NC Governor looks to "distribute the benefits of growth" | Hour 1

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio and Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all of the links, become a patron, go to thepeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. It is Tuesday at noon and that means we chat with Andrew Dunn. He is the publisher of long Leaf Politics. The website is longleafpol dot com and you can also catch this podcast over there. Andrew, how are you, sir? Welcome. I am fantastic. How about you? So I am doing all right as well. So first off, thank you for doing the thing that I did not want to do, which is to read Governor Josh Stein's new economic development plan called First in Opportunity, which you call a fantastic name for a largely underwhelming report, but then you say they're among the most important things a governor does so because they reveal a lot about a state's priorities. Okay, So first off, explain yourself, why is this so underwhelming, yet it is one of the most important things that a governor does. Yeah, well, I don't blame you for not reading. It's very easy for your eyes to start glazing over if you you keep reading all these corporate speak. Phrases in there. But you're right, it is. Among the most important work a governor does, because. That's really the role of the executive in our system of government is to use the resources of state government to come up with the vision and and then push toward implementation of it. You know, even in North Carolina, where the General Assembly has the line's share of the power, the governor does still oversee, you know, hundreds and hundreds of employees and the state agencies of government respond to the directors of the governor. And that's why it's worth paying attention to how the governor is approaching some of these issues, especially on an issue as important as economic development. Okay, so and again this is a new economic development plan, and you say, he does have a couple of good ideas in there. But then you were troubled by a key line. I'm going to read it here. You've got to quote it in your piece. The primary challenge is no longer generating baseline growth, but ensuring that the capacity of infrastructure, workforce systems, and communities can sustainably support that growth and distribute its benefits more broadly. So a couple of red flags pop out to me. But what were the what were the red flags? Imagine what they might be. I mean, really, you just take. The beginning and the end of that sentence and it tells you. It tells you pretty much the whole story. Yeah, he says that the problem is now longer growth, and the problem now is distributing the benefits. And that is just a completely dangerous perspective to take on economic development. For one, you know, Raley and Charlotte are doing pretty good, but there's that leans ninety eight other counties in North Carolina that would still appreciate a growth mindset and focus on bringing in new jobs and new industries. But then also it really encapsulates a very damaging mindset for government to have, in that the primary role of government is just to divvy up the spoils. You know, North Carolina has had a great run over the past fifteen sixteen years, and yes, I mean the problems are different now than they were in twenty thirteen, when you know, we had been the North Carolina Jobs Plan. But that doesn't mean that you can just. Abandon all the great things that got us to where we are today. I mean, the thing is that there's not. Really such thing as stagnation or plateauing or arriving as a city or as a state. You're either growing or you're dying. And my worry here is that Governor Stein's approach would would ignore that fact, right. And the idea that you would be, as he says, distributing its benefits. More broadly, I mean that that sounds an awful like an awful lot, like the line that Barack Obama used to Joe the Plumber, right to spread the wealth around a little bit. And I'm kind of, you know, I'm kind of concerned as to what that might actually look like in practice. Now, there was there was some good stuff in there that you liked, right, you said, the plan is at its best when it treats government as responsible for the basics. Which, man, if we could just return to basics, you know, like if we could just see nice just focus on your first order principles, you know, roads and. Liberals tend to forget that quite a bit, and you know that that's the problem that Governor Stein ran into in this document here. But yeah, there's some good stuff in here. I mean, number one, it's you know, well, and to be fair, this is kind of the boring stuff. It doesn't make for great radio, but it is important. You know. It's talking about water, wastewater and transportation needs. It's you know, this is kind of a wonky subject, but there's a lot of places in North Carolina that are really struggling with figuring out how to get water to people and then how to how to get the sewer back from them. And you know, we've talked about this in the past that there's a lot of towns that are really. Struggling financially, and a lot of that is because North Carolina has basically left it up to individual municipalities to figure out how to do some of that basic blocking and tackling of government. And one of the ideas in here is to have more of a regional collaborative, shared approach there. And we already do that some on transportation, and I think doing that on some of the other more basic needs is a good idea. Well, and I remember when this was being debated, gosh, twenty five years ago, there was an idea for you know, regional water systems and stuff. And when I went up to Ashville, the City of Ashwell pulled out of a cooperative agreement with Henderson County for water. And from a resource management perspective, when you're talking about bodies of water that people are pulling from and then dumping into, it does make sense to have a lot of those territories at the table, right, these representatives at the table and managing this shared resource. And then you've got towns. I remember after Hurricane Helene hit, Spruce Pine just devastated and I found out that like they were digging out to replace wooden pipes. They had wooden pipes, that's how old their system is. And you know, for small towns of a couple thousand people like you just probably don't have the level of expertise necessary and funding necessary to keep up with this sort of thing. So on that front, it does make a bit of sense to move to some sort of a regional resource management model. Yeah, And to be honest, that's what government is for. I'm not a pure libertarian Neil. I believe that there is a role for government, but. It should stick to that role and. Dealing with infrastructure, water, roads, that's. What it's for. So you know, hopefully this. A little bit of common sense we'll sneak through. Hmm, yeah, no, okay, maybe all right, let's move to a previous governor, previous Democrat Governor Jim Hunt. You also did Yeoman's work here reading his book First in America and Education. Governor Challenges North Carolina is a book he wrote in two thousand and one after he left the Governor's mansion after his second two year term. And so was this the first time you have ever read his book? It was, yeah, you know, obviously I'm very familiar with Governor Hunt growing up in North Carolina. But he's been out office twenty five years now, which it feels it doesn't feel like it should be that long. But you're getting old, Andrew, you're getting. Old, I know. But luckily, I mean, this is a very short book, only about ninety five pages. And I picked it up because, you know, I spent a lot of time thinking about writing about education issues. And you know, Governor Hunt just passed away recently, and we all talked about him as the education governor, and so I got curious, well, what exactly made him. The education governor? And honestly, I didn't expect a whole lot when I picked up the book. I thought it would be kind of a time capsule or a relic of the past. But as it turns out, they were dealing with the same issues then that we are today, and Governor Hunt's approach to a lot of those issues was pretty as usual. It didn't fall cleanly into today's liberal conservative mold, and I thought there was a lot that we could learn. So what do you think that speaks of regarding the current iterations of the political parties? Yeah, I think a lot of it has to do with the polarization of the parties. Where you know, when Governor Hunt was in office, you still had tons of more conservative Democrats. I mean, this was still very much the one party rule era of North Carolina politics, and so you had it within the individual Democratic Party. You had a whole wide range of perspectives there, and that's pretty much gone at this point. There's a handful of Democrats you could kind of point to. But Governor Stein bring it back to the president. Governor Stein and his money making operation has done a pretty good job at running out any last vestiges of nonsense aggressive Democrats. So I think that's a long, large part of it. But I think another part of it has to do with. I mean, and Governor Hunt was kind of a unique political figure in North Carolina history. And so you know he's writing this book after sixteen years in office. You know, he had two four year terms as governor, took a break, and then came back for another two four year terms. So he was able to build up kind of that independent base of support that allowed him to, you know, step on the toes of powerful interest groups that people today is just harder to do. Yeah, And he was also willing to identify problems with the public schools system. And I think you say in your piece here that it's because he was such a supporter and defender of public schools that he could look at them and say, like, I want the best public schools. I want what's best for the for the kids and the teachers and the city. And this is where you're going wrong. And you have to be able to identify the things that are going wrong. And I'm not saying that in order to tear down the public schools. I'm saying it to improve them. Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean what he was able to walk the line between, you know, being a big. Supporter of public schools, but also being very clear eyed on what their problems were and very critical of some of the special interests. That want a way in. You know, we've talked many times about the teachers' union here in North Carolina, the NCAE and Governor Hunt had some pretty harsh words for them. You know, he basically said. All they want is more money and they don't want more accountability. And I've you know, I was saying to myself, amen as I read that, And you know, you would never hear that from a Democrat today. No, he sounds almost like a modern Republican. And you say a significant part of the right sees the failures and leans towards writing off the institution altogether, And I will cop to that. I think the problem is, in fact, the model. I think the model was built around a factory model, a Prussian factor. Well, I mean I know it was. It was built around a yeah, Prussian factory model with born on dates for the kids and with no real accommodation for where kids are actually in their educational progression. So I just think the whole model should be should be scrapped. But I know that's not a popular position, and so vouchers are my midpoint, that's my that's my compromise as the vouchers. So we'll see. Yeah, And I think that, I mean, school. Choice has been so tremendously beneficial in North Carolina. You know, my own family has taken taken advantage of it. So I will say, with four kids, I can't afford four private school tuitions, even with the little bit that I get from the state to help out. And I think, you know, I would love to see school choice continue to grow, but I do think there's always going to be a need for a public school system. Yeah, And so I think that it's just imaging if you for Republicans and conservatives today to just write it off entirely, because you know, there's still what a million and a half kids who are going through that system right now, right, and that's not going to change anytime soon. And you know, ignore you ignore that at. Your own peril, right, And I see that's the thing. I'm a realist. I recognize most people are not of the same mindset as me, which is why my compromise is the school vouchers to get more choice involved, because I know that, Yeah, a lot of people, especially like people, have these ideas about when they went to school and they think it's the same thing now as it was when they were in school forty fifty, sixty years ago. And I don't believe that's the case, by the way, not at all. Have you seen what's happened down in New Orleans with their education system. Down there, I know, just the basics of it. So after you go into a more of a charter school exactly. And I just read some guy did a big analysis on Twitter and then on his website, and I was reading through it the other day. It might be worth because I know you're, you know, knee deep in the education stuff. That might be something for you to look because, yeah, the charter school model, they basically just blew up the whole model and implemented charter schools everywhere, and now it's like they've got like ninety something percent of their kids at grade level. It's crazy. So you know, fixes can be found. Yeah, I mean, and that also brings me back, you know, to go back to the Gym Hunt book, and one of the more interesting ideas he had in there is he said that our public schools, you know, the individual school campuses, have just gotten too big. I mean, he said that. There shouldn't be a high school with more than eight hundred kids, no middle school more than six hundred, or elementary school with more than four hundred children. And that, I mean, my kids have gone to school, is a lot bigger than that. And I can't remember any politician having a conversation like that, but I think, you know, to go back to your point. I think that's one of the reasons why charter schools can be so successful is that they. Are a much smaller environment. Absolutely, all right, we'll leave it there, Andrew done. You can read his work over at longleafpol dot com Longleaf Politics. Andrew always good to chat with you, sir, Thanks so much. Yeah, likewise, right, take it easy. You know. Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video. Started in nineteen ninety seven in Minhill, North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for rehearsal, dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you, and they will tell others to come who you are. Visit creative video dot com. The Charlotte Police and Fire departments will receive equal payraises next year under the tentative agreement approved by the Charlotte City Council last night. They usually do straw voting. They'll do their final vote next week, so both department employees will be getting a ten percent pay raise across the board. The original proposal that came from the city manager was a ten percent pay raise for police and a seven percent pay raise for firefighters, and the city manager cited vacancy rates in order to justify the different levels of pay raise. In other words, they have way more. Open for police officers that they have to fill and it's harder to fill those slots than it was or than they have for the fire department. So that was the rationale for that. The fire chief, Reginald Johnson, told the city council that, yeah, they're going to move some money around, knock back some of the overtime budget because you'll, i mean guess have more people, so hopefully you're paying less overtime. He said he can sleep at night with those cuts. Okay, then I'll allow it, alrighty. So there was a valedictorian from Clayton High School in Clayton, coincidentally, who gave a speech that went viral for really the wrong reasons. Her name is lean He Jazz, and the speech was live streamed on the YouTube and in the closing moments of her comments, they were welcoming comments, and so in the closing moments she decided to go off script and to take a courageous stand against Ice and Israel. So yeah, here's the report from wr AL out of Raleigh. Only on WRIL, we are hearing from a Clayton High School student after her graduation speech was cut short. Valedictorian at Lean Hejaz says that she had the MC taken from her when she went off script speaking out against immigration and customs enforcement and supporting marginalized communities. Wril's Willie Danley spoke to her in her first on camera interview. Willy joins us live from Clayton High School. Willy, what did she tell you? Well, Michelle, it was supposed to be one of the proudest days of Lean's life. She's a valedictorian here at Clayton High School, but now she's found herself in the middle of a debate about free speech after school administration interrupted her graduation speech mid sentence. Whether Familian suffering is palaesie u Dan Kongo, Afghanistan and so many other countries around the world, These. Eyes, these are there. Clayton High School valedictorian Lean Hjah's veered away from her pre approved remarks speaking about global conflicts and immigration enforcement. Her principals stepped in taking the microphone. In a statement, Johnston County Public School said school administrators intervened in order to maintain the integrity and focus of the program in real time. This action was not about limiting a student's voice, but about ensuring that a school sponsored event remained consistent with its intended purpose. Ja says as a result, her diploma was withheld. What I focused on throughout my entire life was my education and for something so important to me, something that I worked hard for twelve years of my life to get taken from me. I feel a. Press born in Palace, says she felt compelled to advocate for what she sees as human rights issues. When asked what she would say to critics who believe a high school graduation is not the place for political or controversial topics, she pushed back. So where is the place and time? What is the right place and time? Because our protests are ignored. Despite the disciplinary action, Huja says she has no regrets, no no regrets for school officials. For school officials, the issue was about sticking to the pre approved script. For her, jaws, it was about using this platform to speak about issues that she finds very important. We're going to stay on top of this story and see when she gets her diploma, Willi Danley. Wrings, all right, Thank goodness, they're going to stay on top of this to make us all aware of when she actually physically receives the diploma. Now, I too have a similar story of oppression. It wasn't directly. Done to me, but I like I was oppressed by proxy because at my high school graduation, it was outside on the football field, and during the ceremony the event, one of my classmates, guy by the name of I think it was Steve Geffner, and Steve had smuggled in not one, but two beach balls. They were deflated, okay. He hid them in his shirt pockets, and during the ceremony he pulled them out and underneath his gown, the cap and gown under his gown, and. He just blew them up. He would lean over and stick his face into his right into his collar. And he was and he inflated the beach ball and then he popped it out like he was giving birth to this thing under the gown and he and he hit it boom, and it popped it up, and then everybody was hitting the beach ball all around. And then teacher came over and grabbed the beach ball, and then about ten minutes later, another beach ball gets launched, and then Steve gets escorted off the field and they withheld his diploma. He was oppressed, and we were all kind of oppressed because we did not get to hit around the beach ball during our graduation ceremony. And really, if that wasn't the time to be punching a beach ball around a crowd, like, when would be the time? Right? I mean, I see, I feel like a kindred spirit to this girl. She said, my words made an extremely big change in my community. Nobody, nobody was talking about anything that was going on in the world, right, Yeah, that's why everybody was applauding, because all those kids had no idea what you were talking about. Really, Oh my gosh, this is so tedious and boring. Kids boring, You are boring. Stop boring everybody? Why are you boring us? All the crowd of the kiddies are all applauding because they have all been steeped in this exact kind of activism. I blame the teachers absolutely. I do that you're going to use the graduation ceremony in your speech to the graduates to your classmates to rail on about the very thing that I am sure you guys have been railing on. All the time. Oh my gosh, nobody was talking about anything that was going on in the world. But now people are engaging, people are learning more, people want to talk about it. So she basically changed the world just like that, just like Steve Geffner did. Us Hamm and Tomato go over to the WBT text line for some of your witty takes, hopefully, Jima says, Pete, this is from your high school principle. I'm going to need you to return your diploma since you feel so oppressed only on w Oh. My goodness, I don't know why. That's just fired. And then he has a follow up text here, which is what I meant to click. I agree. Teachers have a huge part of brainwashing, or I guess play a huge part in brainwashing the kids nowadays. What is the purpose is it to help destroy America? Yes? Yes, there are a lot of teachers that are activists first, that's why they are doing what they do, and they are proselytizing to your kids. I mean, the data is very clear. People on the political left do not have as many children as people on the political right, and so they can't you know, they can't raise up the next generation if they're not having any kids, and so that means they have to raise up your generation to oppose you. Seven oh four number says, I feel bad for these kids. They've been brainwashed into a life of anger, frustration and hate at the world. Now, okay, in this student's case, lean he Jazz, I can't simply put. It all at the feet of the teachers. Okay, that's not fair, because she apparently was born in she was born in I guess the West Bank or Gaza. She's Palestinian, and she's the valedictorian, and so she gets to make comments. And the school says, okay, give us a copy of your speech ahead of time, because you know, these are high school kids. They make bad decisions. It's kind of their jam. It's what they do. It's what high school students do. You make bad choices. So the school, probably based on years of prior experience in this sort of thing, they said, you're going to give us a copy of your speech, and you're going to read the speech that you give us, and if you if you veer off script, then we're going to we're going to shut you down, and she veered off script and they shut her down, and so now she's oppressed. Look, she's going to get a copy of her diploma. She just didn't get it that day on the stage. That's what's called a consequence. Now, I know this may be a foreign concept to a lot of kids. Nowadays. You're told over and over and over again by every adult in your life that you're super special. You know, you're you're better than all the rest and everything else, and so like you know you are, you are never held to account for your words and your action. There are very few consequences, right, you have privilege, you might say, so this is this is what's called a consequence for your action. They told you what the rules were, you agreed to those rules, you broke those rules, and now you have your mic shut off. That's how that works. Jennifer says, if these children are the future, then we are definitely doomed. Yeah. Yeah. Joey from Ashville says, commencement speaker at my high school graduation asked what advice can I give you for going forth in the world, And then he answered, don't go just don't just don't do it, or as as Kamala Harris would say, don't come right. I'm sure that would that I was followed as much as Kamala Harris's was. Yes, this girl, this valedictorian, is not actually oppressed. She lives in the freest country, the best country the world has ever known, the wealthiest country, the most privileged people, the highest standard of living ever in human history. You are not oppressed. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecallanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.