Ray Cerda - Candidate for Clerk of Superior Court of Catawba County - Letters & Video from the Candidate

Leadership for the Courts
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Ray submits his Resume to You
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A video message from the Candidate

The Hound has to admit that he likes what he has seen and heard about Mr. Cerda. We desperately need to bring 21st century style leadership to Catawba County. From what I have heard, the current Clerk Ms. Bogle (who has been in office for over 10 years) has systematically fought to keep a computer information system from being implemented at the Clerk of Courts office. To get any kind of a form to fill out, you have to appear in person. Does that sound like leadership for our modern society?

Look at Mr. Cerda's Resume. This tells us the type of professionalism and attention to detail that he would bring to the Clerk of Courts office. The man's record speaks for itself. What I like about Mr. Cerda is that he is giving us reasons to vote for him and he is not running a blitz attack on Ms. Bogle's record.

The Clerk of Court position is a very important position and people don't seem to realize that. It is time to modernize our court system and Ms. Bogle's track record shows ten years of an unwillingness to do so in a county with over 160,000 residents. If you want to move Catawba County forward, then we must demand that we run a 21st century court system.

Icelandic volcano displays our vulnerability related to the World Economy

Over the last few days we have seen displayed the fragility of our modern World Economy. Constantly we are told how small our world has become and how much smaller it will continue to become in the future. We are told that the World is being brought to us and laid at our feet. But, now we can see that we are still in the primitive stages of this modern World economy due to the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, the Icelandic Volcano that has brought air travel to a standstill along the North Atlantic air route.

Michael Tarm of the Associated Press has written some excellent articles for the Associated Press which tells the tale of the costly effects of this natural event - Volcanic cloud casts long shadow over US travel & Volcano illustrates world's interconnectedness Many in the travel industry on Thursday weren't asking if they would be affected — but how badly. Passengers could be stranded for days.

The fallout from the ash cloud looming over Europe illustrates just how interconnected our world has become. Thousands of planes fly millions of passengers and tons of cargo each day, providing the economic lifeblood of nations and businesses. The flights deliver products for sale or items as small as a specialized tool that lets a factory keep operating. The planes also bring medicines to hospitals and food aid to earthquake or hurricane victims. And they bring war and peace. Soldiers are often transported to and from hot spots by air.
This event is effecting flower shipments to America from the Netherlands, which should be beginning its peak commercial season here and the event is inhibiting Seafood purveyors from being able to obtain Fresh Salmon from Norway, Scotland, the British Shetland Islands and Iceland. This is a very important staple of many American restaurants, which could effect price and availability.
Lately, we have seen many vulnerabilities brought to bare by the World Trade System. How many of you have noticed that many restaurants have cut back on serving tomatoes or the price increase in grocery stores due to the Shortage of Tomatoes being produced in Florida - (WSJ - 3/3/2010). The cold temperatures in January destroyed roughly 70% of the tomato crop in Florida, which is the largest source of U.S.-grown fresh tomatoes this time of year.
Florida growers worry that they will have permanently lost even more market share to Mexican-grown tomatoes. According to the U.S. Agriculture Department, about one-third of fresh vegetables such as tomatoes, bell peppers and sweet corn consumed in the U.S. this time of year come from Florida farms. About two-thirds of this type of produce is imported, and most of that is from Mexico. In recent weeks, weekly vegetable shipments from Mexico to the U.S. have soared by as much as 50% over year-ago levels, according to the USDA.
There is also an agricultural problem related to imports from Chile - (Damage Threatens Chile's Agricultural Exports - Dow Jones Newswire - 3/2/2010). Chile is among the world's larger exporters of commodities such as grapes, seafood and forestry products. It is the top supplier of table grapes to the U.S., the world's second-largest exporter of avocados and salmon, and the biggest producer of blueberries in South America. Chile's wine sector has been affected as the earthquake hit the center-south region of the country the hardest--the heart of the wine-making region. As for fresh fruit, grapes hold the largest export value to Chile and the earthquake comes at the peak of the harvest.
Over the last decade, we have been moving from a system of ancillary cultural food based demand to a system where we are heading towards relying on foreign nations to supply us with many of our staple food needs. Here is an article about the U.S. possibly allowing beef imports from Brazil. The beef was originally banned because of Foot and Mouth disease that was present in Brazilian cattle , along with a host of other problems. McDonald's is already importing beef from South America.
Here is an article, from February 2008, that shows the amount of United States Food that is imported. The latest stats from the article show that 15% 0f our food volume came from imports, but it was only 6% of the total food value. An interesting statistic from the article shows that 79% of our fish and shellfish are imported. I believe the relationship between volume and value obviously shows that we import food because it is cheap, even if we are importing many foods that are indigenous to specific parts of the world.
The following article from the Chicago Sun Times from July 2008 entitled It's from where? Food imports growing goes into full detail about food importation. The main thrust of the article involves food safety. The article states that the food importation trend could be worrisome for consumers, given recent scares over tainted toothpaste, lead-paint toys and adulterated drugs from China. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates all food imports, except meat (that's handled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture), inspects less than 1 percent of the food coming into the United States, said Michael Herndon, a spokesman for the agency. The agency mainly tracks where the food is coming from and where's it's headed, he said.
What the Hound is getting at: The World "Free For All" trading system is leaving us vulnerable in many ways. I know that it was great when this system offered us availability of food commodities that we would otherwise not have had access to. Think kiwi fruit from New Zealand, Coconuts and Pineapples, Exotic Seafood, etc. There are many food items that are available now that weren't available when I was a child in the 1970s.

What we are seeing is that the importation of perishable, consumable commodities like food leave us vulnerable due to many combinations of variables including weather, natural disasters, transportation costs, sanitation concerns, tariffs, currency exchange rates, and foreign relations. These factors that affect the price and availability of commodities will not go away. We must make sure that we never allow ourselves to become too dependent on other nations for these necessities of life.

In my opinion, the closer our food supply resides to where we live, the better off we will be. I really believe in buying local when it comes to food. Support local farmers, farmer's markets, and locally owned restaurants. As a community we need to develop these supportive ties that can help our local food industries thrive. We need to move away from corporate processed food. We live in a wonderful climate for agriculture. We have a wonderful growing season. People need to take advantage of the possibilities that are presented to us.

We are interconnected, because of the technology of this modern world, but we cannot afford to take this World as we know it for granted. Doesn't the Icelandic Volcano show how life can change in an instant? And show that this isn't such a small World after all.

Think of the questions that revolve around the variables. What if there are weather or natural disaster events that interrupt availability of commodities? What if there are issues with the costs of petroleum based transportation? What do we do when we see that imported items aren't meeting proper sanitation safety guidelines? How do we deal with countries who are practicing unfair trade policies? What do we do if the dollar tanks causing imported commodities to skyrocket? What do we do if we have foreign relation issues with a country that we have grown heavily dependent on?

Can't you see? There must be a balance between interdependence and independence!

IMPACT

Below is a photo of where the last 500 viewers of the Hickory Hound are viewing the site from:

To date, the Hickory Hound has had 21,806 Unique Viewers from all over the World. Many of the targets you see above are people who have viewed this site on multiple occasions. The stats show that over 20% of the people that visit this site come back multiple times.This is something that I have heard expressed on many occasions. Many of these people have some sort of a connection with our area. I think that we should study these connections to make sure that we aren't missing opportunities. This ain't Podunkville any more!!!

This blog is read by almost as many people outside of this community as it is inside the community. The people outside of the community are Googling specific issues and this blog is the only source to find in-depth information on specific issues that have an impact on this community in relation to the local area, the State, the United States, and the World. That is the reason why my articles go to the top of the Google lists pertaining to the subjects discussed.

When it comes to people inside this community. We estimate that around 100 people read this blog on a continual basis, another 100 read it occasionally, and a few thousand people have read it and know it exists. When I think of phrases to describe our community, I think Lack of caring, Lack of passion, and Lack of compassion. I hate to make statements like that, but they are assessments of what I see. I'm not going to dig back into the lack of participation of the public pertaining to the local political scene. People act put out by anything other than trivial participation. Compare the lack of participation in local politics to the 2008 election when Obama ran. More than half of registered voters voted because of the hype surrounding that election, and honestly, you know that it was only about the hype. Hello, do people not understand that local politics is as important, if not more important than what is happening in Washington D.C.

This has been and continues to be a tough road to hoe and I have quit worrying about doing this for the community as a whole. What has to be done will have to occur in spite of the vast majority of people in this community, because it is more than apparent that they don't care about their own community. I do know that there are many people who are overwhelmed by work and taking care of their families, but fixing this community is going to be challenging and our backs are against the wall. We don't have time to devote to mindless hours of pop culture, conditioned news, and regimented politics.

It is my dream that we can restore balance to this community and get it back to where it was in the 80s and 90s. It is my dream that our young people will include our area in the equation of places they want to be when they get out of college. It is my dream that we can raise the standard of living in this area to a reasonable level. It is my dream that we will have a viable housing market and the commercial real estate market will bounce back, sooner rather than later, when the business cycle turns around or we discover new economic principles.

We have great assets in this community. We have people who are industrious and talented. We have serious issues that should be at the forefront of the nation's new paradigm. I think that people just need to get on board and take this community more seriously. You know, the Jon Reep shtick was funny in the beginning, but it is getting old. I don't think we should be pushing a "Billy Beer" agenda around here and I am definitely not on board. I know some very sophisticated people who live in this area and those are the people I am on board with, those are the difference makers, those are the game changers.

The Shuttle Progress took off and exploded. Hickory, we have a problem! These are dead serious times. There is no time for jokes. There is no time for frivolities. There is no time to sit on your hands and wish it was all just a bad dream. It is time for action! It is time to go find the pieces and put them back together so that we can fly again, so that we can get back on the path to progress. It's not going to be the same, but if we put the pieces back together right it will be better.

You need to understand, everything that each one of us does can make the difference. We all have an impact on this community. I don't like carrying a heavier load, but I am willing. We need champions for the cause. We all know the people who are on the right track and have the right mindset. We should invest in those people, lend them a hand, and encourage them when they are down. We need to encourage the trendsetters and create a support network to help them thrive.

I want to live to tell the story of this community's resurgence. I have friends that tell me it will be a generation before we even begin to act. I have compatriots who wonder why there is no sense of urgency to act. Sometimes I get physically ill thinking about how overwhelming the issues we face are. But, it's about the endgame. It's about surviving to thrive. I think about that Hollywood happy ending and we all have our roles to play. And people are watching this story play out every day. What will be your impact on our history?

Last Frost Date - April 15 - Time to start planting

That is what I have been focusing on over the last week. This will be my third year of full scale gardening on my home property. I think part of the fun in this gardening process is watching the transformation of my yard. My goal this year is to add a full scale rain collection system that I am in the process of implementing. I really think this is the way to go when it comes to any type of full scale gardening effort. There are many reasons that utilizing Mother nature's water is best, but my two biggest reasons are because I don't think city water is good for a garden with all of the chemicals that are injected into it and because the cost of using city water is prohibitive.

My rain barrel system will be developed utilizing the 4 downspouts at the corners of my house utilizing some very large (275 gallon water tanks). Even if you aren't looking to develop something this large, Lowe's Home Improvement has a video of an inexpensive setup on Youtube utilizing regular garbage cans.



Over the past week, I have been transplanting the plants that I started back in February in Peat Moss containers. I believe that I have enough of a head start to where I might possibly get two rotations out of this garden this year. My hope is that I will be able to get some raised bed gardens built, which will allow me to raise some root vegetables along with leafy vegetables come late summer and early fall. Lowe's Home Improvement has a video of an of a raised bed garden setup on Youtube which can incorporated the rain barrel system above.




There are a lot of great videos on Youtube about the gardening process and there are infinite amounts of information all over the internet that will help you whether yoy are a novice an expert or somewhere in between.

My final project is one that I have been working on since the beginning of the year and has been delayed until fall. I am going to build a small geodesic dome greenhouse as an experiment to see if it is better than a regular green house. My hope is to have year round vegetables at a point in time in the future.

I really think that we are living in a time where you need to be as efficient as you can with your assets. You can have a productive property even when you live in a city. You can virtually cut you food expenses to next to nothing. Look at the prices of food in the grocery store. Anecdotally, I can tell you that over the last year I have witnessed food inflation rise 25%. I don't see that getting any better as we see fuel prices begin to rise above $3 again.

There is a lesson to be learned here. I hope that people will start growing food, trading their food specialties, utilizing local farmer's markets, share meals with family and friends, and use the land for its intended purpose. The global world makes us vulnerable. Everything coming from these far off lands can be gone quickly. We need to start producing food locally again and I intend on doing my part. Think about it, is this not Independence.

We Need to be that Shining City upon a Hill

The above video is from Ronald Reagan's inaugural address on January 20, 1981. In my opinion, this video is very much apropos to where this nation is today.

I have had conversations over the last several years where people continuously make the statement, "We're not the only ones that are bad off" when they speak about Hickory. It makes me think of Reagan's farewell address and this statement about America being the Shining City upon a hill.

I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still.

I don't want to covet the assets that other areas have. I don't want to follow what everyone else does. I want us to be leaders and innovators. I want us to be self-sufficient. I want people to look at this community as a beacon, as a guiding light. as trend setters. We have plenty of assets in this area that are being underutilized. We have innovative people and enterprises, who I want the world to see.

I am not saying that we need to be arrogant. I do think we need partners and we definitely need to interconnect with other communities. We need to create associations with other communities that share common interests to work towards and learn new methods of development. We just need to find a proper way to express ourselves and to get our story out to the nation and the world.

As Reagan states in that inaugural address, he is not against government, but he believes that the Federal Government has overstepped its bounds. I think our country is at a point of dysfunction 180-degrees from the causation of the Civil War. That was a war of dysfunction created by a Union where States wanted complete and separate sovereignty to operate independently apart from the Union.

There was no accountability from the States towards the Union. It was a Union with Iron Clad borders, where once you stepped across State border lines, then you were essentially in another country. The Congress essentially became a non-functional entity as a result of States Rights issues which centered around slavery during the 1840s and 1850s.

Today, we are quickly coming to a point where there are no State borders and the sovereignty of the states is neither recognized nor respected. In many ways the States have allowed this to happen, but I believe that we are going to see pushback as a result of the Federal power grab we have seen over the last decade. The founding documents of our country are designed around the States' integral role in the formation of the Union as expressed by the United States Constitution.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The Commerce clause has been used as a means to an end to destroy State sovereignty, but in the end I do not believe the States will stand by and watch as their ability to self rule is completely dissolved. The Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes". But the Federal Government has overstepped this clause by trying to use it to regulate every facet of our lives, while neglecting our rights as citizens of our corresponding States. At this time, there is no accountability from the Federal Government towards the States.

Since our Governor is of the same party as those who have pushed these notions of no State sovereignty and she seems enchanted with every aspect of big brother government, then our local area is going to have to work twice as hard to make our position clear. We want a smaller, more efficient government. We want a government that works with us, not one that imposes their will over us. We need our State government to get its house (budget) in order and we don't need to play a part in the Federal Government's means of running our nation into an endless mire of debt with no end. As a State, we have a right under the principled law of Nullification to challenge any law that is unconstitutional and no matter what ones political preference is, we should challenge any laws that trample on the rights of our State within the Union. The relationship between the Federal Government and the States is supposed to be a partnership.

Yes, we are living in extraordinary times. Tough decisions have to be made on financial issues. But, I do not want to continue down the path that we are on. What we are doing nationally makes no logical sense. We need balance between the Federal government and the States reinstituted. We need our State to look out for its best interest and not be subservient to the will of Washington. By the same token, as a community, we don't need to go along to get along with the wills of Raleigh and Washington. We need to stand strong against this economic tsunami. Our area has instituted fiscal discipline and sound investment strategies. Let others look to us as a guiding light. Someone has to turn the tide and I don't know why our community can't be leaders in this effort. Let's be that beacon that others can point to.