ldhintz's blog
The NC Voter Guide is online. If you enter your address you can see a ballot and different candidate positions. You can also listen to the candidate's voice. (I must admit, I did not make the most exciting recording ever heard.) http://c3.thevoterguide.org/v/nccve13/build.do. Enjoy.
As a candidate I have been trying to keep up with the new voting rules. Early voting starts on Oct. 17 but except for Sat. Nov. 2 is is only Mon.- Fri. and not on weekends. The Orange Politics calendar needs to be corrected. See http://www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/documents/onestopsites2013.pdf from the Orange County board of elections for details. Most of the new voting rules don't take place until next near but now is a good time to help everyone get a voter ID. We should have the goal of everyone obtaining their ID before the May 2014 primary.
I'm happy to report that after completing the interview process I was
endorsed by the Triangle Central Labor Council and the NC State
AFL-CIO. Historically one of the best ways to raise average income is
to have more of the labor force unionized. As a Council Member I want to
make sure that town employees receive a fair wage and that disputes are
settled fairly. North Carolina prohibits public employees from engaging
in collective bargaining however it is important for the town to listen
to employees and learn from their experiences in doing their job. It is
significant that one of the many groups at the Moral Monday protests
against the new negative state legislation was organized labor including
FLOC. FLOC is the Farm Labor Organizing Committee which is improving
conditions for farm workers in North Carolina. Years ago my mother
worked with FLOC in Ohio.When I was in the Peace Corps in Honduras I saw the movie Norma Rae about textile unions in Roanoke Rapids where I ended up living for 8 years. Now the many mills in NC (and Honduras) have closed and moved to Asia.
I just received this
article from a neighbor. It focuses on the state once again opting not
to use federal monies for important state activities. My guess is that
in the future the state will do less environmental monitoring and then
use that as an excuse to repeal current regulations making them even
weaker. The last two days I have been attending LUMO (land use
meetings.) An important issue is House Bill 74 which was passed this year. It's
goal was to prevent local governments from passing regulations which
will protect towns more than the state or federal laws. (The Republican
logic was that government regulation prevents job formation. By that
logic Chapel Hill should have one of the highest unemployment rates in
the state but of course we have one of the lowest unemployment rates. )
Fortunately it did NOT repeal current local legislation such as the
rules Chapel Hill has to protect water sheds, prevent erosion and
regulate development near streams. However, any revisions of those rules
under HB74 would require 100% (not majority vote) by the local
government. This means that as the town rewrites and in some cases
At noon today I attended a seminar on the economics of town development. The speakers were sponsored by the town, county and chamber of commerce. The argument they presented was that most suburban development both residential and commercial require a very long time to pay back the costs of maintaining the initial infrastructure much less the general government cost of services. They analyzed the tax value/acre of land of various properties in town. Multiple store buildings create the greatest value although the Spotted Dog also was high in their calculations. Box stores like Walmart rated relatively low on their scale. Implied by their presentation is that the cost benefit formulas used for residential, commercial and industrial are misleading. By the way the title of their talk: Dollars and Sense is a name of a magazine I've subscribed to for years. It is edited by a "collective of economists, journalists and activists who are committed to social justice and economic democracy." www.dollarsandsense.org
Loren
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