Craven County Board of Commissioners Meeting 17 June 2013

CCTA Watchdog Report- 18 June 2013

Craven County Board of Commissioners Meeting 17 June 2013

Budget Ordinance

The Craven County budget as approved by the Board of Commissioners on Monday is roughly $97 million for the coming fiscal year. It was about $94,000 at the start of last year. This represents a growth of about 3%, or about half of what I feared. GOOD! The growth can be attributed to "pass through" tax dollars from taxpayers who pay federal and North Carolina taxes. How is that possible with all the belt tightening we hear about? Well, maybe next year if we work hard to communicate with our representatives at all levels of government. In the final analysis, all money spent by government in Craven County is paid for by we the people who pay taxes. Why can't our county elected representatives do more to protect us from that? We need to continue to work to persuade them, and we need to do the same with our state and federal representatives.

Taxpayer Support of Charities

The practice of taking from some citizens in order to give to others continues with this budget. Strangely, the only dissenting vote on the adoption of the budget came from Commissioner McCabe who objected to the curtailment of the practice of providing "congregate meals" to anyone over 60 years of age regardless of any demonstrated need. To quote Commissioner Dacey, "It is not the responsibility of the county to provide food for anyone with a financial hardship." I surely agree, but I think it runs deeper than that. It is not the taxpayer's obligation to provide food for a social meeting with recreation for Harlowe residents or the residents of any other area of the County.

The Craven County Commissioners still think that the "truly needy" should be helped by the taxpayers. That is not a proper function of government, but at least they are trying to restrict it to the "truly needy." (I believe every CCTA member wants the truly needy to be looked after; however, we believe it's the job of families, friends, churches, neighbors, and philanthropic organizations.

Department of Social Services (DSS)

The entire program for DSS needs to be gleaned for practices similar to that of the "Congregate Meals" program. That is, providing taxpayer money to provide services for people who experience some financial hardship, but who are able to provide them for themselves. These programs include: Family Caregiving, Day Care, Special Assistance to the Aged, Smart Start, Work First Transportation, and on and on. THE LIST IS SEEMINGLY ENDLESS!

Health Department

The same can be said for the Health Department. Programs include: Random Moment Study (whatever the heck that is), Camp Seagull, Medicaid Maximization, Child Health, Women Infants and Children (WIC), WIC Education, Communicable Disease, Family Planning, Home Health, Home Hospice, Inpatient Hospice, Cancer Control, Adult Health, Risk Reduction. ANOTHER SEEMINGLY ENDLESS LIST! Are all the people who participate in these programs really unable to provide for themselves in these areas? Really? Or do they just choose to spend time and money on other things?

News Flash: The taxpayers who are forced to cough up money for these programs would dearly love to spend their money on other things! Going to the dentist twice a year instead of just once? Contributing music lessons to a grandchild? Going out to dinner or to a play a little more often? What would you do if you kept a little more of your own money?

Craven Area Rural Transportation (CARTS)

Anyone can ride cheap. They'll even come pick you up when you call, and it's a lot cheaper than a private taxi. I've watched it happen at the physical therapy place, and at least one couple was going to their home in Fairfield Harbor. Truly needy?

Summary

How much do people who are not "truly needy" sponge off of these programs? My guess is that only God knows. At budget time each year, the Board of Commissioners ask the county manager to have the department heads (whose jobs are dependent on the retention and expansion of these programs) for budget requests. THERE HAS GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY!! Why not ask them to identify the waste, and money spent on people who could very well do for themselves, in their departments' budgets, and see how much they could cut from their prior year's request??? Why not give an award to the department that reduces its budget by the largest percentage? Why not give a "merit pay" increase of 1% to the employees of any department that cuts its request for funds 3 years in a row?

North Carolina Eastern Region (NCER) aka Global TransPark

Here is the latest scheme for this bunch of bureaucratic straphangers to hang on to their jobs. Take the money that the state took from North Carolina taxpayers and fee payers and put it into a 501 (3c) "non-profit" private corporation. HUH! Thank goodness Craven County's representative, Mark Griffin, blew the whistle. Mark really deserves our appreciation. It cannot have been easy for him to have been the only dissenter. Our North Carolina House Representative, Michael Speciale, thinks the law establishing NCER does not provide for this. I should hope not! THE COMMISSIONERS ARE STUDYING THIS SITUATION.

As an aside, Michael has consistently worked for a government that functions in a constitutionally directed way since he's been in the North Carolina House, and he deserves and has earned our deep appreciation as a result.

Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)

As one example of this program, $750,000 has been earmarked to improve infrastructure in Harlowe and James City. That's a good idea. The infrastructure should function well in all areas of the county, and when something is substandard, money should be spent to bring water, sewer, storm drainage, and the like back into good order. That's not the problem, but shouldn't the State of North Carolina and the County of Craven take care of those things instead of the feds? OUR COUNTRY IS IN A LOT OF FINANCIAL TROUBLE! It's much less cost efficient to send money to the feds and get it back (with strings) than it is to take care of our own in the first place.

We do need to acknowledge and appreciate that the Board of Commissioners has recognized that it is not right to take from all taxpayers and benefit only one family with the keys to a new or renovated house without the property owner having "some skin in the game." That, at least, is a step in the right direction. You will remember that giving away houses to people with nothing from them in return used to be part of what "block grant" money was spent on.

Regional Hazard Mitigation Update

LOOK OUT FOR THIS ONE!! There are more houses in flood plains according to the new FEMA flood maps. This has happened because the assumption has been made that sea levels will RISE significantly. Scientists do not all agree on this; it is a theory only. Just think, a theory will mean MORE REVENUE FOR FEMA, and COST MANY CRAVEN COUNTY HOMEOWNERS BIG BUCKS! THIS IS A SLEEPER (KEPT UNDER COVERS). PLEASE APPEAL TO OUR REPRESENTATIVES ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL TO FIX THIS FOR US. Our Commissioners are being told that they have no choice but to accept the new maps or lose all FEMA flood protection insurance for Craven County residents. THEY ARE VIRTUALLY HELPLESS TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SITUATION!

Inpatient Hospice

An "Interlocal Inpatient Hospice Development Agreement" presentation was scheduled for this meeting, but was quickly deferred until a later meeting. I read this agreement which was attached as an addendum to the agenda, and I have many concerns and questions. I hope to get some answers at Commission Chairman, Scott Dacey's town hall meeting at the River Bend Town Hall today at 4:00 PM. I hope some of our members can attend.

To wrap up on the Budget

The 2013-2014 Craven County budget is much kinder to the taxpayers than those adopted by other recent Boards of Commissioners. We are grateful for that. Much still needs to be done at the federal, state, and local levels of government to really have a taxpayer friendly county budget, but some improvement has begun. The much touted quarter cent reduction in property tax rate is largely symbolic (amounts to about $4.00 on the average house). However, it is a start and does acknowledge that the commissioners would like to help the taxpayers. We have our work cut out for us because the future is uncertain, and our commissioners seem reluctant to make a bold move in the direction of tax reduction for fear of making a mistake that will come back to haunt them.

Respectfully Submitted,
Hal James, Watchdog Committee Chairman
Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association
New Bern, North Carolina

CCTA Issues and Watchdog Report- 24 August 2012

Craven County Board of Commissioners -

1) The Board of Commissioners deserves a lot of credit! They have hit a home run for the taxpayers. The Board of Commissioners replaced a liberal on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board with a conservative, Chip Hughes. In his first meeting on the ABC Board,(one of our members, Carl Mischka was at that meeting), Chip learned that the ABC board has been holding a very large reserve of earnings that could have been turned over to the county. Their stated reason for doing that was to have funds available for capital expenditures like building a new store. In fact, it made them a lot more likely to fund trips and dinners, etc. for board members. Chip did not believe that this money should be withheld from the county taxpayers, and since the ABC Board now has a majority of like thinking members, they will present the county with a sizable check at the evening meeting on 4 September 2012 at the Dover firehouse. PLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THIS EXTRAORDINARY EVENT!

We need conservative people on these boards, commissions, task forces, etc. I printed the list of them with their supporting material that is on the county website. If you are interested in serving, please let me know. Maybe we can affect some other big changes!

2) Transparency in government matters-
a) Commissioner Dacey emailed me to inform us that the budget was back up on line. IT IS INDEED! However, you have to check not only the budget ordinance as adopted, but also both the budget amendments and budget details to get the full picture. There is no running budget with all the changes and there is no accounting for capital projects that are budgeted and then kept separately. These county assets are not accounted for in this budget reporting process.


b) Appointed members of the various boards and committees are not keeping citizens/taxpayers informed by making formal reports at Board of Commissioners meetings. For instance, the Global TransPark Board of Directors apparently has no county representative now. Mark Griffin, who was appointed to their Board of Directors by the County Board of Directors is no longer on that board, but is, instead, on North Carolina's Eastern Region. It appears that the Global TransPark is now totally run by the State of North Carolina and some industry and business representatives. I AM VERY PLEASED WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT, BUT WHY WEREN'T WE TOLD??? Another example is the Military Growth Task Force. After spending hundreds of thousand of taxpayer dollars (if not millions) on study after study and no concrete projects, they are just folding their tents and closing up. GREAT! BUT WHY WITHOUT FANFARE???

c) The information about the Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces, etc. that is on the county website is too sketchy. Often just telling who the appointed representative is.

3) Scott Dacey has continued his commendable efforts to communicate with citizens and taxpayers through holding "town hall meetings." We had very good representation at his last one on 15 August 12 at the Trent Wood Town Hall. Scott listened to us and his constituents on a variety of subjects including: Sheriff's Department, Global TransPark, NC's Eastern Region, Eastern Council of Governments, schools, effects of potential military reduction, and the new county district lines being drawn.

4) Growth in County budget- As of 31 July 12 the county budget stood at $95,060,300. In other words, it has grown by about $1 million in 2 months. My guess is that the county 2013 budget will pass the final FY 2012 budget by mid-year. When will there be relief for the taxpayer?

Respectfully submitted:


Hal James, Watchdog Chairman
Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association

SUN JOURNAL-NEW BERN, NC

Griffin supports workers, military

Mark Griffin, 28, is a Craven County Republican from a Dover-Fort Barnwell area farm in his second bid for the 12th District House seat in the North Carolina General Assembly.

Read the story:

http://www.newbernsj.com/news/-91705--.html

MARK GRIFFIN "I believe in small efficient, effective state government"

Wainwright, Griffin: Cut spending, create jobs

Sun Journal New Bern, 10/25/10


Sue Book
Sun Journal Staff
The 2010 N.C. House District 12 race gives voters in the district shared by Craven and Lenoir counties another chance at a clear-cut choice.

Rep. William Wainwright, D-Craven, of Havelock and Republican challenger Mark Griffin of Dover let voters choose again between a veteran politician and a newcomer trying again to unseat him with different stances on a long list of issues.

One thing Wainwright and Griffin do agree on for the next General Assembly is that, facing an estimated $3.6 billion shortfall as unemployment in the state mirrors the national average 9.6 percent, cutting state government spending and creating jobs for the unemployed are top priorities.

Asked how they would address those priorities, both said government service cuts would be part of their solution.

“I can describe myself in one sentence,” Griffin said. “I believe in small efficient, effective state government that takes care of mandated areas of construction and doesn’t overreach. Private citizens and business can do most things better than government.”

Wainwright said, “I think over the last several years we have focused on trying to make government more efficient. We have looked at our state budget to eliminate duplication. But it’s a tough process and the economic downturn has caused us to take a deeper look to eliminate any and all duplication.”

Griffin said he would also cut incentives and subsidies for businesses including those for places like the Global TransPark. “I’m not against the GTP existing. I’m against state government subsidizing it and continuing to pour money into it.”

Wainwright said he considers his work toward luring industry to the GTP among his accomplishments. He pledged in 2008 to make dealing with the economy a priority.  (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?)

“People want us to find ways to create employment opportunities for them,” he said. “They want to see us reduce the size of government. But they want us to preserve and protect our education system.”
“To do this without too much job loss we will be looking at it as people retire, those positions will not have to be filled,” he said. “Where we are forced to make reductions, we’ll have to make the hard choices. Nothing is exempt.”

Griffin said, “We’ll have to look at areas where we can combine administrative work – many areas of DOT could use the same administrators.”

He sees other cost cuts or revenue generators in eliminating state funding for nonprofits and privatizing the ABC system, selling the real estate to private business he says can operate competitively and more efficiently.

Wainwright anticipates restructuring the tax system as part of the way the state has enough money to operate and vows “to do it in a transparent manner.”

And he served on the 21st Century Transportation Commission that has suggested some toll roads as one way to pay for highway infrastructure. “As long as you give people option that if they don’t want to travel a toll road they have an alternative route I would not oppose it,” he said.

Griffin said he is against toll roads. The state’s gas tax and funding through the Highway Trust, if not raided for other uses, should pay for the roads, he said.

Griffin said his political philosophy supports positions that are for pro-life, limited government, lower taxes and ending wasteful spending, educational choice, immigration law enforcement, protecting laws for traditional marriage, supporting the military, protecting the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and moving the country toward energy independence.

Both candidates favor allowing drilling off the coast.

Wainwright has significantly more campaign contributions than Griffin. Asked if he is beholden to any special interests because of them, he said, “Absolutely not. I think my contributions have come because of my dedication, commitment, effective voice, hard work in the legislative process and my desire to do the right thing.”

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sbook@freedomenc.com.

Letters to the Editor - Sun Journal, New Bern

Liberals in NC

September 11, 2010 11:03 PM


Is North Carolina more liberal than California? It seems so at times. California voted over 10 years ago on marriage between a man and woman by over 60 percent. Has N.C. even been allowed to vote on the issue? Has the legislature even wanted to protect traditional marriage? I haven’t seen it.

Jessica’s law was passed in California years before North Carolina. At a “town hall” meeting at Havelock library when I asked Rep. Wainwright about Jessica’s law, he asked, “What is that?” For a legislator not to know what that law is shows something is wrong. Uninformed? Or what is the problem? When I asked him after a Havelock Chamber of Commerce meeting about drilling for oil, he said, “We have to protect the trees.” I think people are more important than trees. I also asked him if he realized that his pro-abortion stance may have helped kill the future scientist who could have found a cure for cancer and he walked away. He should walk away from his job and let Mark Griffith help our state.

Going to Village Butcher a couple of years ago Alice Underhill was leaving it and commented on my bumper sticker. It reads “Drill for American oil now.” She came up to my car and said, “That’s not possible.” I asked, “Why not?” “It would take 10 years to drill if we found any.” “That’s what Bill Clinton said 10 years ago,” I reminded her.

“They don’t think there is much oil off North Carolina,” she said and I wanted to ask, “‘Who are they?’” as she rushed off. I think she needs to rush away from the law-making body also. Norm Sanderson’s business experience is actually better preparation than school teaching for representing us. In my opinion he legally won last time. Everyone should support him this time and keep an eye on the ballots.

Also, the UNC Board of Governors appointed Wake Forest University President Thomas Ross as the 17th president of the UNC system. Civitas reveals several questionable marks on Ross’ record, including over $200,000 given to ACORN. Do you want ACORN to control ballot returns?

If you love high taxes and big spending on plane rides, vote for liberals. If you think we deserve to keep more of the money we earn, vote for conservatives. (Don’t forget what caused the USSR to fall; the second S, socialists.)

J.E. Parys, New Bern
CCTA MEMBER



Editor’s note: Ross was president of Davidson College.


http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/california-90471-marriage-north.html