Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 16, 2008

This newsletter is about the Hickory City Council meeting that I attended this past week. City council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each Month in the Council Chambers of the Julian Whitener building.At the bottom right of this page under main information links is a Hickory, NC link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website. At the bottom of the page you will see the future dates for meetings scheduled for this year.At the top of the page, if you click on the “Documents” link, you will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.


The two items on the agenda of the 9/16/2008 meeting that stoked my interest were the following:

1) Important Outlays
Fairgrove Business Park(Geotechnical Testing Services)................……..$5,215.00
Hickory Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program….....................................$25,000.00

2) Readdressing the Moratorium on New Drinking Establishments for 120 days – Held over from 9/2/2008 -- This was a resubmission of a proposed ordinance preventing the establishment of any business, where more than half of gross sales were obtained through sales of alcohol, for a period of 120 days while new codes are implemented and instituted.

Asst City Manager Andrea Surratt noted that there have been serious public safety concerns on this issue and alternatives that have been implemented have not been successful.

The Chief of Police Tom Adkins basically restated that in the last 2 years 1472 calls were made on 14 establishments. 1,024 of these calls were made between 10pm and 2am. Of these, 7 establishments have been cited by ALE and 2 have been cited twice in the last 24 months. There has been 1 murder, 3 sexual assaults, and 43 drug and alcohol arrests during this period. He stated that many of these places didn’t have adequate staff for the number of customers that frequented them, causing safety issues

Also brought up, was the fact that when applying with the ABC board to open an establishment, the police are requested to fill out a local opinion form. They look into such issues as criminal history of the applicants and the locations in relation to local neighborhoods.


Speaking Against the Proposed Amendment
Attorney Larry Johnson spoke against the ordinance. He stated that the City staff was very professional in doing there job writing the ordinance, but the problem is laid at the feet of certain Hickory City Officials that wanted their mandates pushed through without regard to the law.

He spoke about his client having tried to open an establishment in the old Ferguson’s Plumbing building since October 2007. 3 times he applied (the last being on August 28, 2008) to open his establishment and each time he was given the run around. He stated that the procedures of this moratorium were kept in the dark until they were brought to light at a city council meeting.

He basically stated that the city was breaking the law, because of their actions. His client is the only applicant at this time trying to open a drinking establishment and e-mails show that Ms. Surratt and others are solely trying to stop his client.

Johnson said Ms. Surratt’s actions are unconstitutional, because she has been allowed to be the sole authority, arbitrer, and judge of this process. His client has been denied his constitutional rights by not allowing this issue to be heard by an independent body.

Mr. Johnson introduced e-mails and statements showing that Ms Surrat and officials of council have unjustly treated his client. These individuals had made statements about how they were going to stop the construction of this bar in these e-mails.

Mr. Johnson admitted that his client jumped the gun and tore down a wall attached to the building before he had proper building permits, but the city has held up the issuance of these permits. At a later point in time, e-mails show that the city (Ms. Surratt) wanted to institute the new nuisance law and tear down the rest of the building. Mr. Johnson stated that this was clearly a violation of the law. Mr. Johnson stated that this issue could be taken as far as the U.S. Supreme Court

Another citizen (we will call her Concerned Against 1) who owns a building on 1st ave SW (last established as the bar Chameleon) spoke against the proposed ordinance. She stated that she had just evicted her current tenant and the building has been a bar for as long as she can remember. This is her retirement income. Concerned Against 1 asked if she rented the building out to someone else that wants to open a bar, would they have to wait until the moratorium was over before they could open. Mayor Rudy Wright stated that they would have to wait.

Perplexed, she then asked if the (Powers That Be) decided to Zone her area to where they couldn’t have a bar, would that mean no bar could be opened there? The Mayor stated that yes that would be the case.

Speaking for the proposed amendment - if I have gotten any of these names wrong, I will fix them as soon as I am notified.

Lauren Vaughn – Safe Harbor Rescue Mission – (also attorney for Catawba County DSS)stated that her group has bought the old Geitner building to use as a shelter and they are concerned about a drinking establishment being located near the shelter. She says that people would be walking past their building as they went home from the bar.

A Ms. Dunbar Who is associated with the Cooperative Christian Ministry and Safe Harbor Rescue Mission stated that this proposed ordinance should be passed and that no drinking establishments should be permitted within a quarter mile of any non-profit agency. She stated that there are known parking issues associated with this proposed establishment.

Clarence Buehler (sp) of Newton stated that he has been in the redevelopment business for 50 years and that he believes in this proposed moratorium. He said that an All-American city needs to worry about its image and these bars bring it down.

Rebuttal – Atty Johnson stated that these people speaking for the amendment proved his point that this issue was completely about his client. He stated that this moratorium was not supposed to be about prohibition. That issue was fought long ago and there are guidelines for business being able to legally establish based upon those guidelines.

The Council – Mayor Wright stated that the proposed moratorium would not affect businesses unless they change ownership, prepare to open a new business, or plan to expand during the 120-day period.

Sally Fox stated that she had watched her ward be flooded with bars popping up and they have constantly gotten worse over time. That there are various hot spots that run right up against neighborhoods. Those areas want to remain residential. This issue, according to her, should have been dealt with 10 to 15 years ago.

Councilor Meisner stated that the Viewmont Village had no bars and that it wouldn’t have been able to attract the kinds of businesses it has if it had.

Z. Anne Hoyle asked, “…when the 120-day moratorium is up, what will happen with the 14. What will this solve? What will happen with the 14 trouble making establishments?” The City Manager said that nothing could be done until they violated the new codes to be passed.

Sally Fox quickly made a motion to adopt the moratorium and Jill Patton hastily seconded that motion. It seemed from their body language that they wanted this pushed through promptly. Mr. Lail and Ms. Hoyle were the only two to vote against the moratorium.


In the Hounds view, I still feel that this situation is not being handled properly. I understand the need to address the issue of rogue bars. It is time to crack down on those that do not adhere to regulations. However, something goes for the principle of innocence being assumed before guilt. I think some of our people on council don’t mind taking away our freedoms in the name of their personal interests and tastes.

How many of them partake in the consumption of adult beverages at their favorite country club or restaurant? You see, that’s perfectly fine, because that is in their setting. They look at themselves as upstanding citizens and they look at the people attending these bars as riff-raff. Yet, they turn a blind eye when one of their children go and hang out at one of these places until 2am.

I myself am an avowed teatotaler (really Coca-Cola), but I don’t believe in imposing that moral code on others when it comes to doing something that is legal. My belief is that if you get drunk and drive or act stupid then there are consequences. There should be consequences and that is why we have police.

If Atty Johnson’s client has legally met all of his obligations under current law, then he should be allowed to open his bar. But, I believe the dirty little secret is that the city doesn’t want this bar opened because his clients are Hispanic.

In my opinion, that just doesn’t sit well with Sally and Jill. Oh, it’s alright for these immigrants to work for $2 an hour less than most of us expect to be paid (then they love them). But, when the immigrants want to have some fun…Oh, God forbid, look at all of them over there.

I think it is purely hypocritical. I guarantee that the new Hickory Station will sell food until 10pm. But, once it gets to be 10pm, then the focus will turn to libation until the wee hour of 2am. But, that will be cool because those are the accepted people downtown.

The Mayor, on Hal Rowe’s show on Monday, was bragging about the little soiree in the name of “Economic Development” on Sunday night at Market on Main. I guess they were sipping tea and diet Pepsi before taking communion.

You see all of this is in the eye of the beholder. They can pass these codes without all of this dog and pony show. What is the importance of this moratorium? Do they think someone is going to run up and say, “Gosh we better hurry up and open this bar before they pass these new codes.” Someone that does that will be broke before they get started.

There are a few people on that council that obviously have no clue about business. All they care about is their social agenda. They always throw up that “Neighborhood Core” mantra. Hickory Proper is 28 square miles, that’s 5.3 miles by 5.3 miles. Where can you put a business, in that small of an area, that doesn’t have an impact on a neighborhood?

It is more than obvious that business commerce takes a backseat with some of these people. It is high time to put the city’s economic viability ahead of selfish, egotistical, socially driven agendas for once!

Just the Facts on our Unemployment Situation

1) From the Observer News Enterprise (7/3/2008) – Unemployment rates spiked in May, when the rate usually goes down. The county is following a national trend, rising in Catawba County from 5.9 percent in April to 6.7 percent in May, according to the Employment Security Commission’s report.

Meanwhile unemployment rates in the Unifour area, including Catawba, Alexander, Burke and Caldwell counties are 7 percent, up from 6.3 in April. It’s the second highest unemployment rate of the 14 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in North Carolina, exceeded by Rocky Mount with an unemployment rate of 8.4 percent.

The N.C. unemployment rate also rose in May from 5.1 percent in April to 5.8 percent.
However, (Catawba County employment security commission manager, Allan) Mackie said one month does not make a trend and June will be a better indicator as to how the job market will change throughout the rest of the year. Those figures will be released on July 18.

2) From the Observer News Enterprise (7/25/2008) – Catawba County reached the highest unemployment rate the county has seen in three years, according to a report released by the N.C. Employment Security Commission on Friday.

The county unemployment rate rose from 6.7 percent in May to 7.2 percent in June. It’s the highest its been since the 7.1 percent rate in February 2005, said Allan Mackie, manager of the ESC office in Catawba County.

The unemployment rate for July is likely to be higher, according to Mackie, who said January and July tend to be the peak months for unemployment due to seasonal fluctuations in workload and production schedules. He said these months are usually slower and often result in companies having a number of temporary layoffs until production picks up again. Generally, these layoffs are only for a week or two, but the change usually inflates the unemployment rate, Mackie said.

3) From the News-Topic, Lenoir, N.C. (8/22/2008) – Nathan Key -- 9.5 Percent: County Jobless Rate

Alexander, Burke and Catawba also saw increased unemployment in July. Alexander's rate rose from 6.9 to 8.6 percent, with Burke's moving from 7.8 to 8.7. Catawba jumped from 7.2 in June to 8.1 for July.

North Carolina's unemployment rate also soared in July, rising to 6.6 percent, up greatly from the 5.9 posted in June. The rate has not seen that level since August 2003 and reflects the national employment trend, which also is on the rise at 5.7 percent. The national average is up from 5.5 percent in June.

Manufacturing jobs continue to take a hit in North Carolina. In the last year, that sector of the work force has seen its employment fall by 3 percent. Since 2001, nearly 29 percent (207,000) of the manufacturing jobs in the state have been eliminated.

__________________________________________________

The Hounds View: We have seen unemployment, in Catawba County rise 2.2% in a period of 4 months. We aren’t far from having 10% unemployment according to these trends. What is the plan? Where is the Leadership?

Do not be blaming this on the national economy. Our unemployment rate is 8.1%, the state level is 6.8%, and the national level is 6.1%. HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM!!!

Looking back to data beginning in January 1990 and ending with the latest figures available, we see that from August 1992 until April 2001, that we had a better unemployment level than the state in 93 out of 105 of those months. During a parallel period from March of 1992 to January 2001, Catawba County had a better unemployment rate than the federal government in 105 out of 107 months.

Since that period of success ended, we have disastrously not had one single month where we have had a better unemployment rate than the state or federal government. 54 of the succeeding 86 months have seen Catawba County at least 1% worse than the state’s unemployment rate. Comparing to the Federal rate, we also have been at least 1% worse in 60 out of those 86 months.

The worst part is that the trends are not improving. Catawba County is currently 2.4% worse than the Federal unemployment rate. The best we have done this year is to get to within .9% of the federal rate and .5% of the state rate. That was back in April and since then we have headed precipitously in the wrong direction.

It is a little over 13 months until the next local election. Our Mayor has had almost 7 years to make some progress. Every year he has told us that we are on the right track to turn this thing around. Whether fair or unfair, his tenure has coincided with the pervasive malaise that has settled into the area.

Let’s be honest, we have never had a rosy economic picture since he has been in office. Whether fair or not, I believe that Mayor Wright should get credit when times are good and blame when they are bad. I think that he should be given every tool at his disposal to get things going in the next year, but if we don’t see a tangible change from this negative economic direction, then I think it will be time to get some new blood in our city’s executive office.

It is time for someone to step forward with a meaningful platform, a platform of leadership and progress. There has been way too much micro-management in areas of social interest, while our economy has unbelievably taken a back seat in importance. This area has so much to offer, but sadly we don’t have the glue, which is an industrial base, needed so that Hickory can flourish.

We cannot turn this area into a retirement village and expect our best and brightest young people to want to return. The Elderly (no matter how much money they have in the bank) have to live on fixed incomes, because they are more susceptible to needing catastrophic care at some point. If they become a disproportionate part of our population, then our tax base will get even worse than it already is. There will be little real increase in our city’s revenues and expenses will become much greater.

We should have one singular focus in our city. We need a Blue Ribbon commission of our area's top businessmen, led by our Mayor, willing to work to bring Fortune 500 type companies here; companies that have a bright future over the next 20 to 50 years. Some real areas of interest should be Human, Animal, and Plant Biotech; Alternative Energy and Transportation; Environmental Science; and we should still play a role in the area of furniture design and manufacturing.

I truly believe that when the first domino falls, as far as industrial facilitation and production go, that that will truly be when we turn the corner and start climbing instead of this endless tumble.

+++Statistical spreadsheet of our Unemployment picture is linked below and will be stored in Microsoft Excel format at The Hickory Hound Google Group.+++

http://hickoryhound.googlegroups.com/web/Hickory+Unemployment+3.xls?gda=9Jww00wAAADNJTwgxLHl9sR8sNs28UTRnwLKTSmKZBQXjgPSGQ28CIFlaxaQ3AwJ_PQYCE0hwCuyQ_HhOF7pXfuGUu6gCfjo_Vpvmo5s1aABVJRO3P3wLQ&gsc=8m_AQwsAAADVXGIuskvsO7zOiPJ5RQkE

The Objectives of the Hickory Hound

1) To encourage the broadest possible dialogue with the largest number of people possible. Democracy is strongest with an active, informed citizenry. A small pool of participants tends to limit initiative and ideas and ultimately leads to acting in self interest with the public interest being secondary. With the use of the internet to disseminate information and email to get feedback it has never been easier to get an involved community going.

2) To revitalize economic growth in Hickory. Hickory ’s story is well known. With the evolution of the global economy Hickory ’s “brand name” as the furniture, textile, and fiber optic center is never going to be what it was. We need a new “brand name”. While we encourage a diversity of businesses and would welcome all to come here, our collective efforts need to develop a focus on our assets and work to attract a critical mass of business to build the economy around.

3) To use city government to promote our common interest and manage our common affairs efficiently and with respect for conservative democratic principles and individual rights. Good schools, low taxes, a fair but friendly regulatory environment, natural beauty, cultural opportunities, an available and hardworking workforce are but a few of the assets Hickory has to offer. We should work to highlight our assets and keep government limited and efficient by resisting the impulse to micromanage every activity. Trends in land management, city ordinances, and taxation should certainly be monitored and considered but we should be wary of a “follow the crowd” mentality.

4) To encourage the densification of Hickory. We cannot just be a one story, strip mall city and be great. High rise buildings, as in all large cities are a more efficient use of land, will make public transportation more viable, and create a more vibrant city core. Urban sprawl, with the traffic problems it causes and the environmental impacts it creates is something that needs to be addressed. Buildings constructed now will be around for many, many years and we need to look to the future now.

5) To position Hickory as the leader and geocenter of a vibrant region. While the City proper has about 40,000 residents the Hickory/Morganton/Lenoir MSA is a large area of about 400,000 residents. This is a respectable number of people and we need to step up and coordinate efforts to grow and live together.

6) To no longer accept second class treatment from the State government. The corruption in Raleigh with respect to revenue and especially the DOT is well known. Rather than simply complaining, we need to act in a coordinated and aggressive manner- diplomatically if possible, legally if necessary.

7) To enhance the quality of life in all areas, economically, culturally, educationally, spiritually, and environmentally for all our citizens.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This contribution was made by my associate and close friend Harry Hipps II. He is the person that encouraged me to start this blog.

Over the last several years we have grown thoroughly disenchanted by the lack of leadership displayed by our local leaders and thus we have decided to strike out on our own to bring our local government back to the people.

Our local leaders talk a good game, when it comes to citizen involvment; but they have only trivially encouraged such participation. I have seen example after example of top down rule, where you are encouraged to participate if you agree with them; but if you don't, they just ignore you and your point of view. There is no education or explanation for their decisions. There is only a pervasive arrogance that they know what is best. This has led to the majority of people feeling disenfranchised and a general lack of morale for our city's direction.

The main ingredients that we have to work with in getting our city caught back up to the 21st century are the hard working, nose to the grindstone mentality and good ethical character of our citizens.

All we need to do is to get a major industrial company to decide that this is where they want to be. We can't do this without leadership from our elected officials. It isn't good enough to meet the minimum requirements of having the garbage picked up and utilities operating properly. They cannot be allowed to shirk their accountability by appointing and instituting bureaucratic agencies to absolve them of their responsibilities. The question is, is Hickory better off than it was eight years ago?

We need our roads to be up to par, so that local companies can move their goods to and from Hickory. We need good flow to our traffic patterns, because time is money. We need city codes that allow businesses to grow and prosper. We need to set aside personal preferences and do what is in the best interests of the future of our great city. Are our local leaders doing this?

We are here to give you a voice. We will in no way, shape, or form stifle anyone from participating in this movement. We just ask you to keep the language clean and everything else is fair game. If you don't agree with me, no skin off my nose, because I have been chided up one side and down the other for my philosophies my whole life.

The only thing left to say is Welcome!!!

Newsletter about the City Council meeting of September 2, 2008

This newsletter is about the Hickory City Council meeting that I attended this past week. City council meetings are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each Month in the Council Chambers of the Julian Whitener building.

At the bottom right of this page under main information links is a Hickory, NC link. If you click on that link, it takes you to our city’s website, At the bottom of the page you will see the future dates for meetings scheduled for this year.

At the top of the page, if you click on the “Documents” link, you will find historic Agenda and Minutes links. Agendas show what is on the docket for the meeting of that date. The Minutes is an actual summary of the proceedings of the meeting of that date.

The four items on the agenda of the 9/2/2008 meeting that stoked my interest were the following:

1) Approval of 6 Vacation Days as Prizes for City of Hickory’s United Way Participation Campaign – The city wants to encourage participation in the United Way by having a raffle based on level of participation in the city’s United Way Campaign.

My thought is that the city may as well directly give the money to the United Way itself. With all that is going on with the Upper Tiers of United Way management, I am not a proponent. The United Way, a non-profit organization, is currently rife with mismanagement and greed. I really don’t think our city should be fostering donations to the United Way until they prove that their house is in order.

I also believe that this basically puts pressure on individuals to participate. We all have charities that we personally participate in and I do not believe that it should be a city’s prerogative to focus on one charitable organization over another.

2) Approve Request by Coworker Appreciation Day Committee for 8 Days of Vacation Time. It is going to be used as door prizes. Why not give some cash or something else. Do these people not already get enough Paid Vacation?

3) Important Outlays
RR crossing for Clement Boulevard Connector project.......$309,645.00
Extension project at Fairgrove Business Park..................$225,619.00
*We will keep you up to date about costs, overruns, and timing of these projects.

4) Moratorium on New Drinking Establishments for 120 days – This was a discussion about an ordinance preventing the establishment of any business, where more than half of gross sales were obtained through sales of alcohol, for a period of 120 days while new codes are implemented and instituted.

The Chief of Police Tom Adkins stated that in the last 2 years 1472 calls were made on 14 establishments. 1,024 of these calls were made between 10pm and 2am. Of these, 7 establishments have been cited by ALE and 2 have been cited twice in the last 24 months. He stated that many of these places didn’t have adequate staff for the number of customers that frequented them, causing safety issues.

Attorney Larry Johnson spoke against the ordinance. He spoke about his client having tried to open an establishment in the old Ferguson’s Plumbing building for the last 14 months and the city giving him the run around. He further stated that his client’s bar should be administered under current regulations and not the regulations that have not been passed yet.

Atty Johnson let it be known that such ordinance could not be established at the current meeting, because the law states that the hearing must be advertised in the local paper for two weeks (it had only been advertised for one). When City Atty John Crone asked Asst City Atty Anita Dula if this were indeed true, a befuddled Ms. Dula acted as if she did not know what the law they were trying to administer was. She finally admitted that the proposed ordinance had only been advertised in the paper for one week.

Atty Johnson then spoke to the fact that “in effect” the ordinance had already been placed into effect, because his client was told that no action could be taken until after the meeting -- the meeting at which time the 120-day ordinance would be imposed. In effect this had instituted the moratorium before it was voted on.

A confused Mayor Rudy Wright, who is obviously in favor of the ordinance, asked what they should do. Atty Crone said that the council should proceed with the rest of the night’s agenda and come back to the Moratorium issue at the end of the schedule.

Twenty minutes later the issue was re-addressed with Atty Crone admitting that Atty Johnson was correct and the ordinance would have to be advertised again for 2 weeks.

Atty Johnson then wanted to re-address the council on the issue of his client. A testy Mayor Wright told Atty Johnson that he had already spoken his piece and that he needed to sit down. Atty Johnson said that it was still a public hearing and he wanted to address the issue of his client. Mayor Wright asked Atty Crone if he had to allow Atty Johnson to speak. Atty Crone stated that it was a public hearing and he was allowed rebuttal, but only pertaining to the issue of the proposed ordinance.

When Atty Johnson broached the situation of his client again, the Mayor said that only the issue of the ordinance would be discussed. He subsequently shut down the hearing and then the session.

In the Hounds opinion, I do not feel that this whole situation was handled properly. First of all, how do the city’s attorneys not know the regulations that they are instituting before this public session? It made the city’s representation look unprofessional.

Secondly, I understand the need to address the situation of these establishments, but the way that this has been handled is putting the bad before the good. We are automatically assuming that any bar is going to be bad. If Atty Johnson’s client has legally met all of his obligations under current law, then he should be allowed to open his bar. The city cannot selectively prohibit in the name of safety and security.

Third, the police just need to enforce the law. If someone is breaking the law then arrest them. I think that is what most of the citizens want to happen to the drunk and disorderly individuals that cannot control themselves.

We will look further into this matter and keep the public abreast as to its outcome.

Bad Roads due to lack of Leadership

(Published in the Hickory Daily Record on September 5, 2008)

In response to Doug Griffin's letter from this past week, it is my opinion that the problem we have is a lack of leadership from our local officials and our representative in Raleigh.

Local officials don't want to rock the boat, because they are afraid of the repercussions. State Senator Austin Allran has been doing nothing but playing the role of lapdog to the Democrats in Raleigh for years. He seems to only be interested in getting a paycheck. It's time that he earns his money or be brought back home.

Our County Commission's Chairlady Kitty Barnes is so proud of the award she was given for being the Democrats’ favorite Commissioner. Why is a Republican so proud to receive an award from people that play pure party politics against Catawba County? I'd tell them to keep it.

Catawba County and the city of Hickory have hired a new lobbyist in Raleigh. Lobbyists are always for sale to the highest bidder. In these times, we don’t have the money to play that game. We can’t afford to continue throwing good money after bad in a fruitless effort.

Persuasion is supposed to be part of our elected officials’ job. We need leaders that will fight for what is rightfully ours, instead of sitting back and watching these roads to nowhere be built in the eastern part of the state, while we roll down the crater and patch highway.

James Thomas Shell