Civitas Review Online

The $25 million, state-funded, job-creating Jennette’s Pier project in Nags Head has sustained a Nor ‘easter and a broken wind turbine. That said, recently hired Pier Manager Mike Remige says the project’s timeline is on schedule to open May 21, 2011. The pier’s operating budget alone, Remige mentioned, will cost $578,000 a year, and he followed that up by saying he believes he needs to soon hire four more employees, which is NOT included in the $578,000.

The pier’s budget is to be paid for by Aquarium receipts, and event and fishing fees. Or simply put, increased taxes that have yet to be passed, specifically in Nags Head, Dare County and in the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources budgets.

Because of the anticipated popularity of the pier, construction of piers in Carolina Beach and Emerald Isle are being encouraged to move forward. Described by a pier advisory board member, people in the area allegedly believe Jennette’s Pier will be one of the “wonders of the state of North Carolina.” Previously reported, the pier, and pier house, will be a boon to the area, bringing with it a rush of brides and grooms. Currently, there are six weddings booked after its completion – I hope they’ll be teaching basic math in the pier house classrooms next to the ballroom. Six weddings, aquarium receipts and fees will pay for the more than half-million dollar operating budget??

Another rush to the new Jennette’s Pier will be the scientific community. The vetting process to determine who will be allowed to conduct research on the pier and in its classrooms will be done by Remige, the Jennette’s Pier advisory board and his staff. Remige, who has spent the past two years as a research technician at the University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute in Nags Head, will surely not run out of options as to who can and cannot conduct research on the pier. Remige was also the manager of the former Jennette’s Pier before it was destroyed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

And certainly, now that there is a $25 million, state-funded, job creating pier in Nags Head – which was built during a recession when the state’s maintained double-digit unemployment for months – to conduct unprecedented, unheard of research on this pier that was never able to be conducted prior to it being built, like on a boat or in a real classroom, the world will now be a better place.

To marvel at the 16,000 square-foot pier house and to count the overwhelming number of construction workers at work, watch the video.

In its first trial on the merits, North Carolina’s smoking ban has, unfortunately, been upheld.  The ban was enacted during the 2009 session of the General Assembly (see legislation here) and went in to effect in January 2010.  Although the ban enjoys popular support – a July Public Policy Polling survey found that 68% of North Carolinians support the legislation -  it is an affront to liberties that ought to be enjoyed by private enterprise.

Any private business ought to have the right to determine whether smoking should be allowed in its building.  Restaurants which lose business because of second hand smoke from tobacco would do well to ban smoking, of course, but that should be up to the proprietor – not the state.  That would be the market working its magic.  Although the bill does provide specific protection for private residences ensuring that, for now, smoking will not be banned in homes, accepting government intrusion into private business is only a short step away from government intrusion into your residence.  The slow encroachment of the nanny-state requires vigilance; people must be able to see that government is creeping deeper into our lives.

Investigative Journalism Training is underway at the November is Coming Conference in Asheville, North Carolina! Trent Seibert of Texas Watchdog shares insight on how to file a public records request, interview effectively and how to sift through libel law and legal issues.

IJ training will take a break for lunch to hear Civitas’ latest state polling results. Then, tomorrow morning will kick off with a Civitas Pollsters Exclusive: the latest results for Congressional District 11.

Saturday’s sessions also include:

• Breakfast Session With NC Conservative Leaders
• Get Out the Vote training
• Luncheon with Conservative Keynote, Pat McCrory
• Issue Education on Spotting Voter Fraud

If you are in the Asheville area, you are welcome to join us for great training and an exciting speakers list! Just click here for the details and registration.

As a proud North Carolinian, I can’t recall a time where I’ve ever felt jealousy for anything in New Jersey over anything here at home.

Well, NJ Governor Chris Christie is changing my opinion.  Just check out this clip:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Two questions for fellow North Carolinians… why can’t our own governor show this type of leadership or commitment on any issue?

And failing that, where is the NCGOP’s Chris Christie?  Who will be willing to assume the leadership mantle and have the cajones to tell the truth and tackle the tough problems?  Pat McCrory? Phil Berger? Skip Stam? Thom Tillis? Tom Fetzer?

Who will do it?

Courtesy of this report from WRAL

North Carolina will face one of the largest state deficits in the country next year, according to a new report.

The National Conference of State Legislatures surveyed 35 states to get a picture of their fiscal health heading into the 2011-12 budget year.

….

Only California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York and Texas are projecting deeper 2011-12 budget holes than North Carolina in terms of total dollars, according to the report. When looking at the deficit as a percentage of the state budget, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, Oregon and South Carolina are in more trouble than North Carolina, the report states.

The primary culprit in NC’s startling budget gap for next year is the structural deficit built in due to our budget writers’ short-sighted reliance on temporary taxes and federal stimulus dollars that are slated to run dry after this year - something I’ve been warning about for well over a year.

Previously, I’ve blogged about Governor Perdue’s statist desire to secure ownership of four dams in the Uwharrie region of North Carolina currently owned by Alcoa.  The General Assembly has capitulated and passed legislation, providing Perdue with a means to acquire ownership of the dams.  The legislation, HB972, creates the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission which has all of the necessary powers to acquire the dams vested in it.

Per the News & Observer, a meeting of individuals desiring that the state acquire the dams has been planned for this week.  The report does not indicate who exactly will be in attendance but does note that Alcoa will not have a representative present because the company “doesn’t think the discussion will be balanced.”  That is a safe bet.    The meeting indicates that the Perdue Administration intends to move forward with its attempt to acquire Alcoa’s property.  Simply put, Governor Perdue would prefer the state own the dams and produce hydroelectric energy than for Alcoa to own the dams and produce hydroelectric energy – both entities would produce energy for retail use.  Nevermind that the state cannot afford to purchase the dams anyway. Alcoa provides the same public good that the state would provide if it owned the dams, so for what purpose does Perdue want state ownership?  Because she believes in a more powerful centralized state and in the state over the private sector.  That is statism.

A political fundraiser for State Senate Pro-Tem Marc Basnight (D-Dare) was advertised via a publicly funded e-mail list according to a news report.  An invitation to the event was sent to the town of Kill Devil Hills e-mail list.  Using the town e-mail list was unethical, but news reports suggest that the entire episode was a mistake.  Per the story, a junior campaign staffer was asked to ensure that all of the local elected officials be made aware of the fundraiser.  Town Clerk Mary Quidley, who appears to be a registered Democrat like Basnight, forwarded along the invitation to the public e-mail list “without giving it a world of thought.”

Even if it was a simple mistake that the e-mail was sent out, the Basnight Campaign has received at least some undue benefit from the e-mail in the way of name recognition or possible donations.  Basnight typically dishes out funds to Democrats in close elections.  On a cynical note, yet without suggesting impropriety, one might be led to believe that it was not an accident that the invitation was sent out via the public listserv.  Given the recent record politicians in Raleigh (think Jim Black, Mike Easley, Meg  Scott Phipps), the people can draw their own conclusions.

I think we’re all suppose to be giddy by yesterday’s announcement that North Carolina is a finalist in the scecond round for Federal Race to the Top Funds.  I”ve spelled out my reasons why I don’t share in the excitement.  However, now I can add another to the list. 

To improve the state’s chances of qualifying for RttT funds, the conventional wisdom was North Carolina needed to either lift the cap on charter schools or improve the climate in which charter schools operate. This reality did not sit well with the major political and educational leaders in the state, most of whom oppose charter schools.  So what did North Carolina do?

The legislature approved — and Gov. Perdue signed – a bill (SB 704). The new law allows the state to convert low-performing schools to charter schools  (See my comments on SB 704) . This is bad for two reasons. First, since charter schools are subject to the same academic performance tests as traditional public schools, increasing the number of low-performing charter schools will not help the cause. But I guess those in power knew exactly what they were doing. Second, and more importantly, the legislation puts the local school board in charge of all low-performing charter schools.  The legislation essentially redefines charter schools.  Under this arrangement,  I wonder how it is even possible for these schools to remain charter schools.

Sorry, but it’s not a good day for people who think administrative flexibility and  innovation are two of the best ways to reform public education.

The North Carolina League of Municipalities is telling its members a collective bargaining mandate was dropped from a U.S. House appropriations bill.

The League posted an article notifying members:

Governor Perdue is pursuing the idea of asking private companies to run some of the information technology infrastructure to save money. But the State Employees Association of North Carolina (an affiliate of Service Employees Union International) is fighting the idea.

This is from a recent post of the association’s web site:

SEANC is perplexed that Gov. Bev Perdue, who says jobs are her top priority, is looking at privatizing the state’s information technology infrastructure. Privatization will surely lead to job cuts, including the state’s 600 IT employees, and most likely will ship those jobs oversees, where many IT operations are outsourced. SEANC urges the governor to keep North Carolinians working and to rely on the experts already in state government to look for efficiencies and opportunities to streamline resources.

The N&O reported recently the Governor said IT accounted for over $1 billion in expenses last year.