The Issues

Roads –

            Every resident of south Charlotte knows that traffic congestion worsens every day, and is frustrated knowing plans for improvements are continually delayed.  There is a long history as to how this situation came to be, but there seems to no clear plan for solving this problem.

            From the beginning, Ric has made his position on this issue clear to all his colleagues in Raleigh.  The economic engine driving North Carolina is the I-85 corridor from Belmont to Garner.  North Carolina must prioritize creating and sustaining the infrastructure necessary to continue to attract business, and provide the quality of life necessary to sustain those businesses and their employees.  Continued neglect of our road infrastructure threatens North Carolinas future, and this could not be more evident than in south Charlotte where citizens spend more time in traffic every day. 

            The solution to the problem must include all levels of government, and cooperation from all citizens of North Carolina. 

            First, the existing funding formula must be changed to include a congestion factor.  This will provide a more equitable distribution of funds to those areas of North Carolina with the most significant growth related demands. 

            Second, the governors recent decision to delay construction of all loop roads should be reversed.  The governor claims the Highway Trust Fund does not have the resources to complete the scheduled projects.  Every year the Highway Trust Fund transfers approximately $170 million to the general fund.  This year I introduced HB215, which proposed eliminating this transfer.  Unfortunately, this bill was not even heard in committee, and the budget included the transfer.  Since 1989, the HTF has transferred over $3 billion to the general fund.  This is more than enough money to have completed I-485. 

            Third, the legislature provided local jurisdictions the authority to ask the citizens to increase the sales tax up to .25%.  I encourage our city and county leaders to research this alternative and create a plan that will alleviate congestion.  I would support a plan to use the tax revenue to provide a bond, and that the citizens could vote for or against.  While I am generally opposed to any new taxes, and my voting record is very conservative on this issue, the failure of the leadership in Raleigh to maintain our roads created a crisis that must be addressed immediately. 

            Finally, citizens must make those elected leaders in Raleigh know that are not going to allow them to continue to make decisions on the distribution of resources based upon who controls the legislature. 

Read more on the I-485 Issue here.

Crime – 

            While south Charlotte is not typically noted as having a crime problem, recent burglaries and shootings in the area have heightened my awareness to crime.  Like roads, the solution to the crime problem must include all levels of government, and cooperation from every citizen. While it is governments’ first responsibility to protect its citizens, crime is an ever increasing problem necessitating involvement from everyone from the top law enforcement leaders down to neighbors.

             First, from the perspective of state government, we must place a priority on the judicial system and fund it as necessary.  Much of the crime in Charlotte is committed by repeat offenders who are caught and released due to lack of ability to process the volume in the system.  Simply put, we must ensure there are enough judges to prosecute these criminals so that they can be placed in detention so that they do not harm other citizens.

            Finally, we must all take responsibility for our community and always be alert and aware of our surroundings so that we as individual citizens can take action to assist law enforcement, or hopefully even prevent crime.

Economy –

            While the national economy teeters on recession, our state and local economy is performing better.  Nonetheless, we must understand the importance of creating and maintaining a business friendly state with a better quality of life for its citizens.  In the current legislative session, North Carolina increased its leaning towards a “welfare and nanny” state.  While the intentions of the leaders to help so many are noble, they ignore the reality that increasing the dependency of its citizens on the state creates a greater burden on the decreasing number of its citizens who pay taxes to support those programs.  This year, North Carolina increased its budget by over 9%, or over $1.8 billion dollars to over $20 billion.  This rate of growth in spending is unsustainable and detrimental to our economy.  We must reduce the rate of growth in government, and place our priorities in the basic responsibilities of government including public safety and infrastructure.