A new bipartisan group of business and city leaders has formed to push urban issues in the new Republican-controlled state government. The group, called the N.C. Communities and Business Alliance, includes Democrats such as former Gov. Jim Hunt and Republicans such as former Charlotte mayor Richard Vinroot. The group recently held its inaugural meeting. The group was formed at a time when the traditional voice of the towns and cities, the N.C. League of Municipalities, has been taking a political beating in the legislature on such issues as annexation. “The idea came out of the League of Municipalities that there ought to be a new voice up there for urban areas that represented their issues, and there were plenty of business people who felt the same way,” said Vinroot, a two-time GOP candidate for governor. “The idea is to try to bring business and local government as a voice to be heard in Raleigh.” “These are healthy cities,” Vinroot said. “We want to make sure the leaders in Raleigh understand that. As we watch Detroit sink and literally go out of business, we are thankful we live here and our leaders don’t have to live with those kinds of issues because we have such good, healthy metropolitan areas.”
(Dome, THE NEWS & OBSERVER)
12/16/12
