This past Wednesday was "Town Hall Day" in Raleigh. It's an annual event put on by the League of Municipalities for representatives from cities and towns across the state to meet with their legislative delegations. There was also a dinner that night with our delegation to the Legislature.
Davidson appeared to be the only Mecklenburg municipality that did not send any representatives this year.
It's the first time Davidson has missed the event in years according to Town Manager Leamon Brice. The absence was due to some unstated scheduling conflicts.
Unfortunately, it seems like a missed opportunity to work the state legislature - particularly considering some of the serious concerns and requests Davidson has on the docket with the State. While I don't necessarily agree with all of these concerns, there are at least 3 items needing Legislative support that have been a focus for the Town in recent months.
SB 731 - Zoning/Design and Aesthetic Controls - This bill has the Town Planners up in arms over possible restrictions to the Town's ability to tightly control various aesthetics on certain new construction. In fact the Town thought that this was so important that it used resources to complete the first of its required "Health Impact Assessments" under the CDC grant received last year. While SB731 appears to be going nowhere fast in the Legislature, a sit down dinner with the Mecklenburg delegation would have been a good time to bend a few ears - considering the bill was brought forward by Mecklenburg Democrat Dan Clodfelter.
Special Assessment District Sunset Extension - With the Red Line in limbo, it is looking increasingly likely that the June 30, 2013 deadline for selling any bonds backed by SADs will need to be extended. Only the Legislature can grant that extension. Mayor Woods stated at the last Commissioner Chat that the legislature was open to doing just that. However, based on everything else I've heard that seems like a tenuous possibility at best. When you get outside of Mecklenburg, not too many legislators are keen on backing hundreds of millions in bonds for transit that this legislation would enable. Before Davidson spends even more resources on the project, it would be nice to know if the legislature is truly on board with this extension. Since Mayor Woods is the face of the Red Line, who better to make the case in Raleigh?
HB 129 - Level Playing Field - With the new interlocal agreement on Mi-Connection, both Mooresville and Davidson ostensibly have a greater incentive to grow subscribers. Assuming that at some point in the future they are able to do that, one thing that could help would be rolling back certain provisions of this bill such as the one limiting the footprint of the company. The Level Playing Field bill was enacted partly to prevent other municipalities from going down the same risky road as Mi-Connection. It also limits the competition of government with private industry. As you can see here on pg 4, only one of the municipally owned cable companies in the state turns a tiny profit, it being COMPAS in Morganton. COMPAS is by far the oldest enterprise of its kind in the state starting in 1992. The other three are more recent creations, and they are not doing as well.
If the Town is going to spend resources on issues that require State support, it would seem prudent to take advantage of every single opportunity to get some face time with those making the decisions. Davidson's absence was certainly noticed - maybe not by those here in town, but certainly by those in Raleigh.
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