RealChangeNC's blog

I apologize for the length, but this was a note that I first posted on facebook last weekend. It may rile some feathers, but sometimes a good spring cleaning is needed:

Since last January, I have been watching and listening very closely to many of the elected officials, activists and hanger-ons after the Republicans gained complete control of the General Assembly; a feat unseen in over 120 years. With this historic win come the fruits of victory, and in this case it meant the ability to redraw the state's legislative and congressional maps.

After a three judge panel refused to delay the 2012 primary date (and in essence the filing period), we have seen scores of veteran democrats dropiing like flies. This is in NO WAY an attack on them-I thank them for their willingness to step up and serve! However, this has given me pause to think about the bigger picture, and despite of the incoming fire that will surely follow, my thoughts:

As we move into the weekend meeting of the NCDP SEC, I wanted to share just a few final thoughts based on questions I have received.
Most of you know that I have already endorsed David Parker, and I even had the privilege of acting as a surrogate speaker a few weeks ago here in Raleigh.

LGBT Rights

The other day I received a call from a friend of mine. He said that he'd been told by a supporter of Bill Faison, that Faison was a stronger supporter of LGBT issues than David Parker.
My first response to that was, "that statement is crap," and went on to say exactly why. That evening I did some research, and here is what I found:
1. Bill was NOT endorsed by EqualityNC in 2010, even though just about every other Democrat from Raleigh to Greensboro was. If Bill is such a strong advocate for gay rights, why did he either not seek the endorsement, or if he sought it, why was he denied it?
2. An Independent Weekly article from 2005 may also give some insight:

Yesterday, I had a long conversation with a lobbyist and former democratic candidate, who, for their own protection, shall remain anonymous.
We talked about a multitude of topics, but one common thread was this: New Legislators come in committed to advocating for Real Change and then gain power!
This lobbyist shared with me how at one time, now Minority Leader Joe Hackney came into the General Assembly as a strong advocate for grassroots issues like collective bargaining, but as time went on, and Rep. Hackney found himself in the driver's seat of the House, his attitude changed.
We talked about the HKonJ's 14 Points and the lack of advocacy of that agenda by the Legislative Black Caucus.

Where are the Servant Leaders of the NC democratic Party? Is it the money trail? Is it the fear that if I (legislator) don't do what the leadership wants, then when it's time for me to go get a lobbying job, I won't be seen as very effective?

In late 2009, the Program Evaluation Division at the General Assembly published its first review that compares where North Carolina stands when compared to other states. Figures are from the '07 Census.
The results were released in the Spring of this year, and because of the recession some of these stats may have changed (probably not for the better).
So, how well (or poorly) did the political leadership in NC do:
1. Median Household Income-37th with average of $44,670. Behind Missouri and ahead of North Dakota.
2. Poverty-38th at 14.3%. In the federal poverty threshold for 2007 (Family of 4 at $42,045) the rate was actually 34.1% here with national average of 30.3%.
3. Childhood Poverty-19.5% of children in NC lived in poverty. National average was 17.1%
4. Infant Mortality Rate-44th at 8.8%. National average was 7%.
5. State/Local taxes as % of Income-21st at 10.5%. National average was 10.9%.

There has been a lot of innuendos and misinformation out there about what SEANC/SEIU Local 2008 did and did not do in the decision not to make endorsements in this year's NC state legislative races.
As an elected officer in SEANC, and a member of the 2008-2010 State EMPAC Committee, I was approached by a former Democratic party activist and asked to weigh in. The following is factual and is my own representation of the process that was decided upon for this year's campaign.
First some background:
1. SEANC is a member-driven organization. While the staff is encouraged to offer their opinions and insight into the pressing issues that state employees deal with, only "active" members of the association have the authority to make decisions on the directions of the association.
2. The state EMPAC committee is composed of 18 members elected from around the state to make decisions on endorsements and campaign contributions in primary and general elction races.