Is Stam Against or For Naming Buildings for Living People

Paul Stam, a Republican NC House member from Wake County, and Republican leader in the NC House, had the following comment about the naming of a new NC State library for former Governor Jim Hunt”

“Normally to get your name on a government building, you have to be dead. But I’m not on a crusade about this.”

But he must have forgotten about the Holshouser building at the state fair, named for the still alive former Republican governor and the Reagan National Airport, renamed for the former Republican president before his death.

The above is from Gary Pearce in the Talking About Politics blog.
www.talkingaboutpolitics.com/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ArticleView/mid/364/articleId/992/NoClass-Paul-Stam.aspx

There is also the George H. W. Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston and the ironically named George Bush Center for Intelligence (CIA HQ), appropriately near the Turkey Run park on the Virginia side of the Potomac river.

North Carolina’s Tough Lending Laws Get Business Week Attention

According to a recent Business Week article, North Carolina’s progressive protection laws for borrowers may become a nationwide model.

Looking over a past issue of Business Week today, an article about North Carolina and our attorney general, Roy Cooper, and the tough lending laws adopted by the state. Cooper introduced the1999 law when he was a state senator.

According to the article, critics of the 1999 law argued that it would harm the housing market in the state. However, studies have found that it did not. The recent economic problems have not affected North Carolina as much as other states. The foreclosure rate has not risen as much as in the rest of the nation while the median home prices rose much faster than in the rest of the nation.

For more, read the article:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_45/b4057078.htm?chan=search

John Shaw

Cary, NC

Ban Possible on New Water Tie-Ins

From 12/5/07 Raleigh (NC) News and Observer:
Ban Possible on new water tie-ins
“With water supplies drying up in Raleigh and Durham [NC], elected leaders in the Triangle’s two biggest cities are considering tough new restrictions that could include a ban on new water customers.

“Development in Raleigh and Durham effectively could be frozen until the region’s severe drought lifts, because new homes and businesses wouldn’t be allowed to tap into city water.”

http://www.newsobserver.com/weather/drought/story/811889.html

The Most Urgent Environmental Problem

On November 9 I posted a poll on Blue NC asking “What is the most urgent environment problem facing North Carolina?” I promised to give my opinion later. It is now later.

The choices in the poll were:
Global warming and lack of water,
Water pollution,
Loss of farm land, and
Air pollution.

The results were very close. All four of these environmental problems are very serious and must be addressed by members of the public and by elected officials.

It is my opinion that the most significant environment problem is the loss of natural land-farm land and forest-to development. The significance is that this cannot be reversed. If we pollute the air or water, and then stop the pollution, the air and water eventually will be cleaned up. However, once a farm or forest is destroyed to build a shopping center or subdivision, the natural land is lost.

it is my opinion
John Shaw

Chatham County, N.C. has reacted to the defeat of the transfer tax and it does not involve sales tax.

The Chatham County N.C. Board of Commissioners has addressed the need for more money for schools by increasing the school impact fees from $2,900 to $3,500, the maximum amount allowed. The Board also approved a new impact fee study, which will be underway within the next few weeks. The new study will likely result in a maximum level well above the present $3,500 limit.

According to Board Vice Chairman George Lucier, it is the commissions’ responsibility to “put fees and regulations in place to assure that the county is not overwhelmed by growth.” He also stated that the board has very limited options to pay for schools. According to a press release, “an increase in annual property taxes is the only other option currently available to county commissioners.”

http://www.chathamnc.org/index.aspx?recordid=265&page=19

John Shaw
11/25/07