Developing stories • General Assembly returns for special session to address amendments, judicial elections • UNC Board of Governors meets amid controversy over leadership PAGE 7 FOR DAILY UPDATES VISIT CAROLINAJOURNAL.COM AN AWARD-WINNING JOURNAL OF NEWS, ANALYSIS, AND OPINION FROM THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION CAROLINAJOURNAL.COM VOL. 27 • NO. 8 • AUGUST 2018 • STATEWIDE EDITION Roanoke Rapids ELECTION 2020 finally unloads former RNC picks Randy Parton Theatre Charlotte, but will it be BY THE NUMBERS $3,000,000 an economic Price the new owners paid for the Roanoke Rapids facility bonanza? DON CARRINGTON EXECUTIVE EDITOR $15,000,000 Amount the city of Roanoke BY DAN WAY Rapids owed on the facility before the recent purchase he shows at the old Randy The 2020 Republican Nation- Parton Theatre will go on, in $8,939,100 al Convention in Charlotte will some form or another. Combined building and land gain international attention but The city of Roanoke Rapids on value according to Halifax County isn’t likely to provide a major TJuly 23 officially transferred the Ro- tax records economic boost to the city. Nor anoke Rapids Theatre to new own- will the mega-event have a big ers Thomas McLean and his wife, impact on North Carolina’s elec- Evon, of Chocowinity. The McLeans interested residents attended. tion results. are buying the 35,000-square-foot, “In the nine years I have been That’s the long view of Eric 1,500-seat facility for $3 million. mayor, I have not had a more posi- Heberlig, a UNC-Charlotte polit- City Manager Joseph Scherer tive outlook [for this theater]. The ical science professor and co-au- told Carolina Journal the city owed McLeans have been good to deal thor of the book American Cities about $15 million on the project be- with,” Mayor Emery Doughtie said. and the Politics of Party Conven- fore the McLean payment. Sever- In November, the McLeans tions. al previous attempts to sell the the- started negotiating the purchase Pundits and the media “often ater have fallen through. with the city. Evon McLean’s son, focus on whether having a con- The reopened facility will be Beau Petty, also of Chocowinity, vention in a particular state will a “multi-purpose dining, enter- will play a key role in managing the help that party win the state,” tainment, and performance ven- theater. especially if it’s a swing state, ue [that] transforms into a premier “We need to get maximum use Heberlig told Carolina Journal. travel destination anchoring the out of this facility,” he told CJ. “We found that it really I-95 corridor in Halifax County,” a Halifax County tax records val- doesn’t make a difference,” He- news releases says. ue the 8.8-acre site at $1,185,400 berlig said of the research he and The new owners plan to hire 25 and the building at $7,753,700, for his co-authors conducted. Typ- full-time and 25 part-time employ- a total value of $8,939,100. Petty ically the party that wins the ees. The first show is set for late said he was discussing a revised as- popular vote in a convention September, though details weren’t sessment with the county. state would have won it with or immediately available. Acts will The Raleigh-based public rela- without the convention. range from music to movies to car tions firm French West Vaughn is “The political parties tout the shows, the promoters say. handling public relations and pro- CARRINGTON DON BY PHOTO CJ big economic impacts because NEW OWNERS. Evon McLean, center, holds the keys to the Roanoke Rapids The transfer took place as part motion for the new owners. SEE CONVENTION PAGE 13 of an informal ceremony in the the- Theatre. She and her husband Tom, left, purchased the facility on July 23. continued PAGE 12 Her son Beau Petty, right, will play a key role in managing the facility. ater lobby. City officials and several Interview: CAROLINA JOURNAL 200 W. MORGAN STREET, #200 Leonard Gilroy RALEIGH, NC 27601 CJ chats with the senior CJ ONLINE PERMIT NO. 302 NO. PERMIT managing director of DURHAM, NC DURHAM, the Pension Integrity jlf.carolina.journal PAID Project at Reason @carolinajournal U.S. POSTAGE U.S. Foundation. NONPROFIT ORG. NONPROFIT www.carolinajournal.com PAGE 18 [email protected] 2 CAROLINA JOURNAL // AUGUST 2018 QUICK TAKES UNC legend Spangler dies at 86 North Carolina legend has State Board of Education, Spangler died, leaving behind a rich worked to keep tuition low and re- legacy at the University of formed UNC athletic programs to EDITOR-IN-CHIEF North Carolina. promote integrity and transparency. Rick Henderson UNC President Emeritus C.D. He was a booster of historical- @deregulator A Spangler Jr. died July 23. He is sur- ly black colleges and universities MANAGING EDITOR vived by his wife, Meredith, and in the system, which he thought John Trump his daughters, Abigail Riggs Span- had been neglected by board mem- @stillnbarrel gler and Anna Spangler Nelson, the bers focused on flagship campuses latter of whom serves on the UNC UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State Uni- EXECUTIVE EDITOR Board of Governors. versity. Don Carrington Spangler was 86. The president donated to the [email protected] Spangler succeeded Bill Friday university via the Spangler family as UNC system president in 1986. foundation, funding more than 120 ASSOCIATE EDITORS He was a Charlotte native and a suc- professorships across all 16 univer- Mitch Kokai cessful businessman, operating the sities. @mitchkokai family construction company for SCHOOL BUSINESS HARVARD OF COURTESY “[Spangler] made the system a Lindsay Marchello more than three decades and even- C.D. SPANGLER JR.: 15th president of UNC dies at 86. more comfortable place for wom- @LynnMarch007 tually running Bank of North Caroli- en and minorities; he sought them Kari Travis na, which his father founded. out and pushed them into positions @karilynntravis Bank of North Carolina merged degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and ed business leader, a compassion- of leadership,” said Wyndham Rob- Dan Way with NCNB in 1982 and, after Span- MBA from Harvard Business School. ate philanthropist, and above all as ertson, Spangler’s vice president for @danway_carolina gler became president of the UNC Spangler never accepted a pay- a public servant who answered the communications from 1986 to 1995. system, NCNB — renamed Nations- check during his 11 years in office, call of the university at a critical “He was a great boss,” Rober- INTERN Bank — bought Bank of America. donating his salary to individual time in its history.” ston added. “As the first female vice Julie Havlak In 1995, he bought National UNC campuses. He used his private “The first in his family to go to president of the UNC System, I had [email protected] Gypsum, the nation’s largest pro- plane — instead of state-funded jets college, Dick never forgot who our some tricky moments, but I always DESIGNER ducer of drywall. — for travel. public universities were meant to knew he had my back. Greg de Deugd Spangler was among the world’s “C.D. Spangler Jr. was a great serve. North Carolina is the prosper- “He loved North Carolina and [email protected] wealthiest people. In 2016, Forbes North Carolinian, and he will for- ous, growing state that it is because often said being president was the ranked him No. 722, with a net ever be a giant of our state,” said of principled leaders like Dick,” she best job in the world.” PUBLISHED BY worth of $4.2 billion. UNC President Margaret Spellings. said. Spangler received his bachelor’s “He will be remembered as a gift- The former chairman of the N.C. — Kari Travis The John Locke Foundation 200 W. Morgan St., # 200 Governor calls for school construction Raleigh, N.C. 27601 (919) 828-3876 • Fax: 821-5117 www.JohnLocke.org Kory Swanson bond while visiting elementary school President & Publisher John Hood WHILE GOV. ROY COOPER toured was built in 1968. Chairman the halls of Stough Elementary Principal Chris Cox says it’s time Bill Graham, John M. Hood School in Wake County, he criticized for a newer building. Ted Hicks, Christine Mele legislators for failing to put a nearly “We do have some challenges Brad Muller, Paul Slobodian $2 billion school construction bond with things you don’t see, like with David Stover, J.M Bryan Taylor on the November ballot. the HVAC systems, or some of the Edwin Thomas “We have a lot of counties, par- roofing is old,” Cox said. Board of Directors ticularly in rural parts of our state, Construction won’t begin on who have not been able to afford Stough Elementary until July 2019 ISSN 2578-8167 Carolina Journal is a monthly journal of news, analysis, to build the new schools that they and is scheduled to finish in 2020. In and commentary on state and local need,” Cooper said during the vis- the meantime, students and teach- government and public policy issues it July 10. “I think there is a lot of ers will attend a new school — Bar- in North Carolina. bipartisan support for a statewide ton Pond Elementary. The proj- ©2018 by The John Locke Foundation school bond. I put one in my pro- ect will cost more than $37 million Inc. All opinions expressed in bylined posed budget.” and is funded through the Continu- articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views The governor criticized lawmak- ous Building Program and a previous of the editors of CJ or the staff and ers’ decision to focus on constitu- $810 million local school construc- board of the John Locke Foundation.