Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Score One for Bev!

Bev Perdue won one this a.m., and good for her. The NC Council of State approved her plan to lease the 306-acre Dorothea Dix Hospital tract of land in downtown Raleigh to the City of Raleigh for preservation as a park for the people. The deal will cost the City of Raleigh about $68 million over 75 years. Republicans on the Council of State (principally Secretary of Labor Cherie Berry) had their noses out of joint because they were flakking for big-money interests, said they wanted more cash for the land, but more than wanting more, they wanted to deny Bev Perdue a victory. They lost.

Another Council of State member, Attorney General Roy Cooper, said, "This is an extraordinary opportunity that will improve the quality of life for generations to come. I think it’s shortsighted to analyze this as a pure economic transaction for the state.” (Why didn't Roy Cooper run for governor?)

Cherie Berry: "More money!"

Roy Cooper: "More value."

The site contains much open park land already, some 200-year-old specimen oaks and other mature hardwoods, and was lusted after by a rapacious crowd of commercial developers. Bev Perdue has saved that historic jewel from development. For that she gets a star in her crown.

Her chief opponents, who've been raging publicly since she announced the plan: The Koch Brothers/Art Pope group known as Americans for Prosperity, along with their puppets in the NC General Assembly, Thom Tillis and Phil  Berger. And, of course, old Me-Too Pat McCrory, Squishy Pat, who's learned fast whose palm to eat out of.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So you all consider it a victory when the Cupcake costs the state even more money during a terrible economy. Amazing!

Anonymous said...

True...we could make tons of cash nationally by drilling for oil in Yellowstone, and selling the Pisgah for more Blowing Rock condos. I vote for an immediate auction of all public land, national and state, to the highest bidder, since that always produces the most good for the most people. Nobody actually NEEDS any open space, anyway,... especially those who can't afford to buy a big hunk of land so their kids can walk around in the beauty of creation.