Thursday, June 07, 2012

Update on S949

This is the Soucek bill that actually passed the Senate committee of jurisdiction today, 5-4:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT PROVIDING THAT THE TOWN OF BOONE  SHALL NOT EXERCISE THE
POWERS OF EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Town of Boone shall
not exercise any powers of extraterritorial jurisdiction as provided in Article 19 of Chapter
160A of the General Statutes.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective June 30, 2013.
The key difference from the first version is Section 2, the effective date. No study committee established, which is what Mr. Soucek led Boone officials to believe yesterday he was going to recommend, and then today in the committee meeting said he had changed his mind. Proving nothing so much as the old political adage:

You can't out-think a man who ain't thinking.

Putting off implementation a year does not get Boone's elected officials out of their dilemma. If ETJ is to end in June, 2013, then why would they now continue to siphon off their water supply to areas outside their municipal boundaries, especially when all that area is going to revert to no-zoning controls, no regs, no land-use planning?

And how does this satisfy the "I WANT IT NOW!" appetites of Jeff Templeton and his cohorts, who have put Soucek through this excruciating display of puppet-on-a-string floundering? Mr. Templeton was at the Capitol in Raleigh today, though he did not bother to come to the committee meeting. (When you're as powerful as Mr. Templeton, you don't need no stinkin' committee meetings!) Others, particularly residents of Boone's ETJ, did show up and were allowed to testify, but Mr. Templeton stayed out of sight for the most part. Is he pleased with this resulting bill? I wouldn't be if I were him.

Certainly, Nathan Miller's clients (note the sidebar in the right-hand column at the link), who are trying to reactivate a bankrupt cement plant despite multiple code violations, can't be particularly happy either to wait a year to see the burden of zoning regs lifted so they can do as they please.

It's clear that Sen. Soucek blinked. His year's delay solves nothing, settles nothing, and makes him look ... just confused.

59 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sure hope residents of NC eventually get the news. The Republican-led legislature has become a global laughing stock with newspapers in Europe even covering their flat-earth shenanigans.
Soucek's bill is an overreach of grand proportions, unprecedented and his reasoning is all too obvious as well, money for his kingmakers, Templeton and company.

As Soucek's bill will destroy Boone, the educational reform bill being rammed through is straight out of ALEC's playbook, giving away our public schools to private concerns, again the motive is money, profit from taxpayers. The fracking bill is onerous, no protections for our water and wake up people, eminent domain power for the gas and oil companies to take your land and no local control. States that have fracking are fighting to tighten regulations or end the fracking. The sea level bill is for developers, too, motive = money. The air toxic regulation bill that cuts regulations will pollute our air again and comes after years of progress in cleaning up.

The voucher bill is a give away to both corporations and private, mostly religious schools, effectively taking tax payer's money away from public schools and giving the money to private religious schools that teach flat-earth BS, like creationism.

Apparently, the dimwits don't read, newspapers all across the country have exposed ALEC for what it is, a backroom lobbing organization of corporate interest that writes model legislation and votes with the membership made up of state lawmakers.
Read republicans, you will see that the education reforms that Berger is pushing are not working in the states that have already adopted them.

So, this is either the dumbest legislature ever or completely in the pockets of corporations.

Frankly, I think it's both.

Oh, I forgot, churches are such criminal places that the Republicans are passing a law to allow us to carry our concealed weapons to Sunday School and into bars, too. Just great guys, drunks sitting in bars with concealed weapons, Dodge City didn't allow such foolishness, but Art Pope must be proud.

Anonymous said...

JW,

You have some kind of fix with Dan? You sure do stay on his but more than necessary.

Anonymous said...

Well a641, it's apparent that someone had better stay on Dan's but...

Liberal POV said...

These comments are worth repeating.

" puppet-on-a-string"

"So, this is either the dumbest legislature ever or completely in the pockets of corporations.

Frankly, I think it's both."

Anonymous said...

Jerry Wayne hates any effective conservative legislator; federal, state, or local.

Anonymous said...

If you think this is "more than necessary", you must not live in the ETJ.

Anonymous said...

How can Commissioner Miller represent companies against the town? Is that a conflict of interest? If the mayor was a lawyer and represented somebody who sued the county, all hell would break loose. Those county republicans would not stop until they had her license.

Anonymous said...

The voucher system does not take anything away from public schools because a public school is not providing a service if the child is using a voucher to attend a better private school.

Religious opinions for or against a school are two sides of the same coin.

Anonymous said...

Vouchers are simply tax dollars supporting private schools. Private schools profit, public schools don't get the money.

bettywhite said...

Voucher programs that I've seen do not cover the entire cost of education in private schools. Suppose there's a $5000. Most private schools have tuition that is a LOT more than $5,000 a year. So what happens? Those $5,000 vouchers go to the people who could afford the private schools to begin with - in other words, tax dollars are subsidizing the education of rich kids. As if they need any more money from taxpayers. Poor families could never afford the tuition even with a voucher.

Anonymous said...

Don't be fooled either by the word nonprofit private schools. In far too many cases across the country, the non-profit schools are cover to get their hands on the tax money and then use education venders that are for-profit to provide education services. Not to mention the horror of for-profit charter schools, a scam waiting to happen as in Florida and other states.

Anonymous said...

The big concern our neighbors have with Dan Soucek’s ill conceived and reckless ETJ action is that we lose the R1 zoning status we worked so hard to obtain. Although he has promised to work with us on this, he has yet to tell us how he plans to do so.

R1 zoning allows homes with no more than two unrelated individuals. Thus, it has created the few remaining liveable neighborhoods in the Boone area.

Right now, every home in my neighborhood (save mine) was bought because we are zoned R1 and is a wonderful place to raise a family.

But, now let me describe life before R1. Before R1 the property at the foot of my drive was filled with druggies. At one point the situation became so bad that a narcotics officer was placed in the house. We were told there was also prostitution. One morning after a big party I came out and found someone had taken a dump on the hood of my car. Many mornings I had to roust out of bed, drugged kids to get their cars moved so I could go to work. They were always surly of course, as if I was imposing on them.

Working on around to the next lot touching mine, were the neighbors who not only were the original homeowners in the community, but came from original Watauga County families. They threw in the towel and moved away. We lost the best people in the neighborhood.

Next, on the other side of my home the parties were so loud, that I finally bought me a big boom box. Each time they cranked up the rock music, I cranked up Jimmy Swaggart preaching. It was the battle of the boom boxes.

Finally, there was the first house down the lane from us. The owner filled the little house with eight kids. They blocked our lane with their cars, sometimes going off to school and leaving them there. They also had a vicious dog who would no longer allow me to walk to my mail box.

When the official from the Planning and Inspections came to check out our complaints, not only did the dog attack her but one kid actually verbally accosted her. Now that was fun as she gave them only a few weeks to clear out.

There are three communities here, all of which the people worked together to get our R1 status. I am sure there are others like ours who were never consulted. Without R1, our lives could become hell again and our property values will depreciate. Someone better step forward soon and reassure us. Right now, I am freaking out. It also doesn’t help that my Democrat neighbors taunt me for helping Soucek get elected.
From the Watauga Conservative:http://wataugarepubs.blogspot.com/2012/06/will-soucek-stab-us-in-back.html

Anonymous said...

Betty, you are so right:Billionaire privatization activists pushing ‘neovouchers’ for North Carolina
Kevin Welner, a professor of education at the University of Colorado, wrote a book on the tax-credit scholarship programs, now operating in eight states including Florida and Georgia, in which he described them as "neovouchers" -- distinguishing them from traditional voucher programs that directly provide public funding for private schools and that consequently have run into legal trouble because of the constitutional prohibition on public funding for religious education.

Here's how Welner described the neovoucher programs in a column for the magazine The School Administrator:

With conventional vouchers, the state effectively bundles tax revenue and distributes it as vouchers. With neovouchers … the taxpayer and the nonprofits play that role, while the state backfills the funding, reimbursing the taxpayer.

Yet after all these machinations, the end result is almost unchanged. The state’s final budget still reflects the loss of tax revenue, and the voucher remains in place. The main practical difference is that neovoucher plans place parents at the mercy of taxpayers’ choices since those donors decide which organizations to fund. And since wealthier residents tend to be the ones who owe substantial state taxes, the decision-making authority is effectively transferred from low-income parents to high-income taxpayers.

The programs have generated controversy in states where they're already operating. The New York Times recently reported that Georgia's corporate tax-credit scholarship program has benefited wealthier families. It also showed how the programs there and elsewhere have been used to attract star athletes and spread the theology of creationism.
http://www.southernstudies.org/2012/06/billionaire-privatization-activists-pushing-neovouchers-for-north-carolina.html

ETJ Resident said...

Well, I wouldn't say that a year's delay is nothing. Certainly it gives us time to fight this. I think that those of us who live in the ETJ will be able to organize and let Sen. Soucek know how much we oppose it. It is not just one neighborhood. I have talked to people from all over the ETJ who don't want it to disappear.

Liberal POV said...

Many of those who vote Republican may not have full employment, decent paying jobs, affordable health insurance, pensions, and now affordable education for their children but at least the Republicans gave them the Marriage Admendment and lots of scapegoats to hate.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 8:47 said...

"How can Commissioner Miller represent companies against the town? Is that a conflict of interest? If the mayor was a lawyer and represented somebody who sued the county, all hell would break loose. Those county republicans would not stop until they had her license."

So true. It is amazing to me that Miller thinks it's appropriate for him to represent that company. It's exactly the kind of thing that DG and others were always jumping on Jim Deal about (and maybe rightly so at times) but now they're silent. I wonder if any of them would have the audacity to come on here and try to defend Miller's actions. Or have the nerve to face the facts and call him out on this conflict of interest!

Anonymous said...

Do Berger and Tillis both think that we didn't learn in the barn we grew up in? We did.

And your--oh so new--concept of compromising between yourselves. "I'll give you education dollars House if you pass "My" Senate education reform bill.

Big BS.

You two are trying to set up the people that elected you and think you have the "Ailes" power of Fox's illusion.

You don't.

Anonymous said...

Miller is a COUNTY commissioner and a private citizen. Where would there be a conflict?

Anonymous said...

The publisher of this blog needs to think it through. A 1 year wait is a very good thing for a land developer. They will have a year of people fleeing the ETJ as they get out before things change. As people flee, property values drop. If I were a developer I would see a year of bargains followed by no restrictions as a win-win.

Henery said...

Anon 4:25,
I got news for you: residents of Boone pay both town AND COUNTY TAXES. They also vote for all county commissioners. Nathan Miller in fact DOES represent the people of Boone, though he persists in treating the town like a hostile foreign country.

Anonymous said...

Henery, sometimes I wonder if you just post without thinking or are you really that stupid?

Miller doesn't have a conflict of interest because he represents a company that has a dispute with the town. Miller does not control what the town does.

A conflict of interest would be something like a county commissioner who directly votes on county land purchases and also represents the individual selling the land to the county.

Of course, I can't think of any examples - but you get the idea.

Anonymous said...

If Henery was right (he isn't) it would be a conflict of interest for an attorney who is an elected political rep, to represent anyone who is in a dispute with a taxpayer.

After all, as a taxpayer I pay taxes to support the county commission - how dare a county commissioner represent someone who is suing me?

C'mon Henery - THINK!

Anonymous said...

I remember when Loretta Clawson testified against the development of the property next door to her. The Republicans pilloried her and said it was inappropriate for her to express herself as a private citizen. I guess they've forgotten. She didn't even have a conflict of interest.

johnbyjohn said...

Miller is an elected official. That means that by definition he's not a "private citizen."

Anonymous said...

Think about the beauty that surrounds us and about our responsibility to protect that which handsomely supports and comforts us.

Donk said...

Five bucks says that the resolution is withdrawn the second that Templeton gets water run to his latest development.

Henery said...

Anon 8:39 and 8:42 (and/or Jeff Templeton, because you SOUND like him):

I said NOT ONE WORD about a conflict of interest for Nathan Miller. I SAID that Mr. Miller represents the citizens of Boone, though he talks bad about them constantly. I ALSO SAID that the residents of Boone are taxpayers to the county.

Anonymous said...

Keep diggin Henry. Really. What were you responding to if it wasn't to the question about conflict of interest?

Anonymous said...

Miller is not a private citizen as far as County Government goes, but he is as to the Town of Boone government. He cannot make policy inside the city limits. Hopefully he can cut county funding for frivolous town spending.

Anonymous said...

The only way that I know of that the county can 'cut' town funding is by reallocating the sales tax revenue. The county decides whether to allocate that revenue based on population (as now) or based on preperty assessments (which would hurt Boone and help Blowing Rock.)

Dem12 said...

People who live in Boone are county citizens as well, so Miller's elected position does affect them. Do you really think it's wise for him to pick a fight with the town? This fighting doesn't do anyone any good.

Anonymous said...

Templeton won't get water for any new development. The water group recommended (and the town will likely accept the recommendation) that all new water expansion and hookup be cut off in the ETJ should the Soucek bill pass.

Anonymous said...

The Bill HAD passed the Committee, but on June 11th, it was pulled from the Senate Calendar and they went back and changed the history of what happened on June 7th. Can someone please explain this?

Here is the weirdness.

SB949 passed the Committee On State and Local Government on 06/07/2012

It should look like other Bill (SB939) this if it were moving forward -

05/30/2012 Senate Filed
05/31/2012 Senate Passed 1st Reading
05/31/2012 Senate Ref To Com On State and Local Government
06/07/2012 Senate Reptd Fav
06/11/2012 Senate Passed 2nd & 3rd Reading
06/11/2012 House Rec From Senate
06/11/2012 House Passed 1st Reading
06/11/2012 House Re-ref Com On Government

Instead, they have gone back and changed the history of the Bill!

05/30/2012 Senate Filed
05/31/2012 Senate Passed 1st Reading
05/31/2012 Senate Ref To Com On State and Local Government
06/07/2012 Senate Reptd Fav Com Substitute
06/07/2012 Senate Com Substitute Adopted
Relevant document(s): PCS35379
06/11/2012 Senate Withdrawn From Cal
06/11/2012 Senate Re-ref Com On Finance

On the Senate Calendar, it has this now:

SB 949 Soucek
2nd Ed.
TOWN OF BOONE/ETJ.
Com Sub
5/31/12 St. and Loc. Gov.
6/7/12 Unfav bill; St. and Loc. Gov. Com Sub Adopted

Translating all of that, here is what I have come up with.

Somehow the Bill became unfavorable in the Committee On State and
Local Government, or it was deemed to be inappropriate for that
committee to have taken action on it. What I do not understand is how
they can backdate those changes and that vote.

The Finance Committee has a lot of bills waiting for it to consider.
I don't know if it was sent there to save it, delay it, or kill it.

Anonymous said...

The water group recommended (and the town will likely accept the recommendation) that all new water expansion and hookup be cut off in the ETJ should the Soucek bill pass.

This is the reason, we should contact Foxx snd see if any public grant money given to the water project can be taken back. They are using water from outside the city limits that so they cannot limit it to be used inside the city limits.

Anonagain said...

"They are using water from outside the city limits that so they cannot limit it to be used inside the city limits."

I think that statement is a load of horseshit. There are plenty of towns and cities that draw water from sources that are outside of the city limits. For example, Winston-Salem gets some its water from the Yadkin River, which is nowhere near the city limits of W-S. If a city or town pays for the water intake and pays for the water lines and pays for treating the water, then that city can sell the water to people inside the city limits. I can already see where this is headed: Watauga County wants to somehow "grab" the water that the Town of Boone is paying for from the new water intake.

Anonymous said...

How can you grab what is already yours? Is it because the town stole it?

Anonymous said...

Remember, none of this would be necessary were it not for Soucek sticking his ego where it should not be for his developer cronies.

Anonagain said...

So the water belongs to Watauga County already? Why? Because it flows through the county? The river also flows through Boone and through Ashe County. Your argument is ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Exactly! The water belongs to the entities over which it flows. This n]does not include the Boone city limits. It does include Watauga and Ashe counties. Boone cannot limit who gets it.

Anonagain said...

Hmmm... the New River DOES flow through part of the Boone city limits. You act like the town is going to be taking every drop of water out of the river and it will be dry beyond the intake. Ridiculous! Again, as I said before, many cities tap water sources that are outside their limits, but they're not draining the rivers dry, for crying out loud!

bettywhite said...

If Watauga County wants to help pay for the construction of the water intake and the construction of the water lines, more power to them! If not, then they have no claim on that water. I suppose you're against the city of West Jefferson as well? That town also takes water from the New River.

Anonymous said...

The town isn't planning to actually deplete the river. They will put their processed sewage back into the river to replace the water they intend to take out.

bettywhite said...

"The town isn't planning to actually deplete the river. They will put their processed sewage back into the river to replace the water they intend to take out."

You're acting as if Boone is unique in this. This is standard practice all across the state (and the country, for that matter). Towns and cities draw water from rivers and lakes. Treated wastewater is later discharged into creeks or rivers. It's not like they are dumping raw sewage into the river.

Boone isn't stealing water from anyone. Any town or city can go through the permitting process to build a water intake - yes, even towns in "conservative" areas. It shouldn't be generating any controversy.

johnbyjohn said...

"Boone cannot limit who gets it."

They can if they pay for all the permits and environmental assessments, if they pay for the land on the bank to house the intake facility, if they pay for the actual construction of the intake, and if they pay for the pipes to transport the water to the water treatment plant. If any other town (or county) wants to take water from the river, they can go through the process and pay for it as well.

Anonymous said...

Watauga county taxpayers paid for the water project through federal grant mony just like those people that live in Ashe. its no Boone;s water.

johnbyjohn said...

And Watauga County taxpayers benefit from businesses in Boone. Didn't the citizens of Boone approve a bond referendum to pay for the water intake? That money will be repaid by the town of Boone, not by the county. The water belongs to the town. If the county wants some water, they need to pay for the necessary infrastructure. The county could, no doubt, receive some of those grants you are talking about.

Anonymous said...

Not all Watauga county taxpayers benefit from businesses in Boone. Those in Blowing Rock might if sales tax were distributed differently.

johnbyjohn said...

I didn't say that "all" Watauga citizens benefit from businesses in Boone, but of course you know that. I would be willing to bet that MOST of the county citizens benefit from businesses in Boone. People work in Boone, shop in Boone, eat in Boone, go to the doctor in Boone, get their cars in Boone, get gas in Boone, and on and on and on. I don't understand this hostility for the town. And I don't live in the city limits, either, in case you're thinking I'm one of those bad Boone people. However, I do patronize a lot of businesses in Boone. Without adequate water, none of that can exist or expand.

Anonymous said...

So, Johnnyjohn, is something keeping you from doing anything you mentioned in another town?

johnbyjohn said...

Anonymous... I don't know what you're talking about. What is your point? Yes, I do occasionally go to other towns, but so what? Boone is where I work and where I do the majority of my business. Why would I drive to another town to go to the grocery store? Besides, no matter where I go, those other towns and cities get their water out of a river or lake as well.

Anonymous said...

The point is that you chose to go to Boone to work and shop. You could do it elsewhere, Johnnyjohn. Boone only benefits you because you shoose to use it.

johnbyjohn said...

So does that mean that you never go to Boone for anything? You never set foot in that evil town? There's nothing in Boone that is useful to you or that you enjoy? I just find that hard to believe.

Anonymous said...

Johnnyjohn, if i shop in Boone, it benefits Boone, not me. I can shop in other towns as conveniently and usually do.

Anonagain said...

If you buy something in Boone, I would hope that it benefits you. Why buy it if you don't need it?

Anonymous said...

Only if Boone has something I can't get elsewhere. There is no such item.

Anonymous said...

JW you really need to check your facts before printing false information. i saw Mr Templeton at lunch that day in Boone. Unless he also has a G whatever there is no way he was in Raleigh. Your credibility is rubbish now.

bettywhite said...

Anon, some of those "rural people" you're always talking about work in Boone, so if you don't patronize those businesses, you're actually hurting the people that you claim to support.

Anonymous said...

So you admit shopping in Boone benefits Boone businesses that have to hire help from outside the city limits. Thank you Bettywhite.

bettywhite said...

What do you mean, I "admit" it? I didn't know it was some big secret, and I never claimed otherwise. Boone businesses benefit from their employees? Well, duh! The employees also benefit from the businesses. So what?