
January 30th / February 1st, 2009
"Legal Stealing May End Soon"
Last week during Barack Obama’s inaugural ceremonies, some of the Mall crowd
waved bye bye to George Bush, and the waves weren’t affectionate.
I had a similar experience during Bev Perdue’s inaugural. I too felt the
urge to waive a hand (or just a particular finger) in Mike Easley’s direction.
That’s because for the past eight years, Easley and his allies in the State
legislature showed a general disregard for the concerns of us common folk.
Remember when gas pipelines were damaged during Hurricane Katrina, and pump
prices skyrocketed in some communities? Unlike the Georgia Governor and his
legislators who suspended gasoline taxes and came down hard on profiteers,
Mediocre Mike and his lawmakers gave us no protection from price gougers, nor
any relief from gas taxes. And, speaking of oil, they also refused to cut
taxes on home heating fuel when the price of that product was on the rise.
On the healthcare front, they took no steps to investigate why Blue Cross &
Blue Shield’s customer premiums had risen three times faster than the average
paycheck, and four times faster than the cost of living.
They did nothing to fight the Supreme Court’s decision to let stand
unethical seizure of private property under the imminent domain law.
They refused to pay reparations to victims of forced sterilization.
And they did nothing to stop state and local industry incentives which have
scammed taxpayers time and again.
Fortunately we have a new Governor, and while her political party still runs
the State, there may already be reason to celebrate a sea change on at least
one hot button issue. Last week a legislative panel voted to end forced
annexations, which means that cities seeking to expand their boundaries could
only do so if those being annexed first give their blessing by referendum.
The panel‘s decision couldn’t have come at a more historically poetic
moment. That’s because 50 years ago, the State passed a law making involuntary
annexation legal. As with many other citizen rights issues, however, North
Carolina was slow to correct its mistakes. Already, 48 states have reformed
their annexation laws, with over 60% of those having made referendum a
prerequisite.
But proponents of forced annexation say that citizens have always had input.
Not so. Public hearings are nothing but staged formalities, and once the
land grab is made, new residents are told to sue the aggressor city if
services aren’t up to par.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina League of Municipalities (the mouthpiece for
Mayors and City Councils) contends that annexations have helped cities to
manage growth. That’s a hard point to argue in some cases, but the fact remains
that pirating land is a flawed strategy for improving quality of life,
especially in a cash strapped city. It’s like a couple with six kids and no means
of support deciding to have another baby because it will make them better
parents.
Last week’s panel vote was encouraging for millions of people who currently
reside outside city limits. According to a report from the John Locke
Foundation, 46% of our State’s population (over four million people), live in
unincorporated areas. Says Locke report author Daren Bakst, “these are the people
who could become victims of forced annexation. They deserve better than
this State’s current annexation law”.
Maybe so, but the panel’s vote is moot unless it is ratified by the full
House.
So now’s the time for Governor Perdue to step up to the plate and use her
new found political capital to persuade legislators to get behind annexation
reform.
It might mean having to buck some powerful lobbies, but, if successful, she
can take credit for ending a half century of legalized stealing, while
establishing a template for governing by listening. If, on the other hand, she
stays out of the fray and supports the status quo, then four years from now,
everyone who has ever been annexed might be waiving bye bye to her, and to the
lawmakers who chose the wrong side of this populist issue.
What it all comes down to is this: Citizens of North Carolina simply want
the right to decide where they live, and to be free from government
oppression.
It’s not an unreasonable request considering we already won that right a
long time ago during the largest forced annexation battle ever waged. That's
when we told England where to stick their aggression, and then we kicked their
ass back across the pond.
Those were the good old days.
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