YOU DON’T SAY

“You know, some politicians don’t like education. They don’t like for people to think critically.”

Gov. Roy Cooper, speaking to students at Governor’s School West in Greensboro. (Greensboro News & Record, 7/17/24)

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False Report

Clifton Dowell, State Affairs Pro, 7/17/24

The official interpretation of an altercation related to a bill being considered by the General Assembly has changed, but a group representing victims in the alleged assault say the recent response by police is too little, too late.

On June 23, a group of Indigenous people gathered near a field in the Bridge View neighborhood of Carteret County’s Cedar Point. Organized by the Tuscarora Tribe of North Carolina, the gathering was described as a prayer ceremony related to archaeological finds — including human remains — that developers discovered while clearing the site for home construction.

That discovery halted construction to give the state archaeology office time to determine what to do about the site, which it describes as historically significant. In June, the legislature made headlines and faced immediate backlash when it proposed a change to coastal development rules that would make holding up development projects such as Bridge View more difficult.

Against this backdrop, the prayer ceremony was scheduled and Indigenous people from central North Carolina and other places headed to join the Tuscarora on the coast.

What happened next was an altercation between some of the people who had come to the ceremony and some of the residents of the part of Bridge View that has already been developed, including an off-duty deputy.

A video shown during a news conference on Wednesday shows some of the altercation, including a man wrestling a woman to the ground and holding her down as others try to pull him away. 

Original reports from the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office said two residents had been injured in the altercation — one stabbed in the arm with a pocketknife, and that an arrest warrant had been issued. By the next day, the incident was being described in the media as a violent clash between protestors and residents. 

That story has changed.

On Wednesday, Maj. Derek B. Moore, of the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office, said the off-duty deputy involved in the altercation — James Gilbert De La O Jr. — has been arrested in connection with the June 23 incident. He was charged with communicating threats, assault on a female and filing a false police report. The case is still under investigation and further charges could follow, Moore said in a news release. De La O was released on a written promise to appear in court.

The charges and the altercation are from Carteret County, while De La O worked until Friday as deputy in neighboring Onslow County.

De La O (referred to as Deputy J. Delao is a written statement from Onslow County Sheriff Chris Thomas) was employed from May 5, 2014 to July 12 of this year. “I am aware of the incident that occurred in Carteret County involving an off-duty deputy who is no longer employed with the Onslow County Sheriff’s Office,” Thomas said. “The Onslow County Sheriff’s Office is not involved in the criminal investigation related to this incident.”

De La O was working as a bailiff at the time of his separation from employment, Thomas said.

The change in narrative is no surprise to the Indigenous groups that have argued since June that reports had it backward, but Crystal Cavalier-Keck, an Alamance County activist and co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, said during a news conference on Wednesday that charging one person fails to get at the core issue.

“We celebrate the win of our innocence, being declared two weeks too late, after the media has already painted a biased and racist imagery of our culture, with some imaginary stabbing and knife carrier,” she said. “We do not accept this display of justice as it belittles our value and experience. We take it as the current reflection of the status quo …”

Cavalier-Keck said the incident amounts to a hate crime, with women and children being terrorized while law enforcement and the media conveniently interpret the event in a way that matches their expectations. 

She said the purported stabbing injury was likely the result of De La O grabbing in a headlock a woman wearing feather-shaped earrings made of metal. A teenage girl was punched in the face and a resident who carried a pistol also drove around the site with the pistol visible on his dashboard. 

“I am sorry that in North Carolina, Onslow and Carteret counties, you do not get a pass in 2024,” she said. “The secretary of interior and assistant secretary of [the] Bureau of Indian Affairs, along with many other Congress and Senate leaders around the country, as well as North Carolina Statehouse representatives and senators have been alerted. The Department of Justice hate crimes specialists have already been brought into this investigation.”

Cavalier-Keck said her group would be working with an attorney and looking into civil rights charges, but that a larger solution related to Indigenous burial grounds needs to be found. 

“We’re going to need our elected leaders to step up,” she said. “They’re going to have to come to terms with this.”

Meanwhile, the Carteret County News-Times reported that commissioners on Monday approved a contract for an archaeological survey of portions of the site of a long-planned boat-launching facility on a 67-acre parcel off Highway 24. The project, as planned, includes six ramps, a transient floating dock, a 159-space boat trailer parking lot and an access channel to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. 

 

Berger Hire

The Associated Press, 7/17/24

A longtime aide to North Carolina state Senate leader Phil Berger is being elevated to oversee Berger’s entire office operations. Berger announced on Wednesday that Kolt Ulm is his next chief of staff. Ulm will replace Brian Folk, who is taking a new job as chief executive officer of the parent company of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

Currently Berger’s deputy chief of staff for policy and budget, Ulm joined Berger’s office in 2013 and has held a number of positions.

“Kolt knows the ins and outs of the General Assembly and the Senate like nobody else,” Berger said in a news release, adding that “he’s built strong relationships with nonpartisan staff, state agencies, and legislators. Kolt understands North Carolina and will play an integral role in working with Senate members on behalf of their constituents.”

Ulm has degrees from Bethel University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and N.C. State University.

Berger has been Senate leader since 2011, after Republicans took over both General Assembly chambers following the 2010 elections. [Source]

PFAS Delays

Adam Wagner, The News & Observer, 7/17/24

Republican-appointed leaders of the Environmental Management Commission have twice declined to advance proposed rules that would restrict the industry’s release of some “forever” chemical pollution into drinking water supplies across North Carolina.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality wants to regulate eight specific chemicals that are found in drinking water in North Carolina, compounds understood well enough to determine their safe exposure levels. That could both reduce people’s exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl pollution and lower communities’ expanding cost to clean up drinking water, DEQ officials say.

The department is seeking two different regulations. Surface water rules would aim to protect drinking water supplies and wildlife by setting limits on chemicals released into rivers, creeks and other above-ground water.

Groundwater rules would largely impact how much existing contamination companies will need to clean up. Approving the surface water rule alone would cost companies and public utilities about $9.5 billion over the next 36 years, according to a fiscal analysis approved recently by the N.C. Office of State Budget and Management.

That same analysis determined that it would also produce nearly $10 billion in savings, including avoided health costs, reduced water treatment costs and preservation of property values.

DEQ wanted EMC members to vote both the groundwater and surface water standards out of its committees in May, which would have put them on the full commission’s agenda this month. They did not.

Last week the committees again decided to not vote on the rules, delaying any movement forward until at least September. To further complicate things, the groundwater committee also asked DEQ to remove five of the eight chemicals from the list of what it wants to regulate.

An increasingly frustrated DEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser, appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, said the commission is stalling full committee evaluation of the new rules, a departure from previous practices. “I hate to say that it wasn’t a huge surprise that they once again found reasons to move the goalposts and to not take action. It’s very frustrating,” Biser said.

At the end of Thursday’s full commission meeting, JD Solomon, the EMC’s chairman, stressed that he prefers a more deliberate process. “This is rulemaking. We don’t have temporary rules to do immediately. This is a long game,” Solomon said.

Earlier Wednesday, the commission’s Water Quality Committee had voted to delay until September consideration of DEQ’s proposed surface water rules for the eight chemicals The presentation was the fourth time the committee had heard from staff on the proposed rules, although committee members declined to hear a presentation in May, saying they did not receive the impact analysis with enough time to consider it.

After voting to postpone a vote on the surface water rules to September’s meeting, Steve Keen, the committee’s chair, said, “Once you set a surface water standard, it’s extremely difficult to get the EPA to allow you to adopt something less strict.”

Adopting a rule too hastily could lead to companies paying to install treatment technology, even if the standard is ultimately proven to be unnecessary, he added. “I’m just curious how many more meetings members are going to ask for detailed questions and revisions before we’ll actually act?” said Marion Deerhake, a committee member appointed by Cooper. [Source]

 

Student Health

Rebecca Noel, The Charlotte Observer, 7/17/24

The number of health screenings conducted for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students took a steep nosedive last school year after the passage of Senate Bill 49, Mecklenburg County Health Department data show.

Vision screenings declined 65% among CMS students — from 37,816 in 2022-23 to 13,214 last school year. Dental screenings declined 82% — from 20,253 in 2022-23 to 3,624 last year. Hearing screenings declined by a similar margin following the passage of Senate Bill 49, often called the Parents Bill of Rights.

CMS officials are asking state legislators to change the law as a result.

Students typically receive yearly vision screenings in pre-K, kindergarten and grades 1, 3, 5, and 7. Students in pre-K, kindergarten and first grade also typically receive dental screenings and hearing tests.

“Those screenings are often the first indicator that there’s some sort of health issue that may affect learning,” CMS Board of Education Chair Stephanie Sneed told The Charlotte Observer. Sneed says she started wearing glasses as a child as a result of a vision screening at school. “There is a very concerning amount of students who are now not receiving the screenings they would typically receive,” Sneed said.

It’s not because parents don’t want their kids to be screened; it’s because the rules changed, Sneed said.

Senate Bill 49 became law in Aug. 2023 after the North Carolina General Assembly overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.

The law institutes a set of sweeping provisions related to the kind of student information parents in North Carolina have access to. The controversial statute requires parents to be notified if their child asks to use a different name or pronouns in school as well as prohibits “instruction on gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality,” in kindergarten through fourth grade.

The law, however, does not define what counts as that kind of instruction, and both liberal and conservative critics have called for the law to be made less vague. SB 49 also made it so parents must expressly opt-in if they want their children to receive health screenings at school, including routine hearing, vision and dental screenings.

Previously, students received such screenings unless parents chose to opt their child out.

The new law meant an onslaught of new forms CMS parents needed to fill out for each student at the beginning of the school year, indicating their child’s name and pronouns as well as opting in for health screenings and sexual education programming, if they desired their children to receive those services. If parents do not submit forms opting in for health screenings and/or sex ed, students do not receive them by default.

“What I’ve heard from my constituents is it’s not that they have an opposition to their children receiving these types of screenings,” Sneed said. “If they want their kids to receive these screenings, in the past, they haven’t had to sign any forms, so they may not be paying attention to them.”

In May, school board members included changing the provision on their legislative agenda for the North Carolina General Assembly. Charles Jeter, CMS executive director of government affairs, policy, and board communications, sent an email on June 18 to five Charlotte-area members of the General Assembly requesting the opt-in provision for health screenings be modified during this summer’s legislative session.

“With an opt-in requirement, most parents are not opting in to any screenings and these students are not benefiting from this program,” Jeter wrote in the email later sent to The Observer. “Respectfully, we’re asking y’all to allow an amendment to pass to change dental and vision screenings to an opt-out rule. We believe this request is widely supported.”

So far, the state legislature has not amended the provision. [Source]

Fayetteville Water

Liz McLaughlin, WRAL News, 7/17/24

Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday announced a significant investment in North Carolina’s water infrastructure. More than $253 million will be distributed to communities across the state to fund critical water and wastewater projects.

This funding will benefit 30 counties and encompass 70 projects, including construction of new facilities, upgrades to existing systems, and removal of harmful contaminants. Notably, a portion of the funds targets emerging contaminants like PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and lead service line replacement.

“Safe drinking water and economic development go hand-in-hand,” said Cooper. “These funds, made possible by federal support and state appropriations, are historic investments to address aging infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. This will strengthen our state for the future.”

Several projects received funding specifically for addressing PFAS contamination, including a $30 million grant for a Granulated Activated Carbon treatment facility in Fayetteville. Forever chemicals, also called PFAS, do not break down in the environment or the human body and have been linked to health issues.

The Public Works Commission estimates the total cost of installing the filter will be $92 million, and the system will cost $10 million to $12 million each year to maintain.

Aqua North Carolina has secured $5.8 million grant funding through the North Carolina State Water Infrastructure Authority to construct PFAS mitigation projects at eight sites in Cumberland County.

The Orange Water and Sewer Authority also received funding to replace lead service lines, complying with updated regulations. [Source]

Tillis Appearance

Danielle Battaglia, McClatchy, 7/17/24

Sen. Thom Tillis was censured by the North Carolina Republican Party last year for supporting same-sex marriage. But Tillis set aside his differences with the state party in a show of unity to attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

He made the decision to come after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday during Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I had it on the calendar to try and be here for a day,” Tillis told reporters in a conference room at a Hilton in Milwaukee. “But I thought, the events of last Saturday, the president’s focus on unity, that it was very important for me to be here.”

Other Republicans who weren’t planning on attending were also on their way to the RNC, including Sen. Ted Budd and congressional candidate Brad Knott.

Tillis arrived in Milwaukee Tuesday and plans to stay through Friday, allowing him to witness Trump’s acceptance of the party’s nomination. And so far, the North Carolina Republican Party has welcomed Tillis with open arms.

“I’ve got a great relationship with the chair of the GOP, the district chair, the folks that are really serious about keeping the majorities that I helped gain in 2010,” Tillis said. “I can have a disagreement with anyone, but where you’re going to have problems with me, is when you engage in discourse that threatens the work that we’ve done since 2010, to turn the state around and maintain Republican majorities.”

He added that the new party platform — a narrowly focused 16-page document cut from 66 pages — no longer includes “the very plank that was used as a basis for censure.”

This year’s national Republican platform is silent on the question of same-sex marriage. Previous platforms have said marriage should only be between one man and one woman.

Delegates at an NCGOP convention voted in June 2023 to censure Tillis “for his blatant violations of our party platform,” The News & Observer reported.

While the resolution didn’t cite examples, Tillis had voted for a law that codified the right to same-sex and interracial marriages, which conflicted with a plank in the state Republican Party platform that said “traditional marriage and family, based on marriage between one man and one woman, is the foundation for a civil society,” The N&O reported.

Tillis said it’s been under-reported how moderate the new platform is. “I do think that the president has done a good job of also sending a very clear message on issues that I think divide Republicans and also alienate potential voters for a Republican base, and people ought to read the 16 pages of our platform,” Tillis said. “I’m very happy with it, and I know the president’s fingerprints are literally all over the document.”

Tillis said he is also supportive of Trump’s pick of Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio, as his running mate. “I think he’s a great pick,” Tillis said. He added that he considers Vance a friend, and despite some public disagreements, they share many policy priorities in common. [Source]

Medicaid Costs

Grace Vitaglione, NC Health News, 7/18/24

NC Medicaid costs fluctuate each year. The state Department of Health and Human Services forecasts how costs might change and asks the legislature for funding adjustments based on those predictions.

For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the department asked for almost half a billion dollars extra to meet higher costs — an adjustment known as the “rebase.” About $136 million of that is needed because the state will receive less money as federal reimbursement decreases for the program, according to DHHS.mBut lawmakers left Raleigh last month without making a second-year budget adjustment. Without it, Medicaid funds could start running dry in the spring, Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, said.

Both the House and Senate’s proposed budgets would have given DHHS about $100 million less than they asked for, said Melanie Bush, deputy Medicaid director at DHHS.

The agency is counting on lawmakers to appropriate their proposed amount, likely in November, but that would still leave the department with that $100 million shortfall by the end of this fiscal year, in early 2025, she said.

The federal government typically pays about two-thirds of every dollar that North Carolina spends on regular Medicaid patients. In the coming year, that number is 65.06 percent of each dollar. That’s a slight tick down from prior years: Federal dollars accounted for 65.91 percent of the state’s costs for Medicaid beneficiaries in 2024. During the pandemic, that number was even higher, with the federal government picking up more than 73 percent of the tab from 2020 to 2023.

The percentages might seem small, but in a program as large as Medicaid, even a tenth of a percent of change can amount to millions of dollars. Beneficiaries of Medicaid expansion have 90 percent of their costs covered by federal dollars, while North Carolina’s hospitals are picking up the rest of the cost for those patients.

To save money, DHHS could limit services or cut payments to managed care companies that administer the program, Bush said. But the department hopes to reduce administrative costs first, like large contracts with vendors and delaying IT infrastructure programs, she said.

DHHS “is working around the clock” to make sure individuals with Medicaid don’t see changes to what they’re receiving, Bush said.

Read more here.

Title IX

Emmy Martin, The News & Observer, 7/17/24

The Wake County school board voted to implement new Title IX rules in its discrimination policies Tuesday, saying failure to do so could risk losing the district’s federal funding. But the vote came amid tension from some members of the board and the public.

The revisions comply with the Biden administration’s new rule that bans discrimination based on gender identity and expands protections for LGBTQ+ students. The new rule broadened the scope of Title IX, the landmark 1972 law that prohibited sex discrimination in educational programs with federal funding. It also reversed some changes made by the Trump administration.

The Wake school system must comply with the new federal regulations before Aug. 1 because the system receives federal dollars. Board chair Chris Heagarty reminded the audience and board that there will not be another school board meeting before that date.

The board adopted the policy changes, 7-2, with members Cheryl Caulfield and Wing Ng opposed.

The district’s revised policy acknowledges that sexual harassment may be committed by members of the same or the opposite sex. It also notes that “discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.” Board members acknowledged they could lose more than $100 million in federal funding if they didn’t adopt the changes. “It is something that we are legally obligated to do or face sanctions,” Heagarty said.

School boards across the country are facing the same requirement to adopt policies to comply with the Title IX rule, although judges in several states have granted injunctions in lawsuits against the Biden administration over the changes.

On July 12, conservative “parents’ rights” organization Moms for Liberty asked a Kansas federal judge to expand a July 2 injunction on the new Title IX rule to include “any K-12 school in any county in which the child of a member of Moms for Liberty resides.”

If granted, the Kansas-based injunction would cover more than 850 counties across the nation, including Wake County.

Becky Lew-Hobbs, a Wake County resident and chair of Wake County’s chapter of Moms for Liberty, said the Title IX rule would “subvert Congress’ goal of protecting biological women” by including gender identity. “If you decide to implement the changes tonight and proceed with these policies, Wake County Schools will be in violation of a U.S. District Court ordered injunction and risk serious legal repercussions,” she said, promising the group is already looking into taking legal action.

Ng, who voted against the policy adoption, also brought up the legal challenges to the rule. “There are multiple lawsuits across the country challenging these new rules and there is a preliminary injunction that may have some impact here in Wake County,” Ng said. “Let me be clear on one thing, no one is for discrimination and harassment. However, we do have to consider the main thing: ‘Who are we trying to protect? What was the original intent of Title IX?’”

Rowan Bilodeau, a transgender Wake County high school student who uses they/them pronouns, told the board that they were raped in a bathroom at school last year and are bullied for their gender identity. “My schools have failed me. My country has failed me. And I’m honestly just angry,” Bilodeau said.

Margaret Bilodeau, Rowan’s parent, also spoke to the board, applauding them for adopting the discrimination policies. Both she and her child called on the school board to show that they care about LGBTQ+ students. [Source]

 

Governor’s School

Jessie Pounds, Greensboro News & Record, 7/17/24

Every summer, hundreds of top high school students from across North Carolina take part in something called “Governor’s School.” On Tuesday, the governor came to Greensboro to check it out.

Governor’s School provides gifted students from across North Carolina with an opportunity for intellectual and artistic exploration — and also a little independence from their parents.

Students live for four weeks in dorms on one of two college campuses, either Greensboro College or Meredith College in Raleigh. About 800 students take part, split equally between the colleges. Each student has a concentration, like math or social science or instrumental music, as well as interdisciplinary classes related to “critical, creative, philosophical thinking” and self-reflection. 

At the end of his visit, Cooper gave a speech in the auditorium to the roughly 400 students participating in “Governor’s School West.” He told them how much his own daughter had gotten out of her experience attending Governor’s School and mentioned famous former participants like actress Ariana DeBose and former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

Cooper talked about how, during an economic downturn in 2012, the state legislature cut funding for Governor’s School but alumni rallied to raise enough private money to keep it open that year and successfully lobbied for the legislature to provide future funding. Cooper said that North Carolinians today need to push for demanding investment in education just like those Governor’s School alumni pushed for funding that program.

“You know, some politicians don’t like education,” he said. “They don’t like for people to think critically.”

Cooper then called North Carolina “a wonderful diverse state” where people can appreciate each other and different ideas. He encouraged students to register to vote and participate in elections, regardless of their positions. “Leaders like you can make the difference in our future,” he said. [Source]

 

SECU Credit

David Mildenberg, Business NC, 7/17/24

Credit quality at the State Employees’ Credit Union is showing some negative trends, which is a notable signal given the institution’s importance.

Raleigh-based SECU has 2.8 million members and assets topping $50 billion, making it the second-biggest U.S. credit union. SECU doesn’t operate outside of North Carolina, and unlike most commercial banks, it doesn’t focus on wealthy clients or make business loans. So its finances tell a story about how middle-income, working-class North Carolinians are faring.

The credit union is well capitalized, and its results don’t suggest any threatening financial problems, everyone agrees. But former CEO Jim Blaine, in his almost daily blog about the credit union he led from 1979 to 2015, questions why SECU is reporting significantly more soured loans than in previous years. For example, the credit union reported losses of $72 million in the first quarter this year, compared with $47 million a year earlier, $20 million in 2022 and $17 million in 2021.

Blaine also notes that SECU has reported a higher loan loss ratio over the past few years than the overall industry, which reverses a decades-old history of fewer chargeoffs than other U.S. credit unions. During the recession years of 2008-10, for example, the industry wrote off about 1% of its loans, while SECU’s ratio never topped 0.3%.

SECU officials have said that a tougher economy for many members has caused an uptick in loan problems. But this is an industry-wide issue and SECU shouldn’t be singled out for unusually poor performance, concludes William Hunt, an analyst with Callahan, an independent consulting firm that does business with many credit unions. SECU officials referred Business North Carolina questions to Callahan.

Blaine cited data covering all credit unions, including many small ones that have very few bad loans, Hunt says in an email. He says a better comparison is with U.S. credit unions with assets exceeding $10 billion.

SECU’s annualized loan-loss ratio was 0.86% as of March 31, compared with 1.44% for the $10 billion-plus peers, Hunt says. That means the N.C. credit union is charging off $8.60 for every $1,000 it lends, versus $14.40 at the other institutions.

Hunt says that SECU’s loan ratio has benefitted from its 75% concentration in first mortgage loans, which is unusually high for credit unions. Home loans have lower charge-off rates than auto and other consumer loans, he says.

From 2010-2020, SECU’s ratio averaged 0.31%, or $31 per $10,000 in loans. Since 2019, the ratio has increased 80% at SECU, compared with 60% at the peer institutions, according to Callahan’s statistics. “Most institutions are dealing with worsening asset quality in the current macroeconomic environment,” Hunt says.

Delinquencies at SECU have increased to 2.07% of all loans as of March 31, compared with 1.18% at the large peer group. The rate is 0.95% at Truliant Federal Credit Union, which is North Carolina’s second-largest, and 0.56% at No 3 Coastal Federal Credit Union. Delinquencies refer to borrowers who are at least 60 days behind on their payments. [Source]

Elections Directors

Mehr Sher, Carolina Public Press, 7/17/24

When Lisa Lovedahl Rief, the former Jackson County elections director, started working in her role nearly 30 years ago, she was paid just $200 above the poverty line, about $12,000 a year. When she retired this March, she was finally earning as much as other county department heads at about $90,000, she said.

During her career in the southwestern mountain county, she witnessed firsthand how election processes have evolved, making the role of election directors more complex. Burnout and the high pressures of juggling between her work and personal life are some of the reasons why she chose to retire recently and what she thinks may be causing increased turnover statewide, she said. “It was just burnout that I can’t live up to my own standard,” Lovedahl Rief said, “and so I felt it was better for me to step away.”

North Carolina is currently grappling with a rapid loss of experienced N.C. county elections directors in a contentious, general election year, according to a recent Carolina Public Press investigation.

Two recently retired elections directors spoke to CPP about their experiences on the job and the challenges they faced very recently within their former roles. Both Lovedahl Rief and Christopher Williams, the former Bladen County elections director, have worked in election administration in the state for nearly three decades and provided much insight into what goes on behind the scenes. While their experiences are in contrast to each other, they both agree that the role is challenging and complex.

Lovedahl Rief’s concerns echo the findings of a recent CPP investigation, which found that low pay and demanding working conditions are driving turnover.

In the past five years, more than 43% of North Carolina county election directors have turned over. This past year alone saw 10 changes to election directors, according to the latest data from the N.C. State Board of Elections.

The county elections director role has become increasingly complex and requires new skills and technology, but the pay hasn’t kept up, according to Lovedahl Rief. Her salary stayed under $20,000 up until about 2004.

“The statute really hurts us and keeps salaries low,” she said of the state law governing election directors’ pay. “But honestly a lot of directors don’t do it for the money and we realize that we are the frontline of democracy and feel it’s our duty to do this.”

A 25-year-old state statute sets the minimum pay for directors at $12 per hour. The executive director of the state Board of Elections, Karen Brinson Bell, told CPP that she considers this an antiquated part of the law.

Recently, the banning of private funding of election administration, was legally challenged by the Democratic National Committee and the North Carolina Democratic Party. Recently, a federal judge placed a hold on the lawsuit.

Lovedahl Rief used one private grant in the past for election administration in Jackson County, which she said was helpful to cover a cost that wasn’t covered by the budget. The banning of private funds is “a disservice” to county boards of elections, according to her.

When Williams started as the elections director in Bladen County, he took over amid the McCrae Dowless controversy, which came with its own set of challenges. Dowless and his assistants, according to witnesses in the case, collected hundreds of absentee ballots from the county in 2018 to forge signatures on them and fill in for certain candidates. “It was a really hard controversy and it settled down peacefully after the trials,” Williams said. “And then I was focusing more on elections.”

With that exception, Williams had a relatively facile experience running the Bladen County Board of Elections, he said. The Bladen County Board of Elections had three full-time staff and one part-time employee. Staffing was adequate, according to Williams, but they hired extra people temporarily during elections, especially general elections.

The biggest challenge for Williams was keeping up with all the legislative changes, he said. 

“There were new sets of rules and it’s mostly administrative, but it really keeps you on your toes,” he said. [Source]

 

CMS Pay

Ann Doss Helms, WFAE Radio, 7/17/24

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders say they’re promoting equity with a new schedule that standardizes what teachers get paid for taking on such extra duties as band, dance, drama, yearbook and academic clubs. The new stipend schedule, which does not cover athletics, ranges from $200 for teachers who advise student clubs to $2,000 for high-school band, orchestra and theater.

Earlier this month, several teachers and students told the school board the payments aren’t enough to cover the extra hours teachers spend helping students prepare for performances and competitions.

It’s impossible to tell how many CMS teachers will see cuts in their stipends, which have also been known as honorarium. CMS declined to make anyone available for an interview or say what the range of payments has been.

“In the past, each school was provided a designated amount and there was a process by which a school committee prioritized the clubs and activities to determine the amounts provided to each teacher,” the district said in a written statement. “The new plan is a more streamlined plan to ensure there is a more consistent and equitable process across the district.”

The memo outlining the new CMS stipend schedule says the plan will be re-evaluated in spring, with stipends paid at the end of the school year. [Source]

Raleigh Campaign

Anna Roman, The News & Observer, 7/17/24

Raleigh City Council member Corey Branch has withdrawn from the race to be the city’s next mayor but he hopes to remain on the council. Branch, 46, withdrew from the race Tuesday.

He announced at a Wednesday news conference that he would instead run for re-election to keep his District C seat representing southeast Raleigh. “We live in a world, a nation, a city that shifts and changes quickly,” said Branch, with his wife beside him. “Think of where you were yourself in October of last year,” he said. “Since my initial announcement, my life has changed. And I also heard from a number of constituents, who told me how much they value how and what I brought to the city of Raleigh, in District C, and they felt my continued service inside the district, outweighed the opportunity to serve as mayor.”

Branch was elected to the Raleigh City Council in 2015. His initial plan to run for mayor opened his Southeast Raleigh seat for the first time in nearly a decade, and six candidates filed to replace him, making it the most crowded field of the election.

Baldwin announced she would not seek another term as mayor earlier this year, leaving the field open since she was first elected in 2019. Four candidates have filed so far:

• Janet Cowell, former Raleigh City Council member and state treasurer
• Paul Fitts, mortgage broker
• Eugene Myrick, community advocate
• James Shaughnessy IV, pre-law student [Source]

Crisis Lifeline

Neal Charnoff, WFDD Radio, 7/17/24

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services are marking the second anniversary of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

The lifeline transitioned from a ten-digit phone number to 988 in July 2022. The number connects users with trained counselors who offer crisis support and provide access to community-based resources. In those two years, crisis counselors in North Carolina have responded to nearly 190,000 calls, texts, and chats. According to a news release, the number of residents who contacted 988 each month nearly doubled in its second year of service.

Since 988 made its debut, chat and text options in Spanish have been added, along with specialized services for veterans and LGBTQ+ people. And a dashboard has been incorporated allowing officials to monitor how 988 is being used.

Earlier this week, NCDHHS officials toured a 988 call center in Greenville to show appreciation to the crisis counselors. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available around the clock, seven days a week. [Source]

 

Marshall Event

Robert Sullivan, The Salisbury Post, 7/17/24

Elaine Marshall, the North Carolina secretary of state, made a stop in Rowan County on Saturday for her re-election campaign, speaking to local Democrats about the duties of her office and why she believed she is the best fit for the job.

Marshall appeared at the monthly Rowan County Democratic Party breakfast on Saturday as part of her campaign. She is running for re-election against Republican Party nominee Chad Brown, current chairman of the Gaston County Board of Commissioners. She took the opportunity to explain what exactly the secretary of state office does, speak about her experience running against NASCAR legend Richard Petty in 1996 and answer voter’s questions about the state and national elections.

“(Petty) was my first opponent and nobody gave me a chance. I’m one of those people, you underestimate me and you better watch out,” said Marshall. Marshall would go on to defeat Petty with 53.48 percent of the vote to Petty’s 45.17, making her the first woman elected to statewide office in North Carolina.

Marshall noted that cyber-security and customer service were two of the main aspects of those duties that she worked on.  “People ask me, ‘what’s my biggest worry at night?’ Cyber-security, that always has to be the No. 1 worry. The next worry is customer service, serving people, meeting them where they are.”

Marshall is being challenged by Republican nominee Brown, a former mayor of Stanley and the chairman of the Gaston County Board of Commissioners. Brown’s priorities, as listed on his website, are to protect “elections and ensure that every vote is counted,” to “promote innovation and small business growth,” and to “protect our consumers from fraud and identity theft.”

North Carolina is one of 12 states in the country where the secretary of state does not oversee the elections in the state. [Source]

coverage to connect patients to a doctor, no matter where they live.  By strengthening access to primary care, we’re giving more North Carolinians the opportunity to be healthy. Learn more here.

Sewer Funding

Richard Craver, Winston-Salem Journal, 7/17/24

A total of 10 Triad and northwest North Carolina communities have been awarded either federal drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding or stormwater construction grants, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality said Wednesday. The funding and grant totals for those communities was $21.54 million out of the overall $253 million provides statewide. The awards include emerging contaminants (PFAS) funding and funding for lead service line inventories and replacements.

The largest regional recipient was $10 million to Beech Mountain in drinking water state revolving fund for a water system improvement project. Eden received $7.2 million in clean water state revolving funds for the Eden North Basin Repairs Project. The other grants and projects are: $2 million to Liberty; $742,000 to West Jefferson; $500,000 to Asheboro; a combined $400,000 to Denton; $250,000 to Ossipee; $231,700 to Orange-Alamance Water Systems; and $210,000 to Haw River. [Source]

 

Mill Rezoning

Cory Vaillancourt, Smoky Mountain News, 7/17/24

A rezoning of the former paper mill parcel in Canton has replaced an expiring industrial development moratorium, maintaining the town’s limited control of the site despite the possibility of an impending sale to a developer with unknown intentions. “The citizens of this town and county must have a say in what is the best output down there,” said Zeb Smathers, Canton’s mayor, during a July 11 meeting.

Formerly, the site was zoned as heavy industrial, which, generally speaking, had allowed for uses such as manufacturing and warehousing. Permitted uses in the town’s zoning ordinance for heavy industrial districts include automobile wrecking yards; brick, tile and plastics manufacturing; large events like circuses and fairs; iron and steel foundries; hatcheries; industrial machinery repair; tool manufacturing; meatpacking and chicken processing; and the storage of gasoline or other bulk gases, flammable or not.

The heavy industrial classification also allows all uses permitted in light industrial districts, which includes automobile sales service, parking, storing and washing establishments; bakeries; banks; bottling plants; textile manufacturing and a host of other, lower-impact industries along with mobile home parks and single or multi-family residential dwellings.

On July 1, Canton’s planning board unanimously recommended the rezoning to the town’s governing board for approval, finding that the proposed rezoning is consistent with the goals of the town’s land use plan — specifically, “to conserve flood-prone lands and support strategic development/redevelopment decisions to mitigate flood events” and to “achieve higher development standards through regulation and infrastructure investments,” per the staff report.

“With the closing of the paper mill, the property will certainly be viewed by investors for new developments,” the report reads. “Given the current Heavy Industrial zoning designation, permitted developments could be highly impactful, even disruptive, uses.” Canton’s Board of Aldermen/women unanimously approved the recommendation on July 11.

Now, half of the 185-acre site east of the Pigeon River is designated as general business, which allows for an array of retail and commercial uses along with single or multi-family dwellings under certain circumstances. The other half of the parcel, west of the Pigeon River, is classified as light industrial, allowing all of the lower-impact manufacturing uses permitted in the zoning ordinance but none of the higher-impact uses permitted under its previous heavy industrial classification. [Source]

 

Pender Water

Jalyn Baldwin, Port City Daily, 7/16/24

Hampstead residents have started a petition regarding discolored water and reached out to commissioners after they said concerns were not being handled appropriately by Pender County Utilities, despite a recent water rate hike.

“When you raise somebody’s rates and then they have brown water in their toilet, it ain’t good,” Commissioner Randy Burton said at the board’s July 15 meeting.

He was referring to a neighborhood in the southeastern corner of the county. People from the WyndWater community started a petition on June 22, demanding improved water quality. Kimber Lynn, a concerned resident of WyndWater, began the petition, now with more than 300 signatures. It calls on authorities and environmental officials, including the Environmental Protection Agency, to provide a long-term solution. “According to the World Health Organization, access to safe drinking water is essential to health and a basic human right. Yet, we find ourselves deprived of this right,” Lynn stated in the petition.

Several WyndWater residents told Port City Daily they have reached out to Pender County Utilities regarding the discoloration and other concerns; however, many said they were not met by a sustained effort to resolve the problem.

According to Anthony Colon, Pender County Utilities director, the brown water is attributed to new groundwater wells with more iron and recent construction from the move of a Highway 17 water line. “The Highway 17 corridor in Hampstead has been experiencing hydraulic variances for years, particularly between Sloop Point Loop and Highway 210 near Surf City,” Colon wrote in an email Tuesday.

On June 6, Pender County Utilities issued a precautionary boil advisory, urging residents between the south end of Sloop Point Loop Road and Surf City to boil all drinking water. It came from a malfunction at the Sloop Point Booster Station, resulting in low-water pressure and discoloration for three to five days. The advisory was lifted on June 11, as the utility company tested the water and found no bacteria present.

However, WyndWater resident James Borgen reported that both his and his neighbor’s water has remained brown. He said he contacted the utilities and spoke with a woman about the brown water. “She assured me that the water was safe to drink,” Borgen told Port City Daily. “‘It just has a little rust in it and won’t hurt you.’ I told her, at that point, that it was undrinkable and something needed to be fixed.”

According to Brandi Cobb, spokesperson for Pender County, the water is currently safe to drink.

Due to residents’ demand for action, the utilities flushed the neighborhood’s water lines on June 21, a little over a week after the boil advisory was lifted since the brown water persisted. Flushing the lines involves pushing water through the pipes at high speeds to scour the walls and remove debris and sediment.  No additional boil advisory has been issued.

On July 3, Pender County Utilities announced an upcoming change to their water rates and fee schedules, effective July 1, which transitioned the rates from a district-based structure to one based on meter size. It equals a 16.6% average water rate increase, a $5 service fee increase for standard residential meters, and a $1 increase in the cost per 1,000 gallons of water for meter sizes within a 1-inch to 8-inch size range.

Colon attributed the changes to rising operational costs — escalated at a national average at 23.2% from inflation — and the fact that the rate has not been updated since 2015, on top of sharp population growth.
Colon confirmed the new water and sewer superintendent, Brian Terry, is implementing new operation strategies that will include water-monitoring, extensive flushing of dead ends, and turning over Topsail-elevated water tank. “Water treatment of the ground wells is in the works,” Colon added. [Source]

 

Lumos Funding

David Mildenberg, Business NC, 7/17/24

Lumos Technologies, another financial technology company affiliated with Live Oak Bancshares founder Chip Mahan, says it raised $2 million to help build a data analytics company focused on small business credit risk. “Lumos has identified and captured a market opportunity for data insights and credit risk modeling with cutting-edge technology,” Mahan said in a release. “I couldn’t be more excited to participate in this seed funding round for Lumos.”

Lumos says its products help financial institutions improve lending efficiency and manage risk with “predictive credit performance models.”

Early users of Lumos’ services have been “overwhelmingly positive and receptive,” says Brett Caines, co-founder and CEO of Lumos. More capital will help build the business and support clients’ access to capital, he says. Caines is the former CFO at Live Oak Bank, the Wilmington-based digital-oriented lender founded in 2008.

Summit Technology Group of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, invested in Lumos in 2022 and the business has “onboarded” more than 80 financial institutions since then, says Youri Nelson, co-founder and chief technology officer of Summit. Mahan has also been a key investor in other tech companies, most notably Wilmington-based lending software company nCino, which was started in 2011 and has a market valuation of $3.8 billion. [Source]

 

Habitat Merger

Kenneth Lee Jr., WFAE Radio, 7/17/24

The Habitat for Humanity Charlotte Region said this week that it will combine with Habitat Gaston County. The organizations’ boards of directors announced the combined organization will serve Gaston, Iredell and Mecklenburg counties.

Habitat provides affordable houses and home repairs, along with several stores that offer home goods at reduced pricing. Patrick Mumford, president of the Habitat Gaston County board, said Charlotte’s office will provide major resources.

“Since, really, COVID, we have had a contractor building our homes,” Mumford said. “We do not have a construction staff and the Charlotte Region has a phenomenal construction staff. We have limited fundraising or development operations, and so we can leverage Charlotte in that regard.”

Habitat Charlotte Region CEO Laura Belcher said the consolidated effort will help extend a longstanding program to more families. The merger will provide substantial growth to the organization with a combined $69 million in assets, and just over 4,500 volunteers, the companies said in a press release. Habitat’s headquarters will remain in Charlotte and will maintain officers in Gastonia and Davidson. The consolidation will become final on Oct. 1. [Source]

Legislative Sessions, Studies and Meetings

LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING

HOUSE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Tuesday, July 23

• 9:00 A.M. | House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform, Auditorium.

HOUSE CALENDAR

Monday, July 29, 2024

• House Convenes at 12:00 P.M.

SENATE CALENDAR

Monday, July 29, 2024

• House Convenes at 12:00 P.M.

HOUSE & SENATE: Reconvening allowed under provisions of SB 916, if no sine die adjournment previously adopted.

• Monday, July 29 to Thursday Aug. 1
• Monday, Sept. 9 to Wednesday, Sept. 11
• Wednesday, Oct. 9
• Tuesday, Nov. 19 to Friday Nov. 22
• Wednesday, Dec. 11 to Friday Dec. 13

N.C. Government Meetings and Hearings

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Wednesday, July 17

• 9 a.m. | The North Carolina Real Estate Commission Meeting, 1313 Navaho Drive, Raleigh.
• 11 a.m. | The Economic Investment Committee (EIC) meets, 301 North Wilmington St, Raleigh. Teleconference Number: +1-415-655-0003 (toll charges might apply) Teleconference Access Code: 2422 672 3002.
• 1 p.m. | N.C. Plant Conservation Board meets to discuss items related to land conservation, stewardship efforts of the N.C. Plant Conservation Program, and regulatory matters, Rankin Science South, Room 210B Appalachian State University, Boone; for information on joining remotely, visit: Joining Remotely. Contact: Julian Wilson, 919-707-3758 or [email protected].

Thursday, July 18

• 8 a.m. | North Carolina Medical Board Meeting – July 2024 Meeting, 3127 Smoketree Court, Raleigh.
• 9:30 a.m. | North Carolina Turnpike Authority meets, 1 S. Wilmington St, Raleigh.

Thursday, Aug. 1

• 6 p.m. | The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality Public Hearing on Moriah Energy Center Draft Air Quality Permit, Vance-Granville Community College, 200 Community College Road, Henderson.

Monday, Aug. 5

• 9 a.m. | The Board Development Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

• 9 a.m. | The Council of State meets. 1 South Wilmington St, Raleigh.

Monday, Aug. 19

• 2 p.m. | The Executive Committee of The North Carolina Partnership for Children meets, The meeting will be held via Zoom. You may contact Yvonne Huntley at 984.221.1242 or email at [email protected] for additional information.

UNC Board of Governors

23 S. WEST STREET, SUITE 1800, RALEIGH

Wednesday, July 24

• T.B.A. | The UNC Board of Governors, UNC System Office.

Thursday, July 25

• T.B.A. | The UNC Board of Governors, UNC System Office.

N.C. Utilities Commission Hearing Schedule

DOBBS BUILDING, 430 NORTH SALISBURY STREET, RALEIGH

Monday, July 22

• 2 p.m. | Expert Witness Hearing – Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC and Duke Energy Progress, LLC 2023 Biennial CPIRP | E-100 Sub 190
• 2 p.m. | Expert Public Witness Hearing – Joint Application of DEP and NCEMC for CPCN to Construct a 1360MW Electric Generating Facility in Person County, NC | E-2 Sub 1318, EC-67 Sub 55
• 2 p.m. | Expert Witness Hearing – Application for CPCN for 850 MW Natural Gas-Fired Combustion Turbine Electric Generating Facility Located at 8320 NC Highway 150 E, Terrell, NC 28682 in Catawba County | E-7 Sub 1297

Other Meetings and Events of Interest

BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS

Thursday, July 18

• Gov. Roy Cooper to join Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally, Fayetteville.

Saturday, July 27

9 a.m. | North Carolina Federation of Young Republicans Convention, The Farm at 95, Selma.