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North Carolina County Commissioners and austerity: It begins now.
County Assembly Day brings county commissioners to Raleigh from across the state of North Carolina to hear this redundant message of belt-tightening.
On Wednesday, May 25, 2011, Beaufort County sent County Commissioners: Jerry Langley, Robert Cayton, Hood Richardson, Stan Deatherage, and County Manager Paul Spruill, to join over 290 county commissioners from across the state to the County Assembly Day, sponsored by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC). If any county commissioners were hopeful that there would appear upon the dais of each of the bicameral governing bodies in the North Carolina General Assembly a magic pot full of money, they left sadly unfulfilled.
If the county commissioners were unsure that austere times were ahead for counties, three-term Speaker of the House, Representative Thom Tillis, from Mecklenburg County, was sent to meet with them to remove all doubt.
Speaker Thom Tillis speaking to the North Carolina County Commissioners on County Assembly Day: Above. And then he listens: Below. images by Stan Deatherage
At the heart of the debate was the largest expense that the state and counties individually incur each year - education. With Republicans being elected overwhelmingly from the home districts to cut "wasteful spending" in the NC General Assembly, there was promised change in Raleigh. What Speaker Thom Tillis heard from some of the county commissioners at the County Assembly Day: "We are not ready for that change."
One such commissioner that vehemently struck that resounding chord was Walter Marshall, commissioner from Forsyth County. The former longtime educator expressed that the County of Forsyth would lose over 20 million dollars in state education funding, to which he queried, "Did the leaders of the General Assembly expect my county to make up that lost funding?"
Speaker Tillis replied that he "was elected to bring the spending of North Carolina's government in line with its revenues" and that "the largest abuser of wasteful spending was the Department of Public Instruction." "We were elected to make these tough decisions and give the public their money's worth, which, they have not gotten from North Carolina's education establishment."
House Speaker Thom Tillis, from the NCACC dais, explains the grim reality of our state governments' financial position that now faces North Carolina's General Assembly: Above. NCACC President, County Commissioner Joe Bryan of Wake County, advocates for the counties, but not at the expense of better management practices by the General Assembly. NCACC lobbyist Rebecca Troutman stands to the right of Commissioner Bryan: Below. images by Stan Deatherage
The exchange between the two politicians became more ardently pronounced, with Commissioner Marshall becoming visibly angered. Speaker Tillis tried to assure the county commissioner that the State would fund what is absolutely necessary to effect quality education in North Carolina, without playing the funding "shell game" that Governor Purdue has done of late; but Democrat County Commissioner Marshall was disinterested in his explanation, countering that the "Republicans in control of the General Assembly were not interested in education."
Eventually, the frustrated Speaker begged, "Considering the state's known financial condition, what would you have me do?"
That exchange between the County Commissioner and the Speaker is symbolic of what is becoming North Carolina's government and its 100 counties that dispense most of the services that are the governing body's pleasure to offer to its taxpaying and, moreover, its non-taxpaying public. The Republicans that are in control in Raleigh say we must live within our means and manage our services better, while the Democrats, who are the vast majority of service providers, and the Democrat politicians that represent their bureaucratic needs, say, "Tax the rich." With North Carolina already the most heavily taxed state in the southeast, the Republicans understand that this Liberal motive is untenable. Furthermore, they understand that it will be increasingly difficult to heap higher taxes upon the most productive members of our society, especially in this lingering Great Recession.
Who is right: The Liberal Democrats or the Conservative Republicans? This fiscal conundrum will be played out in the North Carolina General Assembly and in county commissions in this budget session, and in succeeding annual budget sessions to come. Elections to county commissions, the General Assembly and the office of Governor will be decided by the voting public, who line up on one side or the other: Govern within our means, or tax the so-called rich with impunity.
The state of California, which became increasingly liberal after Ronald Reagan left the governorship in 1975, took up this maxim of taxing the so-called rich, and now that state is broke. Liberals in North Carolina, who have ruled their state longer than the Communists ruled the USSR, have long embraced the California model and have finally succeeded in spending North Carolina into a three-billion-dollar deficit.
The will of the people in North Carolina will be discovered in succeeding elections. Will they wish to return to the California model espoused by Liberals, like retired-educator-turned-Forsyth County Commissioner Walter Marshall, or will North Carolina learn to govern within its means as espoused by Speaker Thom Tillis?
The question is the voting public's to answer in future elections, but for now the Republicans governing in Raleigh are bent on cutting programs and wasteful spending until they bring North Carolina's burgeoning government in line with its current revenue resources.
Consequently, the General Assembly's message to the counties: Manage the best you can. This year and for some years to come, these four Beaufort County Commissioners who were in attendance for that County Assembly Day learned they will have to learn to do more with less.
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On Wednesday, May 25, 2011, Beaufort County sent County Commissioners: Jerry Langley, Robert Cayton, Hood Richardson, Stan Deatherage, and County Manager Paul Spruill, to join over 290 county commissioners from across the state to the County Assembly Day, sponsored by the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC). If any county commissioners were hopeful that there would appear upon the dais of each of the bicameral governing bodies in the North Carolina General Assembly a magic pot full of money, they left sadly unfulfilled.
If the county commissioners were unsure that austere times were ahead for counties, three-term Speaker of the House, Representative Thom Tillis, from Mecklenburg County, was sent to meet with them to remove all doubt.
Speaker Thom Tillis speaking to the North Carolina County Commissioners on County Assembly Day: Above. And then he listens: Below. images by Stan Deatherage
At the heart of the debate was the largest expense that the state and counties individually incur each year - education. With Republicans being elected overwhelmingly from the home districts to cut "wasteful spending" in the NC General Assembly, there was promised change in Raleigh. What Speaker Thom Tillis heard from some of the county commissioners at the County Assembly Day: "We are not ready for that change."
One such commissioner that vehemently struck that resounding chord was Walter Marshall, commissioner from Forsyth County. The former longtime educator expressed that the County of Forsyth would lose over 20 million dollars in state education funding, to which he queried, "Did the leaders of the General Assembly expect my county to make up that lost funding?"
Speaker Tillis replied that he "was elected to bring the spending of North Carolina's government in line with its revenues" and that "the largest abuser of wasteful spending was the Department of Public Instruction." "We were elected to make these tough decisions and give the public their money's worth, which, they have not gotten from North Carolina's education establishment."
House Speaker Thom Tillis, from the NCACC dais, explains the grim reality of our state governments' financial position that now faces North Carolina's General Assembly: Above. NCACC President, County Commissioner Joe Bryan of Wake County, advocates for the counties, but not at the expense of better management practices by the General Assembly. NCACC lobbyist Rebecca Troutman stands to the right of Commissioner Bryan: Below. images by Stan Deatherage
The exchange between the two politicians became more ardently pronounced, with Commissioner Marshall becoming visibly angered. Speaker Tillis tried to assure the county commissioner that the State would fund what is absolutely necessary to effect quality education in North Carolina, without playing the funding "shell game" that Governor Purdue has done of late; but Democrat County Commissioner Marshall was disinterested in his explanation, countering that the "Republicans in control of the General Assembly were not interested in education."
Eventually, the frustrated Speaker begged, "Considering the state's known financial condition, what would you have me do?"
That exchange between the County Commissioner and the Speaker is symbolic of what is becoming North Carolina's government and its 100 counties that dispense most of the services that are the governing body's pleasure to offer to its taxpaying and, moreover, its non-taxpaying public. The Republicans that are in control in Raleigh say we must live within our means and manage our services better, while the Democrats, who are the vast majority of service providers, and the Democrat politicians that represent their bureaucratic needs, say, "Tax the rich." With North Carolina already the most heavily taxed state in the southeast, the Republicans understand that this Liberal motive is untenable. Furthermore, they understand that it will be increasingly difficult to heap higher taxes upon the most productive members of our society, especially in this lingering Great Recession.
Who is right: The Liberal Democrats or the Conservative Republicans? This fiscal conundrum will be played out in the North Carolina General Assembly and in county commissions in this budget session, and in succeeding annual budget sessions to come. Elections to county commissions, the General Assembly and the office of Governor will be decided by the voting public, who line up on one side or the other: Govern within our means, or tax the so-called rich with impunity.
The state of California, which became increasingly liberal after Ronald Reagan left the governorship in 1975, took up this maxim of taxing the so-called rich, and now that state is broke. Liberals in North Carolina, who have ruled their state longer than the Communists ruled the USSR, have long embraced the California model and have finally succeeded in spending North Carolina into a three-billion-dollar deficit.
The will of the people in North Carolina will be discovered in succeeding elections. Will they wish to return to the California model espoused by Liberals, like retired-educator-turned-Forsyth County Commissioner Walter Marshall, or will North Carolina learn to govern within its means as espoused by Speaker Thom Tillis?
The question is the voting public's to answer in future elections, but for now the Republicans governing in Raleigh are bent on cutting programs and wasteful spending until they bring North Carolina's burgeoning government in line with its current revenue resources.
Consequently, the General Assembly's message to the counties: Manage the best you can. This year and for some years to come, these four Beaufort County Commissioners who were in attendance for that County Assembly Day learned they will have to learn to do more with less.
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