INSIDE THIS ISSUE: DEPARTMENTS Uwharrie North Carolina 2 C A R O L I N A Education 6 commission Local Government 10 From Page 1 14 stacked with Higher Education 17 Alcoa adver- Books & the Arts 20 Opinion 24 saries/4 A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF NEWS, ANALYSIS AND OPINION Parting Shot 28 JOURNALFROM THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION February 2011 Vol. 20 No. 2 STATEWIDE EDITION Check us out online at carolinajournal.com and johnlocke.org Heirs Fight DENR For Coastal Land By Don Carrington Executive Editor RALEIGH ohn H. Hurst and his sister Harriet Hurst Turner are battling to keep the state of North Carolina Jfrom taking from their family without compensa- tion a 289-acre Onslow County waterfront property that once served as a beach for African-Americans in the days before racial segrega- tion was outlawed. The Hursts contend that a 1950 deed involving their grandparents’ inheritance provides for the property to go to them as the legal heirs since the state twice has spurned the land. The family has spent the past four years in the state court system trying to obtain Superior Court clear title to the property. Judge Carl Fox “The state is trying to John H. Hurst and his family have spent the past four years in the state court system trying to obtain clear title to land owned by their grandfather, and which originally was intended to serve as a vacation resort for African- steal my clients’ land,” their attorney, Charles Fran- American teachers. (CJ photo by Don Carrington) cis, told Carolina Journal after a Jan. 3 hearing on the matter in Wake County Superior Court. twice formally refused to accept it from a trust that approve the acquisition, as it must all property trans- Should the N.C. Department of Environment was established in 1950 to manage the parcel. The ac- actions involving state agencies. Perdue will ask for and Natural Resources acquire the property, the Per- quisition process also raises questions over potential a vote that either will end the dispute in favor of the due administration would be in the unusual position conflicts of interest involving four members of the Hurst family, or likely prolong it for years, since the of seizing land that originally was intended to serve Council of State, and the unusual role of the office of Hursts’ attorney says the heirs do not want to give as a vacation resort for African-American teachers. Attorney General Roy Cooper. up the land. Moreover, DENR only recently became inter- Gov. Bev Perdue and the nine other statewide ested in acquiring the property after the state had elected officials, known as the Council of State, must Continued as “Family,“ Page 14 Historic Legislative Session Under Way PAID year June 30. At the same time, they’ve RALEIGH, NC U.S. POSTAGE PERMIT NO. 1766 alluded to potential battles with Dem- NONPROFIT ORG. GOP legislature ocrats on several fiscal and social is- sues, among them a push to generate faces Dem governor, additional revenue by legalizing video poker and having the state run it — an $3.7 billion shortfall idea that GOP leaders are wary of. N.C. State University political By DaviD n. Bass science professor Andrew Taylor said Associate Editor the divided-government scenario — RALEIGH with Republicans controlling the leg- paradox could dominate the islature and Democrats commanding new session of the General As- New House Speaker Thom Tillis, right, the governor’s office — is new, so any- sembly — more cooperation be- presides at the opening day of the 2011 thing could happen. General Assembly. (CJ photo by Don Atween the legislature’s two chambers, Carrington) “At the moment it’s hunky dory, yet starker division between the politi- and everybody’s talking to each other, cal parties over key issues. Republican leaders have pledged and everybody says they’re willing to The result: one of the briefest, but a unified front on budgeting and redis- listen to the other side,” Taylor said. most contentious, legislative sessions tricting. Their goal is to wrap up the The John Locke Foundation 200 W. Morgan St., #200 Raleigh, NC 27601 in recent years. session by the close of the state’s fiscal Continued as “Historic,“ Page 15 PAGE 2 FEBRUARY 2011 | CAROLINA JOURNAL North CaroliNa C A R O L I N A Perdue Stands By Incentives-Based Jobs Program By Kristy Bailey property, and $15.4 million in personal property — accord- JOURNAL Contributor ing to the state Department of Commerce’s Job Develop- Rick Henderson RALEIGH ment Investment Grant 2010 third-quarter report. The two Managing Editor s North Carolina’s unemployment rate hovers at facilities are projected to generate $28.9 million in state rev- near double-digit levels, Gov. Bev Perdue is stand- enue. Don Carrington ing firm with a job-creation strategy focused on di- Pearson says the proximity to local community col- Executive Editor Arect tax incentives or cash payments to individual compa- leges was a major draw for Caterpillar, which boasts hun- nies. dreds of facilities worldwide, including 51 in the U.S. and David N. Bass, Sara Burrows Other parts of the strategy include using the commu- 59 overseas. “They needed assurances they could get the Anthony Greco, Mitch Kokai nity college system to retool the work force and deploying worker training, if necessary.” Caterpillar got the assuranc- Michael Lowrey information technology (including a state-run Web portal) es it needed, and a combined $454.3 million in grants and Associate Editors to help job seekers find work. incentives in exchange for 717 jobs. In December, the state reported an unemployment rate JDIG also is funding an expansion of the software Jana Benscoter, Kristy Bailey of 9.8 percent — 0.4 percentage points above the national manufacturer Red Hat in Wake County. The project, at an Kristen Blair, Roy Cordato average of 9.4 percent, according to the federal Bureau of estimated cost to the state of $109 million, is expected to Becki Gray, Sam A. Hieb Labor Statistics. Unemploy- create 540 new jobs. “With- Lindalyn Kakadelis, George Leef ment rose in 99 of the state’s out those incentives, we Karen McMahan, Donna Martinez 100 counties at the close of would not have been able Karen Palasek, Lee Raynor 2010. to stay here,” Red Hat CEO Marc Rotterman, Michael Sanera Unemployment state- Jim Whitehurst told the George Stephens, Jeff Taylor wide was at 11.1 percent in Greensboro News & Record. Michael Walden, Karen Welsh January 2009, when Perdue Yonai suggests that Hal Young. John Calvin Young Contributors was sworn into office. The a rival state would need to rate reached a historic high offer a lot more than North Andrew Barrett, Nicole Fisher in February 2010, at 11.2 Carolina did to convince Daniel Siimpson, Kellie Slappey percent. Red Hat to pull up stakes Lauren Uberseder, Amanda Vuke “One thing to be very and relocate its corporate Alissa Whately aware of, regarding North headquarters. “[G]iven Editorial Interns Carolina’s unemployment their location and the ac- figures, is they have consis- cess to other software firms tently dropped,” said the in the RTP area,” he said, “I governor’s spokeswoman, would think that the incen- Published by The John Locke Foundation Chrissy Pearson. “We find tives package would need 200 W. Morgan St., # 200 a lot of hope in that North to be considerable to moti- Raleigh, N.C. 27601 Carolina is doing things right. We know the unemployment vate them to leave North Carolina.” (919) 828-3876 • Fax: 821-5117 rate is still too high.” “It appears the governor’s strategy is to use incentives www.JohnLocke.org A linchpin of Perdue’s jobs program is economic in- dollars to try to buy the jobs,” said veteran Republican state centives, in which private companies agree to relocate or ex- Sen. Bob Rucho, who will co-chair the Senate Finance Com- Jon Ham pand in North Carolina by receiving direct cash payments, mittee in the 2011 General Assembly. Vice President & Publisher tax breaks, or a combination. During the last two years, the Sometimes the deals just go bust. When Dell an- governor’s website says the state has spent roughly $2 bil- nounced it would build a new facility in North Carolina in John Hood lion to lure businesses to North Carolina. 2005, the computer manufacturer promised to create at least Chairman & President Critics contend Perdue’s agenda is unlikely to result 1,500 jobs by 2020. State lawmakers approved a $242 mil- Bruce Babcock, Herb Berkowitz in sustainable, robust job growth. “Whether a [tax break] lion package of tax breaks and other incentives, and Forsyth Charlie Carter, Jim Fulghum is enough to overcome other issues that impact a relocation County and Winston-Salem kicked in another $37 million in Chuck Fuller, Bill Graham decision can only be made by the company,” said Derek incentives. In 2009, the Texas-based company announced it Robert Luddy, Assad Meymandi Yonai, Lundy Chair of Philosophy of Business at Campbell was closing the plant, and laying off 905 workers. Baker A. Mitchell Jr., Carl Mumpower, University. “For example, if a company feels that our edu- A pending state appeals court ruling could set a prec- J. Arthur Pope, Thomas A. Roberg, cational system is substandard, or that our regulations are edent for how the state handles future economic develop- David Stover, J.M Bryan Taylor, onerous, or that our income taxes are too high for their em- ment. In January, the N.C. Court of Appeals heard oral argu- Andy Wells ployees, and these things deter their employees from mov- ments in a lawsuit aimed, in part, at recouping $7.5 million Board of Directors ing, perhaps a tax break is not a large enough factor.