May 19th Committee Meeting

This meeting was scheduled to give committee members an opportunity to review and thoroughly understand the Bill language in proposal voted on at the last meeting. The vote on April 23 was to impose a moratorium on involuntary AND satellite annexations.

Somewhere between April 23 and May 19 all mention of satellite annexations was dropped from the legislation for a moratorium. When did this meeting take place and who was at the meeting? The Study Committee glossed over that and provided no answers to that question.

So onward we go to battle for a moratorium on forced annexation and meaningful reform.

The cities and their lobbyists are kicking into full gear to defeat this. So we need to step up the calls and letters to support the movement to reform the laws. 
WE need to prevent THIS very possible scenario from playing out.

Senator Brock introduces Resolution to Consider Annexation Reform,
Senate Joint Resolution 1869 (now this would be meaningful reform!)

April 23rd Select Committee Meeting

The Select Committee on Annexation meeting  was very lightly attended by the general public. It was interesting though.

This meeting was supposed to be dedicated to deciding what the Committee was going to recommend to the General Assembly when they convene on May 15th.

The first item on the Agenda was a presentation by Tony Tetterton of Johnston County. He has put together a very professional and well documented Power Point that cataloged and demonstrated case examples of NC cities stretching, violating and abusing the Annexation Statutes. His presentation was the underscore to all of the testimony from hundreds of citizens who have come to the Public Hearings and have otherwise shared their story with the Committee.

The Committee members then each presented their ideas on what should be the priority recommendation. It was nearly unanimous that the first thing needed is a moratorium on forced annexation, including those now in progress.

After deliberating, the Committee added satellite annexations to the moratorium and took a vote on Rep. Goforth's motion to recommend a moratorium. The only two members to vote against this were Judith Wegner and Rep. Tucker.
If any of those reading this are Tucker's constituents, I do hope that you will remember this when you go to the polls to vote in November.

Rep. Larry Brown re-affirmed his commitment to the fight to change this law and restore a vote on annexation to the people.

Rep Nelson Dollar stated that the citizens have ZERO rights with the current law and this needs addressing. He noted how the number of annexations have 'ramped up' over the last several years. He stated that if the lawmakers could not approve a direct vote, then giving the County Commissioners a deciding voice in city annexations would be the next best thing.

After much deliberating by all, the motion was made and the vote taken. This vote is just one step on the way to passing a moratorium and a tiny step toward getting meaningful reform of the laws. There is a lot of work ahead for everyone who wants real change. The letters have to continue and a strong focus on the Senators is needed now.

Mr. Andy Romanet, from the NCLM, was at the meeting today along with several others from the League office.
A representative from the NCACC was sitting with the NCLM crowd.
Mr. Romanet spoke to the Committee at the end to let them know that he was not at all happy with the fact that he was not given the opportunity to review Tony Tetterton's video presentation in advance of the meeting! Really!! Why should he have been given that??
We were not given that opportunity before the NCLM gave their presentations. 

The representative from the County Commissioners Association responded to a request from the Committee for the views of the County Commissioners. Mr. Paul Meyer, who is the Associations Senior Associate General Council, told the Committee about the Annexation Study Subcommittee that submitted their recommendations at a meeting held on 4/18. He did not share the details of the report. He told the Committee that the Association Board planned to work with the NCLM in a joint review of the recommendations before they would approve any of the Subcommittee's recommendations.
I was provided a copy of the recommendations and make them available to you at the link above the Legislative Update window.
There seems to be a notable level of agreement between quite a few of the organizations that have submitted recommendations to the Study Committee.
(http://www.stopncannexation.com/NCACCannex.pdf)

Now we need to convince the Study Committee and the majority of the NC House and Senate to come to agreement that these proposed changes need to be adopted.

The NCLM wasted no time in sending out the word to cities to start contacting the Legislators immediately to try and derail any chances for this moratorium.
http://www.nclm.org/Legal-legislative/LegisBulletin042308.htm

And don't forget to ask ALL candidates for their position on reforming forced annexation. I have been posting the candidate who have taken a public position for reforming annexation to the website: http://www.stopncannexation.com/candidates_page.htm

Let's start hammering the NC Senate to get onboard.

And don't forget to ask the candidates for their position on reforming forced annexation.

Please try to come to Raleigh on June 4th for the Fourth Annual Annexation Reform Rally. This year, with the momentum for reform building, it is extremely important that the attendance numbers reach the hundreds. Every year, the Rally has grown and this has had a very positive affect on how the General Assembly has responded to the citizens requests for reform. Please mark your calendars and make plans to be in downtown Raleigh for the afternoon.

April 9th's Public Hearing in Raleigh was attended by close to 400 people. Extra seats had to be brought in and there were still people standing across the back of the room. 90 people signed up to speak to the committee.

Many areas across NC were represented at this hearing. Just from the speakers list, there were at least 16 Counties represented. There were probably more if those who didn't speak had been surveyed.
Add to this turnout the people from Western NC Counties who attended the Study Committee Hearing in Buncombe Co. and the Counties represented easily rises to TWENTY COUNTIES speaking out against a forced annexation.

The Rowan County opponents to forced annexation really turned out in numbers and were very well prepared, but everyone spoke eloquently in the limited time that they were given. There is only so much one can say in three minutes. The comments that have been heard by the Committee are absolutely having a positive impact on  the understanding by Committee members that there are serious problems with how the cities are using and abusing this power to annex by force.
Rowan County Commissioners stepped up for their constituents at this hearing also! KUDO's to them for this!
Senator Brock was also at the hearing and he stayed till the very end.

Of note and very much appreciated, was the fact that a representative for NC State Grange and two people with the Moore County group, Southern Moore Alliance of Excluded Communities were there to speak to the Committee.

The Hearing was also attended by a small group of city officials enlisted by the League of Municipalities. They ALL read from their scripts that Ellis Hankins provided for them and anyone listening could tell that their comments weren't exactly their own. Most if not all of the City Officials left soon after they gave their canned comments.

The Study Committee could have saved a little time by telling Ellis Hankins that he should just read his own material once and be done with it. That would be a generous allowance for the hearing given that the Committee has already given Ellis over 30 minutes of their time at a previous meeting along with an equal amount of time for the City Attorney from the NCLM's favorite City of Charlotte.

The Hearing lasted for FIVE HOURS and more than half of the people who came to speak for reform stayed to the end.

I think that I can say for most of us that we do appreciate the opportunity that the House Study Committee gave us with this hearing and we appreciate the time that they gave to this on Wednesday night.

I'm sure that we will all continue to provide the Committee with ongoing communications to assist them in enacting the proper reforms for the people of North Carolina. 

AN ANNEXATION REFORM BILL PASSES RULES COMMITTEE!
House Study Committee Planned

Public Hearing held on June 13th, '07 in the LB Auditorium