Commissioners drive home goals

Board members meet with local legislators

By Jason King
Information and Communications Specialist

County commissioners are finding their state representatives receptive to county needs in the General Assembly, members of the Board of Directors reported at their Jan. 26 meeting in Raleigh.

President Breeden Blackwell presents NCACC caps to representatives of the governor’s office during the Board meeting. Ann Lichtner (far left), recently retired director of intergovernmental relations for the governor’s office, introduced Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Lisa Nolen (second from left) and Director of External Affairs Cari Boyce as the governor’s new county liaisons. “We’d love you to wear these in the governor’s office,” Blackwell said. (Photo by Todd McGee)

Association officers and district directors have been holding meetings in their home counties with legislators in order to discuss goals and build upon their relationships with incumbent and new legislators.

Several Board members stressed the significance of holding the meetings on their home turf.

“Sometimes it’s better to visit with these legislators when they’re at home,” said First Vice President and Catawba County Chairwoman Kitty Barnes. “You can get greater access to them if you build that one-on-one relationship.”

Forsyth County met with both its state senators and three of its five representatives. NACo Director Gloria Whisenhunt said the meeting was “far more effective” than meetings they have had in the past with legislators in Raleigh.

The local newspaper and radio station were also able to cover the meeting, which helped get the word out to the public on county positions.

“We have two new delegates, so it was important for us to talk to them,” Whisenhunt said. “They all committed to help us.”

The local meetings have also been valuable in educating legislators on the role and purpose of the Association.

District 12 Director Pearl Burris-Floyd said one legislator that met with Gaston County leaders wasn’t aware of counties’ active membership in the Association or the NCACC’s array of services provided to counties.

“He had no idea … he thought that we were just a lobbying group,” she said.

Patrice Roesler, the NCACC’s assistant executive director of intergovernmental programs, said the meetings are playing an important role in helping state representatives understand that each piece of legislation filed in the General Assembly will affect counties in some manner.

“We’re trying to impress upon them that when they look at a bill, they should ask themselves, ‘What impact will this have on my county?’”

Others also reported having successful talks with their representatives.

District 4 Director Bill Sue of Brunswick County met with newly elected Sen. Julia Boseman of New Hanover.

“I think we’re going to have a friend in the Senate there,” Sue said of the former New Hanover County commissioner.

District 8 Director and Person County Commissioner Jimmy Clayton took part in a meeting that included Rep. W.A. Wilkins and said the new legislator “was very positive and receptive.”

NCACC General Counsel Jim Blackburn said a meeting set up by District 1 Director and Pasquotank County Commissioner Matt Wood in Perquimans County in mid-January drew Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, as well as Reps. Bill Owens – a past president of the NCACC – and Howard Hunter, and resulted in a “marvelous interchange.”

The meetings came on the heels of the Association’s Jan. 13-14 Legislative Goals Conference, which included a special luncheon session detailing ways in which local leaders can become more involved in lobbying efforts and use the press to boost public support of county positions.

The Board of Directors requested during its December meeting that district directors schedule the get-togethers with state representatives.

In addition to holding an educational briefing for new legislators at the Albert Coates Local Government Center on Feb. 2 (see article on front page), Blackburn reported that the Association is working with Reps. Becky Carney of Mecklenburg County and Carolyn Justice of Pender County to set up a county coalition of legislators who have served at the county level.

The coalition was to hold an organizational meeting Feb. 10 at the ACLGC in Raleigh. Details of that meeting will be in the March edition of CountyLines.

Executive Director Search Committee narrows field

President Breeden Blackwell told Board members that the Executive Director Search Committee met in Chapel Hill on Jan. 25 to begin a review of applications received for the Association’s executive director position.

Blackwell said the committee reviewed around 100 applications and whittled the list down to eight candidates.

The interview process will begin in late February, and Blackwell said the committee hopes to further narrow the pool of candidates to two or three following the interviews.

Blackwell stressed that the committee will continue to accept applications through the Institute of Government’s Web site, www.sog.unc.edu/ncaccexecdir/.

Longtime NCACC Executive Director Ron Aycock will retire June 30.

License to govern

Commissioners may soon have the opportunity to sport special “county commissioner” license plates on their vehicles.

Assistant General Counsel Paul Meyer told the Board that commissioners have expressed interest in obtaining the special tags. The law currently allows the state Division of Motor Vehicles to issue special plates upon the submission of 300 applications. Other officials, however – such as retired sheriffs and registers of deeds – have plates but are not required to meet any kind of minimum standard before the license will be issued.

The cost of having a special tag would amount to $25 to $30 in fees that would be charged in addition to the standard $20 annual registration fee.

Board members said commissioners who would like to have the plate should be able to do so and authorized the staff to seek a change in the law to update or eliminate the minimum threshold for commissioners.

“If other organizations have this opportunity, why not do it?” asked NACo Past President and Wake County Commissioner Betty Lou Ward.

State lacks funding commitment to voice radio system

Rebecca Troutman, director of research and public technology, told the Board that the NCACC and League of Municipalities met jointly Jan. 14 to consider staff recommendations for homeland security allocations.

The Department of Crime Control and Public Safety and its security advisory committee – the Statewide Emergency Response Commission – have selected interoperable communications via a statewide voice radio system as the most important priority for homeland security funds.

The state is beginning deployment of a $190 million, 800-megahertz voice system that will be managed by the N.C. Highway Patrol. The state has directed millions in local homeland security dollars to the radio infrastructure while using few state funds for the system.

“We are concerned that the state has not stepped up to the funding plate when it comes to implementing the system,” Troutman said.

The NCACC and the NCLM sent a letter to Department of Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Bryan Beatty outlining two proposals for the 2005 funding allocation that would support use of local government funds provided the state matches local funds on a dollar per dollar basis.

Details of the proposals, as well as a copy of the letter to Secretary Beatty, can be found online at www.ncacc.org/documents/agendas/board_012605.pdf.

In other news, Craven County Commissioner Lee Kyle Allen, who is a member of the NACo Board of Directors as a representative of the National Association of Local Boards of Health, announced he will become NALBOH president Jan. 1, 2006. Allen is serving as president-elect in 2005.