Category Archives: Winston-Salem

Winston-Salem Government’s Use of Eminent Domain is Stupid and Immoral

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Winston-Salem, NC wants to seize some property for redevelopment using eminent domain despite the fact that they have not exhausted their other options.  You can read the entire story here in the Winston-Salem Journal, but here are the highlights:

  • The city is trying to redevelop a strip of land on Liberty Street between the Smith Reynolds airport and downtown. They’ve set aside $500,000 to acquire all the lots.
  • One landowner, Charles Baldwin, has a competing offer for the land from Firetree Ltd., a company that wants to build a halfway house there.
  • The city is offering $145,000 for the land and Firetree is offering $172,500.  The property is appraised by the city at $172,000, which means they are taxing Mr. Baldwin based on that number but offering to buy it for $27,000 less.  The city claims that the difference is because of environmental issues with the property, but since the city acknowledges those issues exist doesn’t that mean their tax assessment should reflect the lower value?  That’s the immoral part of this whole thing.
  • The city is suing to seize the property using eminent domain, but one component of eminent domain law is that the landowner be compensated fairly.  In what universe does an offer that is more than 15% less than an existing offer OR assessed valued by the city constitute fair compensation?  And what genius figured that suing would cost the city less than $28,000 which is really all they’d have to offer to get the land?  That’s the stupid part of this whole deal.

I truly hope that the city gets slapped around on this deal.  Whether or not you support eminent domain in concept I think any reasonable person would find it unconscionable that the city would tax a landowner at a higher assessed value than they are willing to pay for the land themselves.  Simply put that is total bull excrement.

Coopetition Defined

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The Winston-Salem Journal lost power at their production facility the other night so the Greensboro News & Record stepped in to print about 17,000 copies for them.  The two papers have a standing agreement to help each other out in circumstances such as these, which is good business for all concerned and the true definition of "coopetition."

Update: The Journal’s editor writes about it here.

Forsyth County Commissioners Show Thin Skin

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After the recent Forsyth County budget was announced the number one issue in terms of publicity was the fact that the Downtown Health Plaza lost all county funding (about $600k).  That caused a bit of a stink because of the politics involved, but it got even stinkier when the county’s director of health, Dr. Tim Monroe, wrote an opinion column for the Winston-Salem Journal that basically said the county’s policy, and by association the commissioners themselves, does not fit with the Christian values of compassion and charity.  In Winston-Salem those are fightin’ words!

Two of the commissioners replied in the Journal:

"I think he’s very
disrespectful to the commissioners. I think he’s being misleading to
the community," said Gloria Whisenhunt, the chairwoman. "Tim has never
been a team player."

Debra Conrad-Shrader, the vice chairwoman, agreed.

"I thought it was
inappropriate, and I’m sure the board of health will take care of it,"
Conrad-Shrader said. "He’s their responsibility, and they are in charge
of who the health director is."

Well, pardon me but I think the Bush administration has shown what a mess you can make of things if you insist that everyone be a "team player."  The public is not served well if our public servants just sit on their hands when they feel an injustice has been done.  We don’t have to agree with what is said but we do deserve to hear all sides of the debate.

For what it’s worth I don’t like higher taxes any more than the next person but I think it is perfectly legitimate to question how our government spends its money.  Quite frankly the healthcare system is tough on more people than just the desperately poor.  Every day more people go without health insurance and every day it costs more and I think that you’ll find more people needing the services of places like the Downtown Health Plaza.  Public health policy is one area that deserves heated debate, not meek acceptance by "team players."

And for the record, Dr. Monroe really points the finger at us, the citizens of Forsyth County.  Here’s what he wrote:

But we should not
judge the commissioners. We placed them there, and we sent them the
unmistakable message of our true values – that they would not be
re-elected if they raised taxes. We must judge ourselves. Would it be
an unreasonable burden on property owners to pay a 1-cent increase so
that the disenfranchised might enjoy an incremental improvement in
needed services? Would it damage our economy, as is so often argued by
the no-more-taxes-for-nothing-never-no-how contingent? Below are some
county property tax rates for comparison. Are the property owners of
Mecklenburg, Durham and Cumberland Counties reeling under their burdens?

So if anyone should feel disrespected it is us, but to be honest I’m glad we have at least one public servant with the cajones to stand up and be counted.  Good on ‘ya Dr. Monroe.  And to our esteemed councilwomen I can only say, "Grow up."

10 Year Plan to End Homelessness in Winston-Salem

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After posting this piece about the homeless and email I found out about an initiative in Winston-Salem called the "10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness."  The executive summary has some interesting information:

  • "Approximately 1,800 people experience homelessness in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County each year. Twenty percent are families; around 200 are children."
  • "The Ten Year Plan calls for a “housing first” approach that emphasizes placing individuals and families who are homeless in safe and affordable housing as an immediate response to their crisis and then ensuring that the necessary supports are in place to sustain that housing. The Plan recognizes that access to housing is a basic human need that should not be conditioned on external measures of client readiness, such as employment, sobriety, or willingness to accept treatment. Housing First is premised on the belief that the underlying causes of homelessness can be more effectively addressed once a person is housed. And, in fact, research shows that people are most successful at addressing issues that often contribute to homelessness such as unemployment, serious mental illness, and addiction when their housing is stabilized first and supportive services are then offered to promote housing stability."
  • "For a system to fully and effectively address homelessness it must include a range of housing and service strategies that are tailored to meet the diverse needs experienced by individuals and families who become homeless—strategies that are firmly grounded in an understanding
    of how those needs vary according to whether homelessness is transitional or chronic in nature. To succeed, the existing homeless service system must alter its approach from one that responds to all individuals experiencing homelessness in similar ways, to one that differentiates between services for persons with short-term needs and those requiring long-term support."

The full report can be found here and if you want more information the contact they provide is:
Tim West
Winston-Salem Housing/Neighborhood Development Department
(336) 727-8597 • timw@cityofws.org

Thankfully He’s Not From Ohio

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We the people in Forsyth County, NC have a new director for our elections office.  His name is Rob Coffman and he headed the elections board in Genesee County, Michigan.  Thankfully he isn’t from Ohio as, according to this article in Rolling Stone, the folks in the Buckeye state had elections in 2004 that made the elections in Chicago in the old days look positively pristine by comparison.

Hopefully the Ohio stink didn’t rub off on Mr. Coffman since Ohio and Michigan aren’t that far apart.  Of course with the well known hatred that Michigan and Ohio State fans have for each other I’m thinking that he would probably do the opposite of whatever they do in Ohio anyway.

Welcome Mr. Coffman and good luck!

Foxx Contributions from 149 PACs for $267,913

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According to Capitol Advantage, Virginia Foxx has gotten $267,913 from 149 PACs for the 05-06 election cycle.  The smallest amount ($200) came from the American Association for Marriage and the largest amount ($12,500) came from 21st Century Pac.  Here’s her top 15 PAC contributors

  1. 21st Century Pac, $12,500
  2. Every Republican is Crucial (Ericpac), $10,000
  3. RJ Reynolds Political Action Committee; Reynolds American Inc., $9,000
  4. Together for our Majority PAC (Tompac), $5,000
  5. Wachovia Corporation Employees Good Government Federal Fund, $5,000
  6. Promoting Republicans You Can Elect Project (Pryce Project), $5,000
  7. Dealers Election Action Committee of the National Automotive Dealers Association, $5,000
  8. Freshman Pac, $5,000
  9. Credit Union Legislative Action Council of Cuna, $5,000
  10. Keep Our Majority Pac, $5,000
  11. Rely on Your Beliefs Fund, $5,000
  12. Branch Bank & Trust PAC, $5,000
  13. Duke Energy Corporation PAC, $5,000
  14. Americans for a Republican Majority PAC, $5,000
  15. The Freedom Project, $4,751

Other notable PACs that contributed some grease were the Lorillard Tobacco Company Public Affairs Committee ($3,750), Dell Inc. Employee Pac ($2,500), Petroleum Marketers Association of America/Small Biz Committee ($1,500), Exxonmobil Corporation PAC ($1,000), and Tyco International Inc. Employees PAC ($500).

Given Foxx’s strong and consistent stand on immigration reform I was a little surprised to see all the agricultural organizations that gave money to her.  Those  include

  • American Crystal Suger Company PAC ($3,000)
  • Dairy Farmers of America Inc. Depac ($3,000)
  • Weyerhauser Co. PAC ($2,000)
  • NC Farm Bureau Farmpac ($2,000)
  • National Council of Farmer Cooperatives ($1,000)
  • Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperation ($1,000)
  • American Sugarbeet Growers Association PAC ($1,000)
  • North Carolina Pork Council Pac ($1,000)
  • Great Lakes Sugarbeet Growers PAC ($1,000)
  • Western Peanut Growers PAC ($1,000)
  • American Nursery and Landscape Assn. PAC ($1,000)
  • United Egg Association ($1,000)
  • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association PAC ($1,000)
  • Florida Sugar Cane League PAC ($500)
  • Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative PAC ($500)
  • National Chicken Council PAC ($500)
  • National Turkey Federation PAC ($500)
  • American Sugar Cane League of USA ($500)
  • Southern Cottongrowers ($500)
  • National Milk Producers Federation Pac ($500)
  • National Pork Producers Council ($500)

By my count that’s over $20k from ag-related PACs.  The reason that is interesting to me is that she is very strong on immigration reform and is a hard-liner on illegal aliens.  On the other hand agriculture is one of the leading employers/benefactors of illegal alien labor (along with construction).  Strange. **Update** Okay, so I might be an idiot.  She sits on the House Agriculture committee, in which case the donations make sense.  On the other hand I do wonder how the average ag-business person feels about her immigration stance?

**Update #2** In an interview in the Winston-Salem Journal Foxx denied that she had any connections to oil (her opponent Roger Sharpe said she is in the oil companies’ pocket), but she’s gotten some contributions from oil company PACs including ExxonMobil.  It’s a small amount of money so I’d say Sharpe better find another bone to pick. He also better get busy with his fundraising because Foxx has a serious war-chest and as of the last election filings he has, uh, not so much.

Another Reason the Forsyth County Elections Board Made the Right Call

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A while ago the Forsyth County (NC) Elections Board caught some heat when it didn’t support the recommendation of the long-time director of elections to go with a touch screen voting machine.  The dispute caused the director to leave her position to take a job with the state’s election office.

David Allen made a convincing argument at blackboxvoting.com for why the board was right and now comes more evidence that the board made a good call.  There’s a new report out about some of the security flaws in Diebold’s touch-screen system which supports some allegations made against Diebold.  Note that some of this dates all the way back to 2003.

Yup, I’d say the board made the right call.

Dinner at Zevely House

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To celebrate our 14th anniversary Celeste and I treated ourselves to dinner at Zevely House Restaurant in Winston-Salem.  We truly spoiled ourselves.

We shared a bottle of 2005 Hogue Riesling that came in a twist-top bottle, but now that we’ve been wine-educated by Bruce Heye at Salem College we know that good wines can come with screw tops and this was a good Riesling. We also shared an appetizer of baked brie (had some kind of great crust, but I can’t remember what it was made of) and doused with a raspberry/Sangria sauce and garnished with sliced fruit.

Celeste got a green salad with nuts and fruit (can’t remember exactly what but she loved it and I’ll update later with her info) and I had a salad that came with a crab cake and fried oysters that was REALLY good.  For dinner she had lamb chops served with greens, potatos, greens and a vegetable mix while I had a Moravian chicken pie with a fantastic sauce (I call it gravy) and greens, rice and a vegetable medley.  If you ever get the chance try the greens; they’re amazing and have a great kick.

For dessert we split a piece of Lemon Pecan Pie served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  The lemon balanced out the sweetness of the pecan pie so it wasn’t overly sweet as many pecan pies are.  We finished with some house blend coffee which was also excellent.

We had a great time and if you want to spoil yourself this is the place to do it.

Crooks Just Loved the Piedmont

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According to this article about a book that is about a prolific robbery gang from Philadelphia during the 50s, 60s and 70s, North Carolina and the Piedmont in particular were favorite targets.

They traveled to rob, usually to someplace warm, where tire tracks
and footprints wouldn’t be left in snow and mud. North Carolina was a
favorite target; Kripplebauer saw the state as one big ATM machine.

For years, he and his associates picked off homes in Winston-Salem,
Greensboro and Raleigh, so proficient at thievery that the locals gave
them a nickname: the Hallmark Gang, because they stole only the best
stuff – jewels and silver bearing high-quality hallmarks.

The book is Confessions of a Second Story Man: Junior Kripplebauer and the K&A Gang and it sounds like it might be a good read.