| Chapel Hill News, The (NC) February 6, 2005 Letters to the Editor Edition: Final Reader decries 'municiperialism' Annexation is a political tool allowing municipal expansion. Homeowners seeking annexation are sometimes denied for racial or socio-economic reasons rendering even voluntary annexations potentially abusive. Involuntary annexation -- the forced change of jurisdiction to benefit a municipality at the expense of its newest citizens -- is predatory. Several neighborhoods north of Homestead Road are being involuntarily annexed to Carrboro. These neighborhoods' addresses and proximity implied possible annexation by Chapel Hill. To some homeowners, this must feel like an inter-governmental bait-and-switch; that is certainly what it looks like. Involuntarily annexed citizens' first official encounter with their new government will begin the systematic violation of their rights. Rights violations are antithetical to governments' reason for existence. Involuntary annexation is state-sanctioned imperialism on the municipal level, or "municiperialism." Proponents invoke the state's encouragement of annexation, fear of sprawl and "Carrboro must grow or die" as reasons for homeowners to shut up and take it. So much for freedom of speech, redress of grievances and the real reason for this annexation. If towns must expand or die, then Carrboro sentenced itself to death by signing the rural buffer agreement. Future "sprawl" will also be contained by the rural buffer. State encouragement of annexation is no more just than any other state "encouragement" to violate its citizen's rights. In these involuntary annexations, the Board of Aldermen are motivated by avarice rather than altruism. By a 5-to-2 vote (with Mark Chilton and Jackie Gist dissenting), the aldermen chose municiperialism over their obligation to protect individual rights. To postpone a democratic response, the annexation is to occur Jan. 31, 2006, almost two years before Carrboro's next municipal elections. As a show of political courage, and as a courtesy to Carrboro's newest, unrepresented citizens, the aldermen should postpone the annexation until the registration period of the 2007 municipal elections. This would give Carrboro's newest citizens a speedy opportunity to vote, seek office, and obtain representation. The power to involuntarily annex tax-revenue rich homeowners encourages wasteful spending and postpones political accountability. Involuntary annexation's intrinsic individual rights violations make it incompatible with the principles of good government. The aldermen's action reaffirms the axiom that most politicians view the public as government servants rather than themselves as public servants. Artie L. Franklin Chapel Hill ### |