North Carolina
Mark Marcoplos gave me permission to post this letter to the president of the Home Builders Association. It speaks volumes and most eloquently.
Marcoplos Construction
February 9, 2005
Dear President Burgess,
After much deliberation, I have decided not to renew my membership in the Home Builders Association.
From my perspective, the long-term viability of our communities, our economy, and our health is in danger. Our society embraces short-term profit-seeking at the expense of human needs, environmental protection, and a sustainable economic framework.
At the forefront of this short-sighted approach is the Home Builders Association. Whether the issue is building along fragile coastal areas in North Carolina, building housing developments in the Florida Everglades, or battling regulations that would help curtail urban sprawl, the HBA is consistently advocating for whatever will allow more building with less barriers and more profits.
Great article in this week's Indy by Bob Burtman. Burtman analyzes the problems passing legislation to authorize impact fees and other mechanisms to compensate the public for the costs of accommodating growth.
The main stumbling blocks, as you might guess, are the homebuilders and realtors PACS, among the most effective promoters of self-interest in the state.
One interesting twist that Burtman reports in the homebuilders legal challenge to Durham's impact fees in which the builders claimed that they could not pass impact fees on to buyers and that the fees therefore cut into profits (cue for big crocodile tears). In the past, the argument has been the opposite, challenging the fees as a burden on homebuyers.
Read more about NC Homebuilders Association & the Sprawl Lobby or my own Chapel Hill Herald column of 8/21/2004.
This from the Common Sense Foundation:
On Wednesday at noon, history was made in North Carolina. The General Assembly began its 2005-06 session with an out lesbian as one of its elected members for the first time.
Julia Boseman defeated a Republican incumbent in a conservative Wilmington district to earn her seat in the state Senate. She survived slurs against her sexual orientation during the campaign to win the seat.
Yet while the whole state has reason to celebrate the diversity and equality symbolized by Boseman's election, not all is well for the GLBT community in North Carolina.
Just minutes after Boseman and the rest of the legislature were sworn in, a new constitutional amendment was filed to attack gay marriage and even gay relationships.
The events of this week show both profound encouragement in the struggle for GLBT equality, as well as how many difficulties that struggle still faces.
People in our community should celebrate Boseman's victory as an outgrowth of landmark events in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the election of Joe Herzenberg to the Town Council and of Mike Nelson as Mayor.
I've been hearing about a number of local events being held to
protest the Presidential Inauguration (January 20th). What will you be
doing?
Inauguration Party '04, Thursday 1/13 8:30 pm, Nightlight
Stolen Nation Productions presents: screening of Fahrenheit 9/11,
snacks, blow off some steam at the letter-writing table. "Come on, feel
the rage!"
Inauguration Day Peace Vigil in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thursday, 1/20, 7:00 pm
Carrboro Farmers Market, 301 Main Street, Carrboro, NC
• Hear the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Bring and light a candle for peace
• Sign a peace register
• Music by the United Voices of Praise Choir
Sponsored by the North Carolina Council of Churches
“While some dance at the inauguration ball, people continue to die in Iraq.â€Â
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