A 2010 agenda (Charlotte Observer)

In many respects 2009 was the worst year of the worst decade in memory for North Carolinians. It was especially brutal in Charlotte, a city that once thought itself immune to financial reversals. In a state once known for its late entry and early recovery from recessions, the economic toll of the Great Recession was devastating. Unemployment topped 10 percent, and many lost jobs, homes and hope. Revenue to take care of such vital public services as education and mental health was inadequate – even with significant federal stimulus funds. North Carolina and the Charlotte region have much to do in 2010. Here are six important things the Observer’s editorial board believes state and local governments and the people of this region must tackle in 2010:

Restructure the tax system

If the economic recession did nothing else, it showed once again the inadequacies of North Carolina’s Depression-era tax system. It relies on high income tax and sales tax rates with a narrow base – which will only get narrower as consumers turn to more online shopping. The legislature’s 2009 approval of a higher sales tax, whether temporary or not, only makes it more regressive for low-income citizens. A new report points out that people in lower tax brackets already pay a higher proportion of their income in state and local taxes than the state’s richest residents – 9.5 percent for those earning less than $17,000 a year, compared to 8.1 percent for those with incomes topping $1.15 million.

Lawmakers such as Mecklenburg’s Sen. Dan Clodfelter have been pushing for tax reform, but others may not be in a mood to restructure the tax system in the 2010 election year. Yet failing to significantly broaden the sales tax base to include a wide range of services will do two things: Guarantee the revenue system will be even more inadequate next year and following years. And guarantee that income and sales tax rates will remain high – at a level economists say discourages economic development and hamstrings the economy.

If ever an issue required forceful, cogent leadership, this is it. Gov. Bev Perdue and legislative leaders of both parties must find a way to broaden the base, phase in key tax rate cuts and give this state a 21st-century revenue system. Perdue has declared tax reform a priority, but unless leaders of both parties agree to make a special effort on tax reform, it likely won’t happen. This is also a year when lawmakers plan to convene for a relatively short session to revise the annual budget. The General Assembly must show unusual bipartisan spirit and determination to replace a fundamentally flawed revenue system.

Appoint judges

Former Mecklenburg District Court Judge Bill Belk – who resigned after the Judicial Standards Commission recommended his removal from the bench – has long said he wanted to reform the state’s judiciary. His high-profile case bolsters that need, though not the way he intended. Belk’s confrontation with Chief District Court Judge Lisa Bell reflects how poorly suited for judgeships some candidates are, though they are able to tap into voter discontent and win election to the bench.

While we believe careful screening of potential judges and appointment with confirmation by the legislature would be a better way to select judges, many legislators do not want to take elections out of the judicial selection procedure. Nor should they. We prefer a hybrid electoral system that uses appointment and confirmation to choose trial and appellate judges, and which would then require a retention election after two years and periodic retention elections in future years to give the public a voice in whether judges stay on the bench. This would be a far better system and help assure that judges are well-trained and well-suited for the job.

North Carolina has led the way in recent years with a public funding mechanism for appellate judicial elections. It was intended, among other things, to remove the taint of big money from judicial elections and spare judicial candidates the ethical dilemma that comes from seeking campaign donations from other lawyers and clients who might wind up in courtrooms with a legal issue at stake.

The public funding program has been encouraging, but there isn’t enough money to fully fund all elections, and there probably won’t be for a long time. Switching to an appointive system with periodic retention elections would be far less costly, while keeping the public involved in the process.

Tackle school dropout rate

The last time official statistics were published, there was a little bit of good news: North Carolina schools’ overall dropout rate had improved a little. For the first time in three years, the dropout rate dropped, from 5.24 percent to 4.97 percent in 2007-08.

But the state’s graduation rate – defined as the percentage of students who enroll in ninth grade and eventually graduate from high school – is still horrible. Defined that way, about 70 percent of students graduate – which means about 30 percent drop out, many becoming a drag on the state’s economy, not to mention their own future. That appalling failure rate is why the state has adopted its Learn and Earn program and the N.C. Virtual Public Schools, and it’s why the General Assembly has approved a grants program. They are designed to encourage students to keep pursuing educational achievement so they’ll be prepared for the working world.

And it isn’t working – or isn’t working in proportions the state needs. That’s one reason Gov. Bev Perdue is developing a new program called “Ready, Set, Go” – details of which have not been released – to focus on helping students graduate. One key, she said, may be better vocational programs to keep at-risk youth in the classroom. College readiness will be another focus.

We look forward to hearing Perdue’s proposal, but we also know from sad experience how difficult this problem is. It begins not in ninth grade, but in elementary school, when students don’t learn to read and can’t handle basic math. By all means we should improve vocational and college prep training. But we must also remember where the problem begins – and know that it can’t be solved by schools alone. The whole community must decide to work together to solve this.

Get greener, stall sprawl

Everyone’s talking about making Charlotte a magnet for green energy jobs. That’s a visionary goal. It’s time for local governments to make visionary – and visible – “green” commitments.

Recycling doesn’t solve global warming but it’s an obvious signal you take the environment seriously. The city and county should make recycling containers readily available in all public places and push private ones such as shopping malls to do the same.

Get visibly friendlier to pedestrians. Pull the draft of a city pedestrian plan from the shelf where developer opposition has stalled it for two years. Realize that building sidewalks is only a beginning. The city needs crossing lights, crosswalks, refuge islands in large intersections and a way to ensure that sidewalks are kept clear of debris, poison ivy, ice, trash bins and other hazards.

It isn’t green to let the local developers’ lobby gut a proposed beefing up of the city’s tree ordinance. That is what is happening. Charlotte’s tree ordinance was a pioneer when it was adopted years ago. But since then, many other cities have adopted stronger ones. It’s time Charlotte did the same.

A city that makes low-density, single-use suburban growth easy will not be taken seriously as “green.” With development at a crawl, now is a good time to revamp local ordinances and zoning standards. Low-density sprawl and strip commercial buildings should not be the default setting for growth. Instead, make environmentally friendly mixed-use development the default. Those wanting to build suburban office parks, stand-alone stores and sprawling subdivisions should have to jump through hoops for a rezoning, not the other way around.

Former Mayor Pat McCrory was strong on transportation issues but weak on environmental ones. New Mayor Anthony Foxx has a good grounding in both. This is one area where he can show much-needed leadership.

Discover all of the ‘Great State’

Memo to all Charlotte politicians, of both parties, and all Charlotte business and civic leaders: Work on your Raleigh relationships – and those elsewhere in the state as well. Tamp down the bragging about how wonderful Charlotte is (folks elsewhere already know it) and how much we love our city, and start bragging about how wonderful North Carolina is and how much we love our state.

Learn about your state – and go beyond the state mammal (gray squirrel), state dog (Plott hound) or state shell (Scotch bonnet – pronounced bo-nay).

Do you know where Randleman is and who made nearby Level Cross famous with his 200 NASCAR wins? Ever watched the sun rise over Silver Lake harbor in Ocracoke? Have you seen a game at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville? Climbed Pilot Mountain and one of the most recognizable monadnocks in the world? Know how to pronounce Conetoe? (Hint: It isn’t CONE-toe.) Driven the Blue Ridge Parkway end to end? Watched, as the late Sen. Sam Ervin used to recommend, the sun set in indescribable glory over Hawksbill Mountain? Cruised down the Intracoastal Waterway in the fall from Hobucken to Oriental? Strolled through Duke Gardens in Durham in the spring?

Learn more about the Old North State – its people, its places and its history. Memorize the first verse to “Here’s to the Land of the Long Leaf Pine.” See the “Lost Colony” at Roanoke Island’s Waterside Theater. See Bridal Veil Falls up close. Climb Jockey’s Ridge. Take in a show at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill – the first Astronauts did.

And pick up the phone and call your legislators and get to know them. Relationships matter – and you’ll likely find you’ve got more in common with folks from the East, the West and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill than you imagined. Plus, the more they understand how much you all love your state, the more willing they’ll be to learn to care about Charlotte.

Plan transportation regionally

It sounds like a bizarre camaraderie of dwarfs: MUMPO, GUAMPO, CRMPO, GHMPO and RFATS (in the Disney version he’d be the chubby, clumsy one). Let us not forget LNRPO and RRRPO (the small but snarling pirate dwarf?).

As if the names aren’t funny enough, here’s a thigh-slapper: All seven are transportation planning agencies for greater Charlotte.

Even if you toss out GHMPO (Greater Hickory Metropolitan Planning Organization) you still have an insane number of separate agencies ostensibly planning transportation in one metro region. And if you don’t think transportation planning in Rock Hill-Fort Mill (RFATS) and LNRPO (Lake Norman Rural Planning Organization) doesn’t affect transportation throughout the greater Charlotte region, well, you haven’t traveled on Interstate 77.

Ask most planners and they’ll tell you – off the record of course, so as not to tick off politicians – that sane transportation planning is mere fantasy until all six or seven MPOs and RPOs merge into one true metropolitan planning organization.

MPOs are federally mandated to plan “regionally.” Indeed, Title 23 of the U.S. Code says an MPO should cover a whole metro area. However, smaller cities such as Gastonia or Concord have little interest in joining with the Mecklenburg behemoth, fearing their share of state and federal transportation money would shrink.

If the region’s governments won’t do the right thing, the state should force it. At least two men in Raleigh get it. N.C. Department of Transportation Secretary Gene Conti is savvy about transportation policy, politics and about true regional planning. So is Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat whose seniority and smarts have given him significant clout in Raleigh.

And both states must figure out how an MPO can cross state lines, so York County, S.C., can join the region’s transportation planning. Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., all have multi-state MPOs. It can’t be rocket science.

Posted: Sunday, Jan. 03, 2010