According to Fortune magazine (cite), Cary was the third fastest growing city in the nation for the 12 months that ended July 1, 2008. With the rest of the country suffering and millions of Americans out of work, we are very fortunate to live here. However, this being an election year, you can count on plenty of complaints about the growth and how schools and quality of life are suffering. We here at CP feel that a job in fast growing community beats no job at all no matter where you live. Still, the three J's up for re-election will have to contend with those that ignore the evidence and claim we are headed to hell in a handbasket. Such is political life when change for change sake rules the day. CTC as currently configured is nicely balanced but we are certain there will be candidates focused on upsetting the apple cart.
I don't do a lot of business through amazon.com but I know those that do. In the midst of very challenging economic times, leave it to our illustrious elected officials on Jones St to look out for themselves first....
We regret to inform you that the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) appears ready to enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with North Carolina-based Associates. You are receiving this e-mail because our records indicate that you are an Amazon Associate and resident of North Carolina.
Please note that this is not an immediate termination notice and you are still a valued participant in the Associates Program. All referral fees earned on qualified traffic will continue to be paid as planned.
But because the new law is drafted to go into effect once enacted – which could happen in the next two weeks – we will have to terminate the participation of all North Carolina residents in the Amazon Associates program on or before that same day. After the termination day, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates program from North Carolina residents.
The unfortunate consequences of this legislation on North Carolina residents like you were explained in detail to key senators and representatives in Raleigh, including the leadership of the Senate, House, and both chambers’ finance committees. Other states, including Maryland, Minnesota, and Tennessee, considered nearly identical schemes, but rejected these proposals largely because of the adverse impact on their states’ residents.
Climate for Student Success
Held Monday, May 11th, 2009
The interactive forum hosted by the Town of Cary, entitled “Climate for Student Success” turned out to be mostly a reminder of just how far out of touch the Wake School Board is with the majority of Cary's citizens. It was hoped that Keynote Speaker Elaine McEwan, best selling author of 10 Traits of Highly Effective Schools, would help focus the discussion on distinguishing qualities and unique characteristics of schools that help all students make outstanding gains in performance but instead discussion (such that it was) quickly turned to criticisms of the WCPSS' diveristy policy as implemented by their annual reassignment ritual. A ritual that does nothing to promote education and everything to irritate and make life more difficult for parents and students.
For those of you in attendence, please comment and let us know whether you thought it was helpful or just more political theater.
...politicians today, being first and foremost interested in their own re-election, fight those consequences at every turn, always angling for position, and refusing to cede the premise to the victors.
Webster's defines premise as: "a proposition antecedently supposed or proved as a basis of argument or inference; specifically: either of the first two propositions of a syllogism from which the conclusion is drawn b: something assumed or taken for granted or a presupposition."
We all take things for granted and we use different, sometimes wildly different, premises when we make decisions and especially when we discuss the politics of the day. Something as seemingly benign as planting an inexpensive flower garden at Town Hall has a unique connotation depending on whether you own a greenhouse or you happen to be highly allergic to buttercups.
The ongoing debates over school reassignment and growth in our area are made more difficult because elected leaders, citizens, and business leaders tend to jump immediately to proposing various solutions without first agreeing on a premise. That is, they look for answers without first agreeing on what the real problem is.
Before finding any comprehensive solutions, we have to know where to focus our efforts. Before we can do that we need to agree on the premise for the problem we are trying to solve. It should be noted that when it comes to public policy, there will quite often be disagreements over premises and that even once agreed to, the premise for a problem can change. Effective leadership doesn't necessitate unanimity with regards to adopting a given premise but it does require that once a decision is made that all stakeholders approach finding a solution based on what was agreed to.
This is where politics today is failing - miserably.
We have heard the phrase over and over again that "elections have consequences" but in reality, politicians today, being first and foremost interested in their own re-election, fight those consequences at every turn, always angling for position, and refusing to cede the premise to the victors. They hide behind mantras of "voter fraud", "didn't get the vote out", and "failed to tell our side of the story" as excuses for not working honestly with the political opposition on problems the voters asked them to try and fix.
So next time you hear some long winded career politician pontificating about how they are standing their ground, remember that this country was founded as a Republic and they can't do a very good job at representing you if they refuse to acknowlege where the other side is coming from.
At the Town of Cary's most recent council meeting (agenda here), a very rare event occurred. Not one public hearing. Not one. Nada. Zero. Why? No rezonings, no site plans, no voluntary annexations.... No growth.
While some would celebrate this and laud the notion that the gates of heaven are now closed and if you didn't make it in, too bad, I do not. I see this as a troubling sign of a region wide slow down that has helped jack up North Carolina's unemployment rate to an astonishing 8.7%. Only the staunchest NIMBYs could see this as good news - at least until they lose their job, can't sell their home, pay significantly higher taxes, or otherwise start to feel the pinch of a major economic slowdown. Returning to a sustainable growth rate of 2%-3% is not only desirable but essential to our quality of life.
How can we accomplish this in a down economy?
One of the great anomalies of the current economic crisis when compared to earlier recessions is that many responsible companies are sitting on piles of cash. They are simply wating for market conditions to improve before investing it. They are also waiting for an indication that retro-active taxes won't come back and bite them hard. For those firms with money to invest, a small incentive to get them to invest in new development now rather than later could go a long way in helping jump start the economy.
What kind of incentive?
Eliminate all development fees for building permits that are granted in 2009. Give the builders, developers - and workers - a reason to build now instead of waiting to see what happens. Instead of working on a resolution asking for Federal bailout money, work on a plan to spur growth. In other words, be pro-active and responsible - be Cary.
