THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607040244
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 48 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 151 lines
What a novel idea: Parents are responsible for their minor children! Manteo Commissioner Stuart Wescott suggests that kids under 12 years old should be off the streets by 10 p.m., and those under 16 should be off by midnight. I'm really concerned about getting up a team for Clinton's midnight basketball! Further, how will Manteo Police Chief Ray Flowers be able to justify adding to his budget, staff, and small town importance without kids to chase all night?
I grew up in New York, during a less enlightened and liberal time. Until I enlisted in the Navy during WWII, when I was 16, I was required to be in the house before 10 p.m., except on rare occasions.
I guess we were really deprived then. None of my classmates in high school became pregnant, used drugs, got AIDS, went to jail, shot each other, or a million other fun things. We didn't have a chance to participate in drive-by shootings, gang fights or car jacking. Mommy and Daddy were so mean to me. They watched what I did and required and imposed their old-fashioned morality on me. Oh, how I needed the civil liberties union to stop their child abuse!
It's a sad and sorry comment that a law needs to be passed to make parents act responsibly and be reasonable. They, and they alone, are responsible for the health, welfare, education and conduct of their minor children.
Commissioner Wescott's proposed ordinance is needed in Manteo, Dare County, North Carolina and throughout the United States now!!
Charles Elms
Manteo Booth flip-flops
I found the recent letter to the editor, written by Martin Booth, to be both confusing and surprising. He is clearly now planning to accept his salary if he is elected to the County Board of Commissioners. This is a complete change of heart from his primary campaign when he promised not to accept a salary.
I share Mr. Booth's enthusiasm for the Habitat for Humanity and have supported it since its founding by ex-President Jimmy Carter and his wife several years ago. One strength of the organization is that it functions with private donations and does not rely on government support or suffer from government interference. Whatever funds Mr. Booth wishes to donate to this cause or any other are entirely his own choice. But he needs to realize that it is not the function of county government to give taxpayer dollars or any other county resources (surplus property) to charitable organizations, no matter how worthy.
When he made his campaign promise, he also should have considered that county commissioners have expenses when they work to serve the citizens of Dare County. . . . Moreover, some candidates, if elected commissioner, will need to take leave without pay from their jobs. By refusing to take a salary, Mr. Booth was, in my opinion, setting a precedent that would discourage interested working people from becoming candidates for the county board. Then the board could become both less representative of Dare County citizens and also less understanding of their problems.
Finally, I do recognize that, as an elected official, I would need to confront the issue of affordable housing in Dare County. The Land Use Plan adapted by the county in 1994 did not encourage multi-family dwellings or mobile home parks. Moreover, many low-income residents cannot afford even the low-mortgage payment that a ``Habitat for Humanity'' house would require. Answers to these problems will not be easy. But the problems will never be solved if they are ``swept under the carpet.''
Cheryl L. Byrd
Candidate, Dare County
Board of Commissioners Kids need Smart Start
The state House's decision to adjourn effectively halted Smart Start's progress to expand programs and services that meet the needs of children and families in our state. I commend the Senate for recognizing the urgent need to expand Smart Start and agreeing with the Governor's $21 million expansion budget request.
Our children's futures should not become the center of a political debate.
Without an expansion budget for Smart Start, local partnerships cannot expand direct services for children in 30 partnerships and the 12 newly tapped partnerships cannot begin planning. Our partnerships have been planning for the past year.
Smart Start could help provide adequate prenatal care for families in Pamlico County, which now has no prenatal care available.
Without expansion in Smart Start counties, as many as 3,400 children won't get the child care subsidies their families need so they can work. More than 3,300 children won't get immunizations. And about 6,000 children won't receive preventative health screenings they need for a healthy start in life.
Smart Start has already passed the test. The Coopers & Lybrand Performance Audit, requested by the North Carolina General Assembly at the cost of $500,000, confirms this. It said, ``Smart Start is a credible program that delivers substantial good to children and families in the State of North Carolina.''
This year, the N.C. Partnership for Children has received more than $2.9 million in private donations and more than $3 million in in-kind contributions.
We cannot take a ``wait and see'' approach with Smart Start. North Carolina's children cannot afford to wait. Every child deserves a smart and healthy start in life.
Ashley O. Thrift
Board Chairman
North Carolina Partnership
for Children General Assembly facts
I think that is is very important that the readers be given the facts concerning the events leading to the June 21, 1996 adjournment of the North Carolina General Assembly.
In this short session legislators are not in Raleigh to debate a budget bill. We were in Raleigh to debate spending surplus dollars. Our two-year budget already is in place. We were in town to make adjustments to the budget based on the latest revenue estimates. In this case, revenues are $700 million ahead of projections.
Last year, the General Assembly voted (Senate unanimous, House 101 to 1) to adjourn on June 21st of this year. Without a deadline, recent history shows that legislators would remain in Raleigh well into the summer at an operating cost of $70,000 a day.
The House worked hard and passed its version of the adjustment bill in two weeks. This bill funded the essential needs of this state and set a spending limit of approximately $300 million. $400 million would be left unspent for intangibles return, repeal of the food tax and reduction in the corporate tax. We also must be prepared for future federal cuts that will be coming down.
The Senate received the House bill on May 17th and had ample time to address the surplus issue. The Senate sent their version back over to the House three weeks later. The Senate version called for spending every penny - the entire budget surplus.
House Republicans proposed an agreement (House Bill 1109) that contained: all items that the House and Senate had previously agreed on and a 4 percent pay raise for teachers and state employees, which included the comprehensive pay plan that state employees had lobbied so hard for. Also included in the proposed agreement was an environmental package of historic proportion as well as a tough crime package (which was not in the Senate version) that would have kept more criminals behind bars and would have assisted local sheriffs with their overcrowding problems. This plan was rejected by the Senate.
When the outlook for a spending agreement did not look promising, House Republicans went even further and offered House Bill 1110 which would provide state employees and teachers a 4 percent pay raise and the comprehensive pay plan. This was done in an effort to remove the issue of pay raises from the surplus spending debate. This plan, too, was rejected by the Senate.
House Republicans also passed a bill that would refund the surplus to the taxpayers in the event that an agreement was not reached. This plan, too, was rejected by the Senate.
I wish we could have reached a compromise on the surplus dollars. The House negotiated in good faith and I am certain the Senate is saying the same thing. But there comes a time when one must stand firm on principle. And maybe the Senate Democrats feel this way too.
Republicans believe we must control spending. Republicans were ready and willing to fund pay raises for state employees and teachers and to fund necessary items such as environmental and education initiatives. We offered proposals which were rejected by the Senate Democrats. The fact is we have a surplus of $700 million. This does not mean we must spend it all.
Carolyn Russell
Speaker Pro Tempore
R-Wayne County
North Carolina House of Representatives by CNB