I haven't talked to many high-profile Democrats in Guilford County Katie Dorsett's stunning about-face yesterday, but if one Earl Jones' comments are any indication not too many are happy about it.
Notwithstanding the field of Republican challengers, Dorsett appears to have been holding the seat in reserve for fellow Democrat Gladys A. Robinson. Jones, who represents District 60 in the state House, noted that other Democrats such as Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis have had their eye on the Senate seat. Davis unsuccessfully challenged Dorsett two years ago.
"If there were some people who wanted to run, like Bruce Davis but out of deference to her didn't file, it undermines democracy and denies the citizens a choice," Jones told me this morning. "It just doesn't look right. As an incumbent she had respect. Other folk who respected her position and thought she was doing a good job might not have run. It limited the field of individuals who would run."
Learn more about Guilford County elections at Triad Elections '10.
Showing posts with label Katie Dorsett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katie Dorsett. Show all posts
Dorsett withdraws from NC Senate 28 race
Democratic incumbent Katie Dorsett withdrew from the NC Senate District 28 race at about 11:30 a.m. at the Guilford County Board of Elections, a source from that office says.
Republican Trudy Wade filed for the seat early this morning in High Point. Wade, who currently serves on the Greensboro City Council and is a former Guilford County commissioner, is a client of political consultant Bill Burckley. Two other Republican candidates have also filed: Robert Brafford Jr. and Jeffrey A. Brommer, both of Jamestown.
Two Democrats have filed for the seat: Evelyn Miller, a member of the Greensboro Zoning Commission, and Gladys A. Robinson of Pleasant Garden.
For comprehensive information about Guilford County, Forsyth County and statewide races, visit YES! Weekly's Triad Elections '10 website at www.triadpolitics.info.
Republican Trudy Wade filed for the seat early this morning in High Point. Wade, who currently serves on the Greensboro City Council and is a former Guilford County commissioner, is a client of political consultant Bill Burckley. Two other Republican candidates have also filed: Robert Brafford Jr. and Jeffrey A. Brommer, both of Jamestown.
Two Democrats have filed for the seat: Evelyn Miller, a member of the Greensboro Zoning Commission, and Gladys A. Robinson of Pleasant Garden.
For comprehensive information about Guilford County, Forsyth County and statewide races, visit YES! Weekly's Triad Elections '10 website at www.triadpolitics.info.
Human smuggling and human trafficking bills before NC legislature
Two bills currently before the NC General Assembly tackle the related but different phenomena of human smuggling and human trafficking.
Create Crime of Smuggling Human beings, sponsored by Rep. Curtis Blackwood (R-Union) and cosponsored by Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth), would make it “unlawful for a person to engage in the smuggling of human beings for profit or commercial purpose,” with “smuggling of human beings” meaning “the transportation, or procurement of transportation, by a person or entity that knows or has reason to know that the persons transported, or to be transported, are not United States citizens, permanent resident aliens, or persons who are otherwise lawfully present in the United States.”
Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes told a predominantly Latino audience at an April 1 forum in Greensboro: “This law is too vague, and I personally don’t think they’ll end up getting it passed. I, for one, am not an advocate for a bunch of more laws.” He added later: “I will definitely be calling [legislators] tomorrow to tell them not to [approve the bill]”
Greensboro police Chief Tim Bellamy added, “I think it’s very broad. I would be scared of the police because it’s going to give some police the idea that every time a truck or van goes down the road to stop it and say, ‘Let’s detain someone and question them.’ I have a lot of issues with this legislation.”
The critical difference between smuggling and trafficking persons has to do with consent.
The Justice Department defines human smuggling as “the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person(s) across an international border, in violation of one or more countries’ laws, either clandestinely or through deception, such as the use of fraudulent documents.” A section.” A 2005 Justice Department report adds that “human smuggling is generally with the consent of the person(s) being smuggled, who often pay large sums of money” and that “the vast majority of people who are assisted in illegally entering the United States are smuggled, rather than trafficked.”
In contrast, the United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, or abduction, of fraud, of deception, of abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”
The NC Human Trafficking Commission bill sponsored by Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird (D-Orange) serves an entirely different purpose and addresses a different issue.
The bill would create a state commission to, among other things, “explore the specific ways trafficking is occurring in North Carolina and the links to international and domestic trafficking” and “to contribute to efforts to inform and educate law enforcement personnel, social service providers, and the general public about trafficking so that traffickers can be prosecuted and victim-survivors can receive appropriate services.”
Cosponsors from the Guilford County delegation include Sen. Katie Dorsett and Sen. Don Vaughan, both Democrats, and Sen. Stan Bingham, a Republican.
More on this from Ben Holder, AKA Troublemaker.
Create Crime of Smuggling Human beings, sponsored by Rep. Curtis Blackwood (R-Union) and cosponsored by Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth), would make it “unlawful for a person to engage in the smuggling of human beings for profit or commercial purpose,” with “smuggling of human beings” meaning “the transportation, or procurement of transportation, by a person or entity that knows or has reason to know that the persons transported, or to be transported, are not United States citizens, permanent resident aliens, or persons who are otherwise lawfully present in the United States.”
Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes told a predominantly Latino audience at an April 1 forum in Greensboro: “This law is too vague, and I personally don’t think they’ll end up getting it passed. I, for one, am not an advocate for a bunch of more laws.” He added later: “I will definitely be calling [legislators] tomorrow to tell them not to [approve the bill]”
Greensboro police Chief Tim Bellamy added, “I think it’s very broad. I would be scared of the police because it’s going to give some police the idea that every time a truck or van goes down the road to stop it and say, ‘Let’s detain someone and question them.’ I have a lot of issues with this legislation.”
The critical difference between smuggling and trafficking persons has to do with consent.
The Justice Department defines human smuggling as “the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person(s) across an international border, in violation of one or more countries’ laws, either clandestinely or through deception, such as the use of fraudulent documents.” A section.” A 2005 Justice Department report adds that “human smuggling is generally with the consent of the person(s) being smuggled, who often pay large sums of money” and that “the vast majority of people who are assisted in illegally entering the United States are smuggled, rather than trafficked.”
In contrast, the United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, or abduction, of fraud, of deception, of abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”
The NC Human Trafficking Commission bill sponsored by Sen. Eleanor Kinnaird (D-Orange) serves an entirely different purpose and addresses a different issue.
The bill would create a state commission to, among other things, “explore the specific ways trafficking is occurring in North Carolina and the links to international and domestic trafficking” and “to contribute to efforts to inform and educate law enforcement personnel, social service providers, and the general public about trafficking so that traffickers can be prosecuted and victim-survivors can receive appropriate services.”
Cosponsors from the Guilford County delegation include Sen. Katie Dorsett and Sen. Don Vaughan, both Democrats, and Sen. Stan Bingham, a Republican.
More on this from Ben Holder, AKA Troublemaker.
Bill would expand public financing to additional council of state races
Sen. Katie Dorsett (D-Guilford) is among the co-sponsors of Expanded Voter-Owned Elections, legislation introduced by Sen. Martin L. Nesbitt Jr. (D-Buncombe) on Thursday that would extend public financing to candidates the Council of State offices of secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and commissioner of labor, starting in 2012.
The stated purpose of the legislation is "to ensure the vitality and fairness of democratic elections in North Carolina to the end that any eligible citizen of this state can realistically choose to seek and run for public office. It is also the purpose of this article to protect the constitutional rights of voters and candidates from the detrimental effects of increasingly large amounts of money being raised and spent in North Carolina to influence the outcome of elections."
No word yet on whether Sen. Don Vaughan (D-Guilford), Sen. Linda Garrou, (D-Forsyth), or Sen. Peter S. Brunstetter (R-Forsyth) are planning to suport the bill.
Public financing is already available for candidates for three council of state offices: auditor, superintendent of public instruction and commissioner of insurance.
Democracy North Carolina contends that the program was successful last year, with average contributions dropping from $500 in 2004 to $70 in 2008 in the commissioner of insurance race and the dollar amounts contributed by regulated industries dropping from 66 percent of total contributions in 2004 to just 5 percent in 2008 in the insurance commissioner race.
A summary of the Nesbitt bill by Democracy North Carolina explains how publicly financed elections work: 1) Candidates declare intent to participate in Voter-Owned Elections (those who spend more than $20,000 before filing the declaration are automatically excluded); 2) raise hundreds of small donations from $10 to $200; and 3) stop all fundraising after a qualifying period, accept a total spending limit, and after the election return all unused public funds to the Voter-Owned Elections Fund.
Democracy North Carolina reports that qualifying candidates in contested races receive the average amount spent by the winning candidate in the past three elections.
According to Democracy North Carolina, the benefits of public financing are that it "eliminates the reliance on donors who do business with the agency" and "allows candidates to spend more time with the voters."
The stated purpose of the legislation is "to ensure the vitality and fairness of democratic elections in North Carolina to the end that any eligible citizen of this state can realistically choose to seek and run for public office. It is also the purpose of this article to protect the constitutional rights of voters and candidates from the detrimental effects of increasingly large amounts of money being raised and spent in North Carolina to influence the outcome of elections."
No word yet on whether Sen. Don Vaughan (D-Guilford), Sen. Linda Garrou, (D-Forsyth), or Sen. Peter S. Brunstetter (R-Forsyth) are planning to suport the bill.
Public financing is already available for candidates for three council of state offices: auditor, superintendent of public instruction and commissioner of insurance.
Democracy North Carolina contends that the program was successful last year, with average contributions dropping from $500 in 2004 to $70 in 2008 in the commissioner of insurance race and the dollar amounts contributed by regulated industries dropping from 66 percent of total contributions in 2004 to just 5 percent in 2008 in the insurance commissioner race.
A summary of the Nesbitt bill by Democracy North Carolina explains how publicly financed elections work: 1) Candidates declare intent to participate in Voter-Owned Elections (those who spend more than $20,000 before filing the declaration are automatically excluded); 2) raise hundreds of small donations from $10 to $200; and 3) stop all fundraising after a qualifying period, accept a total spending limit, and after the election return all unused public funds to the Voter-Owned Elections Fund.
Democracy North Carolina reports that qualifying candidates in contested races receive the average amount spent by the winning candidate in the past three elections.
According to Democracy North Carolina, the benefits of public financing are that it "eliminates the reliance on donors who do business with the agency" and "allows candidates to spend more time with the voters."
NC Senate committee appointments
NC Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight announced committee appointments yesterday.
Sen. Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth) was reappointed co-chair of Appropriations/Base Budget. Sen. Peter Brunstetter (R-Forsyth) was appointed vice-chair of Judiciary I, while freshman Sen. Don Vaughan (D-Guilford) was appointed vice-chair of Judiciary II. Sen. Katie Dorsett (D-Guilford) was appointed co-chair of the Select Committee on Energy, Science and Technology.
Other appointments:
• Garrou, as vice-chair of Pensions, Retirement & Aging, member of Commerce, member of Education/Higher Education and member of Finance;
• Brunstetter, as member of Appropriations/Base Budget, member of Appropriations on Justice and Public Safety, member of Commerce and member of Healthcare;
• Dorsett, as vice-chair of Education/Higher Education, vice-chair of Healthcare, member of Appropriations/Base Budget, co-chair of Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology, member of Commerce, member of Judiciary II, member of Pensions, Retirement & Aging and member of Rules and Operations of the Senate;
• Vaughan, as member of Appropriations/Base Budget, member of Appropriations on Education/Higher Education, member of Commerce, member of Transportation and member of the Select Committee on Energy, Science and Technology.
Other legislative news: bills filed in the House and Senate to restore the protest petition in Greensboro. More from Binker.
Sen. Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth) was reappointed co-chair of Appropriations/Base Budget. Sen. Peter Brunstetter (R-Forsyth) was appointed vice-chair of Judiciary I, while freshman Sen. Don Vaughan (D-Guilford) was appointed vice-chair of Judiciary II. Sen. Katie Dorsett (D-Guilford) was appointed co-chair of the Select Committee on Energy, Science and Technology.
Other appointments:
• Garrou, as vice-chair of Pensions, Retirement & Aging, member of Commerce, member of Education/Higher Education and member of Finance;
• Brunstetter, as member of Appropriations/Base Budget, member of Appropriations on Justice and Public Safety, member of Commerce and member of Healthcare;
• Dorsett, as vice-chair of Education/Higher Education, vice-chair of Healthcare, member of Appropriations/Base Budget, co-chair of Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology, member of Commerce, member of Judiciary II, member of Pensions, Retirement & Aging and member of Rules and Operations of the Senate;
• Vaughan, as member of Appropriations/Base Budget, member of Appropriations on Education/Higher Education, member of Commerce, member of Transportation and member of the Select Committee on Energy, Science and Technology.
Other legislative news: bills filed in the House and Senate to restore the protest petition in Greensboro. More from Binker.
Davis vs. Dorsett, continued
At a May 1 candidates forum at the Greensboro Historical Museum, Sen. Katie Dorsett, who is defending her NC Senate seat in District 28, and challenger Bruce Davis, a Guilford County Commissioner, took questions from audience members. In an earlier post, I published the candidates’ responses to questions I posed.
Because no Republicans filed to run for the seat, the winner of tomorrow’s primary will almost certainly take the seat, barring a successful write-in campaign.
Davis discussed why he believes it’s time for a change and representation, and Dorsett explained why she believes she should keep her seat.
Davis: After awhile of moving in the same direction, I think it’s always good to have a change. And some people say, ‘Well, no, change is not necessarily a good thing.’ But if we look around, had we not had many changes over the years we would be in a sad condition. That’s not to say anything about the Honorable Katie Dorsett, and what she has accomplished. Certainly, she has accomplished much. When we talk about a change — and certainly we’re all hoping for a change in the White House — but if we’re not looking for a change in every aspect of government and politics, then it’s not going to matter whether we change at the top because anything in between or at the bottom can overthrow or trump all the changes that are made at the top. So, I think that once you stay in a position so long you do tend to have blinders on. And you do tend to become a part of the status quo. And there’s always room for new vision…. One failure of our community is we don’t do enough of grooming our new leaders…. We tend to get in a place, and we stay a long, long time, which may be good; it may be honorable. However, I know of students right now at North Carolina A&T who are ready to start being in leadership positions. However, if we tend to pass the baton laterally and not groom and bring people up then we don’t serve our community well. Because I would rather have three or four senators who have gone through – that we would increase our political capital in our community – than to have one to stay in twenty years.”
Dorsett: “I certainly think we need to be grooming people, but I’ve been in the Senate six years — the same amount of years that my opponent has been in the Board of Commissioners. I’ve served three terms, and that’s probably one of the shortest tenures in the Senate. Most people who get there and assume any kind of leadership position must have been there for some period of time. But I run on my experience. I have been in service at the city level, at the county level, at the executive branch level, and now at the Senate level. I do serve as the majority whip, which means I am part of the leadership for the Senate. We in Guilford County have had two people who have some experience. One we have lost. That is Senator Kay Hagan, [who is vacating her seat to run for US Senate]. Two new people in the Senate from Guilford County, I think would not be of good service to us, so that really is something that I think we need to consider. I know that the voters will decide, but I think we’ve done very well by Guilford County. We’ve brought in money for the Millennium Campus. We’ve brought in money for the Furniture Market, the civil rights museum, the Charlotte Hawkins Brown [Museum]. And if we expect to have a voice in what comes to our community, you have to have had some exposure and some experience, and some tenure before you’re able to be in a leadership role. So I bring my experience to this position, and I think it has served us very well.”
The candidates responded to a question about what they might do to address the dearth of healthcare facilities in southeast Greensboro.
Dorsett: “One of the things I’ve done is find monies for children so that children are covered…. We also have different grant programs where our communities can apply for grants for assistance. And I think there was someone at the convention talking about a resolution to ask the state for a certificate of need and some funding, so we could do it in that way. But the ideas come through your [county] health department, and the health department connects with the state health department.”
Davis: “I recognize that there is a need for healthcare in southeast Greensboro. As a commissioner, I am proposing in this year’s budget that we take some steps to put something in place. Looking for funding will be one of my issue’s in this year’s budget. Where we get the money, we won’t discuss that right now, but I’ve got that figured out…. I think the same leadership has to be shown at the state level. You go get it. There’s money in different places for different needs, and the other senators and legislators have needs in their communities, and we have needs in our communities. And that’s what I’m talking about when I talk about building bridges and going and meeting with other senators and saying, ‘What is your agenda? What are you trying to do in your community?’ And then by building bridges, opening myself up to them. And then: ‘This is what I need in my community. In southeast Greensboro they need healthcare.’ There’s funding there. Let’s make it happen.”
Dorsett: “When we deal with this, we can’t just deal with southeast Greensboro. We have one-hundred counties, so we have to look at the total picture. But within that $12 million there is money for various grants for various grants, so perhaps one of those grants – if it is funded – could possibly come to our community…. That has to be put in bill form in an appropriation, and the $12.5 million is funded. Then it goes through our public health division to be spread out to the one-hundred counties. That’s our process. And so we have to deal with five hundred and some municipalities.”
Davis: “I, if elected to represent District 28 then I am going to fight for those needs in our communities. I understand that we represent the entire state, and I understand the grant process, and I understand it very clearly. The business I operate in uses some grants. Many of the boards I’ve served on use grants, so I do understand that, but I also understand where certain individuals who serve in certain capacities in different parts of the state have more highways and byways and money being spent than the law should allow. If you wonder how these things happen, if you wonder how certain things get to be, the grant process sounds like an equitable kind of thing. It sounds like it’s fair across the entire state. On paper it is like that, but in reality you do have to fight for your… that’s why you’re in that position. That’s why you represent the people. I heard about all these [initiatives Dorsett funded], but I don’t think they got funded without Ms. Dorsett fighting for them. If they did, that’s great, but in that case we don’t need the legislators and the state senators to represent that portion – we represent the entire state – but you have to be a voice for that portion that the people sent you to that seat.”
Because no Republicans filed to run for the seat, the winner of tomorrow’s primary will almost certainly take the seat, barring a successful write-in campaign.
Davis discussed why he believes it’s time for a change and representation, and Dorsett explained why she believes she should keep her seat.
Davis: After awhile of moving in the same direction, I think it’s always good to have a change. And some people say, ‘Well, no, change is not necessarily a good thing.’ But if we look around, had we not had many changes over the years we would be in a sad condition. That’s not to say anything about the Honorable Katie Dorsett, and what she has accomplished. Certainly, she has accomplished much. When we talk about a change — and certainly we’re all hoping for a change in the White House — but if we’re not looking for a change in every aspect of government and politics, then it’s not going to matter whether we change at the top because anything in between or at the bottom can overthrow or trump all the changes that are made at the top. So, I think that once you stay in a position so long you do tend to have blinders on. And you do tend to become a part of the status quo. And there’s always room for new vision…. One failure of our community is we don’t do enough of grooming our new leaders…. We tend to get in a place, and we stay a long, long time, which may be good; it may be honorable. However, I know of students right now at North Carolina A&T who are ready to start being in leadership positions. However, if we tend to pass the baton laterally and not groom and bring people up then we don’t serve our community well. Because I would rather have three or four senators who have gone through – that we would increase our political capital in our community – than to have one to stay in twenty years.”
Dorsett: “I certainly think we need to be grooming people, but I’ve been in the Senate six years — the same amount of years that my opponent has been in the Board of Commissioners. I’ve served three terms, and that’s probably one of the shortest tenures in the Senate. Most people who get there and assume any kind of leadership position must have been there for some period of time. But I run on my experience. I have been in service at the city level, at the county level, at the executive branch level, and now at the Senate level. I do serve as the majority whip, which means I am part of the leadership for the Senate. We in Guilford County have had two people who have some experience. One we have lost. That is Senator Kay Hagan, [who is vacating her seat to run for US Senate]. Two new people in the Senate from Guilford County, I think would not be of good service to us, so that really is something that I think we need to consider. I know that the voters will decide, but I think we’ve done very well by Guilford County. We’ve brought in money for the Millennium Campus. We’ve brought in money for the Furniture Market, the civil rights museum, the Charlotte Hawkins Brown [Museum]. And if we expect to have a voice in what comes to our community, you have to have had some exposure and some experience, and some tenure before you’re able to be in a leadership role. So I bring my experience to this position, and I think it has served us very well.”
The candidates responded to a question about what they might do to address the dearth of healthcare facilities in southeast Greensboro.
Dorsett: “One of the things I’ve done is find monies for children so that children are covered…. We also have different grant programs where our communities can apply for grants for assistance. And I think there was someone at the convention talking about a resolution to ask the state for a certificate of need and some funding, so we could do it in that way. But the ideas come through your [county] health department, and the health department connects with the state health department.”
Davis: “I recognize that there is a need for healthcare in southeast Greensboro. As a commissioner, I am proposing in this year’s budget that we take some steps to put something in place. Looking for funding will be one of my issue’s in this year’s budget. Where we get the money, we won’t discuss that right now, but I’ve got that figured out…. I think the same leadership has to be shown at the state level. You go get it. There’s money in different places for different needs, and the other senators and legislators have needs in their communities, and we have needs in our communities. And that’s what I’m talking about when I talk about building bridges and going and meeting with other senators and saying, ‘What is your agenda? What are you trying to do in your community?’ And then by building bridges, opening myself up to them. And then: ‘This is what I need in my community. In southeast Greensboro they need healthcare.’ There’s funding there. Let’s make it happen.”
Dorsett: “When we deal with this, we can’t just deal with southeast Greensboro. We have one-hundred counties, so we have to look at the total picture. But within that $12 million there is money for various grants for various grants, so perhaps one of those grants – if it is funded – could possibly come to our community…. That has to be put in bill form in an appropriation, and the $12.5 million is funded. Then it goes through our public health division to be spread out to the one-hundred counties. That’s our process. And so we have to deal with five hundred and some municipalities.”
Davis: “I, if elected to represent District 28 then I am going to fight for those needs in our communities. I understand that we represent the entire state, and I understand the grant process, and I understand it very clearly. The business I operate in uses some grants. Many of the boards I’ve served on use grants, so I do understand that, but I also understand where certain individuals who serve in certain capacities in different parts of the state have more highways and byways and money being spent than the law should allow. If you wonder how these things happen, if you wonder how certain things get to be, the grant process sounds like an equitable kind of thing. It sounds like it’s fair across the entire state. On paper it is like that, but in reality you do have to fight for your… that’s why you’re in that position. That’s why you represent the people. I heard about all these [initiatives Dorsett funded], but I don’t think they got funded without Ms. Dorsett fighting for them. If they did, that’s great, but in that case we don’t need the legislators and the state senators to represent that portion – we represent the entire state – but you have to be a voice for that portion that the people sent you to that seat.”
NC 28 debate: Katie Dorsett and Bruce Davis
Katie Dorsett of Greensboro, who is serving her third term as state senator for District 28, appeared at a candidate’s forum sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro at the Greensboro Historical Museum on May 1 with challenger Bruce Davis, a Guilford County commissioner from High Point. Both candidates are Democrats, and the winner of the May 6 primary will take the seat because no Republican candidate has filed. The district encompasses most of High Point, much of east Greensboro, all of Jamestown and Pleasant Garden, and a large swath of southern Guilford County.
The candidates discussed their views of the Street Gang Prevention Act, a bill that would enhance sentences for criminal defendants identified as gang members. The legislation, which enjoys the backing of a coalition of North Carolina mayors, including Greensboro’s Keith Holliday, stalled last year in the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Dorsett is a member.
Dorsett: “I certainly know that we’ve done a lot of discussion on gangs. I would say that some of our communities have been further along than we have. High Point was one of the first ones to have their own area in the police department to look specifically at gangs. Senator Malcolm Graham had a bill that was looking for approximately $20 billion. That got stalled. Representative Mickey Michaux had one in the house. I do say that we do have some money though. We appropriated a little more than $4 million to the Governor’s Crime Commission for grants for different communities, so it has not gone unnoticed. I know that the activity and the awareness on gang prevention has been heightened in the last several months. But we have to understand, too, that when we get into a matter of priorities, it’s a matter of how we can get the most for our money.”
Davis: “I really need the bill in front of me. I really need to know the components of the bill. And I think our legislators and all of us as community citizens need to understand about gangs. We need to understand the history of gangs, and how they have always been a part of our community. Gangs are not a new thing to our community, but we have to understand where they come from and how they have evolved, and what they are right now, so that we can, first of all, not stereotype, and not just go after everybody with — every kid who puts a mark in his eyebrow, or every kid who wears baggy trousers, because now we become profilers, and so I would have to study that bill. There’s no way I can sit here and tell you that yes, I would support it, or no, I would not, without studying the issue and also having different forums throughout our community, so that everybody understands what gangs are about, where they evolved from, and what it is about gangs. We don’t want to have a fear factor in our gangs without knowing where they come from or the issue of gangs. Certainly there’s an education component that needs to go in there. I’m not aware of all the particulars in that bill. Would love to have the opportunity to have that discussion.”
Gov. Mike Easley said of the Job Maintenance and Capital Development Fund last fall: “Never in the history of the state has anyone given a company up to $40 million and allowed them to lay off hundreds of workers.” Dorsett voted for the legislation. The candidates discussed their respective positions on corporate incentives.
Dorsett: “Well, I’ll tell you, that’s a little bit misleading, because we did come back and the governor did sign that subsequent bill, and it was pretty much the same language. So he might have vetoed it in one sense, and then he went back, and there was some refinement, and we still passed that. In terms of incentives, I wish we didn’t have incentives, to be honest. I think that it is something that we could do without and be competitive in other ways. Having said that, when I was secretary of administration [under Gov. Jim Hunt], we competed trying to get Mercedes, and we lost that to Alabama. Alabama gave away the store, and it took them a long time to recoup some of that. Our package was not the same, but we recognized that there was a limit as to what we could do, and so we cut it off. I was secretary when we were trying to get the BMW plant, and we tried to put together a package. We again gave away all we thought we could do, and yet it went to South Carolina.
“I’m saying that to say that there has to be some way of being competitive, and incentives right now appears to be the only way we can do that. I did hear part of the discussion as we talk about Skybus…. There’s some producing that has to take place. We don’t just give this money up front. So Skybus didn’t get all that money up front. They have to be able to show that they will hire a certain number of people. And there are certain things that are part of the contractual agreement. And I think you saw in the paper that most of that money that was supposed to go to Skybus — it was an unfortunate circumstance — will be recovered or has never been given. I do not believe that we can afford not to have incentives.
“And we talked tonight about how we can increase the revenue. The only way to decrease the taxes is to increase the revenue. We can do that by bringing businesses into our communities. We bring businesses into our communities by being competitive so they don’t go to Virginia or they don’t go to South Carolina or they don’t go to Alabama. So we have to do some of that. And until the federal government or somebody at another level is able to intercede on behalf of all of us, I think we will forever be finding ways to compete to bring industry so that we can increase the revenue so we can keep our taxes low. So I don’t like them, but I think we have no choice but to have them.”
Davis: “I have supported those incentives because we have lost so many jobs in Guilford County. However, I have taken another look at those incentives and feel that just as was stated, once those incentives are put in place and then we start losing those jobs that we thought we were going to get, then there’s certainly a problem there. I would certainly like to see the counties taken out of the corporate incentive business. It is a necessary evil because that’s what they are doing right now. That’s what other states have to do. But right now, at the county level, it causes our counties to compete against one another. And so you find that FedEx may go to Forsyth County, or [if] we up the ante they’ll come to Guilford County. Well, truth be told, those workers will travel wherever….
“With that being said, it will probably be good to do away with them from a state level, but, again, understand that they’re a necessary evil. We could take those same funds that we give to large corporations and offer incentives to small mom-and-pop businesses, those small businesses that are really out there struggling because about 54 percent of America’s income comes through the small businesses. They are taxed at the same rate as the large corporations, depending on the property that they have or what have you. So I think that those incentives could be used in a better way, by supporting start-up businesses that maybe promote a greener economy. I’m a small business. And you start out a small business with credit-card debt. And you're continuously trying to chase those debts, and you never get a strong hold on what’s happening. But with my small business I put food on the table for 18 families. If I had those incentives I would be able to do much better for those families right here in our community. And if we were able to take those incentives and put them into start-up businesses, small mom-and-pop businesses, that’s where the money should go.”
The candidates discussed their support for restoring the protest petition in Greensboro. The protest petition provides that if a certain percentage of adjacent property owners protest a proposed rezoning the city council is required to muster a 75-percent super-majority to approve the request. Greensboro lost the protest petition in 1971 by of an act of the General Assembly, and it remains the only city in the state that does not have this provision.
Dorsett: “I’ve heard a lot and had public hearings over in Greensboro and High Point, and they’ve been to Raleigh as well. And I have agreed to sponsor that legislation in the Senate to permit Greensboro the same as everybody else…. I don’t know a lot — I remember looking back in history when it started, and I don’t know the basis of which it started, but I do think it’s unfair for all other communities and cities in our state to abide by one law and Greensboro have exemption, when there’s, in my opinion, no real justification for it.”
Davis: “I would support it. I have no real problem with that. I would have to agree with the Honorable Katie Dorsett. We need to have consistency.”
Preview: NC Senate 28, Guilford County Commission and Guilford County School Board candidates
I got the opportunity to ask questions of incumbent NC Sen. Katie Dorsett and challenger Bruce Davis, a Guilford County commissioner, at a debate sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro at the Greensboro Historical Museum last night.
At-large candidates for Guilford County School Board and Republican candidates for at-large Guilford County Commission seats (the Democratic primary isn't competitive) were also invited. Among the at-large school board candidates, Sandra Alexander, Alan Hawkes and Michael McKinney were present; EC Huey and David Crawford were not. Inexplicably, only one county commission candidate, Joseph Rahenkamp, showed up. Rudy Binder, EH Hennis, Larry Proctor and Wendell Sawyer were missing in action.
I'll be posting excerpts of the candidate's responses, along with School Board Chaiman Alan Duncan's call for support for the school bond referenda, over the weekend. Our print edition comes out after the election, so time is of the essence.
At-large candidates for Guilford County School Board and Republican candidates for at-large Guilford County Commission seats (the Democratic primary isn't competitive) were also invited. Among the at-large school board candidates, Sandra Alexander, Alan Hawkes and Michael McKinney were present; EC Huey and David Crawford were not. Inexplicably, only one county commission candidate, Joseph Rahenkamp, showed up. Rudy Binder, EH Hennis, Larry Proctor and Wendell Sawyer were missing in action.
I'll be posting excerpts of the candidate's responses, along with School Board Chaiman Alan Duncan's call for support for the school bond referenda, over the weekend. Our print edition comes out after the election, so time is of the essence.
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