House in Bertie County in North Carolina in the Eastern part of the state. Bertie County is the poster child of the rampant poverty and economic decline of Eastern North Carolina.
This criticism is directly at the current political leadership in the General Assembly in North Carolina, Democrat, Republican, Independent party affiliation would not make any difference in this criticism. For example, Governor Beverly Purdue is a Democrat, and my professional association goes back to 2001 with Lt Governor Beverly Purdue in providing teaching bonuses via corporate donation for outstanding teachers in Wake County. My past experience was a pleasure and productive with the former Lt Governor. Governor Purdue did take office in the middle of a financial crisis in the economy and state budget system. Decisions were made by Governor Purdue to slice a budget politically with negative impact to the citizens of this state.
My experience was going to the Division of Motor Vehicles in a rural part of North Carolina with staff and no customers, and two weeks later was required to obtain a duplicate copy of identification in Charlotte, NC. My license was not given back after a security check during my travels. The Division of Motor Vehicles in Charlotte had the same compliment of staffing with lines at every Charlotte office out the front door hundred plus in the lines. The staffing at every office was universal no matter urban or rural. I spent 13 hours in three days waiting to get a duplicate license. Two days were spent until 3:30pm when I was the next in line one day for service only to be told to go home. It was 85 degrees outside, and people were passing or becoming dehydrated. It was insane, and it was a direct result of budgetary actions by Governor Purdue. I spent my third day waiting and I sent a scolding three page letter to Governor Purdue. My letter did inform of our past association, and other information was provided to give credibility that my letter was accurate feedback on staffing needs at the Division of Motor Vehicles in Charlotte.
In my thought process, I did not know if my communique would be noticed or acted upon any further. I was pleasantly surprise to receive a response from the Governor’s office in less 48 hours, and a another response thanking me for the feedback and the detailed resolutions to solve the staffing issues at metro locations of the Division of Motor Vehicles. A copy of the communique is here. The response was somewhat surprising, but my criticism did not change in the common sense of budgetary cuts by universal staffing models for the Division of Motor Vehicles in rural and metro locations….The citizens were suffering over bad policy…
Criticism is based on moral principles for leadership to act in the best interest of the citizens of North Carolina. The Republicans did not bring the Amendment One issue to the forefront due to their Christian or moral beliefs., because the economic suffering in this state would be at the forefront of the Republican legislative agenda equally important as Amendment One. A moral conviction of a person would not have one issue without the other. The Republicans have voters fighting over this issue to deflect the states collapsing economy.
The dire economic picture is a reality of extraordinary proportions. WRAL TV in Raleigh, NC did report that income growth in North Carolina was 48th in the country. This news does follow the economic reports that stated the Eastern North Carolina was the poorest regional area in America. That job creation statisitics since 1990 in North Carolina were a result of two cities in North Carolina. Every other area including cities like Asheville was suffering due to loss of manufacturing and high wage jobs. That some areas saw 70 percent job loss since 1990. This information should stun anyone with knowledge of North Carolina. The banner cities of Raleigh and Charlotte are two oasis in unfolding economic disaster. The Republicans came to power in 2010, and the legislative agenda to curb disaster is non-existent. The situation is so critical that the military has asked the state to assist in transportation improvements around military bases in Coastal North Carolina. No action has been taking, and the consequence is heading toward closure of one or more bases.
The result one base closure would be a cataclysmic because these bases are located in Eastern North Carolina or the poorest area in America. The bases contribute $9 billion dollars, and small base closure would rip almost $2 billion out of the economy with thousands of jobs being loss. Why did the Republicans bring up Amendment One? It was not because of moral standard, but a distraction to save their political hide. There is no other argument of the intent of the Republican legislators. Every voter of both parties should vote these individuals out of office….They have failed miserably…Vote another person whether Republican or Democrat into office that will work for the constituency.
SECOND RESPONSE FROM DEM GOV PURDUE’S OFFICE IN 2010 OVER BAD POLICY DECISIONS:
Charlotte DMV Wednesday, March 23, 2011 6:22 PM From: “Freeman, Brenda M” Add sender to Contacts To: “donny@donnywise.com” Cc: “Office of the Governor” , “Massengill, Charlotte J” , “Watkins, Cindy” , “Johnson, Kathleen H” Dear Mr. Wise: Thank you for taking the time to write to us about your recent experience at the Charlotte Driver License office. Please accept my sincere apology for the inconvenience you experienced while visiting the our office to obtain a duplicate license. In the Mecklenburg area we currently have four offices to service the motoring public and due to the increasing population in this area we continue to strive for ways to improve our service. We are always looking for ways to decrease the average wait times while rendering quality service. We are now able to post vacancies and hire qualified candidates for the position of Driver License Examiner; however the candidates must pass a seven week Examiner School to become proficient in Motor Vehicle and Immigration Laws as well as other DMV policies. In addition to reducing the vacancy rate of our Examiners we have implemented procedures for obtaining a duplicate driver license via the internet. This procedure was implemented to avoid customers from having to visit our office to obtain a service that could be requested over the internet. While the actual card cannot be produced while visiting the office in person, this service does allow the convenience of avoiding long wait times in the Driver License Offices. The Division hopes to implement procedures in the near future that will guarantee more expeditious customer service. If I may assist you in other matters of mutual interest, feel free to let me know. Brenda Mills-Freeman, Director NC Division of Motor Vehicles Driver Services Section Phone: 919-861-3277 Fax: 919-861-3018
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