Press Releases and Newsletters
Uncertain future for N.C. film incentives (StarNews)
Buoyed by recent enhancements to film tax incentives, movie-making in North Carolina is in the midst of an unprecedented surge, but lawmakers’ plans to overhaul the state tax structure in 2013 place a cloud of uncertainty over the industry’s long-term prognosis.
Jason Rosin, a member of the N.C. Film Council and a business agent for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 491, a trade union, said any industry that relies on the state for some sort of tax incentive should be concerned about the tax-reform effort that Republican General Assembly leaders promise to undertake in the 2013-14 session, which begins in late January.
The state, Rosin said, has consistently “shown a level of responsibility in regards to shepherding industries and done it historically in a measured and intelligent manner.”
“To drastically change that direction, it is worrisome,” he said. “In the film industry, there are thousands of families that are counting on these jobs. We’d like to see these jobs continue, and continue to grow.”
But others want lawmakers to abandon film incentives and similar targeted tax breaks in favor of lower taxes and less regulation for all businesses.
“I would like to see the incentives program ended,” said Jon Sanders of the conservative John Locke Foundation, who recently published a report critical of film incentives.
Republicans have repeatedly mentioned their plans to take on tax reform but have given few details.
In a phone interview last week, Sen. Bob Rucho, a Mecklenburg County Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee spearheading the tax-modernization effort, didn’t hint as to how the film industry would fare.
“Who knows?” said Rucho when asked whether film industry advocates would be pleased when the process is complete.
All of the state’s tax programs will be looked at closely, he said. Those that create wealth, grow the state gross domestic product, or GDP, and create long-term jobs will survive the process, he said.
“I don’t believe anybody has really looked at the pros or cons or merits of any of the programs,” Rucho said. “That will take place in 2013 during committee meetings and the debate that comes from that.”
Preparing for a fight
But if lawmakers haven’t examined the issue, others have.
In his recent report – “N.C.’s Film Tax Incentives: Good Old-Fashioned Corporate Welfare” – Sanders of the John Locke Foundation wrote that the problem with film incentives is that the lower tax burden on productions results in higher taxes on “nonfavored businesses and industries.”
“Currying favor with the cool kids by paying for their low (tax) rates with high rates on others erases whatever economic gain would have accrued through more film production,” wrote Sanders, director of regulatory studies at the Raleigh-based foundation.
Among Sanders’ main arguments is that instead of trying to beat other states in the incentives game, the state should compete for all industries by cutting taxes and regulations across the board.
The report, which is available online at johnlocke.org, comes at a record-setting time for production spending in the state.
Luring a film boom
In the two years since enhanced film incentives were approved by the General Assembly, the amount of money spent on productions in the state jumped significantly, meaning the amount given back in tax credits is growing as well.
According to the N.C. Film Office, more than 35 productions plan to film in the state this year, projects expected to spend more than $300 million by year’s end and add 15,000 jobs, including more than 3,300 well-paying crew positions. In 2011, productions spent about $240 million in the state, said Aaron Syrett, director of the N.C. Film Office. In 2010, before the new incentive took effect, productions spent about $75 million.
“Two years ago North Carolina wasn’t even a top 10 filmmaking state,” Syrett said. “Right now we’re in the top three. People want to be here. They know they can get the talent here and the infrastructure, and they can make a good movie.”
Under the new incentive, among other perks, productions receive a 25 percent refundable tax credit based on their direct in-state spending on goods, services, labor and other costs, up from 15 percent before the change
The incentives legislation was expected to expire at the end of 2013, but an amendment added to a bill at the end of this year’s legislative session extended the program to the end of 2014, giving the film industry one more year under the existing package, unless tax reform alters it before then.
The General Assembly staff estimated the extra year could cost the state $60 million in tax credits.
Opponents argue that some states have recently cut back on their film incentives packages. Both sides point to conflicting studies about whether states with incentives programs return more money to state coffers than the amount spent on the tax credits.
Opponents also point to the fact that the film tax credits are “refundable.” That means if the amount of the credit that a film company receives exceeds the tax liability of the production in the state, then the state writes a check to the company for the difference.
“This is a classic example of corporate welfare,” Sanders wrote in his report. “It’s been described as choosing movie stars over teachers.”
But film industry proponents say it benefits far more than the companies that make the movies, pointing in part to jobs it creates for locals. Membership in the Local 491 – which has more than 1,000 members in North Carolina, South Carolina and the Savannah, Ga., area – has more than doubled from 425 in 2006, with most of the growth coming in the Wilmington and Charlotte areas, Rosin said. Members do work in construction, plaster, sound, wardrobe, special effects and other aspects of filmmaking.
“The state of the industry is exceptionally solid,” Rosin said. “There’s more jobs than people, so the industry’s growing.”
New faces in legislature
Those fighting on either side of the film incentives battle next year will have many newcomers in the General Assembly to woo. A recent report by the N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation found that when the legislature convenes on Jan. 30, nearly 50 current members of the 170-member General Assembly won’t be returning to office. Others could lose election bids this fall, so the number of freshman lawmakers is likely to be higher still.
Among those not seeking re-election this year is state Rep. Danny McComas, R-New Hanover, a longtime ally of the film industry.
Rucho, the Senate Finance chairman, when asked about whether the film incentives program will be impacted next year, said he doesn’t see the need for any fuss about the issue now.
“Let’s not worry about something that doesn’t exist,” he said. “At this point, the film incentives are there. They’re scheduled to expire at the end of 2014. That’s where we are right now.”
How film incentives work
Production companies that spend at least $250,000 in the state are eligible for tax credits worth 25 percent of their “qualifying expenses” on films, TV series, commercials or other productions.
The per-project cap for credits is $20 million, but TV series aren’t subject to the cap.
Production companies also don’t have to pay the 6.9 percent corporate income tax on film tax credits they receive.
For “highly compensated individuals,” such as actors, the production can claim the tax credit only on the first $1 million of pay.
To claim a credit, production companies must notify the state in advance with information about the production.
After a production is complete and before the state issues credits, the state Department of Revenue conducts an audit of the production and the detailed paperwork it submits about its expenses.
By Patrick Gannon
(StarNews)
[email protected]
Published: Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 12:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 11:19 a.m.
New Approach Curbs Crime in High Point, North Carolina (IIP Digital)
High Point Police Chief Marty Sumner, flanked by volunteers from a local church, attends a lunch for police department staffers hosted by community members.
Washington — A few years ago, the city of High Point, North Carolina, had a seemingly intractable problem: neighborhoods with persistently high levels of crime, driven by open-air drug markets that were unresponsive to traditional policing methods.
Jim Fealy (the city’s police chief from 2003 until his retirement in early 2012) and colleague Marty Sumner (who succeeded Fealy in February) were looking for an alternative to the arrest-and-incarcerate law enforcement approach. They had seen that new dealers quickly replaced the ones in jail, and that the original offenders resumed dealing as soon as they were released.
So Fealy and Sumner consulted David Kennedy, a New York–based criminologist. Kennedy had devised a policing strategy known as focused deterrence, which concentrates enforcement on chronic violent offenders in local “hot spots” (high-crime areas), thereby reducing gun violence.
Working closely with Kennedy, “we took his model and adjusted it to suit the dynamics of drug markets,” Fealy said. “High Point is where the drug-market intervention
Dismantling open-air drug markets is essential, according to Kennedy, because such markets promote robbery, burglary and other crime by addicts. While violent offenders must be taken off the streets, many nonviolent drug dealers can still be reached, Kennedy says.
Kennedy “was the first to propose this set of ideas to us and said no other [police] department had tried to turn the theory into an operation,” Sumner recalled. “We were immediately interested.”
Drug-market interventions are carefully planned and executed: First, nonviolent dealers are identified and invited to a “call-in” meeting with police, social service providers, community leaders and influential figures in the dealers’ lives (including relatives and neighbors). Dealers are advised that they will not be arrested and that the meeting is for their benefit, but that nonattendance will have consequences.
At the meeting, dealers are confronted by family members and told that they are loved, but that their conduct will not be tolerated. Police tell dealers that although there’s enough evidence to prosecute them, their case files will be “banked” if the dealing stops.
GETTING THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED
Community members were receptive to the idea of drug-market interventions “after we dealt with some baggage,” Fealy said.
Areas plagued by drug markets “are almost universally minority communities, mostly African American,” he added. Because of racial tensions and distrust between police and local residents, “we had to engage repeatedly with large groups and small groups” in distressed neighborhoods.
Residents of High Point, North Carolina, confront local drug dealers at a “call-in” meeting. Dealers are told they are loved and valued, but that dealing is unacceptable.
“We said that police methods from previous decades weren’t working and were, in fact, harmful. I apologized to the community. We talked about how we’d be doing things differently, and we worked to dispel misconceptions about the police. We told them we needed their participation and asked, ‘Will you give us another chance and re-engage with us?’ It was a very dramatic moment.”
Local residents were “so dissatisfied” with pervasive crime “that they were willing to put aside all differences and try something new,” Sumner said. “We all quickly agreed the common ground for police and community was [that] everyone wanted to be safe. So we started there.”
At call-in meetings, drug dealers are given two choices: prosecution and incarceration, or working with the DMI program. “You have to take away all their excuses and all their denial,” said Fealy. “We show them videotapes of themselves dealing drugs.”
Community members’ testimony has a powerful effect on dealers, he said. “One of our ‘stars’ was a grandmother who read her grandson the riot act about what he’d been doing.”
The DMI approach “builds trust, re-sets the [behavioral] norms in the neighborhood [and] allows the residents to stand with police and exercise their community moral voice,” said Sumner. “There is a fundamentally new relationship with the community after this work is done right.”
SUSTAINABLE RESULTS
Offenders, Fealy said, must follow three rules: “No guns, no violence, no drug dealing.” Former dealers aren’t suddenly transformed into model citizens, he added: “They still might shoplift or steal, but they’re much less likely to escalate to more serious crime.”
After the program’s debut, violence in High Point dropped nearly 40 percent in two years — and the improvement persists. “Something meaningful done for a few dealers had a great impact on the community,” Sumner said.
Police discovered that an open, transparent relationship with local residents creates sustained progress.
“People don’t throw bottles and rocks at our police cars,” said Fealy. “There’s a new understanding that the cops are straight and fair. Involving the community in this work has made all the difference. It’s hugely gratifying.”
High Point’s successful DMI program has inspired numerous other U.S. cities to adopt a similar policing model.
Sumner said the program not only helps offenders, but also affects their peers: “I have seen examples of an older brother stop dealing and, according to the mother, the younger brother did not follow in the older brother’s footsteps. The mother was convinced the younger brother would have been a dealer if we had not intervened.”
By Lauren Monsen | Staff Writer
(IIP Digital)
01 August 2012
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Vision for Healthy Communities Through Sustainable Transportation (N C Med J.)
The North Carolina Department of Transportation increasingly includes the health of North Carolinians in its transportation decision-making. With an expanded mission that now includes health, the agency is integrating public health considerations into its initiatives, plans, and policies, as well as exploring the use of health impact assessments.
North Carolina’s economic vitality and the quality of life of its residents are highly dependent on having a safe, reliable, and efficient transportation network. Although the focus of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is mobility (the movement of people and goods), its mission also includes safety, environmental sensitivity, and enhancement of the state’s economy, health, and well-being. The NCDOT recognizes its role in supporting vibrant, healthy communities. The department also recognizes that it is continuously shaping the built environment throughout the state. North Carolina has the second-largest system of state-maintained roads in the United States. The NCDOT maintains nearly 80,000 miles of roads (approximately 75% of all roads in the state) and is considered to be the state’s largest developer. In an attempt to optimize the overall benefits derived from the investments it is making on the public’s behalf, the NCDOT is increasingly including the health of North Carolinians as a consideration in its transportation network decision-making.
The transportation network can serve as an enabler of or as a barrier to better health outcomes, especially through its ability to create a built environment that provides opportunities for physical activity. In North Carolina, the general preference of the state’s residents for automobile travel, in combination with development patterns that contribute to increased travel distances, has resulted in a transportation network designed primarily for travel by motorized vehicle. At the same time, lifestyles have generally become more sedentary. This combined with other factors has led to an increase in obesity, which in turn is linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and cancer
A 2007 survey found that 60% of adults in North Carolina believe that they would be more physically active if their communities had more accessible sidewalks or trails for walking or bicycling [2]. A research brief prepared by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2009 states in its conclusion that
A substantial body of research shows that certain aspects of the transportation infrastructure—public transit, greenways and trails, sidewalks and safe street crossings near schools, bicycle paths, traffic-calming devices, and sidewalks that connect schools and homes to destinations—are associated with more walking and bicycling, greater physical activity and lower obesity rates [3].
This evidence, coupled with the fact that the state’s population is increasing and North Carolinians want more choices in the modes by which they travel, is motivating the NCDOT and its sister state agencies and local government partners to try to influence public health outcomes by considering the inclusion of active transportation features such as sidewalks and bike facilities when creating transportation and land-development plans.
Although accommodations for nonmotorized transportation, such as sidewalks and bike lanes, have been integrated into some parts of the transportation network, additional facilities that afford opportunities for active transportation are needed in other parts of the network. The key to this is working with communities to identify the areas in which investment in such facilities would provide the highest overall benefit to the public in terms of mobility, health, reduction in health disparities, the environment, and the economy. Understanding where mutual mobility and health benefits can be derived requires that health, transportation, and land development professionals talk with one another and share data in order to better understand needs, evaluate options, and leverage resources to optimize outcomes.
Because the state owns or maintains a large proportion of the transportation system, the NCDOT can provide meaningful, immediate impact and can influence the built environment more effectively and more widely than can many other state and local entities. The NCDOT carries out more than a thousand projects across the state each year, materially changing the environment and altering the landscape daily. For example, the department’s current Bridge Program involves the replacement or rebuilding of more than 1,800 bridges in the state over the next 3 years. As a part of decision-making, the agency is considering bicycle and pedestrian accommodations in a meaningful way. In the reconstruction and resurfacing of existing roads and on new projects, many transportation options are considered, including sidewalks, crosswalks, bicycle lanes, paved shoulders, and transit stops.
The Healthy Environments Collaborative is an interagency collaboration between the NCDOT, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources; the agencies work closely with one another and with partners at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University to improve the health of North Carolina’s people, economy, and environments. With support provided by the collaborative, NCDOT leaders are increasingly integrating health considerations into transportation decision-making through a programmatic focus. This includes setting policies that can serve as a compass for the efficient delivery of projects that will add value to the communities they serve. The department’s mission statement was recently revised to underscore the importance of mobility in supporting healthy people and healthy places; it now states that the NCDOT’s mission is “connecting people and places safely and efficiently with accountability and environmental sensitivity to enhance the economy, health and well-being of North Carolina.” With the addition of this last part of the mission statement, the agency’s mission has expanded to include how the transportation network can support economic growth and development, improved public health outcomes, livable communities, and improved quality of life [4].
North Carolina’s Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan is currently being developed. It will guide the NCDOT and its partners in developing and implementing programs and projects that expand opportunities for walking and bicycling and will also increase safety. These programs and projects will, in turn, provide the opportunity for increased physical activity and will thus ultimately lead to improvements in overall health outcomes. The plan will focus on bicycling and walking as basic means of transportation while recognizing their value in terms of public health, economic development, recreation, and tourism. The plan has strong support from other state agencies in the Healthy Environments Collaborative, given the benefits desired by each member. The Department of Commerce sees the increased appeal for businesses to locate in a state with a comprehensive bicycle and pedestrian network; the Department of Health and Human Services sees the benefit from increased access to physical activity and a resulting improvement in health status for the state’s residents; and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources supports the prioritization of alternative forms of transportation over automobiles as a way to protect the environment.
Identifying common transportation and health goals is of key importance in making the best decisions to support healthy people and healthy communities. As additional evidence of NCDOT’s increasing support of including health in all policies, the department is working with transportation and health professionals to better integrate public health considerations into the 25-year comprehensive long-range transportation planning process. Comprehensive transportation plans are developed at the county or local level and set the stage for the location and type of transportation improvements needed to serve future growth and other goals of the community. Public health goals can be part of these local transportation-planning efforts, but it is important for the public health community to be engaged as a stakeholder so that unique health interests are reflected in the comprehensive goals of the planning area. Because the built environment, development patterns, and transportation are so interrelated, the NCDOT is working with its partners in the Healthy Environments Collaborative and with local planning entities to better link transportation and land-development planning. Integrated and coordinated planning efforts can result in projects that better support community goals such as more choices in how to travel, increased access to transportation options for lower-income households, improved public health outcomes, and reduced environmental impacts. The effort to improve the long-range transportation planning process also includes better integration of active transportation modes such as walking, biking, and transit into local or regional transportation plans.
NCDOT’s Complete Streets Policy, which was adopted in 2009, has tremendous potential to shape the built environment to be more supportive of nonmotorized transportation and increased physical activity. For the past 50 years, streets were generally designed to serve one mode of transportation: motor vehicles. Sidewalks and bike facilities were often neglected. In contrast, the Complete Streets Policy is intended to serve all modes of transportation and to be safe and comfortable for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, motorists, and individuals of all ages and capabilities. (NCDOT Complete Streets information is available at http://www.nccompletestreets.org.) North Carolina’s nationally renowned Complete Streets pilot program carries out projects that demonstrate value to communities through efficient mobility, safety for all travelers using all modes of transportation, improved physical health, enhanced economic opportunity, and a clean environment.
The NCDOT also has established Traditional Neighborhood Development Street Design Guidelines with the intent of supporting community development that encourages walking and biking, enhances transit service opportunities, and improves traffic safety through promoting low-speed, cautious driving while fully accommodating the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists. The overall function, comfort, and safety of the multipurpose or “shared” streets in traditional neighborhoods are deemed more important than vehicular efficiency alone. Other elements of traditional neighborhoods that encourage walking and biking are higher proportions of interconnected streets, sidewalks, and paths.
Other programmatic approaches that are being explored by the NCDOT include accounting for health impacts, costs, and benefits throughout the transportation planning, programming, and project decision-making processes. Actions that may be taken include setting health-related criteria as part of transportation funding decisions, as well as conducting health impact assessments to help inform what the NCDOT and its local planning and funding partners will do and when. Health impact assessments can be used as evidence-based tools to document the health costs of land use and transportation decisions. It is important to evaluate the benefits that can be derived from investments and to evaluate how prosperity, a clean environment, and improved or expanded mobility can lead to better public health outcomes.
The cumulative effects of transportation projects, along with the impacts of projects carried out by other entities also need to be considered in transportation decision-making. The consequences of decisions, including those related to public health, may be realized immediately upon completion of a particular project, but they can also be felt much later in time. In addition, the impacts of multiple decisions related to projects across sectors (transportation, development, and other infrastructure projects) are cumulative over time, influencing the public health within an area. For example, paved surfaces can create heat islands that make the temperatures higher, especially in urban areas. Higher temperatures, coupled with pollutants from vehicle exhaust, create a chemical reaction that worsens air quality and can exacerbate associated diseases, such as asthma and cardiovascular disease.
The silver tsunami—the near doubling of people over the age of 60 in North Carolina’s population by 2030 [5]—must also be considered. As North Carolinians live longer and as older residents form a growing percentage of the total population, it will be become more challenging and important to provide appropriate mobility options for people over 65 years of age. The NCDOT recognizes that it must respond to this and other demographics-related challenges, which will result in substantial impacts on travel patterns, increased traffic congestion, and inadequate transportation infrastructure. Confronting the challenges presented by the current built environment, an automobile-dependent culture, and projected growth in vulnerable and general populations will necessitate new approaches.
Although the NCDOT’s primary business is building transportation infrastructure that moves people and goods, it can also be considered an applied research organization with goals of continuous improvement and innovation. In many ways, it is conducting applied research in the health arena. The department’s shift to “health in all policies” involves the integration of public health considerations into broad agency policy including funding, programs, guidelines, processes, projects, performance measurement, and incentives.
The NCDOT cannot simply put sidewalks, bike lanes, and greenways everywhere—funding is limited. Strategic decisions must be made to ensure that the public is getting the highest return on the state’s investment. This means figuring out what the communities’ needs are with regard to mobility, as well as considering where facilities have the greatest potential to create increased physical activity, especially for at-risk populations. In partnership with other agencies, the NCDOT is looking for opportunities to implement policies, plans, and projects to make the biggest difference in communities that have made mobility and health a priority. Effective decision-making can only occur if the public health community, local planners, and transportation planners are at the table and engaged in dialogue. The decision-making process must include the identification of issues and community needs; data collection, sharing and analysis; solution generation and evaluation; implementation strategies and funding; monitoring and measurement; and communication and capacity building.
In support of a more integrated approach to transportation planning and consistent with its mission, which acknowledges the connection between transportation and public health, the NCDOT is committed to working with its partners at the state and local levels to provide safe, efficient, and reliable transportation options, including bicycle, pedestrian and transit facilities. It is also committed to considering public health issues and concerns as they relate to transportation decisions.
by
Eugene A. Conti Jr, Paul F. Morris, Julie A. Hunkins,
N C Med J. COMMUNITIES;73(4):274-277.
County, city talk sales tax revenue (StarNews)
City wants larger share of the pie; county says more discussion needed
When Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo asked the New Hanover County Commissioners about the city getting a larger share of sales tax money, some at the table laughed.
After the room quieted down, Saffo reiterated his stance. “We’d like to just see more of it, that’s all,” Saffo said Thursday at a joint meeting between the city council and the commissioners.
Though the boards took no votes, the discussion ended with the indication that the issue will come up again.
Some Wilmington council members feel the current distribution slights the county’s largest municipality.
By law, the county’s board of commissioners can choose to divide up all of the sales tax proceeds generated in the county using one of two methods. One is based on the populations of the unincorporated area and each municipality, meaning Wilmington – with the most people – would get a larger share.
But New Hanover has chosen for years to distribute the proceeds based on the amount of property taxes levied by the county and the municipalities, which benefits the county’s coffers since its property tax revenues are greater than those in the city and the three beach towns.
“The city residents are paying more than their fair share,” said Councilman Kevin O’Grady.
While 80 percent of the sales occur inside the city, said Councilwoman Laura Padgett, the city only gets about 20 percent of the sales tax money.
To get it changed, they can only appeal to the county, she said. “We have no recourse to correct that inequity.”
Commissioner Rick Catlin said any change in the tax distribution would have a “very negative impact” on the beach towns, but he added that didn’t mean they couldn’t discuss it.
Councilmen sought to lay out their financial burdens and commissioners followed suit.
O’Grady said everyone uses city infrastructure.
“When they’re coming to work, they’re coming into the city,” he said. Even non-city residents use services like trash, fire or police, he said, “And that’s fine, but we’ve got to make some adjustment in the revenue.”
Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, who lives in the city, said he still uses county services, such as the library or Health Department.
“I think we both shoulder and share this burden together,” he said.
City residents pay equally for those services, O’Grady responded. Padgett said the county gets state and federal funds to provide some services.
Commissioner Jason Thompson, who served eight years on the city council, said he drank the same “Kool-Aid” when he served in the council.
“You guys are totally ignoring all the mandates the county has to pay for,” Thompson said, citing social services and subsidies for teachers.
At first, it seemed the discussion would lead to an impasse. Thompson said the parties wouldn’t come to an agreement on changing the sales tax.
It could be done, said Councilman Neil Anderson, though he conceded it may not be palatable to county leaders.
“We owe it to the citizens to discuss it,” Catlin said. “I don’t want to leave this meeting saying we don’t agree because I don’t have all the facts.”
Commissioners Chairman Ted Davis pointed out the county board will start fresh with three new members after the November election. He asked who would keep the discussion going.
“Let’s just make sure it’s not going to drop through the crack,” he said.
Ultimately, they directed the city and county managers to get them more facts on the tax issue, which could be brought back before another joint meeting in the future.
In other business, the officials discussed annexation and development.
Davis, the chairman of the county commissioners, said noncontiguous annexation can end up with pockets of different jurisdictions.
“Which makes it kind of like a satellite city territory,” Davis said.
Rivenbark said that the city has always followed state law, which allows voluntary annexation within three miles of city borders.
Davis reiterated that he personally dislikes noncontinuous annexation as it “makes satellite pockets.”
Rivenbark said county leaders seemed to want to freeze the corporate limits.
“Second,” shot back Commissioner Jason Thompson, facetiously asking if it was motion.
Rivenbark said, “Thank God we’ve had annexation to keep the city as healthy as it is.”
By Julian March
(StarNews Online)
[email protected]
Published: Thursday, August 9, 2012 at 3:58 p.m.
Bridge Project (WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS)
The co-chairs of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee want to know more about the Mid-Currituck Bridge toll project before the N.C. Turnpike Authority moves forward with it. In a letter to Turnpike Authority Executive Director David Joyner, they ask that the agency not proceed with the “commercial close” of the project until it answers a series of questions. The lawmakers also asked authority officials to appear before the committee this fall to discuss project details. The Mid-Currituck Bridge is a proposed 7-mile toll road between U.S. 158 on the Currituck County mainland and N.C. 12 on the Outer Banks. “The chairs have concerns about the terms of the agreement for the project, the financial feasibility of the project and the financial liability the state may be incurring as the NC Turnpike Authority considers the finance plan for this project,” according to the July 26 letter, which is signed by the four co-chairs of the committee.
Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick and a committee chair, said in an interview Wednesday that moving forward with project agreements could put state taxpayers on the hook for a large sum of money over many years during tough economic times. In the letter, lawmakers ask 18 different questions about the Mid-Currituck Bridge project, mainly focused on potential agreements with private partners, the cost of the project to the state and the potential impacts of a lawsuit challenging the project. According to the letter, the transportation officials want answers by Friday.
by Patrick Gannon
(WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS)
(8/02/12)
Mooresville, North Carolina Shows How to Implement Digital Learning in a School District (all4ed.org)
Many important social movements have started with large crowds packed into school gymnasiums. Yesterday I witnessed another movement coming to life in the Mooresville Intermediate School gym in Mooresville, NC.
A group from Missouri drove twelve hours in two vans. Almost fifty came from Alabama. A large contingent showed up from Illinois. And when we did the opening exercises introducing ourselves to the person next to us, I found ten who had driven from Mingo County, WV. In all, approximately 400 people from 16 states and the District of Columbia found their way for this major summer meeting in central North Carolina.
What major effort of the 21st century do they represent? This gathering attracted hundreds of educators, many traveling at their own expense, to learn how to implement digital learning in their school districts. Teachers, principals, technology specialists, administrators, district superintendents — all united in sharing with each other while also observing firsthand the demonstrable student outcome successes resulting from a comprehensive digital learning strategy in the Mooresville Graded School District. (You can see the activity that the convening generated on Twitter at @MGSDschools or by searching the hashtag #Connection12. You can also follow the blog at http://summerconnection12.blogspot.com/).
Mooresville Graded School District Superintendent Dr. Mark Edwards presides over this now annual summer gathering as well as the monthly visits to Mooresville by groups of 50 educators. I joke with Dr. Edwards that his district’s success has created a local industry in educational tourism. (To watch Mooresville students in action, watch the profile the Alliance created on the school district for Digital Learning Day by clicking on the video below or going to http://youtu.be/EKYW6fD9DfE).
Mark Edwards has become a national figure for his success leading Mooresville through what he terms a “digital conversion” to become one of the state’s highest-performing districts. What is taking place several days this week in the Mooresville gym and classrooms shows that digital learning’s time is truly coming.
These are excited educators who come to learn how to bring the Mooresville experience to their districts, schools, and classrooms. They listened attentively as four Mooresville teachers and a principal share their experiences at implementing a one laptop per student program as well as many other pieces of the comprehensive digital strategy. Mooresville students from elementary school to high school graduates spoke about the excitement of learning. Each referenced, both directly and indirectly, developing today’s necessary competencies in creative and critical thinking, collaboration with classmates, communicating their work and self- reflection. Whether called deeper learning, next generation learning, or 21st century skills, the competencies being developed by these students were being significantly enabled by effective applications of digital technology.
An Alabama superintendent related major student outcomes in his Gulf Coast district. He beamed describing one student observing that digital technology meant “Now I don’t have to wait to learn.”
More and more Mooresvilles are springing up around the nation. Many thanks to Dr. Mark Edwards and a committed team for doing their part to take digital learning viral.
By: Bob Wise
01 August 2012 – 3:05 pm
(all4ed.org)
A sit-down with Pat McCrory (Creative Loafing Charlotte)
The once-Democrat and former Charlotte mayor defends voter IDs and relives the night he switched parties
As we draw closer to Election Day in November, it is becoming increasing likely that Charlotte’s own Pat McCrory will become the next governor of North Carolina. Yes, McCrory, the same man who often played the role of authoritarian villain in these pages during his 14-year career as mayor of the Queen City. He is caught in a dogfight against the Democratic candidate, Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton, and has been taking a beating on the airwaves. So it’s fitting that McCrory sat down with an old adversary to tell his side of the story. (It’s also fitting that the man often accused of peddling to corporate giants in Charlotte chose Bank of America’s headquarters in Uptown as the backdrop for our interview.)
Creative Loafing: What are the three biggest challenges facing the state over the next five years?
Pat McCrory: The first one is dealing with the budget deficit in state government. We do not have a balanced budget, regardless of what the governor or the legislature says. We owe the federal government $2.8 billion. In addition, we have hundreds of millions of unfunded liabilities off the books. So the first thing, like any family, is to deal with our debt and pay it back. The second issues is to make our government more streamlined and efficient, because we don’t have any new money. And the third is trying to make our state more business-friendly so we can retain and build new jobs. North Carolina has lost its brand as being business-friendly in comparison to other neighboring states.
CL: What fires you up? Why are you putting yourself through this all over again?
It does feel like it’s a calling. When I was a little boy, my dad was a small-town city councilman in Worthington, Ohio, and I think that just stuck with me. What is interesting is that I love being in business, but the public sector just keeps pulling me back. I enjoy solving problems and setting a vision for the future and a strategy to get there.
CL: Is there an injustice that you feel like you have to change?
Right now, the state of North Carolina has not had strong leadership for 5-10 years, and we’re paying for it today. Nothing against the individuals, but we’ve had no vision established as to what direction we’re going to go to on education, infrastructure, economic development, tax reform. Other governors throughout the United States are taking strong action, whether you agree with them or not. Republican governors like Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal are really taking aggressive action, and even Andrew Cuomo in New York is taking strong, aggressive, executive action. And I believe the nation’s problems are probably not going to be solved in Washington but through the state capitol and the private sector.
CL: What is your leadership style, collaborative or by example, top-down?
I think the leader first has to establish and describe the vision on how they plan to move forward, and then the strategy to get there. But you establish that by being a good listener, and a collaborator, and also understanding that you have to adapt. The best leaders are the ones who predict change as opposed to reacting to it. The best states going into the future are going to be the ones who anticipate instead of react.
CL: America is extremely divided right now, perhaps more than at any time since Reconstruction. What can your campaign do to bridge the divide in politics? Can you make this a uniting campaign?
First you have to understand that, as a leader, if you try to appease everyone, you appease no one. And as mayor, I discovered that you must learn to agree to disagree and move on. And you do it in a respectful way, without calling the opposition names or calling them idiots. There are often many sides to an issue and logic to many of them. But you can never stop communicating with the public or take for granted that they understand where you are planning to go in the future.
CL: Years from now, if schoolchildren had to recite a speech once given by Pat McCrory, what would it have been about?
Probably about change. Every child today is going to have to learn to plan for, adapt to and anticipate change. Those who can do that will be the most successful in the future. And I apply that to cities, states and the private sector too. Never stop learning.
CL: Republicans are in position to hold onto the general assembly, you look strong in your race, and the party is poised to pick up more congressional seats, all of which would be historic. But for a century, every time Republicans take statewide power, their coalition falls apart. What must you do to build the coalition that can remain in power?
First of all, if you start thinking about staying in power, I think you have already failed the criteria needed for leadership. It should not be about power, but, instead, what you want to accomplish. The problem is that too many people are interested in the power. And I found, as a mayor with a divided city council, that the most successful coalitions step on the toes of both sides. And I did that many times as mayor, stepping on both the left and the right’s toes. Some have yet to forgive me.
CL: So why are you a Republican?
I used to be a Democrat.
CL: Why did you switch?
Because I think the left wing of the Democratic Party started taking too much control and pushing dependence on government. I’m not a libertarian. I do believe government has a role in areas of infrastructure and education, but I do not believe we should become so dependent that we forget who pays the bills. The left side of the Democratic Party is so dependent on government that they are bankrupting society, from Greece all the way to North Carolina.
CL: Where do you find yourself now, in a party that ranges from country club types to the Tea Party Patriots?
I’ve never met a litmus test of anyone within my own party, or my own family. I consider myself to be conservative, but I don’t say it in a dogmatic or self-righteous way. I am conservative, but believe there is a role for government, though it should be realistic and affordable.
CL: You want to cut personal and corporate taxes. Do you have a number in mind yet?
The headlines say that, but my speeches say my goal is to reform the entire tax system so that we do not become as dependent on the corporate and income taxes which are making us noncompetitive against our neighbors. Successful people are moving to Florida to avoid our income taxes. We lose their future income and their investment in the community. It’s a wake-up call for North Carolina. I’m an advocate for not taxing productivity, and getting revenue instead from taxing consumption.
CL: Through sales taxes?
A consumption-based method of getting revenue for government. I want to encourage productivity, not punish it.
CL: What about the folks going through tough times, why raise their taxes?
I understand the argument completely of regressive and progressive taxes, and there is a line somewhere. But I think we’ve crossed the line, and we have to understand the worldwide competition. If our tax system does not spur reinvestment, no one will get jobs. One thing I learned in economics is that if everyone works for the government, there is no one to pay for the government. You don’t want your largest employer in each county to be the government or the hospital, and that’s what it’s becoming.
CL: What about the “death” tax? That is a place we disagree. You want to eliminate North Carolina’s estate tax.
I hope to gradually eliminate that. What’s happening is that people are getting around it anyway, and we’re getting nothing out of it. They are finding loopholes. And it is really difficult for family businesses and farmers who have to sell their business once a death does occur. And I want to protect the businesses of North Carolina, especially the small businesses.
CL: But once the rich father passes, the money gets passed down as inheritance, often generation after generation. It is no longer circulating in the economy.
That’s their right. I’m hoping they will reinvest that money into something, certainly as opposed to the government reinvesting it.
CL: Plenty of people in this building above us do quite well, but their ability to do their job would be limited if there wasn’t a janitor to take out the trash, or a security guard to watch the doors. We lose sight that we are in this together.
We are all in this together. We all bring a different skill set to the equation. And the people I respect more than anything are the people busting their tail 12 hours a day in a manufacturing plant, who have tremendous skills. But I have to make sure that plant is built. The first stage is building the plant, and you have to get capital to build the plant. I’m a big advocate for vocational training, mechanical, electrical, so people can make things. I think our education establishment is elitist in going against those people. And frankly, when a plumber makes more money than a lawyer, I have no problem with that.
CL: You want to reform teacher pay. How do we do that in a way that rewards teachers and draws talented people into the field?
You pay the best more money than the mediocre. This is true throughout society. Even with reporters, the good reporters should make more, and someone has to make that evaluation. Why can’t we have the same evaluations in our K-12 schools? I want to reward the best, and share the best through technology. And by gosh, if they make a lot of money, God bless them. A superintendent in Mooresville told me, “My problem is not the bad teachers. I can get rid of the bad teachers; the problems are the mediocre.” This applies to every profession in government.
CL: We spend lots of local education money on the kids who do well, go to college and never come back, but local school systems often spend little on the kids who become the future of the community. How do we shift that to benefit the community?
I have two major goals of education. One is to exercise the brains of the youth, and then to teach them the skills necessary to get a job. I’m tired of graduates from high school, two-year techs and universities moving in with their parents because they can’t get a job. We have the fourth highest unemployment rate and still I meet with employers who can’t find qualified people. Our education curriculum should be market-based, and it should be changing every year.If there is a shortage of journalists one year, which I don’t anticipate in the near future, then we ought to shift our money towards journalism. But we’re not doing that. We’re asking for more money when there isn’t any.
CL: I think charter schools fill a necessary step of reform, and understand your support. But is it wrong to allow funds to be diverted from public schools to charter schools?
Charter schools are public schools. Charter schools are public schools, and we don’t pay for their capital offense or many other expenses. Charter schools are public schools, that’s the misnomer. There is a waiting list of several thousand kids in North Carolina who are in lotteries, gambling, wanting that choice of a charter school.
CL: Is there a danger in lifting the cap on charter schools?
The only danger…if a charter school doesn’t work, it shouldn’t be allowed to continue. We should be measuring charter schools just as we measure our more formalized system.
CL: I’d say you had a stellar record as mayor, and transportation was a big part of that. Where should our priorities be over the next four years for transportation?
Well I think the next governor has to present a 25-year infrastructure plan for the state, just as I did in 1995, in my first year as mayor. And right now, Charlotte is in the 14th year of that plan. I do think government has a role in infrastructure, especially for transportation. The governor should clearly describe the vision for the state, tying the urban and rural and the ports with the railroads. It has to be integrated, and you first show it to the people and then ask for the money. Not the other way around. Gov. Easley and Gov. Perdue asked for more money and then said “trust us,” and it’s ended up being extremely political, inefficient, and at times, corrupt.
CL: A lot of North Carolinians are very disengaged. We have low voter participation levels. People are not voting or volunteering, or taking part in local democracy. What do we do to get them back into the process?
That’s a million-dollar question. It is very discouraging for me to especially see young people not voting. And young people means 35 and under, but we’re not seeing the voter turnout, while the age group of 60 and over has the highest. Political officials who depend upon the votes will concentrate the policy on the people who vote, not on the people who don’t. It’s easy, accessible and now spread out over two or three weeks. So there’s no excuse not to vote.
CL: Well, some people have said you want to make it tougher to vote. And that has been a criticism of your support for a voter ID bill. Do you think we should be trying to make it tougher to vote?
I don’t think that makes it tougher to vote. It’s tougher to get Sudafed too, or to get on an airplane. But you’re doing it for the right reasons. I’m even willing to not just require an ID, but a utility bill to prove that you live at the place that you say.
CL: (pulls out driver’s license) The address on my driver’s license is an apartment that I’ve moved out of. I don’t live there anymore. Under your proposal I’d have to get a new ID or not be able to vote.
There are guys fighting overseas right now, losing their life, and you’re complaining about having to change your license?
CL: I’m not complaining, but how many other thousand people across North Carolina are in the same situation?
To get Sudafed, you need an ID. To get into the governor’s mansion to see Gov. Perdue, you need an ID. To ride on an airplane, you have to show your ID. To cash a government check, you have to show your ID.
CL: It’s a solution, but where’s the problem?
There are huge gaps for corruption in the political process. I know what those gaps are, and we are closing our eyes. I do know there is corruption in politics, as we saw in 2008 when Gov. Perdue’s campaign team hid over 40 campaign flights. There is corruption, and people will do a lot to win an election.
CL: Anyone who has worked a voter registration drive knows how tough it is to get someone to even register, let alone show up.
Life’s tough. We’ve seen in other parts of the country, Chicago, Philadelphia, and even parts of North Carolina where there has been corruption. A corruption of the process and a corruption of the voting.
CL: What are a couple issues where you can use the bully pulpit without having to have a ton of money?
I think we’re going to have to change in every area of the state. Start off with DMV. I just got my license renewed last October, and there is no reason to wait an hour and 45 minutes in a DMV line. But they use the same process they used when I was 16 years old. And education, we have way too many silos in education. Right now, I have lobbyists hit me up from K-12, others from the community college system, and lobbyists hit me up from the university system. Why do we have three different groups of lobbyists working on behalf of education in three separate silos? They should be working together as a team. We have no choice but to change because we are broke.
CL: Across the state, plenty of small towns like Rutherfordton, Hickory and Statesville have been hit hard, not only in the recession but also in the 20 years prior. The factories lost jobs overseas or because new technology rendered them useless. What happened in your opinion? And can we save many of these places?
We were beaten by several natural economic forces where industry moved where it was cheaper to go to. Many of those industries moved from the Northeast to the South because it was cheaper here. Now the next transition took them to Central America or to China. What we have to do is find the unique niches that meet the customer needs throughout the world. We are seeing some unique niches in manufacturing, where the quality of the product is so good that it cannot be mass-produced in a cheap way. But we have to keep reinventing ourselves in the market and discovering the strengths of each region. And then we have to have a tax policy that is competitive at least with surrounding states.
CL: There was a Democratic Party ad that portrayed you, in this building, as a puppet of bankers who were hiding under the table. Are you?
That’s a loaded question. That’s the sad state of politics, that you have young people wasting time in a commercial at a time when we have the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country. These little party activists on both sides are wasting time in YouTube commercials, and they back it up with no facts. All I can do is say that, in my past experience as mayor for 14 years, there was no breach of ethics, no hint of corruption, and I stepped on everyone’s toes. I think my record speaks for itself.
CL: Name an issue, whether environmental, economic, education or criminal justice, where you are on the opposite side of big business?
I mentioned several things last week, such as more visibility for hospital bills so that we know exactly what we pay for. And a lot of the interests stopped that legislation. Here in Charlotte, I was a big proponent of the light rail, and people on my conservative right still dislike me for it. But I implemented one of the largest, yet most successful, mass-transportation systems in the state. And I’m proud of that.
CL: What’s the toughest criticism you’ve ever received?
The toughest criticism is when someone attacks my integrity in an unsubstantiated way. And that’s the cheapness of how politics is getting. We’re pushing people out of politics. And that’s why I am critical of these little YouTube cheap shots that go after my integrity. You can go after me on policy, but if you go after my integrity you better have your facts. The new method is to attack through questions, not answers. The media is also falling for that method; you raise the question so that a person has to prove their innocence. It’s a sad commentary on the state of politics. The political dialogue is terrible, but unfortunately seems to be effective.
CL: Are we at the point of needing to reform the money in politics?
I’m not sure that it’s not the money but the values of the people holding the money. Because the money is always going to be in politics.
CL: There is no way of getting it out?
There’s ways to get it out. President Obama is a prime example. He turned down public financing the first year it was available and raised almost a billion. Money did speak, to both Republicans and Democrats, including President Obama.
CL: Does that mean we give up because people can get around it? Or should we build the dam higher?
I think the most important thing is that if money is given to candidates from any third party group, it ought to be transparent. We should record where the money comes from, right away. I would support those efforts. The rules don’t require disclosure often until the election is over. I learned that from 2008, when Gov. Perdue did not follow the campaign finance laws regarding illegal flights or not reporting money. Nowadays, you can lend yourself money, and then have it paid back after you’re elected. I have a problem with that.
CL: An issue that was really important to our readers was the marriage amendment. You supported it, but didn’t run on it. Did you support it with a heavy heart, or were you emphatic?
It was a very difficult issue, like most social issues. All of these issues, whether the death penalty, Amendment One, guns, abortion, they are very complex issues, and you have to make tough decisions. I’m tired of the disparaging remarks against people who disagree with you on a social issue. You’ll never hear me call someone a name because they disagree with me on a social issue.
CL: There was a feeling that, given your background as a moderate mayor, you could perhaps get more done on social issues, even LGBT rights.
I’ve actually always been rather conservative. As mayor, I was conservative, I just haven’t been dogmatic.
CL: It took Nixon to go to China. There was a feeling you could have been the one to push the boundaries.
I did that with light rail. It took a Republican to get light rail in this area. And we need to have those moments. But I don’t believe people should go against their basic beliefs and values. We must be respectful though. One person’s tolerance is another person’s moral outrage, on both sides.
CL: Do you agree with the statement “LGBT rights are the early 21st century’s civil rights issue?” And do you think North Carolina should be on one, perhaps the right, side of history?
We respectfully disagree on the issue. I admire your belief, and I’m not going to disparage it, and I expect the same in return.
CL: You were a political-science guy at Catawba College. Who are some of your heroes from politics and history?
I greatly admired Truman, especially when he went against MacArthur. Truman and Eisenhower are two underrated leaders. Eisenhower is a Republican we don’t talk about enough. He was a man of incredible courage prior to the presidency, and then he implemented a major infrastructure plan for the United States. Something we should have done with the stimulus dollars. I am very disappointed President Obama didn’t put the stimulus dollars in infrastructure like Eisenhower or Roosevelt would have.
CL: What electoral moments from state history stand out to you?
Jim Holshouser’s victory. He is becoming a big friend and mentor of mine, and he upset the status quo of Democratic leadership. And Jim Martin, who came from Mecklenburg County, a Davidson professor who won a tough race and became a mentor of mine. And then Jim Hunt could sell the state and knew what was happening on the ground. He created a brand for North Carolina, and I admire his leadership skills. The first person I was for was Jimmy Carter. My dad was an engineer, and so was he. The night I decided to change parties was when Ted Kennedy went on stage with Jimmy Carter and refused to shake his hand. I thought the Democratic Party had lost it, so I became a Ronald Reagan advocate.
CL: You initially wanted to be a teacher. What did you want to teach?
Civics and economics and history. I student-taught at North Rowan High School and still hope to become a teacher.
CL: What CD is in your car right now?
Either Abbey Road or The Who’s Who’s Next. The song “We won’t get fooled again” is kind of our informal theme song. I don’t want the new boss to be the same as the old boss.
CL: If you could have dinner with three people living in the world today, who would they be?
Bill Gates because of his entrepreneurial skills; Paul McCartney because I admire his musicianship; and my nephew Wilson McCrory, who has overcome a great deal. I’d want him in the room to learn. He is legally blind and just graduated from Harvard MBA School and is moving to Charlotte; he takes the light rail line now. And I’d add Billy Graham to the table.
CL: Favorite author?
My favorite author is George Orwell. I’m a big fan of 1984; Winston is a character who will never leave me. I love Stephen Ambrose too; he did a lot of the World War II books, and that history.
CL: What’s your favorite period of history?
I think there are a lot of lessons from the Revolutionary War that we maybe haven’t learned as we continue in Afghanistan and other areas. I see a lot of parallels between the British in the Carolinas during the war and America in foreign countries today. It’s a very delicate situation. We were divided into tribes, but the British united us, and I see a lot of those dynamics as we try to help other countries but unite opposition against us.
CL: As you campaign, is there anything in the back of your mind that you worry about at night, a crisis you might have to deal with?
There will be something that I can never anticipate. In 2008, the economy crashed two months before our election, which probably determined our election. During my tenure as mayor, we had the hundred-year ice storm, the hundred-year flood, the hundred-year drought, so Mayor Foxx may have it easier because those things probably won’t happen again for a hundred years. But a leader should keep the focus on the long-term vision while putting out the daily fires that are unanticipated.
CL: How do you feel going forward to the election?
I am extremely paranoid, because I have lived one election night that will stay with me. And I do not want to repeat the election night of 2008.
by Mike Cooper | July 25, 2012
(Creative Loafing Charlotte)
Raleigh’s Bet on the Electric Car: Only Time Will Tell (Raleigh Public Record)
With $300,000 invested and 29 charging stations installed, Raleigh is poised to embrace a new wave of electric vehicles. Whether that wave is really coming, though, is still a question for the fortune tellers.
Transportation leaders from across eight states gathered in the capitol city last week to discuss how they might grease the tracks for the anticipated advent of the electric vehicle or EV.
While they weren’t sure of the strategy public agencies should employ to get more EVs on the road, how much the electric car makes sense was not up for debate.
It costs around one-fourth as much to charge an EV as it does to gas up a hybrid. EVs have a higher purchase cost than gas cars. But depending on a person’s monthly gasoline bill, in some cases, an electric vehicle would result in a lower monthly total vehicle bill.
Not only do EVs reduce greenhouse gases and make the air we breathe cleaner, they reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil—the most critical component in guaranteeing national security, according to the Department of Defense.
EVs also help utilize the power grid. Power stations are built to handle peak capacity, which happens during the day. That means at other times, power plants aren’t running nearly as hard as they could.
“The economic drivers are there. The technology is ready,” said Jeff Barghout, the Director of Transportation Initiatives at Advanced Energy in Raleigh.“All the stars, in essence, have lined up more than with most other technologies.”
Growing Fast
Around 30,000 EVs have been sold in the U.S. in the past year, according to Judi Greenwald with the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
That’s faster than the Prius sold when it hit the market, she said.
Perhaps the biggest incentive pushing sales is a $7,500 federal tax credit.
That puts Mitsubishi’s EV at less than $22,000. Versions from Chevy, Nissan and Ford come in anywhere from the high 20s to the low 30s. And Tesla, which makes a range of Evs, starts at around $50,000 after the tax credit.
Baseline EVs tend to get around 100 miles per charge. Most batteries take around six or seven hours to charge from empty.
EVs became widely available in North Carolina last fall and the NCDOT currently estimates that 293 electric cars are on the road statewide.
That’s about one percent of the national figure, no small sum considering most plug-ins are sold on the west coast.
Wake County is home to 132 of those cars, according to the DOT. Only three other counties—Durham, Orange and Mecklenberg—even have EVs registered in the double digits.
Crossing the Chasm
“In Silicon Valley they joke about the ‘20-year, overnight success,” said David Townsend, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at NC State University.
The theory goes that a product might be on a relatively steady course of growth, but at a certain point that growth looks more like an explosion.
If EV sales double each year, it might not be noticeable as we approach 60,000, 120,000 and 240,000 but when the volume gets big enough, growth can have the appearance of an overnight explosion.
Right now, electric cars are only being purchased by what economists refer to as “early adopters.”
“In general, they only represent about 13 to 14 percent of the market,” Townsend said.
The next step for electric carmakers is breaking into the “early majority,” who, Townsend said, represent another 34 percent of the market.
“The difficulty for tech companies is getting to the early majority,” Townsend said. “Most companies fail at this stage.”
For early adopters, tech companies don’t need to provide practicality, just novelty. It’s the opposite for the early majority.
“At this stage I don’t know if
As far as the “where can I charge my car” proposition goes, initiatives like Raleigh’s can have a major impact in consumer confidence, he said.
Matching the Private and Public Investment
The best thing government organizations can do to not get their heads below water is continue to match the investment of businesses and the public, said Greenwald, who facilitated the summit.
Based on the number of EVs in Wake County, Raleigh’s investment stands at around $2,000 per car on the road. Raleigh taxpayers have only footed $125,000 of the cost for infrastructure so far. The rest of the $300,000 has come from federal grants.
The city has also added around a dozen electric vehicles to its fleet. Some businesses, like Progress Energy, have done the same thing.
Progress is currently partnering with the city to test a solar-powered charging station adjacent from the convention center. It’ currently generating enough power to actually add back to the grid.
In Greenwald’s mind, the best thing Raleigh has done is streamline regulations. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions recognized Raleigh for making it easier for EV owners to get a permit to install home chargers.
“We want to be sure that our community, from a regulatory standpoint, makes it as easy as possible [to own an EV],” said Assistant City Manager Julian Prosser. “We’re not part of the bureaucratic problem; we’re part of the bureaucratic solution.”
Other public agencies across the country have bet bigger.
“We’re at the tipping point with our fingers crossed, hoping this thing is actually going to take off,” said Art James of the Oregon DOT. “We hope we’re doing the right thing [by building infrastructure] and we’ll keep doing it until somebody tells us to stop.”
For Now, a Niche Market
It’s still early in the process, admitted Greenwald.
“Electric vehicles are a reality,” she said. “But they are a small reality at this point. It takes a long time for new technology to penetrate the market.”
Jeff Barghout designed electric cars in the 90s. He thinks this time around, it’s not a question of if, but when.
“It’s coming,” Barghout said. “Every major auto maker has said this is the direction they are going.”
And according to Townsend, the economist, it’s the major automakers that have the most to lose.
If EVs don’t catch on fast enough it could put the major automakers, who have invested a great deal of production capacity, in a cash flow bind.
“In that sense, Tesla may be the best positioned,” Townsend said.“If I were betting on the individual car companies, I don’t think any are a safe bet. But I think the technology makes sense.”
Whether we’ll get from that day to a time when electric cars are plugged in at every street corner, is still up in the air.
Correction: In the original version of this post, David Townsend’s title was listed as assistant professor of economics.
By Will Huntsberry
July 9, 2012
McGuireWoods lobbies for Wilmington (Lumina News)
Following the conclusion of the summer short session meeting of the North Carolina General Assembly, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said he was pleased with the trial run of the McGuireWoods Consulting firm. Being that this was the first time the city of Wilmington employed the services of a lobbyist to pursue its political agenda in the general assembly, Saffo said continuing to do so would be vital to the city’s prosperity.
“We think it has been a good investment for our community,” Saffo said by telephone on Monday, July 23. “We have been very pleased with what McGuireWoods has been able to do for us, but more importantly, the things McGuireWoods has been able to express to us in terms of what future legislation could mean, what kind of impact it would have on our city and how to plan for that impact in the coming sessions.”
Although Saffo said the delegates at the summer short session did not discuss a wide range of issues, he felt the next session that convenes in August would contain many debates over issues that directly affect southeastern North Carolina.
“There are going to be huge discussions and debates in regards to tax reform, environmental issues that will affect the region east of Interstate 95, as well as beach renourishment and inlet dredging that affects all of us in southeastern North Carolina,” he said.
Given the multitude of film projects North Carolina has been able to draw recently, another major issue sure to arise in the coming sessions is the extension of the state’s film incentive programs.
“From my perspective, that will be one of the big issues going into the longer session — how do we deal with this on a longer-term basis to keep that industry viable and healthy in our community and our state,” Saffo said. “With the extension of that to 2015, it gives us a little bit of breathing room, but it is a big industry in our community; it is becoming a big industry throughout the entire state and something we are probably going to have to work hard to keep.”
In developing rapport between the city’s lobbyists, New Hanover County’s lobbyists and the local delegation, Saffo said all parties would inevitably not be able to agree on every issue, but that there are some that will be important for all to support, such as beach renourishment, roadway improvements and the development of the port.
“Our area continues to grow and we need to be competitive in the 21st century in this world economy we live in today,” Saffo said. “We are going to work on it from the perspective that we are going to do the best we can to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to be competitive.”
The city’s political agenda for the upcoming sessions has yet to be fully developed with the local delegation and McGuireWoods; however, Saffo said having a lobbyist will be a great tool for the city that it has missed in the past.
“We will have a legislative agenda going into next year. We will sit down with our local delegation to make certain the agenda we put together will be supported by them,” he said. “We need an advocate and we need someone up there that is looking at all of the legislation that is coming through the pipeline because it could be something like a very minor piece of legislation that is being enacted by a representative from Asheville that could have direct consequences for the city of Wilmington.”
(Lumina News)
by Cole Dittmer
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
