. Linda Garrou currently serves as one of the Senate’s four senior budget writers.

Turning eastward, Republican Thom Goolsby’s defeat of Democrat Jim Leutze in NC Senate District 9, the seat currently held by Democrat Julia Boseman, flipped that Wilmington seat and helped the GOP take control of the Senate. Goolsby’s party is pledging to balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending. During the campaign, Leutze warned that a Democratic loss could result in Wilmington and other coastal areas of the state losing clout: “We have a university here that we want funded. We have a community college here that we want funded. We have a port here that we want improved and the river dredged. We want better highways around Wilmington to deal with our traffic congestion…. We have the film industry that we want to have some subsidies and incentives for…. Political power in the state can move from this coastal region to the Piedmont in a heartbeat.”

Also election-related: Democrat Margaret Highsmith Dickson goes down in Fayetteville in the contest for the seat previously held by Tony Rand, following a round of gutter politics.

State legislative candidates square off at Greensboro forum

Republican Jeff Hyde (left) and Democrat Don Vaughan address voters.

The Clean Smokestacks bill, a piece of legislation passed by the NC General Assembly in 2002, became a reference point for an open debate about the role of government in regulating business during a candidate forum tonight at Congregational United Church of Christ in Greensboro.

“The environment for small business in North Carolina is a poor one,” said Jeff Hyde, the Republican candidate for NC Senate District 27. “We are overtaxed, over-regulated and the mandates that come down from government for business activity are stifling.”

Irwin Smallwood, a retired News & Record managing editor, probed Hyde on the point, asking him to name three regulations he would repeal.

“One instance would be we required Duke Power a couple years ago to spend $3 million to clean smokestacks on the idea that there would be a significance difference in the emissions of those smokestacks,” Hyde responded. “Since it’s been done, there’s no discernible effect. They’ve done exactly what the state asked them to do. And yet what’s happened [is] our energy costs have gone up.”

Hyde’s Democratic opponent, freshman Sen. Don Vaughan, was given an opportunity to speak, but steered away from conflict. Vaughan said that he believes in a free enterprise system and generally favors less regulation on business, and pivoted to a different issue: “I think our teachers are over-regulated in the classroom. I think we should give them more ability to handle their problems without having to go up the food chain.”

Pricey Harrison, the Democratic incumbent in the NC House District 57 race, used part of her allotted time to chastise Hyde.

“The Clean Smokestacks bill is one of the best things we’ve ever done to clean up the air here in North Carolina,” she said. “It reduced emissions by more than 70 percent and it’s been a tremendous tool. And we have lower asthma rates; we can actually document that.”

Harrison and her Republican opponent, Jon Hardister, sketched out different political philosophies, but remained cordial and avoided direct challenges against each other on the issues.

The two candidates demonstrated different approaches in response to a question about what services they would cut to make up an expected budget shortfall next year.

“Clearly, if we cut $3 billion out of a $19 billion budget, that 15 percent of what’s out there is going to be pretty serious, and I think we’ll set ourselves back decades in terms of the investments in education and quality of life – I think will severely undermine us," Harrison said. "I think there’s a place where we can cut, but we’re going to have to have some alternatives. Close the tax loopholes. There are a ton of those out there. That’s been sort of forbidden ground. A $100 million bank tax loophole. There are things like that out there we can look at. Review the whole tax code. I’m not an expert. There are ways to create more equity in the tax code because we don’t really have that in the tax code right now. But there’s some pork in the budget, and I’m frustrated by that. I tried to lead the charge to eliminate that $10 million subsidy that was going to the UNC Booster Club and opposed that mega port that was never going to get permitted. There are things like that in the budget, but I don’t think it’s going to add up to $3 billion. It might be a half billion.”

Hardister responded, “The first thing we’ve got to do is what you hear politicians say all the time: You’ve got to go through the budget line by line. We need to start doing that, but in particular, we need to go to zero-based budgeting. After that, to look for wasteful spending I would start with corporate subsidies and corporate incentives, excessive possible entitlement programs, and the discretionary spending. We need to really put a hold on discretionary spending until we get the budget under control. And then I think we need spending caps. We need a constitutional amendment that pegs allowable spending with changes in inflation and population. Because North Carolina for years our population has increased, but spending increased at a faster rate, so we need to tie the two together and also put a formula in there for inflation.”

Sparks flew between Republican Theresa Yon (right) and Democrat Maggie Jeffus, who are competing for the NC House District 59 seat.

Remarks by Democratic incumbent Maggie Jeffus and Republican challenger Theresa Yon, who are vying for the neighboring House District 59 seat, provided more discernible contrasts for voters.

Asked to provide an example of wasteful spending, Yon mentioned the state film tax credit, which was increased from 11 percent to 25 percent in the most recent session.

“The state of North Carolina taxpayers will now pay 25 percent of the cost of making movies,” Yon said. “It’s projected to cost us $160 million over the course of the next few years. Do we really want the taxpayers to pay $160 million?”

Jeffus defended the use of incentives to maintain the film industry in North Carolina.

“You all remember ‘Dawson’s Creek’?” she asked. “That has left. We have lost to Louisiana. We’ve lost to Canada. We’ve lost to Mississippi. We’ve lost to Georgia. The governor was right on the verge of – back in the long session, I guess – of announcing a film that was being filmed in North Carolina. She was sure we would get it. Only to find out the next day that Georgia got it. These film people, the people that produce them, they bring jobs into North Carolina. Guilford County does have a film office here, and films have been shot here in Greensboro and High Point – all around. So we’re talking about jobs. Construction. Production. Directors. Costumes. They stay in hotels and motels. They buy food. It’s just a no-brainer. We need jobs. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Yon retorted, “‘Dawson’s Creek’ went off the air; it’s not filmed anymore.”

Yon and Jeffus also parted ways on the issue of education, specifically on a proposal by Yon to require that a minimum of 65 cents of every dollar allocated for education be spent in the classroom.

“I know my opponent has come out against that publicly,” Yon said. “She says it will tie the hands of local education agencies, and I disagree. Guilford County may use that extra money in the classroom to pay teachers bonuses. Forsyth County might use it to buy textbooks. Another county might use it to replace their arts and music programs they’ve had to cut. Another county might decide, ‘We need an after-school reading program.’ But it’s spent in the classroom. If we took just three cents more of every single dollar and spent it in the classroom, that’s $210 million more in our schools without raising your taxes. The lady in maroon asked earlier if we can cut some administration. Yeah, I think we can cut some administration and put it in the classroom.”

Jeffus acknowledged her difference of opinion.

“I do oppose the 65 cents in the classroom,” she said. “I want everything that we can get for the schools and for the classes and for the children. She does not understand how the budget is done. And we do need to give them flexibility. It will tie their hands. That’s one of the things we do – we give a great deal of flexibility to the [local education agencies], and each LEA is different. What we need in Guilford County, they might not need in Carteret County or someplace else – Hoke County – so that they have the flexibility to do what they need to do. And I think most of them do a diligent job of putting it into the classroom. And a great deal of our education money goes to teacher salaries.”

Yon found an unlikely ally for her initiative in Marcus Brandon, the Democratic candidate for House District 60, who noted in his remarks that he was not opposed to mandating that 65 cents out of every dollar be spent in the classroom.

Brandon's Republican opponent, Lonnie R. Wilson, outlined a conservative Christian political ideology.

“Believe me, when you get up here, the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top as much as it usually does, and you can’t remember everything you want to say," he said. "So I’m going to have to read some of my stuff. And I do believe this stuff that I’m reading. I do believe ‘In God we trust.’ And I do believe that our representatives should defend our ancient landmarks of Judeo-Christian values. And those we send to Raleigh should do that. And I am a conservative; I am a Republican. This is my first run for office, and maybe the only one.”

Broader themes related to longstanding Democratic control of the General Assembly and a the possibility of a Republican majority after the coming election emerged in an exchange between Republican John Blust and Democrat Alma Adams, who respectively face nominal opposition in their quest for reelection in safe districts 62 and 58. Libertarian Jeffery Simon and Republican Darin H. Thomas – neither of whom was present – are respectively seeking the District 62 and District 58 seats.

“The process is broken,” Blust said. “You see it in Washington. You see it in Raleigh. Rep. Jeffus just told you the decisions are all made in Room 612. And I’ve been out on the block before. I’ve knocked on over 13,000 doors in this community, and I’ve won elections, and I’m entitled to a seat in the room where the decisions are made. I can’t use force and I can’t be violent, but I resent that I’m shuffled off because, ‘You’re in the minority and you don’t get to. We’ll tell you and we’ll come out and we’ll give you a 300-page bill and you’re supposed to vote for it or you’re against education. You’re against the children.’

“And I’ve heard that over and over, and I’ve still studied,” he continued. “I’ve come up with proposals. When we redid the budget a couple years ago, I had five or six amendments. I run an amendment every budget. They set the process up so you can’t touch the decisions they’ve made in the back room. And it’s wrong. It has got to be opened up. The answer to the budget would be, let all 120 House members have some say. I resent it. It really angers me. I hear the same thing on television. I hear it out of the president. I hear it out of the Houser speaker. ‘The Republicans are the party of no, and they don’t have any ideas.’ If I don’t have any ideas, then you can let me in Room 612 and I won’t do a thing because I don’t have any ideas. But I have ideas.”

Blust added, “If Marcus Brandon wins and the Republicans have the majority – I’m more hopeful than ever – If Alma wins, I am not going to let the Republicans arrange that House the same way and say, ‘You don’t get to represent your people.’ It’s a blight on our constitution, our way of government. And we’re going to have to be willing as Republicans to lose some votes because we might run something and instead of getting people by cajoling them and threatening and having a $128,000 base-pay speakers aide go whisper in your ear, ‘We don’t have the votes, can you leave?’ let the body work. You might find the budget gets better. The process will work. The genius of our republic will let us pass good, solid budgets.”

Adams – like Jeffus, a senior budget writer – disputed Blust’s assertion that the room where the Appropriations Committee meets is closed, adding that it’s natural that the party in control will limit participation from minority members.

“I don’t want anybody to think that 612 is closed,” she said. “Rep. Blust, I don’t know how many times you’ve been in there. The door’s always open. The process – Rep. Blust was there when the Republicans were in control. The process – now, I’ve been there 16 and a half years – the process has never changed, no matter who’s in control. But we do work together. But there are some philosophical differences that are probably always going to exist. Now, how you change that I don’t know. I haven’t been able to change it in 16 years. When Speaker Brubaker was speaker when I came there or after I came there, I was silenced and could not present my amendments or speak. Some of those things are probably never going to go away. But I don’t want people here to think that we don’t collaborate and put legislation together. I mean, I filed a number of bills with three Republican women. I chaired the women’s caucus that actually the Republicans put me in. There is some civility. Whether that process is going to change from historically the way it is, I’m not sure how much we can do about that.”

Gladys Robinson was the lone candidate present for the NC Senate District 28 race. Republican Trudy Wade and independent Bruce Davis will also be on the ballot. Wade was unable to attend because she was participating in a previously scheduled neighborhood walk in the Greensboro City Council district that she represents.

Prompted by supporter Lewis Brandon, Robinson knocked Wade for a unanimous decision by the city council last month to delay approval of a $5 million federal grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide weatherization for buildings in east Greensboro last month. Minutes from the council's Sept. 21 meeting state, "Council discussion focused on the potential consequences of loan defaults and the City’s assumption of financial responsibility."

“I think it’s a travesty," Robinson said. "What we’re talking about now is how to grow jobs so we can improve the economy. So any source – federal or state or businesses or whatever – we can get to come into Guilford County that promotes jobs, we know that weatherization means better use of our energy, for one thing. But it also means that it’s low-income people whose houses can be weatherized, can have more efficient living. It also means jobs. And that’s critical. So I think that any of us who say we want to go to Raleigh and we want to create jobs to improve the economy, if we’re not supporting that and if the city council’s not supporting that and my opponent, then I’m not sure that those are the kind of people that we want in Raleigh.”

Democrats stand ground at Greensboro candidate forum

Don Vaughan, the freshman Democratic state senator who represents District 27, made a preemptive strike against an expected Republican onslaught during remarks tonight at a candidate forum sponsored by WOMAN at Mahi’s Seafood Restaurant in Greensboro.

Brandishing a copy of the News & Record, Vaughan made the case that the state is on the right track under its current leadership.

“I’m not going to bring you any doom and gloom,” he said. “I’m going to bring you fairly decent news right now. Now things have been bad, but by golly, if you saw Saturday’s paper, you know they’re starting to get better. And the headline here says, ‘North Carolina helping to lead nation to recovery.’ Things are starting to happen because of some things we did in the North Carolina Senate are helping to make this recovery. If you read this article, if you read USA Today, if you read the Wall Street Journal today, you know that this state and its policies – these are independent sources – things are beginning to work and things are beginning to turn around thanks to what has been done in Raleigh.”

Tea Party favorite Jeff Hyde, Vaughan’s Republican opponent, responded directly.

“Senator Vaughan just held up a newspaper article; it said, ‘North Carolina leads the nation out of recovery,’” Hyde said. “You know, those same newspaper sources said that we’ve been out of our recession since June of 2009, but we’ve heard speaker after speaker tonight talk about the anxiety that they have about the future of our schools, about prosperity in North Carolina, about the 19 months of double-digit unemployment.”

Hyde argued that if North Carolina scales back the size of its government based on the principles of the federal and state constitutions, it will enjoy prosperity again.

The appearance of the Democratic and Republican candidates for District 28 seat opened with the retirement of Sen. Katie Dorsett also presented a contrast for voters. Independent candidate Bruce Davis was not present.

Gladys Robinson, the Democratic nominee, acknowledged her lack of elective experience, and instead highlighted a range of civic activities.

“I am a community leader,” she said. “People say, ‘You’re not an elected official.’ Well, you get your best training in the community. I’m a PTA life member, and you really learn a lot in education. I was one of those persons on redistricting that advocated to merge three systems so we would have equity in pay for our teachers, so we could build buildings and schools across this entire county, so we would have good education for our children. I’ve been on the UNC Board of Governors for 10 years, and on that board we have built new facilities in our universities. We’ve instituted new programs.”

Republican Trudy Wade, a practicing veterinarian and a member of the Greensboro City Council who has also served on the Guilford County Commission, stressed her empathy with struggling business owners.

“I talk to clients all the time about how bad it really is,” she said. “But I sent out a fundraising letter like we all do. And if anybody knows about fundraising at this time, it’s terrible because the economy’s so bad. But I got one letter back from a veterinarian. And she sent 15 dollars. And she said, ‘It’s really all I have. And I wanted to send it because things are so bad that I knew you, being a veterinarian and a businesswoman, would understand that I can’t meet my loan payments. We may go out of business. I’ve had to let my employees go. But I’m sending you this 15 dollars in the hopes that people like you will get elected.’”

Wade added, “I can promise you that if I’m elected I’m going down there and I’m going to try to cut taxes, stimulate business, bring new businesses here and do what we need to do to bring North Carolina back to being competitive in this market and to bring new jobs here and get our people back to work and help the businesses that are here to continue to expand and supply jobs for all our people.”

Two candidates in the crowded race to replace state appellate judge Jim Wynn also made their pitch to voters.

Cressie Thigpen, who was appointed by Gov. Beverly Perdue to fill Wynn’s unexpired term, said, “I really didn’t know I could attract such a crowd. I kind of feel like Forrest Gump in the scene where Forrest is running and he’s got bullies after him, and his friend says to him, ‘Run, Forrest, run.’”

Stan Hammer, a Greensboro resident who practices law in High Point, said, “I’ve practiced law for nearly 25 years. I’m passionate about the law, and I’m passionate about public service. And I’m passionate about being able to work in a forum that will do justice and apply the rule of law for everyone.”

Hammer rapped the microphone to arrest a hum of feedback. Later, when another speaker was beset by the same problem, a murmur could be heard from the crowd: “Give ’em the Hammer.”

Thigpen and Hammer have 11 other opponents in the race.

Rep. Alma Adams, the Democratic incumbent in NC House District 58, played to an audience preference for her party by taking additional time at the end of the program to make the point that the Nov. 2 vote is “a critical election,” adding, “Whoever wins it depends on who turns out.”

Adams is defending her seat against Republican Darin H. Thomas.

Kay Cashion, who is running unopposed this year for her seat on the Guilford County Commission, came to the aid of her fellow Democrats by singing the praises of Adams and Maggie Jeffus, who represents NC House District 59.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank two representatives here tonight for the work that they did to salvage the funding for our two shelters at Family Services," Cashion said. "If you read the paper recently you will remember that funding was supposed to be cut in half – it would have just been devastating – for the High Point shelter and the Greensboro shelter. Rep. Jeffus and Rep. Adams and Sen. Katie Dorsett and Rep. Laura Wiley worked very hard to get this funding restored for this year, and I think we owe them a great round of applause.”

Fire for fire in Adams-Johnson race

I learned about an exchange of negative campaign fliers between NC House District 58 candidates Ralph Johnson and Alma Adams today.

The Carolina Peacemaker has an editorial today urging voters to put the "hit pieces" in the trash, and for the most part declines to detail the charges, concluding that "they each contain misleading, inaccurate statements about each candidate."

A knowledgeable source told me the flier attacking Ralph Johnson alludes to a cocaine conviction first reported in the News & Record, while the Peacemaker reports that the campaign literature states, in part: “Ralph has no family values, no wife, no children, no PTA membership & etc.”

I spoke with Adams at a joint meeting between members of the Guilford County legislative delegation and the Greensboro City Council. She said she had no knowledge of the flier attacking her opponent until she received a call from the Peacemaker about it, adding, "That's not my style." When she received the call, she told me, Adams thought they were calling about the flier produced by the Johnson campaign called "5 Reasons to vote for Ralph Johnson." She said the flier spuriously states that she allowed federal stimulus funding to go to illegal aliens.

The Peacemaker editorial board denounces the fliers as "negative campaigning [that] does everyone a disservice."

I would have to concur: The effect of this exchange is likely to discourage voters from going to the polls and make them cynical about the process.
Type rest of the post here

Candidate profile: Alma Adams

A veteran legislator in the NC House, Alma Adams makes it a point to talk about her experience. And she argues that members of the Guilford County delegation have effectively represented local constituents’ interests.

“We work together,” the state lawmaker said. “We’ve got two people in 612, myself and Maggie Jeffus.”

Room 612 is where the House Appropriations Committee meets. Adams and Jeffus, who represents District 59, are both chairs of the committee.

“Everybody’s not in 612,” Adams said. “I worked my way up there.”

Then serving on the Greensboro City Council, Adams was appointed to her seat in the NC House in 1994, and has won eight elections since then. This year, she faces a primary challenge for her District 58 seat from Ralph Johnson, a community leader in east Greensboro.

Adams and I talked for about an hour this afternoon in her office at Bennett College, where she works as an art professor. We talked about the difficult budget decision facing the state this year with what Adams estimated to be gap of $700 million to $800 million, the process of shepherding controversial bills such as the Healthy Youth Act through the legislature and bringing dollars back to the district.

Sometimes it takes persistence and position, and that was the case with an allocation for NC A&T University.

“I recall $2 million we fought over that A&T needed for its engineering program,” Adams said. “It’s not really a lot of money. We put it in the House budget. The Senate took it out. We put it back in. The Senate kept taking it back out. But they needed our support on some other things. I ended up getting what we needed.”

Another time, when Adams co-chaired the House Appropriations on General Government Subcommittee, she teamed up with another Guilford County legislator in the Senate to appropriate $8.2 million for the Charlotte Hawkins Brown historic site in Sedalia. Her counterpart was Sen. Katie Dorsett, who is retiring this year from her seat representing Senate District 28.

Adams’ opponent has been asking the classic political question to voters in District 58 of whether they are better off now than before, and he is highlighting east Greensboro’s lagging economic development. Adams told me that job creation and economic development are largely driven by local officials on the Greensboro City Council and Guilford County Commission.

But she points to several initiatives that are addressing those challenges, including $53 million allocated to the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering slated to open near Greensboro’s eastern gateway on Lee Street, and the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in downtown Greensboro.

“The nanoscience campus is going to bring a lot of jobs in here,” Adams said. “I had a lot to do with sitting in on the negotiations for that.”

Over time the state has allocated $3.5 million to the civil rights museum.

“We had to bring people to breakfast a couple times so we could educate them about how important the civil rights center is to the state,” she said. "Yes, it lives here in Guilford County, but it's important to the whole state."

Adams has supported the use of economic incentives to create jobs such as the FedEx facility coming online at Piedmont Triad International Airport, but she said state government is unlikely to make any grants this year considering the state’s severe budget shortfall. Adams said she expects the budget to be closed through cuts to spending. The appropriations subcommittees are meeting with department heads to identify expenditure lines in their budgets that can be cut, and they will send their recommendations to the appropriations committee.

Adams said she does not anticipate that the state will raises taxes this year.

“This is not the time for that,” she said. “We have to be sensitive to people. My grandmother used to say, ‘You can’t squeeze blood out of an onion.’ We do need to restructure our taxes. I don’t think we’ve taken any genuine steps for that.”

Adams is rated an A+ legislator by the NC Association of Educators. She said she disapproves of talk about reducing the number of teacher assistants in public schools, but spending on education will have to be reined in this year. Gov. Beverly Perdue has proposed raising teacher salaries, but Adams said she doubts that the House will support the request.

“We’re saying, ‘The way the economy is going, do you give anybody a raise?’”

Other bills sponsored by Adams have not required allocations of state funds.

In 2006, then-Gov. Mike Easley signed a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage by $1 — from $5.15 to $6.15. The increase was the culmination of about a decade of effort on Adams’ part. Subsequently, Congress raised the federal minimum wage to $7.25. Since then, Adams has filed bills to annually index the minimum wage to cost of living increases, but those initiatives have stalled in committee.

During the last election, Adams said that many of her colleagues wanted to take credit for the state minimum wage increase, modest as it was.

“A lot of what I have done has been like that,” she said.

As an example, she mentioned a university equity bill passed in the late 1990s. That lead to a study tucked into a budget that ended up identifying more than 700 buildings in the state university system that needed to be replaced or repaired.

To pay for the campus upgrades, voters across the state approved a $3.1 billion bond referendum.

“That’s why you see all the growth at UNCG and A&T,” Adams said. “We’re still seeing that today. It produced not just buildings, but jobs.”

Adams introduced six bills last year that were signed into law. Among the most controversial and difficult to pass was the Healthy Youth Act, which provides sex education to students in grades 7-9 while allowing parents to opt their children out. Previously, public schools across the state had taught an abstinence-only curriculum.

“Sometimes people are lead and guided by things that are misguided,” Adams said. “We had to get people to understand that teen pregnancy is very high. We’re not encouraging promiscuity. A lot of people want to make it about sex. It’s really not; it’s about health.”

Triad Elections ’10

'Loaded, individualized questions'

Former Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson took a seat next to me and whispered in my ear that "there have been some loaded, individualized questions" in the middle of a candidates forum at NC A&T University tonight.

To be sure.

Most of the heat took place during the final panel, which included primary opponents in NC Senate District 28 and NC House District 58, and individual candidates in NC House districts 60 and 62, after candidates for US Senate and US Congress had cleared the building.

One of the questions for NC Senate District 28 candidates Evelyn Miller and Gladys Robinson pertained to whether the candidates would have thrown their hats in the race if the seat's current occupant, Katie Dorsett, had chosen to run again.

Robinson looked offended.

After a moment's hesitation, Miller answered.

"I did not know that Katie Dorsett was not running," she said. "So yes, I guess that would answer the question."

Robinson regained her poise.

"Let me say very clearly, that I respect Dr. Dorsett," she said, "and no, I wouldn't run against her. And I would expect also, too, that most of you respect people like Mayor Yvonne Johnson and others who've done a great job and wouldn't run against them either because we have supported those candidates. They brought back assets to our community. Now I'm running because I can do a good job. And I know I can."

Marcus Brandon was the sole candidate present in the Democratic primary for NC House District 60, with an unexplained absence by incumbent Earl Jones. It was Michael Garrett, the Republican primary challenger, in the NC House District 62 race, who really pleased the predominantly African-American crowd with the energy and rhetorical finesse that he deployed in attacking incumbent John Blust — also absent.

Garrett took aim at Blust's uncompromising conservatism and partisan approach to politics, which he argued has made his opponent one of the most ineffective legislators in the House.

"We can't afford to mark one up for Republicans," Garrett said. "We can't afford to mark one up for Democrats. It's time to start marking one up for North Carolina."

Garrett added later that his responsibilities as a representative would be "not just for my district in northwest Guilford County, but for all of Guilford County. We're all in this together."

A supporter of Alma Adams, the Democratic incumbent in NC House District 58, asked the candidates if they understood the responsibilities of the job. Adams has held the seat for more than 16 years.

Primary challenger Ralph Johnson drew applause with his answer: "To represent the community."

Adams drove hard, alluding to her position as chair of the House Appropriations Committee: "I am in the room when the final decision is made about A&T. We brought $53 million to edge of the district for the nanotechnology campus."

Ralph Johnson asked voters to consider how the district has fared under Adams' leadership.

"Drive around east Greensboro, and look at the lack of amenities," he said. "Ask yourself: Is this the best we can do?"

Guilford educators back Gladys Robinson in state Senate race

The politically formidable Guilford County Association of Educators, which represents 3,300 education professionals, has made its endorsement picks. The endorsements are helpful to Democrats in the general election, and critical to Democrats in the primary.

Gladys Robinson has received association's nod over Evelyn Robinson in the Democratic primary for NC Senate District 28. Association President Tijuana B. Hayes said Miller did not return her questionnaire. Robinson — who is the favored candidate of the seat's current occupant, Katie Dorsett — boasts on her campaign website of endorsements from the State Employees Association of North Carolina, NC Trial Lawyers and Lillian's List.

The Guilford County Association of Educators endorsement slate strongly favors Democratic incumbents or candidates who have previously held office.

Democrats Alma Adams and Earl Jones, who each have contested primaries for state House seats, received the educators' endorsement, as did Pricey Harrison and Maggie Jeffus. The Republican primary victor in NC House District 57 will face Harrison in November, while Jeffus will go toe to toe with Republican Theresa Yon.

"Maggie and Alma are our A+ legislators," Hayes said. "They voted with the educators on issues that we felt were important. They voted for the Healthy Youth Act, the reinstatement of sick leave, the state health plan blue ribbon task force.... One that we're particularly proud of is the School Violence Prevention Act. We appreciate the probationary teachers appeals [legislation]. It assures that our probationary teachers are provided reasons for nonrenewal in their fourth year. Now, they can appeal to the local school board if their contracts are not renewed."

The educators endorsed Georgia Nixon-Roney in the Republican primary for NC House District 61. With no Democrats in the race, the candidate who prevails in the May 4 primary is all but certain to win the seat.

The endorsement for Guilford County School Board at-large went to incumbent Nancy Routh, and the District 2 endorsement went to incumbent Garth Hebert.

The association endorsed Bill Bencini in the Republican primary for Guilford County Commission District 2, but is remaining neutral in the District 3 race. Hayes said none of the three candidates in District 3 returned questionnaires.

The educators are endorsing Democratic incumbent Don Vaughan in the NC Senate District 27 race. Vaughan faces Republican Jeff Hyde in November.

In the Democratic primary for US Senate, the educators threw their clout behind Cal Cunningham, who is considered by many in the party as the most viable contender against Republican incumbent Richard Burr.