NC Council of State

Bob Geary is writing again on his Citizen's Blog about the vote by the Council of State on Tuesday.

Bob has been a consistent supporter for over 6 years of building a "destination park" on the Dix campus. I have only supported a park, if some part of the park or the proceeds from sale of the Dix campus somehow would provide a benefit to those with mental illness. The Dix campus originally consisted of 3200 acres for a farm, where the hospital's patients worked. It was a "recovery" based treatment far ahead of its time.

The land was donated by leading families of Raleigh in the mid-1800's specifically to be used as the site of an "asylum" for the "insane."

From www.WRAL.com an AP story :

NC voters exercise choice for major agency heads

The elections for secretary of state, auditor, labor commissioner, state schools superintendent, treasurer, agriculture commissioner, attorney general and insurance commissioner come every four years. Again this year they have generated little attention except from the business interests that stand to win contracts from, or are regulated by, the officials' departments...

Read the detailed article on the elections on the ballot that many skip:
http://www.wral.com/nc-voters-exercise-choice-for-major-agency-heads/116...

I became the County chair in Gaston a little over a year ago. There was so much excitement in the air that you could feel it. People came out of the woodwork to vote and to be involved and the optimism of the local and state Democratic Party was beginning to emerge after a wake-up call in the 2010 elections.

Fast forward to Saturday, May 12th, and the scene was very different. The SEC Meeting which I attended did not demonstrate the reasons why I ran for and accepted the office of a County Chair.

Ealier today five Members of North Carolina's Council of State called on Democratic Party Chair David Parker to resign Tuesday. From WTVD News.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, State Treasurer Janet Cowell, and State Auditor Beth Wood issued a joint statement:

NC Supreme Court rules in favor of the Council of State:

The N.C. Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday that essentially gives the Council of State, the 10 statewide elected officials, authority to continue setting execution protocol for death row inmates without meeting publicly.

Whether or not this decision will impact the defacto moratorium on institutional wetwork state-sponsored executions is debatable (the N&O reporter thinks not). But those who watch the courts know: When there are multiple suits on a specific subject, and one of them is decided (zaftig pdf), the others tend to move in that same direction.