Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:
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May 28
The Asheville Citizen-Times on the importance of land trusts for the future:
Land trusts already have been invaluable in protecting open space in Western North Carolina. A recent acquisition in Polk County suggests they may play an even broader role in forging a better tomorrow.
More than 1,000 acres between the Green River Game Land and the town of Columbus has been purchased for $2.375 million by the Hendersonville-based Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy. A major goal is to protect the scenic views, rare plant species and wildlife habitat. Nothing unusual there.
What is unusual is that 30 to 60 acres along SR 108 are to be conveyed to the Housing Assistance Corporation, a nonprofit Hendersonville- based developer of affordable housing. This land could be developed as residential workforce housing intended to help younger families and middle-income workers get a start with homeownership.
Rob Aldrich, director of community conservation for the national Land Trust Alliance based in Washington, D.C., said such projects constitute an up-and-coming trend across the country. “Land trusts are becoming more open to inviting the community in and being more responsive to their needs, instead of just what the land trusts want to be done,” Aldrich said.
“Saving land is great, but there are other challenges in the community, such as affordable housing and health.”
“We’re trying to broaden what we see as community needs that are not the traditional 100 acres of woods with great environmental benefits,” Kieran Roe, head of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, said of local land trusts, which include the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Mainspring Land Trust and state and national organizations.
Affordable housing is one of the great challenges facing our region, our state and our nation. As income inequality grows, and more and more skilled manufacturing jobs are replaced by lower-wage service jobs, the need gets greater. Assistance has proven more effective than mandates in producing affordable units, as shown by groups such as Mountain Housing Opportunities in Asheville.
The Polk County project would provide assistance in two ways. The first is by eliminating the problem of high land costs that often price housing beyond reach of many. The other is by “sweat equity,” with future tenants doing 65 percent of the construction work.
Some numbers make clear the need. About 23 percent of Polk County’s homeowners are cost-burdened, meaning they spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing, according to the Housing Assistance Council. The statistics are more dismal for renters, with 48.6 percent cost-burdened.
The new concept is growing in the area as well as in the nation. Roe sits on the volunteer board of the Transylvania County Community Land Trust, which was formed a few years ago in response to the lack of housing for teachers. Discussions are under way in Asheville about formation of a community land trust.
Land conservation will continue to be the primary focus of land trusts. The work they have done thus far is nothing short of remarkable. The number of acres protected passed 30,000 a year ago and still is growing. The beauty that is preserved helps make the mountains a major tourist destination.
But times are changing and land trusts are changing with them. The tools of voluntary acquisition often can get results that attempts at coercion fail to achieve. Since the trusts pay for the land, there is no philosophical opposition from small-government people.
Today’s new issue is affordable housing, Tomorrow, there may be another issue regarding land use, one that is unforeseen today. Whatever that might be, land trusts have shown that they are willing and able to meet new challenges.
Our region is better off for their efforts.
Online: https://www.citizen-times.com/
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May 29
The News & Observer of Raleigh on why Dale Folwell should be weary of politicizing the treasurer’s office:
Dale Folwell is a soft-spoken fellow who liked to take on productive issues as a Republican House member in the General Assembly, from trying to analyze the state budget and finances with props such as a homemade solar system model to strengthening penalties for those who passed stopped school buses.
In running for State Treasurer, an office long in the hands of Democrats and thought of as conservative in successfully managing billions of dollars for state workers and retirees in the retirement plans and health plan, Folwell pegged his campaign on better management, negotiation of lower fees from Wall Street investment managers and a promise to secure a health plan he said was over-obligated and underfunded.
But there’s evidence that politics are creeping into the Treasurer’s Office. Folwell recently hired two people for director-level positions in the health plan who have no experience in health insurance or health care. And now the person in charge of the day-to-day operation of the health plan has abruptly quit, reason unclear.
It’s important that Folwell realize he needs to trust in veteran employees and guard against his office become politicized. He should oppose, for example, a provision in the budget now being considered that the treasurer have sole authority to hire and fire the health plan’s administrator. That’s something that should be done only after consultation with the plan’s board, as it is now.
Online: https://www.newsobserver.com/
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May 29
Winston-Salem Journal on tackling veteran suicide:
The veterans who fought and served for our freedom deserve all we can do for them. Some of them need our assistance in a tough fight they face today - the fight against suicide. An event Thursday at Old Salem could help.
An average of 20 veterans die by their own hand every day, according to data gathered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. That’s almost one veteran an hour.
And it’s not just, as some might think, veterans of our most recent engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. About 65 percent of veterans who die from suicide are 50 or older.
The causes vary, but include depression and other mental-health challenges.
The VA has often left much to be desired in its service. The vets deserve extra effort. And sometimes those of us who are closer to the veterans are in a position to intervene more effectively. That’s one reason the Mental Health Association in Forsyth County, along with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Center and other community organizations, have organized a panel discussion focusing on suicide among veterans to be held Thursday at the Old Salem Visitor’s Center in Winston-Salem. It begins at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Panelists include several mental-health specialists, most of whom are also veterans.
“The purpose for this panel discussion . is to raise awareness, heighten sensitivity as suicide has a devastating impact on families, friends and all of those who are ’left behind,” Andy Hagler, the executive director of the Mental Health Association in Forsyth County, said in a press release. “More importantly we want everyone - including our veterans - who have had or are having thoughts of suicide or those who are experiencing depression, anxiety or any mental health issue to know that there is help available in our community.”
No one likes to think of our warriors suffering from debilitating circumstances that can lead to such a tragic ending. This panel discussion should shed light on what we can all do to help.
Online: https://www.journalnow.com/
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