With every New Year comes new challenges and though living in Cary, NC shields many of us from the darkest realities of a widespread economic downturn, we are far from immune. Homes that used to sell in days are now taking weeks or months and may not sell at all. Agressive plans for new developments have slowed and redevelopment of troubled properties like Waverly Place are stalled indefinitely. Even after raising impact fees, the overall revenue to the town is expected to be far below the projections of the FY 2009 budget. Lower revenue, unless offset by dramatic cuts in committed capital projects, could result in higher taxes. Cary is already on the hook for higher debt payments and when coupled with revenue hits in an election year, we are likely to see some very heated discussion at the annual planning retreat.
Fall elections are likely to be nastier than ever with the Davis & HighHouse crowd launching an all out assault on District 'A' Rep Jennifer Robinson. One has to wonder if any minds will change when confronted with the reality of higher taxes due to slower growth, a connection Ms. Robinson clearly understands and has seen before. District 'D' Councilman Jack Smith will certainly face a re-election challenge but should win handily again. At-Large councilman Erv Portman will likely assist whatever Dem tries to unseat the moderate Smith but CP predicts Portman's efforts to consolidate and increase his own power base will fail. Portman has been trying to act as de facto Mayor in many instances and some of his rhetoric and political posturing is beginning to wear thin, even amongst his friends and supporters. At-Large councilwoman Julie Robison is expected to run again given her improved position as Mayor Pro Tem. She dropped a few balls now and then but overall has performed much better in that role than her detractors anticipated. Should she choose not to run, look for a free-for-all, much like the one in 2001 that led to her initial election. One thing is certain, though the players changed in 2007, the politics have remained the same and in some ways are worse than ever with debate being driven by campaign donors instead of objectivity.
Finally, annexations loom large and CP expects some changes to the law from the NC General Assembly that may result in changes to the existing annexation plan.
Having read U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's column; couldn't agree more with her viewpoint on the auto bailout fiasco. There is a wider scope I wish to add to her "Saving auto industry requires concessions by all parties." That is, "GM's total labor costs are $81-an-hour"? Wow! No wonder the automaker has a financial stomachache. A little prune juice might help.
But the cause is not the first "faux pas" of an industry. It started in California, where layoffs began the "Domino Effect" I wrote about a year ago; in this scribes opinion. The root cause and effect, as I see it, was/is international trade financial disparities, where the financial playing field is tilted towards cheaper-labor costs nations. For the same reasons that GM can't compete with, for example, Toyota, due to it's higher labor costs for like-products; thousands of our producer's products cannot compete with the cheaper products made with cheaper labor costs abroad. That simple.
Thus the sudden downturn in our economy crisis can be traced to it's beginning "domino effect" with the first mass of layoffs in California. Then mortgagers, stuck with homes the laid-off couldn't pay for, toppled the 2nd domino, so-to-speak. That was followed by the "bailout" plat du jour syndrome; which has since started a stock market rollercoaster ride down a cliff.
Where it will end is fairly obvious to this scribe, but one can be all wet, too. I leave it to our expert gurus of the nation's woes to shed some light on all the above logically-assessed viewpoints and observations; to decide. Too, our nation's taxpayers, by no means, should be burdened with the mistakes of our leaders, or those of failing businesses. To do so in behalf of the highly-paid, while the lower-class taxpayers are forced to indure the stings of the financial whip, not foxy enough to avoid taxes like many of the followers of the proverbial "Mammon" do; is the greatest "faux pas" of all.
Ergo, what the marketplace has wrought, the marketplace should indure on it's own merit; or lack thereof. That is, whipping the chickens for what the dogs did...is no way to run a nation, or to expect the same number of eggs in the former's nests; in this scribes's viewpoint, logical conclusions, and highly-opinionated perspectives.
But not to worry. ten years after the last depression, a lady I know was working as a waitress for $1 a day in Galveston. It won't be long now before our wage structure hits bottom; THEN our nation can compete with the products of other nations. However, there is another major problem. In a depression, the value of the dollar increases tenfold. Thus, our indebtedness being paid with today's cheaper dollars will become a bigger mountain to climb down from than it is today. That is, Making payments with $81-an hour wages becomes a financial monster when wages are reduced to say, $2-an-hour; while the debts are still the same. Trillions in debt may take a hundred years to pay off in such an economic sleigh-ride.
Unless of course, our new President can conjure up solutions that can cut that financial-diseased runaway horse off at the pass. As an optomist homeless man said, "miracles are hard to come by, but they're still possible." Hope so. Thus, kudos to the Senator from Texas for laying blame on our economic pandemic on the right places.
For those thinking about 2009 Cary Elections and what this Fall's election results mean, I have some frustrating news. The Wake County Board of Elections tells CP that precinct level results of One Stop Early Voting won't be available for weeks, early January at best. The early voter turnout was huge and CP surmises it helped Democrat candidates throughout North Carolina, especially in light of the somewhat crummy weather on election day. CP doubts you will find any early voter regrets but we have to wonder if late breaking news might have changed a few minds. CP is also disturbed by the notion that most, if not all, of our newly elected leaders will be sworn in before we have a complete picture of who voted for them.
For those looking ahead at possible runs for Cary Town Council, waiting until January or later to have reliable precinct data to project trends - especially in the District races - is just downright annoying. CP is at a loss to explain why it should take so long to get the precinct level data from early voting.
Precinct results from votes cast on election day. Does NOT include One Stop Early Voting results which will not be availalble until after January 1. The purple indicates a statistical tie where fewer than 10 votes separated Obama & McCain.
Note: In spite of the import of National elections, it seems total voter turnout nationwide was about the same as in 2004. There was a bit of an increase in Democratic turnout and among the young though nowhere near the levels hyped prior to the election. Republican turnout was down a bit nationwide.
Weiss, Harrell, Stam, Dollar Retain Seats
Norwalk Wins
In a night where Democrats swept pretty much everything, Reps Dollar (NC 36) & Stam (NC 37) managed to hang on the their NC House seats. The race was particularly tight for Rep. Dollar who won a tough contest against political newcomer Al Swanstrom by fewer than 700 votes.
