The Weekly Activist
Upcoming Events and Legislative Report
Monday, June 11: The weekly meeting of CAUTION will take place at the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille located at 911 East Morehead Street in Charlotte. There is a social hour from 5-6PM, followed by the meeting. Meetings usually run until 7:30, but will be abbreviated this week to accommodate attending the Charlotte City Council meeting…see below.
Monday, June 11: The Charlotte City Council is poised to vote on the City Manager’s proposed budget which includes an 8.2% tax hike. Join us to protest, or at least contact your district and four At-Large City Council Reps and Mayor Foxx to tell them NO! We’ll be at the government center between 6:30 and 7:00pm and the city council contact information is available at CharlotteMatters.com.
Tuesday, June 12: North Mecklenburg Republican Women will have their next meeting on Tuesday, June 12th from 6 to 8 PM located at NorthStone Club, 15801 NorthStone Drive, Huntersville. The speaker for the evening will be economist and talk radio show host Frank Roche. For info contact: Mary Lou Richardson at nomeckrw@gmail.com.
Thursday, June 14: SMART Meeting:
Come join us on Flag Day, 6PM, Thursday 14 June, at Raintree Country Club, for a critical SMART announcement, discussion and town hall meeting. It will move South Mecklenburg to the next level on the way to charting its own future free from the exploitation and neglect of the uptown crowd. All SMART friends and supporters please be there and bring your neighbors! The time has come for action not words. Where: Raintree Country Club, 8600 Raintree Lane Charlotte, NC 28277. When: 6-7:30 PM Thursday, 14 June.
Thursday, June 14: Gaston County TEA Party Meeting:
Change of plans! See second comment for an update from the Gaston Tea Party!
Contact Jennifer Stepp at gastoncountyteaparty@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 19:
Mecklenburg Evening Republican Women’s Club will meet Tuesday June 19th at 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Red Rocks Café located at 4223-B Providence Rd, Charlotte, NC 28211.
City Councilman Warren Cooksey will be presenting “A Brief Introduction to the North Carolina Constitution”.
Tuesday, June 26:
ARE YOU A CANDIDATE OR CAMPAIGN MANAGER?
Candidates can learn how to win, courtesy of The Civitas Institute. The Civitas campaign-training program on June 26 will provide participants with the knowledge and practical skills they will need to build a winning campaign from the ground up. Whether you are interested in managing a campaign, running for office, or simply in how campaigns work, the class will lay out the groundwork for an effective campaign strategy. Sign up at: http://www.nccivitas.org/training/campaigntraining/
(the above site appears to be down temporarily, but it is the correct address)
Legislative Updates:
Update from Bill Brawley of the NC House: (based upon questions from Kim Trout of CAUTION)
1. What is the status of the bill passed last year that stops the State from making deductions for dues? I think there is a temporary injunction by a court in N.C.. Would like to know the status of this. Answer: Still in court
2. In the State of N.C. what is the total amount of un-funded liabilities for the state pensions? (not on the states balance sheet). Answer: Could be as high as $32 Billion
3. How about the voter ID bill or plan? The Feds reasons against it are laughable. My husband had to show a photo ID to sign a membership to a new gym. How do all these people do business at the grocery store?! To assume that everyone used cash is ridiculous. PLEASE help to fight this! Answer: We will not have the votes to override the Governor. We may try to pass a weaker version, which will help and wait until we have a Republican Governor or super majority in the House to get strict ID.
For additional info on the current status of Voter ID, visit this link at PunditHouse.com.
Update from Phil Berger of the NC Senate:
On Wednesday, the North Carolina Senate passed bipartisan legislation to create a vibrant energy sector that will lure jobs and private investment to the state. The Clean Energy and Economic Security Act, sponsored by Sen. Bob Rucho (R-Mecklenburg), Sen. Harris Blake (R-Moore) and Sen. Michael Walters (D-Robeson) is a comprehensive plan to increase domestic energy production, ensure energy reliability and affordability and promote job growth.
This is North Carolina’s chance to create an entirely new economic sector that will heat and cool our homes, fuel our vehicles, and power our state’s job creation engine for years to come. Too many of our families are struggling to make ends meet because of high unemployment and soaring energy prices. This bill is a potential game-changer that can put more money into workers’ pockets and generate more revenue for the state to ensure long-term prosperity.
Among the bills numerous positive provisions, it will empower several commissions stocked with energy and health experts to develop rules and regulations for shale gas exploration and development. It will also authorize these regulatory bodies to develop a comprehensive framework for the safe exploration of energy resources, but prevent them from issuing permits until the General Assembly takes further legislation action. The bill also establishes numerous consumer protections, including the most rigorous well water monitoring in the nation, to defend the rights of North Carolinians and the safety of our environment.
With these important accomplishments behind us the Senate will now focus its attention on the budget process. We will continue making the difficult but responsible decisions needed to keep our budget on track and lay the groundwork for a prosperous future for our state.
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Stay tuned next week, and if you have additions that you think would be valuable to our membership, please leave comments with your events!!
Working together, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!
Monday, June 18, 2012, Mecklenburg County Republican Party Executive Committee Meeting
Time: 6:30 pm – Registration
7:00 pm – Meeting begins
Place: Charlotte- Mecklenburg Government Center, Room 267
Address: 600 E. Fourth St., Charlotte, NC, 28262
The following business will be conducted at this meeting:
Elections to fill vacancies on the Mecklenburg County Republican Party Executive Board
o Precinct Organization Chairman
o Assistant Precinct Organization Chairman – District 1
o Assistant Precinct Organization Chairman – District 6
o Campaign Chairman
o Special Events Chairman
o Voter Registration Chairman
o Assistant Finance Chairman
o
Elections to fill vacancies for nominees for Public Office
NC House District 100
NC House District 102
NC House District 107
Treasurer’s Report
We need a quorum to conduct any business so it might help if some MeckGOP/PunditHouse readers were reminded to attend next week.
Gaston County TEA Party: Change of plans due to immediate action need!!
Dear Patriots,
An unusual thing has happen and a conflict in scheduling concerning a pertinent issue has caused us to change our meeting plans for Thursday. But we still need you all to still come together with us this Thursday.
Please keep reading!!!
WE ARE STILL MEETING BUT OUR VENUE AND AGENDA HAS CHANGED!
It has come to our attention that after the County Commissioner’s work session on the budget Thursday evening they will have a special meeting to vote on the budget and the proposed tax hike.
Many of you know that the County Manager has presented the commissioners with a budget that includes an 8 cent property tax increase. And this comes after postponing our tax revaluation that would have lowered our tax rate. Many of the commissioners seem to be poised to vote for this increase. So in light of this information, we have decided to change the location of our meeting to the Gaston County Court House.
We will begin to gather at 5:30 as the commissioners get ready to begin their work session. If the weather is nice we will gather outside. If it is raining or too hot we will meet inside. Bring voices and signs and meet with us. Let’s take a stand against out of control spending and taxation. Let’s stop governments disregard for our concerns, wishes, and hard earned money. Let’s tell them to stop hurting the families in Gaston County.
We will still have board member leading us and a structure to everything.
After the protest we encourage all of you to stay for the meeting and vote. I ask you to seriously consider this. It is a good use of your time. It is worth the sacrifice of an hour or two, a walk, a TV program, a chapter or 2 of a book, or whatever you enjoy doing in your free time.
We would love to have some of you sign up to speak during public expression time and challenge our “conservative” elected officials to be conservative and do the right thing. To find ways to cut spending as most of all of us have had to do. To get the economy back on its feet by keep taxes low and allowing us to keep more of our money to spur on economic recovery.
Make no mistake, local politics are so important and often where we can make the most difference.
By the way, our scheduled guest speaker actually offered to reschedule and encouraged us all to get out and take a stand and challenge our commission! He feels this is an immediate issue to be addressed.
To be clear, however, we here at the TEA Party believe Agenda 21 to also be a pertinent and life chasing horror and Neal will be rescheduled to give us his presentation on Agenda 21 in the next few months. We look forward to learning from all of his research.
Please don’t see this as an opportunity to slack off and skip a month! This is not a meeting to miss! This is a vital vote and we need to be there in force!
This is an example of the “activate” part of your slogan!
Please join us Thursday at the Court House. The Tea Party of Gaston County needs to be there in force. Please do your part to stop the insanity! We meed you each and everyone!
Thanks for your understanding and participation,
Jennifer
“educate, motivate, activate”