Joe Sam QueenInternet & New Media

ReviewMay 24, 2018

2

ContentsSummary of Findings...................................................................................................................................8

Social Media:.............................................................................................................................................17

Facebook:..............................................................................................................................................17

Twitter:..................................................................................................................................................21

Instagram:.............................................................................................................................................26

LinkedIn:................................................................................................................................................27

Campaign Website:................................................................................................................................29

Blue Ridge Public Radio:............................................................................................................................37

In Their Words: Rep. Joe Sam Queen (4/14/2015)................................................................................37

Legislative Wrap: Rep. Joe Sam Queen (10/16/2015)............................................................................38

WNC Bataan Death March Survivor Receives State's Top Honor (3/31/2017)......................................39

Democrat Joe Sam Queen Announcement Sets Up Rematch in Closest NC House Race from 2016 (9/26/2017)...........................................................................................................................................40

Carolina Journal:........................................................................................................................................42

Talking About Last Summer, Again (3/2/2006)......................................................................................42

Drought Relief Impacts Property Rights (3/24/2008)............................................................................42

GOP Aims to Push Joe Sam Queen Out of Office (4/30/2010)...............................................................44

Joe Sam Queen Running Against the Wind in Senate 47 (10/7/2010)...................................................47

Queen Loses Appeal of ‘Stand By Your Ad’ Lawsuit (11/21/2012)........................................................49

Legislature Passes Coal Ash Cleanup, Adjourns Quietly (8/21/2014)....................................................52

Incumbent Rep. Queen Again Meets Challenger Clampitt in HD119 (11/2/2014).................................54

McCrory Signs Medicaid Reform (9/24/2015).......................................................................................57

Achievement School District Measure Passes House, Heads To Senate (6/2/2016)..............................59

Queen-Clampitt go at it a third time in HD 119 (11/3/2016).................................................................61

Carolina Public Press:................................................................................................................................64

Labor advocates convene in Asheville on cusp of new state legislative session (1/28/2015)................64

Appropriations committees launch state budget talks (2/9/2015)........................................................66

Raleigh Report: Blizzard of numbers hits NC legislature (2/16/2015)....................................................67

At the NCGA, a tide of bills regarding annexation, school calendars, ERA (3/9/2015)...........................68

Raleigh Report: Asheville power plant bill moving fast (5/26/2015).....................................................69

NC’s state budget agreement may hinge on taxes, teachers and Medicaid (6/22/2015)......................69

Law strips employees’ right to sue over any discrimination (3/28/2016)..............................................71

3

House budget plan includes pay raises, tax breaks (5/20/2016)...........................................................75

Following the adult care home money in North Carolina (1/31/2018)..................................................76

Citizen-Times:............................................................................................................................................78

Smoky Mountain Folk Festival is Queen family tradition (8/23/2014)..................................................78

Queen, Van Duyn honored for environmental stands (5/14/2015).......................................................79

Civitas Institute:.........................................................................................................................................81

Thank Charles Albertson for your High Energy Bill (3/12/2008)............................................................81

Secretary Marshall in Bed with Lobbyists? (7/1/2010)..........................................................................81

SB 1441: Broadband, the New Welfare (8/13/2010).............................................................................82

Civitas Candidate Survey Update: The Non-Responders (4/17/2012)...................................................83

HB 447, Restore Teaching Fellows Program (4/8/2013)........................................................................83

20 Legislative Races to Watch in NC (9/28/2016)..................................................................................85

Mountain XPress:......................................................................................................................................86

Senate District 47 (10/30/2002)............................................................................................................86

Batter up (10/30/2002).........................................................................................................................88

Milkman (7/23/2003)............................................................................................................................89

May I see your license? (4/11/2007).....................................................................................................91

The battle of the (wallet?) bulge (7/26/2007).......................................................................................94

Welling up (4/23/2008).........................................................................................................................95

Busy days in the state legislature (7/11/2008)......................................................................................97

N.C. General Assembly gets down to 2009 business (2/1/2009)...........................................................98

Week two in the Legislature: four-year terms in the future? (2/9/2009)..............................................98

Appalachian Mountains preservation hits a double in N.C. Legislature (3/2/2009)..............................99

Legislature considers steep slopes, small breweries, alternative medical services (3/30/2009)...........99

Sex education, developer responsibility and bottled water all on tap at the Legislature (5/4/2009). .100

N.C. House members pushing bipartisan redistricting bill (4/16/2013)...............................................102

March for Health planned for April 1 in Sylva (3/25/2017).................................................................103

North Carolina Health News:...................................................................................................................105

Motorcycle Helmet Bill Crashes in Committee (5/10/2013)................................................................105

House Passes Bill to Cover Medicaid Shortfall (5/17/2013).................................................................106

LIVEBLOG: House Debate on Abortion Bill SB 353 (7/11/2013)...........................................................107

Tobacco-cessation Funds Missing from NCGA Budgets (6/25/2015)...................................................108

Medicaid Overhaul Plan Only Needs Governor’s Signature (9/23/2015)............................................110

4

State Budget, with Several Mental Health Provisions, Nears Approval as House Gives First OK (7/1/2016)...........................................................................................................................................113

Following the Adult Care Home Money in North Carolina (2/5/2018)................................................114

North Carolina League of Conservation Voters:......................................................................................120

CIB 8/25/2014 (8/25/2014).................................................................................................................120

2015 Green Tie Award Winners Announced (5/4/2015).....................................................................120

Over 200 Gather to Honor Pro-Conservation NC Legislators (5/28/2015)...........................................121

The Progressive Pulse:.............................................................................................................................123

Top of the morning (1/14/2009)..........................................................................................................123

Fisher Redefines North Carolina’s Housing Mission (4/4/2009)..........................................................123

Top of the morning (7/15/2009)..........................................................................................................124

Justice Center announces 12th annual Defenders of Justice Awards (9/30/2010)..............................125

Judging themselves (10/11/2012).......................................................................................................126

Candidates – who’s standing by your ads? (11/20/2012)....................................................................128

Final approval of tax overhaul could come Wednesday (video) (7/16/2013)......................................129

Advocates: Fracking won’t start in North Carolina without a fight (3/17/2015)..................................130

Project Vote Smart:.................................................................................................................................132

Biography (Undated)...........................................................................................................................132

Positions (Undated).............................................................................................................................135

Ratings & Endorsements (Undated)....................................................................................................135

Statements (Undated).........................................................................................................................139

Votes (Undated)..................................................................................................................................153

Smokey Mountain News:.........................................................................................................................161

The race is on to Election Day (9/13/2006).........................................................................................161

How high on the totem pole? Each with two years of experience under their belts, Presnell and Queen vie for NC Senate (10/11/2006)...........................................................................................................162

The value of endorsements (11/1/2006).............................................................................................170

Brochure highlights militia’s march against Cherokee (4/4/2007).......................................................172

Clean energy future may be blowing in the wind (7/29/2009)............................................................174

Prison to remain open, but future not rosy (8/12/2009).....................................................................182

Queen gets early challenger for state Senate seat (8/19/2009)..........................................................184

Lawmakers close loophole in video poker ban (7/20/2010)................................................................185

DNA testing for crime suspects sparks ethics debate (7/27/2010)......................................................187

Landlords show spotty compliance with new carbon monoxide law (8/3/2010)................................189

5

Digging out Lake Junaluska … again (9/22/2010).................................................................................191

For Queen and Hise, job creation is the primary concern (10/27/2010).............................................192

Queen sues opponent after losing state election (3/16/2011)............................................................194

Democrats sort out who will run for what in bid to reclaim seats (1/11/2012)...................................198

Test farm helps WNC growers stay ‘ahead of the game’ (5/30/2012).................................................200

12 votes separate Queen, Davis in race for N.C. House (5/9/2012)....................................................202

Where state candidates stand: abortion and women’s health (9/26/2012)........................................203

Forum attracts diverse audience, engaged candidates (10/17/2012).................................................204

Economics, jobs, and future business (10/31/2012)............................................................................208

Queen slips by Clampitt in House race (11/7/2012)............................................................................209

Clear sailing ahead for Haywood room tax hike (2/20/2013)..............................................................210

Parrying between tourism interests slows progress on tourism tax bill (3/27/2013)..........................211

Stopping voter fraud or just stopping voters? (5/29/2013).................................................................214

Lake Junaluska merger bill off the table indefinitely (7/17/2013).......................................................215

HART reaches goal for new stage (7/24/2013)....................................................................................217

Elected leaders to push again for room tax hike in Haywood (1/29/2014).........................................218

In Rep. Presnell’s view, it’s local leaders be damned (3/26/2014)......................................................219

Rep. Presnell sponsors de-annexation bill (6/4/2014).........................................................................221

Drilling, fracking bill speeds through legislature (6/4/2014)................................................................224

Conservation Voters release legislator rankings (6/11/2014)..............................................................230

New state tax hits entertainment venues (6/18/2014).......................................................................230

Merger bill moves forward in Raleigh (7/2/2014)...............................................................................234

State budget provides raise for teachers: Critics say raise is ‘phony’ (8/13/2014)..............................236

House fails to pass $12 million in grants for Canton paper mill (8/20/2014).......................................240

Evergreen gets its green: Lawmakers approve $12 million for natural gas upgrades in Canton (8/21/2014).........................................................................................................................................241

On the way to Trout City: Bryson City trout waters to get some cred (9/10/2014).............................242

N.C. House candidates Queen and Clampitt draw distinctions during debate (10/1/2014)................245

Queen, Clampitt battle it out again (10/22/2014)...............................................................................248

Class warfare looms in debate over state tax reform (10/22/2014)....................................................254

Queen shuts down Clampitt, again (11/5/2014)..................................................................................257

General Assembly resumes; Local legislators to tackle key issues (1/14/2015)...................................258

Folkmoot center renovation plans finalized (2/25/2015)....................................................................262

6

Legislature weakens voter ID requirement (6/24/2015).....................................................................263

Political posturing once again waylays vote on Lake Junaluska, Waynesville merger (7/22/2015).....264

Does Lake Junaluska need Waynesville? (11/25/2015).......................................................................267

Infrastructure bonds garner bipartisan support (1/20/2016)..............................................................269

Canton welcomes first brewery (8/12/2016).......................................................................................273

Supreme Court denies McCrory’s request to reinstate voter ID (9/7/2016).......................................274

Queen-Clampitt: Third time’s a charm? (10/5/2016)..........................................................................275

The after-action report: 50 fast facts from the Haywood election results (11/16/2016)....................284

Locked in the longest-running ping-pong match in mountain politics, Joe Sam Queen reflects on his latest loss (11/30/2016)......................................................................................................................285

Mountain legislator to be sworn in (1/4/2017)...................................................................................293

Despite district distractions, groups prepare for 2018 (8/16/2017)....................................................294

Déjà vu: candidates walk familiar path (10/4/2017)............................................................................297

Southern States Police Benevolent Association:.....................................................................................301

2012 NCPBA Endorsed Candidates (5/4/2012)....................................................................................301

The North Carolina Police Benevolent Association Mountain Chapter makes candidate endorsements (10/3/2012).........................................................................................................................................301

2014 NCPBA Endorsed Candidates (7/10/2014)..................................................................................302

The Mountain Chapter of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association Makes Candidate Endorsements (9/19/2014).................................................................................................................302

Watauga Watch:......................................................................................................................................303

Taking the Wind Out of Alternative Energy (7/15/2009).....................................................................303

New (And Old) Democratic Talent for 2018 (2/4/2018)......................................................................303

WLOS:......................................................................................................................................................305

WATCH: 119th House District debate (Video) (9/27/2016).................................................................305

Late election controversies and their impact on votes (11/1/2016)....................................................305

Internet Hits:...........................................................................................................................................307

Ballotpedia: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)..............................................................................................307

Blue Ridge Heritgage.com: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)........................................................................311

Blue Ridge Music Trails: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)............................................................................312

Civitas Action.org: Queen Mailer (Undated)........................................................................................313

Follow NC Money.org: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)..............................................................................314

Grade NC Politicans: Grading the General Assembly (Undated)..........................................................315

Guidestar.org: KATE AND JOE SAM QUEEN FAMILY FOUNDATION (Undated)....................................316

7

Mountain Grown Music: Sam Queen (Undated).................................................................................316

North Carolina Progress Portal: The Board (Undated).........................................................................318

North Carolina Sons of the American Revolution: Leadership (Undated)............................................319

NC Trout Capital: About the Trout Capital (Undated)..........................................................................319

Southwestern Community College: State representative Joe Sam Queen donates to SCC’s Student Success Campaign (Undated)..............................................................................................................321

Wells Funeral Home: Rachel Queen McKay (Undated).......................................................................322

Wikipedia: Joe Sam Queen (Undated).................................................................................................323

Hemophilia of North Carolina: Senator Joe Sam Queen Recognized as Hemophilia of North Carolina Legislator of the Year. (6/9/2009)........................................................................................................325

In the Field (NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Blog): House and Senate face off in milk-chugging contest (7/8/2009).......................................................................................................326

Topix.com: Joe Sam Queen, how bad can it get!! (6/2010).................................................................327

Vimeo: Joe Sam Queen caught without an answer in debate with Ralph Hise (Video) (2011)............361

WRAL.com: Queen Reply Brief (10/9/2012)........................................................................................362

FindLaw: FRIENDS OF JOE SAM QUEEN v. RALPH HISE FOR NC SENATE (11/20/2012)........................362

NC BLOGS FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: THANK YOU REP. QUEEN & REP. EARLE (9/30/2013)..........375

Western Carolina Medical Society: 2013-2014 Voting Records on Key Healthcare Issues (10/15/2014).............................................................................................................................................................378

Democracy North Carolina: REALTORS, HOMEBUILDERS SATURATE GENERAL ASSEMBLY WITH CONTRIBUTIONS (7/2017)...................................................................................................................380

Now or Never NC: Endorsed Candidates (2018)..................................................................................382

Stamp NC BLue: March 9, 2018: Get to know NC House District 119 (3/9/2018)................................382

8

JOE SAM QUEENSummary of Findings from Internet & New Media

The following is a summary of findings based on an Internet and social-media review of Joe Sam Queen:

Sued Opponent after Senate Loss, Lost Appeal: After Queen was defeated for re-election in 2010 by Ralph Hise, his campaign committee sued Hise's committee and the state Republican party claiming Hise and the GOP violated the State's "Stand by Your Ad" law by failing to disclose properly that the GOP had paid for TV ads identified as being sponsored by Hise's campaign committee. A trial court found in favor of Hise in December 2011.

It was noted in the appeal that Democrats had transferred funds to Queen's campaign account that normally remained with Queen no longer than several hours before heading to a company that purchased media air time and that Queen, like Hise, failed to list the political party as the sponsor of their ads. The appeals court found that since neither Queen nor Hise fully complied with the law and because Queen could not show that he complied while Hise violated it, Queen was not entitled to damages worth three times the amount of money Hise spent on TV ads.1

Tons of Missed Votes: During his two years as a state senator, Queen missed 112 vote, missing 10% of total votes cast. When asked about that, he "questioned whether being in the chamber for every vote, many of which are procedural, is truly a bragging point."2

Gun Rights Record Worsening: In 2004, Queen got an A rating from the NRA for his gun rights positions. In 2008 and

1 https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/queen-loses-appeal-of-stand-by-your-ad-lawsuit/ 2 https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/11371-how-high-on-the-totem-pole-each-with-two-years-of-experience-under-their-belts-presnell-and-queen-vie-for-nc-senate

9

2010, he maintained a B+ rating. In 2012, his score from the NRA dipped to 64% and in 2016 dropped massively to just 36%.3

Voted Against Gun Rights Bill: In 2015, Queen voted against a bill that modified the state's concealed handgun permit regulations, including requiring the chief law enforcement officer of a jurisdiction to certify the transfer or making of a firearm in a timely manner and establishing an affirmative defense for an individual when they use a firearm on prohibited school property when responding to a threatening situation in which deadly force was justified.4 Interestingly, in 2013, Queen missed a vote on a comprehensive bill concerning concealed handgun permits, generally making the process easier for gun owners.5

Fracking is "Greedy", "Immoral" and "Stupid": Queen is a vocal opponent of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a controversial oil and natural gas extraction method. In 2015, Queen cosponsored a bill disapproving new rules for fracking that had been adopted by the state Mining and Energy Commission.6 Queen was honored by the state League of Conservation Voters for his anti-fracking position.7

In one radio interview, Queen slammed fracking, warning that once you "poison your water, it's poisoned. It’s forever. And water is needed for every generation. So it is immoral and stupid beyond belief… greedy, and I don’t even get these Republicans doing this. I don’t think that bad of them. Surely they’re smarter than this, I say.”8

Supported Room Tax Hike Bill: In early 2013, the Haywood County Board of Commissioners agreed to send a bill to the General Assembly asking the legislature to approve a 2 percent increase in the county's lodging tax to fund tourism-related 3 https://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjb_oVzL4Y 4 https://carolinapublicpress.org/22835/nc-state-budget-agreement-may-hinge-on-taxes-teachers-and-medicaid/; https://www.nraila.org/articles/20150806/north-carolina-pro-gun-omnibus-bill-signed-by-governor-mccrory 5 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y 6 https://carolinapublicpress.org/21935/raleigh-report-blizzard-of-numbers-hits-nc-legislature/ 7 https://www.citizen-times.com/story/elections/2015/05/14/joe-sam-queen-terry-van-duyn-north-carolina-league-of-conservation-voters/27303355/ 8 http://bpr.org/post/their-words-rep-joe-sam-queen

10

capital projects. Queen and Jim Davis, the Republican state senator representing Haywood, told the commissioners they would support the bill.9 The bill's died when lodging owners in Maggie Valley expressed their opposition to the tax hike, fearing the tax on hotel bills would keep tourists away, and consensus to overcome that opposition could not be reached.10

Opposed State Tax Reform; Rich, Big Business Don’t Create Jobs: Queen strongly opposed the state's 2014 tax cuts "chalking them up to political kickbacks for millionaire campaign donors." He noted that while the rates may have decreased the loss of certain credits and exemptions mean they will pay more taxes in the end, plus sales taxes were extended onto items that used to be exempt and some sales tax holidays were eliminated.11

In an October 2016 interview, Queen railed against the tax cuts, but went further, saying, "Rich people don't make jobs. Innovators make jobs. Small businesses make jobs. Not big business. We’ve given the top 200 corporations and average of a million dollars each in tax cuts in this last legislature. Did they invest that million dollars or did they give their CEO a bonus? You check the CEO compensation. It is an embarrassment. It is ridiculous. They cut jobs when they can."12

Opposed Estate Tax Repeal: In May 2013, Queen voted against a bill that would repeal the state's estate tax.13

Was Open to 50-Cent Increase in Cigarette Tax: In a 2002 press interview, Queen said he was "definitely considering" supporting a Senate bill that would have increased the state's cigarette tax by 50 cents, saying "I think it makes a lot of sense."14

9 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/9861-clear-sailing-ahead-for-haywood-room-tax-hike 10 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/10019-parrying-between-tourism-interests-slows-progress-on-tourism-tax-bill 11 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/14465-class-warfare-looms-in-debate-over-state-tax-reform 12 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/18542-queen-clampitt-third-time-s-a-charm 13 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y 14 https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/1030ncsenate47-php/

11

Opposed Tax on Entertainment Venues: In 2014, a 4.75% "privilege" tax was levied on "any live performance or other live event, motion pictures or films, a museum or cultural site, garden, exhibit, show, guided tour or similar attraction." Queen opposed the tax, and slammed Republicans for cutting taxes on "big business" and shifting that burden to entertainment, tourism, and non-profit entities.15

Wants to Expand Cigarette Tax to Vape Products: In 2015, Queen expressed his support for subjecting vapor tobacco products to the state cigarette tax.16

Pro-Abortion; Opposed Subjecting Abortion Clinics to Licensing Requirements of Other Surgical Centers: Queen is pro-abortion, repeatedly voting against abortion regulations that come before the General Assembly, including a bill preventing sex-selective abortions.17 In 2013, Queen opposed legislation that among other things would have authorized the state Department of Health to choose which of the state's licensing requirements for ambulatory surgical centers should be applied to abortion clinics. Queen said while all medical facilities have room for improvement, he said, "what we are doing here is using government power to reduce access to quality care. Access to quality care is what creates safety."18

Queen also called efforts to defund Planned Parenthood an "assault" that was "ideologically driven" and that "some legislators are willing to throw women's rights away to curry favor with special interests."19

Opposed Religious Freedom Bill: In 2015, Queen opposed legislation that would authorize officials to decline to perform

15 https://smokymountainnews.com/aae/item/13390-new-state-tax-hits-entertainment-venues 16 http://bpr.org/post/legislative-wrap-rep-joe-sam-queen 17 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y 18 https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/07/11/liveblog-house-debate-on-abortion-bill-sb-353/ 19 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/8871-where-state-candidates-stand-abortion-and-women’s-health

12

wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples if it violated their religious beliefs.20

Called Rejecting Medicaid Expansion "Dumbest Thing": Queen is a strong supporter of Medicaid expansion, as authorized under Obamacare. The Republican-led General Assembly has refused to expand the program, which Queen called "the dumbest thing I've ever seen", arguing that because North Carolinians pay federal taxes, it is only right to bring those funds back to the state. He also claims it would create 50,000 jobs.21

Supported Anti-Civil Liberties Bill That would Collect DNA from Individuals Arrested for Certain Crimes: In 2010, Queen backed a law that would automatically collect and store into a database DNA samples of individuals merely arrested - and not necessarily charged - with murder, rape, burglary, kidnapping, or cyberstalking. Civil libertarians argue the law is unconstitutional and violates individual right to privacy. Queen said it was a "tool to solve crimes quicker, more effectively and the public will be well-served by this." Queen also noted that arrested individuals who are found innocent will have their DNA expunged from the database.22

Queen's Property Manager Late to Install Required Carbon Monoxide Detectors: In 2009, the General Assembly passed a law requiring landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors in rental properties with oil or gas furnaces, gas appliances, fireplaces, or attached garages, effective January 1, 2010. One article quoted Dawn Johnson, property manager for a large number of rental properties owned by Queen in Haywood County. Johnson said she only found out about the law after reading about it in an April edition of a town newsletter and it took until June 2010 to install detectors in all of her firm's units.23

20 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y 21 http://bpr.org/post/their-words-rep-joe-sam-queen 22 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/376-dna-testing-for-crime-suspects-sparks-ethics-debate 23 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/438-landlords-show-spotty-compliance-with-new-carbon-monoxide-law

13

14

Skipped Session/Vote on Bathroom Bill: In March 2016, the General Assembly, in special session, passed HB 2 a controversial bill requiring individuals to use public bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity. Queen was absent from the session and told the press he thought the session was "a complete farce" and "this was grandstanding in a shameful way."24 When asked about the transgender bill in 2016, he ranted against it claiming it cost the state a billion dollars and "legalizes discrimination” and that he would vote for repeal in a heartbeat.25

Opposed Voter ID Requirement: In 2013, North Carolina passed a law requiring voters present a photo ID in order to vote and restricted its early voting period. Queen railed against the bill as "voter suppression" and a "shameful attempt to strip constitutional voting rights" on Facebook and Twitter.26

NIMBY: Opposed Creation of Wind Farm - Slammed as Hypocrite: In 2010, Queen was criticized for opposing commercial wind energy development in western North Carolina. Queen had introduced a bill that would prohibit buildings (i.e. wind turbines) from exceeding 40 feet in height, with an exception for residential windmills. Queen said the windmills his opponent supported would have been much taller and would "destroy" jobs in Mitchell County, which relies on tourism, construction, and real estate for its economy. He argued destroying the views would create job losses and lower property values. His opponent criticized Queen for wanting to keep commercial wind energy out of his backyard after supporting legislation creating a renewable energy portfolio standard, essentially mandating its use.27

Voted against Bill Lifting Motorcycle Helmet Requirement after Remembering Visit with "Mentally Retarded": In 2013, a bill was introduced that would have lifted the requirement that 24 https://carolinapublicpress.org/24611/law-strips-employees-right-to-sue-over-any-discrimination/ 25 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/18542-queen-clampitt-third-time-s-a-charm 26 See “Social Media” section of this report for relevant screenshots.27 https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/joe-sam-queen-running-against-the-wind-in-senate-47/

15

all motorcycle riders over the age of 21 wear a helmet. Queen said he would have voted for the bill, but then recalled visiting a counseling session "for what I thought were mentally retarded folks getting mental health services. Out of about a dozen folks in the room, a good half were regular guys I grew up with who had motorcycle wrecks and were severely brain damaged.”28

28 https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/05/10/motorcycle-helmet-bill-crashes-in-committee/

16

Opposes School Vouchers: In September 2016, Queen re-tweeted a tweet from a fellow legislator that said funding for school vouchers should have gone to public schools.

In 2014, he re-tweeted a tweet that had a link explaining why vouchers are unconstitutional.29

Opposed School Reform Bill to Improve Low-Performing Schools: In 2016, the House passed a bill temporarily removing five of the state's lowest-performing public schools from their districts, placing them under the supervision of an "Achievement School District" that would allow charter school-like flexibility and management. Queen opposed the bill, saying "we don't need to look to operators to take over our public school boards. We just need the commitment to support our public school boards all across this state, with public policies and funding for a quality teacher in every classroom — and a high quality principal in every school.”30

Opposed Providing Free EpiPens to Schools: During the 2014 campaign, Queen was attacked for opposing an effort to supply schools with EipPens, which treat serious allergic reactions. Queen countered that the Epipen bill was loaded with "poison pill" items that he had to oppose.31

Backed $12 Million Package to Save Paper Mill: In 2014, Queen backed a bill giving $12 million to a paper mill plant in Queen's district. The plant needed the funds to upgrade its coal-fired boilers to natural gas in order to meet stricter industrial air pollution limits.32

King of Pork, Even Secured Funds out of Office: During his two years as a state senator, Queen got $20 million to preserve 4,000 acres on Lake James as a state park. He also secured $105 29 See “Social Media” section of this report for relevant screenshots.30 https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/achievement-school-district-measure-passes-house-heads-to-senate/ 31 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14337-n-c-house-candidates-queen-and-clampitt-draw-distinctions-during-debate 32 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14140-evergreen-gets-its-green-lawmakers-approve-12-million-for-natural-gas-upgrades-in-canton

17

million for a health and aging research center in western North Carolina. In addition, he secured a $100,000 economic development earmark for Yancey County. In fact, despite being voted out of the state senate in 2004, Queen helped to secure a $100,000 earmark in the state budget for the International Folkmoot Festival. Queen also helped to secure the same amount for the Penland School of Crafts, despite being out of office.33

Supported Repealing Common Core: Interestingly, Queen voted for a bill that would repeal the state's Common Core curriculum standards.34

Supported Ban on Video Sweepstakes: In 2010, Queen voted to close a loophole in the state's video poker ban that permitted video sweepstakes terminals. Operators that had paid $2,500 for business license fees would not be entitled to refunds as a result of the banning of the terminals. While Queen has hammered Republicans for opposing Medicaid expansion despite supposed economic benefits it would bring to the state, Queen rejected arguments that regulating video gaming could bring half a billion dollars a year to the state, calling it a "predatory" industry and a "scourge."35

Missed Vote on Bill Requiring Approval to Remove Historical Monuments: In 2015, Queen did not vote on SB 22, a bill requiring legislative approval prior to removing certain historical monuments.36

Supported Controversial Town Annexation: Queen has supported efforts to merge the Lake Junaluska community with the town of Waynesville. Opponents of the annexation have complained that the merger was being foisted upon unwilling property owners.37

33 https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/11371-how-high-on-the-totem-pole-each-with-two-years-of-experience-under-their-belts-presnell-and-queen-vie-for-nc-senate 34 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y 35 https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/307-lawmakers-close-loophole-in-video-poker-ban 36 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y 37 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/11154-lake-junaluska-merger-bill-off-the-table-indefinitely

18

Backed Plan to Monitor Large Water User Usage: In response to a severe drought, in 2008, then-Governor Mike Easley proposed requiring large private water users in business, industry, and agriculture to register with the state and report monthly their water usage. The plan would also allow the state to require additional reporting as necessary during periods of drought. This proposal raised concerns that the government was using the drought to expand governmental powers and threaten private property rights. Queen said he wasn't interested in monitoring family wells, but said there needed to be an "inventory of water users" so the state could develop a "balanced and fair plan into the future." When asked about whether the real purpose of the monitoring would be to generate additional revenues and expand "smart growth" initiatives, Queen said, "I can't predict the future."38

Supported Bill Requiring Alternative and Complementary Health Providers to Be Licensed: In 2007, Queen cosponsored a bill that would require all complementary and alternative health-care practitioners in the state to be licensed.39

Fought to Keep Old Prison Open: In 2009, Queen fought to keep Hazelwood Prison, a minimum security prison, in Waynesville open. Small, older prisons such as Hazelwood are more expensive to maintain and operate than larger, newer prisons. Queen said it was important to keep those incarcerated close to their families.40

Opposed Bill to Prevent Lottery Winners from Collecting Welfare: In June 2016, Queen voted no on a bill that would require the state lottery commission to report winner information to social services.41

38 https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/drought-relief-impacts-property-rights/ 39 https://mountainx.com/opinion/041107bennett/ 40 https://www.smokymountainnews.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1855:prison-to-remain-open-but-future-not-rosy&Itemid=424 41 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y

19

Supported Drug Testing Welfare Applicants: In 2013, Queen voted for HB 392, a bill authorizing drug testing for Work First program applicants.42

Introduced Broadband Access Welfare Bill: In 2010, Queen sponsored a bill appropriating $25,000 so the state could apply to participate in Lifeline Online, an FCC program that gives substantial discounts on broadband Internet service costs to welfare-participating families. One site criticized the bill by giving perverse incentives for individuals to stay on welfare while passing on the cost to taxpayers.43

Speaker at Pro-Obamacare Rally: In March 2017, Queen was scheduled to speak at the Sylva "March for Health" rally in support of healthcare access and "gains" made under the Affordable Care Act.44

Supported Requiring E-Verify: In 2009, Queen cosponsored a bill requiring employers to use the federal E-Verify program or similar program for new employees operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to screen employees to ensure they were eligible to work in the U.S.45

Criticized on Message Board as Elitist, Corrupt: In a long thread from 2010 on a Waynesville message board, Queen was slammed by several commenters for holding a fancy fundraiser featuring strawberries and wine while the people of his district were hurting and struggling to make ends meet. Numerous commenters also criticized Queen for being "silent" on a host of other issues and controversies in the Democratic Party. Several folks also accused Queen about caring more for special interest groups that help to finance his campaigns.46

Despite Massive Spending, Lost Senate Re-Election Race: In 2006, Queen lost his re-election bid for Senate District 47,

42 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y 43 https://www.nccivitas.org/2010/sb-1441-broadband-new-welfare/ 44 https://mountainx.com/blogwire/march-for-health-planned-for-april-1-in-sylva/ 45 https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/week_two_in_the_legislature_four_year_terms_in_the_future/ 46 http://www.topix.com/forum/city/waynesville-nc/TPT5CJ5VT9FMB231H/joe-sam-queen-how-bad-can-it-get

20

despite the fact that Democrats spent $650,000 to defend Queen, while Republicans only spent about $150,000.47

Influenced by Realtor PAC?: In 2007,Queen said a campaign contribution made by a realtors political action committee after he was elected was not the reason he opposed letting local voters decide whether to adopt a property-transfer tax in their counties.48

Wants Constitutional Convention to Overturn Citizens United Decision: In 2015, Queen sponsored a resolution pushing an amendment calling for a constitutional convention to overturn the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, which struck down certain restrictions on corporate spending in elections, finding that corporate entities have free speech rights.49 In a March 2015 tweet, Queen claimed "Money is not speech and corporations are not people. We must get dark money out of politics."50

Supports Election by Popular Vote: In 2007, Queen voted for a Senate bill that would include North Carolina in a compact with other states requiring them to award their electoral votes in a presidential election to the winner of the national popular vote.51

47 https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion-article/talking-about-last-summer-again/ 48 https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/the_battle_of_the_wallet_bulge/ 49 https://carolinapublicpress.org/22090/at-the-ncga-a-tide-of-bills-regarding-annexation-school-calendars-era/ 50 See “Social Media” section of this report for relevant screenshots.51 https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y

21

Social Media:Facebook:Personal page: https://www.facebook.com/joesam.queen

Of note:

Supporting Medicaid expansion:

22

Defended his vote in 2014 against teacher pay raise:

23

Queen imposter?:

Campaign page:Queen has had a campaign Facebook page since February 2012. Many of the posts here are identical to his tweets, some of which have been documented below: https://www.facebook.com/joesamqueennc/

Posts of note:

Accused his 2014 opponent of wanting to “suppress” the votes of college students:

24

Railed against the 2014 budget which provided a large pay increase for teachers because Queen argued it raised fees and made budget cuts in other essential areas and forced teachers to give up their tenure:

25

Opposing gerrymandering:

Twitter:Queen has had a Twitter account since March 2010: https://twitter.com/joesamqueennc?lang=en

He hasn’t been extremely active, posting only 847 times over the past eight years, beginning in 2013. He did the bulk of his tweeting in 2013 and 2014. He didn’t post at all in 2017 and has only posted twice in 2018. He has 1,465 followers as of 5/14/2018:

Of note:

26

Opposed to gerrymandering:

Re-tweeted tweet opposing school vouchers:

27

Opposing Citizens United decision claims money is not speech:

Opposing fracking:

28

Promoted by Planned Parenthood:

Shaming GOP for opposing Medicaid expansion:

29

Opposed photo ID requirement for voting as “voter suppression”:

30

Opposing additional regulations on abortion clinics:

Instagram:Queen has an Instagram account, but has only posted 32 pictures on the social media website, though he has amassed 442 followers as of 5/14/2018:

https://www.instagram.com/joesamqueennc/

None of the photos are particularly controversial, though there was this one expressing his support for Medicaid expansion:

31

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-sam-queen-7b66a376/

32

33

34

Campaign Website:https://www.joesamqueen.com

About:

CANDIDATE

Education

TUSCOLA HIGH SCHOOL - Class of 1968 - President of the Student Body

35

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY - Architecture, 1972

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY - Master of Architecture, 1974

North Carolina Legislature

NORTH CAROLINA SENATE MEMBER - 2006-2010

NORTH CAROLINA SENATE MEMBER - 2002-2004

NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE MEMBER - 2012-2016

Civic & Cultural Boards Served

President, Haywood County Arts Council

President, Voices in the Laurel Youth Choir

Director, Haywood Regional Medical Center Foundation

Director, Appalachian Music and Dance Preservation Society

Director, Folkmoot USA

Director, Western North Carolina Tomorrow

Director, Haywood Arts Repertory Theatre (HART)

Director, Friends of Mountain History

Director, Advantage West, North Carolina

Director, North Carolina Progress Board

Director, Daniel Boone Council of Boy Scouts of America

Professional Accomplishments

• Teaching Fellow, North Carolina State University

• Architect for: HRMC Fitness Center, Haywood Arts Repertory Theater, Maggie Valley Country Club, Folkmoot Friendship Center, Carolina Conveying Corporate Headquarters in the East Haywood Industrial Park

Civic Activities & Affiliations

36

Director of the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival for 46 years

Producer and Caller for the Summer Street Dances on Main Street, Waynesville, for 47 years

Coordinator of the Haywood County Visioning Process as Haywood 2000 Board Member

Campaign Chair, HRMC Fitness Center, raising over $3 million

Member and Paul Harris Fellow, Waynesville Rotary

Scout Master, Troop 321, Waynesville

Blue Ridge National Heritage Area participant and contributor

Memberships

Sons of the American Revolution, Chapter President, State Historian

Downtown Waynesville Association

Haywood County Chamber of Commerce

Wilderness Trail, Inc.

Haywood Historic Society

Leadership Giving Circle of United Way

Friends of Scouting

North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry

Member, Haywood Heritage Council

Member, Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Member, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce

Member, Swain County Chamber of Commerce

Member, Haywood Chamber of Commerce

Awards

37

Voted "Most Effective Freshman Democrat" in the North Carolina Senate

North Carolina REAL Advocate of the Year for Real Entrepreneurial Education

North Carolina Business Incubator Society Legislator of the Year

Legislative Advocate Award for Mountain Micro Loan Enterprises

North Carolina Legislative Advocate Award for Civic Education

Outstanding Legislator of the year for Conservation, The Green Tie Award

The Outstanding Planning Award from the American Planning Association

JOBS

https://www.joesamqueen.com/services/

Support for Regional Manufacturing, Agriculture, Construction, Entrepreneurs, Service & Hospitality.

"We must pursue a vision for a strong, dynamic, and broad-based economy that is well-stocked with locally owned, locally grown enterprises." ~ Joe Sam Queen

Dedicated to strong job growth locally. Working for a robust economy that works for all. Advocating for good jobs and strong wages for us in the mountains.

As a Legislator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

Creating the new WNC Livestock Center

Growing Heritage Tourism

Pioneering the Trout Heritage Cities program

Promoting small town farmer's markets and small town revitalization projects

38

Supporting Cherokee gaming opportunities, leading to hundreds of local jobs

Cutting taxes for small business owners and small farm producers

Establishing the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area

Strongly advocating for the expansion of broadband access across the mountains

Funding Advantage West in its work to diversify our economy

As a trusted, local professional, expect dedication

The economy of our mountains is changing. We must pursue a vision for a strong, dynamic, and broad-based economy with locally owned and locally grown enterprises. The result will be a sustainable economy, flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities that a changing world provides. Such an economy will provide security and opportunity for us all. To do this, we have to invest in our schools, our infrastructure and our citizens.

As an architect, I strongly support equity built housing and quality development while insisting our growth is smart and responsible, protecting clean air, clean water, and natural beauty — assets we all share in and benefit from.

We should encourage high-quality heritage tourism, emphasizing mountain hospitality and our authentic regional character.

My record as Legislator and a Board Member of Advantage West attest to my commitment to the vision of building a strong job-creating economy essential for real family security here in the mountains

EDUCATION

https://www.joesamqueen.com/clients/

Education is THE foundation.

39

"To have a bright future, we must renew our historic commitment to be second-to-none in education opportunity." ~ Joe Sam Queen

Put your trust in an education leader

Education is the foundation of our economy and our society. To have a bright future, we must renew our commitment to educational opportunities across the board.

Lifelong learning opportunities are critical for the people of Western North Carolina to be competitive in a rapidly changing world and we must invest wisely in all aspects of education including technological infrastructures such as access to computers and high-speed Internet.

We must work to see that our children start school healthy and ready to learn. We must also ensure that when they arrive, we have invested in enough quality teachers to keep their classroom sizes small and effective.

Our community colleges are extraordinary and have shown phenomenal growth in recent years. These schools are vital to all students, from college-aged to mid-career professionals to displaced workers. Investment in our community college system is essential in building a strong, local, and responsive economy that will assure a prosperous future for the mountains.

Our state university system is a source of strength and economic leadership for our people. We must renew this state's constitutional commitment to keep tuition affordable and accessible to all our students. We must support WCU to be our region's Center of Excellence for higher education.

As a Legislator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

Making WCU a leader in the fields of Health and Aging with the new Health and Human Science Building as part of the Millennial Initiative

40

Securing hundreds and thousands of dollars in grants to fund innovative dropout prevention programs for our mountain schools

Obtaining funding and additional teachers for small, geographically isolated mountain schools critical to their communities

Funding millions of dollars for graduate nursing and education programs serving Western North Carolina

Expanding state-funded scholarship programs for our community college and university students

The passage of the recent Bond Issue to build a State of the Art Science Building at Western Carolina University

Recruiting and retaining a high quality teacher for every classroom and an effective principal leading every school

TESTIMONIALS

“As a legislator, Joe Sam Queen’s work for WCU has been exceptionally effective, as have his efforts to preserve our natural and cultural heritage here in the mountains.”

— DAN PATILLO, RETIRED WCU BIOLOGY PROFESSOR, FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE BARTRAM TRAIL SOCIETY AND THE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA ALLIANCE

“Every small town is the sum of its opportunities. Joe Sam Queen understands the hard work necessary to build and maintain healthy, vital communities offering opportunities to all.”

— JOE COWAN, JACKSON COMMISSIONER, FORMER SUPERINTENDENT OF JACKSON COUNTY SCHOOLS AND BOARD MEMBER OF SOUTHWESTERN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

“Public education is the foundation of our economy. Joe Sam Queen has proven his commitment to our public schools and community colleges, providing educational opportunities for all.”

41

— BRENDA OLIVER, CIVIC LEADER, RETIRED EIGHT-TERM MAYOR OF SYLVA.

“Joe Sam Queen will be a voice for sanity in Raleigh.”

— KEVIN BROCK

“We need more Joe Sam Queens.”

— MAGGIE JONES, TURTLE ISLAND POTTERY

“Backing Joe Sam Queen all the way!”

— CECILE KNOX MEDFORD

“Please keep fighting for us!”

— JESSICA ELD

“Always a man of the people!”

— TOM KNAPKO

“Your zest for life and tireless fight for those of us in your region are my favorite things about you.”

— MONA GERSKY

HEALTHCARE

https://www.joesamqueen.com/pageh/

Quality Healthcare Access.

Advocating to expand Medicaid and to stop wasting over 10 million dollars a year just from Haywood, Jackson and Swain Counties.

Dedicated to providing 800 new jobs this year!

"I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, from infancy to old age."

~ Joe Sam Queen

Put your trust in our experienced leadership

42

Despite wonderful achievements in healthcare, there's much work to be done. Few things have a greater impact on real family security than access to healthcare. It impacts our ability to care for our loved ones as they age and our ability to ensure a healthy and promising future for our children. I believe that quality healthcare should be affordable and accessible for each of our citizens.

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles from infancy to old age, including investments in community recreation facilities for citizens of all ages.I will back our own state employee health care coverage and hold it up as a model for others. It is my belief that investing in preventative healthcare is our wisest long-term strategy. This includes advancing our region as the leader for North Carolina in wellness and aging research. I am deeply committed to health care, as well as the healthcare economy and all its critical aspects for a bright future here in the mountains.

As a Legislator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

Securing over $100 million to establish the NC Center on Health and Aging

Providing funding to make North Carolina a national leader in cancer research

Expanding by 40% the number of children eligible for health coverage

Supporting the successful efforts to save Haywood Regional Medical Center

The continuing struggle to expand Medicaid to allow over 10 million dollars a year of our tax dollars to serve over 15,000 of our citizens, here in Haywood, Jackson and Swain, with their healthcare needs. Currently, the money is being wasted and the citizens are not being served. "It's Unbelievable."

43

Blue Ridge Public Radio: In Their Words: Rep. Joe Sam Queen (4/14/2015)http://bpr.org/post/their-words-rep-joe-sam-queen

We’ve been hearing from area lawmakers over the past week. Many were home last week for their version of spring break and that gave us a chance to speak with many of them. Today we hear from Joe Sam Queen. He’s a Democrat representing Haywood, Jackson, and Swain counties in the state House.

Area Democrats are not backing down on their call for the state to expand Medicaid, something the Republican-led General Assembly has refused to do. Queen says North Carolinians are already footing the bill.

“Because North Carolinians pledge allegiance to the flag, the republic for which it stands and they pay their taxes. And this General Assembly and this governor are denying 50,000 jobs that we’ve paid for. So now, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anything as dumb as that, but I never have in government. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.”

The federal government would cover the cost of expanded Medicaid for a few more years and then would cover 90 percent of the cost. Meanwhile, Queen says North Carolinians are paying for the healthcare of residents in states that have expanded. You can hear more from Queen on Medicaid expansion in the segment below:

North Carolina legislators recently opened the state to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The controversial drilling method has made boomtowns in places like Pennsylvania and Wyoming but has also contaminated water and even led to an uptick in earthquakes in places like Oklahoma. The prospects for oil in this state are still relatively low, however, and so there’s not been much activity, if any. But many are still concerned, including Rep. Queen.

44

“When you poison your water, it’s poisoned. It’s forever. And water is needed for every generation. So it is immoral and stupid beyond belief… greedy, and I don’t even get these Republicans doing this. I don’t think that bad of them. Surely they’re smarter than this, I say.”

If drilling were to occur, it would likely happen in Lee and Chatham Counties, where subterranean shale formations are believed to hold natural gas. You can hear more from Rep. Queen on fracking in North Carolina in the segment below:

Those are just a few of the topics we discussed in our interview. Queen also speaks about the gas tax, business incentives, the proposal for Waynesville to annex Lake Junaluska, and a bill he's sponsored dealing with raw milk. You can find all of that in our full conversation by clicking the audio at the top of this story.

This conversation was among a series we've had with area lawmakers in the past week. Others include: Rep. Brian Turner, Sen. Terry Van Duyn, Rep. John Ager, and Rep. Susan Fisher.

*WCQS reached out to members of both parties in the same manner, with a phone call to both office and home numbers listed on the lawmakers' websites and with a message to their legislative email accounts. We have so far interviewed all 5 Democrats: Representatives Brian Turner, John Ager, Susan Fisher and Joe Sam Queen and Senator Terry Van Duyn. We've received no confirmations from among the 4 Republicans we reached out to: Representatives Chuck McGrady, Josh Dobson, Michelle Presnell and Senator Tom Apodaca. So far, we have heard from Sen. Apodaca's office letting us know he is unavailable, and Rep. Dobson's office telling us he is in Raleigh working on the budget.

Legislative Wrap: Rep. Joe Sam Queen (10/16/2015)http://bpr.org/post/legislative-wrap-rep-joe-sam-queen

45

WCQS is conducting a series of interviews with area lawmakers about the recently-completed legislative session. Our series continues today with Rep. Joe Sam Queen, a Democrat representing Haywood, Jackson, and Swain counties. Queen is in his sixth term at the General Assembly. He said this session lacked leadership and vision. Our full conversation is above. And you can hear some of the highlights in the segments below.

In the budget passed by both chambers and signed by Governor Pat McCrory, major changes were made to North Carolina's tax system. Corporate tax rates were allowed to further decline. The threshold for income to where income taxes would be applied was raised, effectively lowering income tax rates. To pay for it, sales taxes were expanded to some services like the labor for auto repairs. The expanded sales taxes would also be distributed in primarily rural counties, where urban counties would see no benefit. Queen says the system benefits the rich at the expense of the average citizen.

Joe Sam Queen says the worst thing this legislature is doing is declining to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But the legislature did complete a revamp of North Carolina's Medicaid system. If approved by the federal government, the system of care would go from provider-led to a hybrid mix of provider care and private insurance. Queen is no fan of the changes.

At the end of the session, the two chambers agreed to allow for more job incentive grant money - the Job Development Investment Grants, or JDIG. Governor Pat McCrory had implored the legislature for the funds since before the session even started more than 8 months ago. Queen says he's in favor of job investment, but he says the JDIG expansion was just a way for the governor to land a big project that he could take credit for.

One initiative Queen took that he hopes to revive during the short session in April involves vapor tobacco products. He says while "vape" products are treated as tobacco products, they aren't subject to the state cigarette tax. He'd like to change that.

46

There's much more in the full conversation at the top of the page. You'll be able to hear from more area lawmakers in the coming days and weeks, and links to the ones we've already aired are below.

WNC Bataan Death March Survivor Receives State's Top Honor (3/31/2017)http://bpr.org/post/wnc-bataan-death-march-survivor-receives-states-top-honor

In the dining hall of the VA Community Living Center in Asheville, 96 year old Wayne Carringer sat tall in his wheelchair, stationed next to the podium, where former State Representative Joe Sam Queen, recalled the brutal highlights of his distinguished military career

“He has lived the blood and guts of history, and served admirably “Former State Representative Joe Sam Queen told the crowd.

The Graham county native had been stationed in the Philippines for just two weeks when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941. Soon after he was sent to the Bataan Peninsula where he fought on the front lines until Bataan was taken over by the Japanese.

HC: Do you remember that moment when you were captured?

“It was terrible to lose your freedom I really didn’t understand what was about to happen, it's probably a good idea that I didn't. ” says Carringer.

Carringer was among the thousands of American and Filipino solders forced to make a treacherous 65 mile march to prison camps, known as the Bataan death march. He was a POW for nearly three and a half years, his weight dropping to under 100 pounds, learning him the name ghost soldier.

HC: How did you survive?

47

“First, my confidence in God,” says Carringer, “my second is my country, my third fellow man and the fourth in in myself. “

When he finally made it home, back to North Carolina, Carringer started a family, a business and continued his service to the community, a longtime active member of the American Legion and the Masons, and a volunteer counselor at the VA. A lifetime of service that, was recognized with the state’s highest honor, The Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

“Congratulations Wayne” (crowd applauds)

After the service, the honoree was humbled about his award, but did share a few words of advice...

“Never give up,” says Carringer, “today’s going to be good, and tomorrow’s going to be better. “

And then with the award in hand, Carringer was off, he had work to do and plans for a hamburger lunch with a buddy.

“How do you like your burger?

“I like fries, and no cheese”

Democrat Joe Sam Queen Announcement Sets Up Rematch in Closest NC House Race from 2016 (9/26/2017)http://bpr.org/post/democrat-joe-sam-queen-announcement-sets-rematch-closest-nc-house-race-2016

Waynesville Democrat Joe Sam Queen lost the most closely-contested state legislative race in 2016. Fewer than 300 votes separated him and Bryson City Republican Mike Clampitt. Now Queen says he'll try to win back his seat from Clampitt in 2018. It will be the fourth contest between the two in the 118th district, which includes Jackson, Swain, and Haywood Counties. Queen won the first two before losing in 2018. He spoke with BPR's Jeremy Loeb about why he's running again.

48

Queen attributed his 2016 loss to the wave election of Donald Trump.

"There is a good reason for Trump voters to be angry, disappointed, frustrated... They just don't know who to be angry, disappointed and frustrated with."

Queen says he thinks things could be different in 2018, saying he's spent a lot of time listening, and noting he gets support from Democrats and Republicans alike. He's calling for the expansion of Medicaid and increased funding for education. And he says a top priority for him if elected would be pushing for universal high-speed internet for western North Carolina. He says Clampitt hasn't been part of the problem rather than the solution in North Carolina and had harsh words for the GOP majority.

"They have no plan for expanding broadband because they're in the pocket of Time Warner and Charter and AT&T on that issue. We need universal broadband. They're in the pocket of Duke Energy. We need lower cost, greener, sustainable energy."

Queen said he'd work hard to keep fracking out of the state, noting the trout fishing industry in WNC as something to be protected. Queen's announcement instantly makes NC House 118 one of the most closely-watched legislative races for 2018, with Democrats hoping to win enough seats to at least get rid of the veto-proof supermajority Republicans now enjoy.

You can hear the full interview with Queen by clicking the above audio. BPR has reached out to Mike Clampitt for a response. In the meantime, you can listen to an earlier interview with him below, as well as previous interviews with Joe Sam Queen.

49

Carolina Journal: Talking About Last Summer, Again (3/2/2006)https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion-article/talking-about-last-summer-again/

I don’t know that 2006 will feature more movie sequels than ever before. I can’t find a comprehensive guide with which to test the proposition. But it wouldn’t surprise me. There are dozens of sequels and remakes scheduled for release this year, either in theaters or direct-to-DVD, including both the sublime (Pirates of the Caribbean 2, X-Men 3: The Last Stand, and Bambi 2) and the ridiculous (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Police Academy 8, and I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer).

...Another key rematch to watch in the Senate will be District 47, encompassing several mountain counties, where former county commissioner Keith Presnell, a Republican, defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Sam Queen in 2004 in a race that really sucked up the campaign cash. Democrats spent an astounding $635,000 trying to defend Queen, while Republicans spent about $150,000. The 2006 contest is again Presnell vs. Queen. Will Democrats spend the same or more money on the race? It’s a moderately Republican district, so they’ll have to in order to prevail.

Drought Relief Impacts Property Rights (3/24/2008)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/drought-relief-impacts-property-rights/

Gov. Mike Easley’s recently released legislative plan for drought relief — which includes new water conservation, efficiency mandates, and expanded enforcement authority — has stirred concerns that the initiative might violate private property rights.

Under Easley’s proposal, large private water users in business, industry, and agriculture would have to register with the state and report monthly their water usage. The plan, released March 11, also calls for the state to identify “all other large water

50

users” and would grant the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources the authority to “require additional reporting as necessary during periods of drought.”

Opponents contend the governor is using the drought to expand governmental powers and exercise greater control over the lives of N.C. citizens.

Chad Adams, director of the Center for Local Innovation, said the registration and monitoring of private water sources has the “look and feel of Cuba and can turn neighbor against neighbor.”

“State officials are making decisions without having a good understanding of water issues,” Adams said.

Purpose of monitoring

At the end of February, aides from the governor’s office met with lawmakers, including members of the state Senate’s Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee, to discuss drought relief. According to Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, one of the governor’s aides, Franklin Freeman, said the proposal “could include the monitoring of private well-water users by metering and fining.”

Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, a member of the committee, said he understood from the discussion that “only private wells of large water users in business, agriculture, and industry, might be monitored, not family wells.” In fact, Queen said, “I do not know a single legislator of either party who is interested in monitoring the family well.”

Queen said he agrees that there needs to be an “inventory of water users” so the state can develop a “balanced and fair plan into the future.”

Both lawmakers were asked whether such a law could violate private property rights. “I would weigh those issues carefully,” Queen said, “and I agree that we need to look at everybody’s interests, not just special interests.”

51

Faison said monitoring private wells is a “bad idea. I would not only not support it but would oppose it should it become part of the governor’s proposal. I see no point to it. Water comes out of your well and goes back to the same site, not like surface water that comes from the watershed and is used, distributed, and discharged elsewhere.”

Jerad Bales, director of the N.C. Water Center in Raleigh, the local office of the U.S. Geological Survey, said there are two issues at work if the state is considering regulating private water users. First, the state needs to know what the groundwater level is. Second, the state needs to know the rate at which private well users are withdrawing the water to determine whether it can be sufficiently recharged.

Bales cited data from last year showing the state’s Coastal Plain had more water being pumped out than was being recharged. “Most municipal systems don’t draw their water from groundwater like private well owners do,” Bales said.

The USGS already has a network of wells scattered around the state to monitor groundwater levels in addition to surface monitoring systems. Many of these monitoring sites provide real-time data on groundwater levels. The wells range in depth from 30 to 460 feet below the land surface and penetrate different soil types, including bedrock.

When asked why the state would need to monitor private well owners, Bales acknowledged that the best way to determine true water levels was by means of unpumped wells, not pumped wells, but he said that “North Carolina has a thin groundwater network, unlike other states.”

After being pointed to specific site-monitoring data, Bales confirmed that groundwater levels have risen in some areas of the state even during the drought.

Critics wonder whether the real purpose of monitoring might be to generate additional revenues and expand “smart growth” initiatives. To that, Queen said,” I can’t predict the future.”

52

Faison, on the other hand, speculated the cost to implement such a measure might outweigh any expected revenues. “Who would pay for the cost of the meter? Would it be the state or the individual homeowner? If 40 percent of North Carolinians have private wells, that means an expenditure of $20 to $60 million, depending on the cost of the meter,” he said. “I can’t imagine any legislator would want private citizens to bear that cost. Then there’s the cost of collecting the self-reports of consumption. Who would audit?”

“The governor can propose,” Faison said, “but the legislators are the ones who make the bills. There’s no bill to talk about yet.”...

GOP Aims to Push Joe Sam Queen Out of Office (4/30/2010)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/gop-aims-to-push-joe-sam-queen-out-of-office/

A county commissioner, a mayor, and a self-described native mountain woman are lined up to take on state Sen. Joe Sam Queen, a Democrat from Haywood County.

Queen has represented Senate District 47, a Republican leaning district in the mountains and foothills, since 2004. He won his last bid for re-election by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin, and the results were even closer four years ago. In statewide races, though, voters opt for the GOP.

That’s stirred enough interest among Republicans to create a three-way primary. Neither McDowell County Commissioner Andy Webb nor Spruce Pine Mayor Ralph Hise has anything negative to say about their Republican primary opponent Tamera Frank’s stance on the issues, but each says his experience makes him the better man for the job.

Webb, who also owns a small business selling candy, pointed to 11 years of local government experience. As county commissioner, he’s “managed and approved budgets.” As an

53

economic development commissioner, he has traveled to several states to help “recruit companies,” offering them incentives to set up shop in McDowell County.

Webb said he’s challenged North Carolina floodplain maps and fought the Environmental Management Commission on placing buffers in mountain streams.

Hise, who also works as a community college administrator, said his experience as Mayor has given him “insight into what small communities and towns are doing.” He noted his master’s degree in higher education and his work as a statistician for the Census Bureau.

Hise also believes his age, 33, and his having young children give him insight many of the retirees in the senate don’t have.

“I can bring a perspective of raising a family and working in the community,” Hise said.

Frank, a “career Air Force wife,” describes her credentials on her website. “I’ve done time in family business and the factory,” she says. “I’ve been a waitress and a writer. I have planted trees and built local hiking trails. I’ve been a journalist, an airline agent, and a volunteer … I’ve even served burgers … and none of these am I ashamed of.”

Frank also worked as an adoption social worker. She said she learned the value of hard work growing up on a farm, picking up potatoes and planting tobacco. She claims she knows “what it’s like to empty the change jar so the check won’t bounce.”

“Very honestly, I probably have walked a mile in your shoes,” Frank writes.

On the issues

“I very much support both Tamera Frank and Andy Webb … On most issues we’re all very much in agreement,” said Ralph Hise.

According to their websites, it’s true – on most issues they agree. All three want fewer business regulations and lower taxes.

54

They’re also against buffer zones around mountain streams and support private development of the adjacent land. They all support the right of individuals and companies to put windmills and solar panels anywhere they want.

But the candidates do part company on education. Both Webb and Hise place public education at the top of their priority lists, while education is listed much lower on Frank’s prirority list.

Webb is a trustee at McDowell Community College. His wife is an elementary school principal. He also worked as a substitute teacher for a short time. Hise is a planning officer at Mayland Community College.

Both say education is key in creating economic opportunity.

“If we’re going to grow and develop and move forward as a region, we have to have greater education opportunities for individuals,” Hise said. “Extending charter schools, giving more options, more technical training, expanding community colleges to prepare people for jobs that are coming in the next decade.”

Frank calls herself a strong supporter of home-schooling and charter schools, but higher placement priorities include reducing — if not eliminating — income taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes and food taxes; restoring private property rights; and making it easier to carry a concealed handgun.

Tea Party supporter

All three candidates praised the grassroots Tea Party movement that has targeted government debt and wasteful spending.

“It’s refreshing that people are engaged and are taking a stand in support of our constitution and our personal freedoms,” Webb said. “They keep me on my toes. Those folks are inquisitive. They do their homework. They are passionate, like me, so I should not disrespect that at all.”

Hise says he’s been “very impressed” with the tea partiers. “I think it’s a group of individuals who are passionate and very

55

upset about increasing government invasion into their lives,” he said.

Tea parties tie in well with Frank’s message, and she says she loves the movement.

“It is a movement of we the people, a revolution of power coming back to all of us … We have too many politicians and too few patriots running our country. We have too much resume and too little guts and integrity,” she said.

Joe Sam Queen Running Against the Wind in Senate 47 (10/7/2010)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/joe-sam-queen-running-against-the-wind-in-senate-47/

The Democrat and Republican running for Senate District 47 seem to have reversed roles — the Democrat blocking a wind farm and the Republican calling for heavily subsidized jobs.

Republican Ralph Hise criticizes incumbent Sen. Joe Sam Queen for “trumpeting and celebrating the creation of government jobs,” but Hise advocates using government money to create “private sector” jobs in the renewable energy field.

Hise, the mayor of Spruce Pine, was excited last year about the prospect of a wind farm being built in his hometown.

“We were working to bring an $80 million investment in wind energy to Mitchell County, dealing with a company that was ready to sign,” Hise said.

But then state Sen. Joe Sam Queen introduced Senate Bill 1068, a bill Hise said would have banned “all commercial wind energy development in Western North Carolina because [Queen] didn’t like the way [wind turbines] were going to look.”

It’s true. Queen didn’t like the way wind turbines were going to look, but his bill died at the end of the short session and did not become law. Even if it had, it would not have blocked the

56

construction of 20 500-foot turbines. Instead, the 1983 Mountain Ridge Protection Act states that no building in the high mountains can be more than 40 feet tall.

Queen’s proposal made an exception for residential windmills, allowing them to exceed the height restriction by 60 feet.

The turbines Hise wants are three times as tall as the Sugar Mountain condos that prompted the Ridge Law, Queen said.

They would’ve been built “right down the center of a view shed that’s the most pristine and unique in the Eastern United States,” Queen said. “They would be seen by three counties, and they light them like airports at night.”

Queen said the wind farm wouldn’t create jobs; it would destroy them. He estimates tourism, construction, and real estate (mainly vacation homes) make up between 50 percent and 60 percent of the economy in Mitchell County.

“They’re all thriving based on the beautiful views of this wonderful place.”

Destroying the view, he believes, would result in a loss of “hundreds and hundreds” of jobs and property values to the county treasury.

Most importantly, he said, wind in the mountains isn’t consistent and blows at off-peak hours. The turbines would only be efficient about 30 percent of the time, he said.

The project wouldn’t replace any coal-fired energy, Queen said, and “wouldn’t even be considered if it weren’t being subsidized with 60 percent tax credits” — 30 percent from the federal government and 30 percent from the state.

Queen said the tax dollars would be better spent a few miles off the coast of Eastern North Carolina, where “the wind blows harder and more consistently.”

Daren Bakst, director of legal and regulatory studies for the John Locke Foundation, says both candidates are mistaken. Wind

57

energy isn’t a cost-effective option anywhere in North Carolina, Bakst said. And Queen is also wrong because wind power is even less efficient offshore than it is in the mountains.

“It’s far more expensive to generate electricity offshore than onshore,” Bakst said.

It wouldn’t reduce the use of coal and it would have the same negative impacts on tourism and real estate, he said.

Hise said it was hypocritical of Queen to try to keep commercial wind energy out of his own back yard, after supporting Senate Bill 3 — the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard — which essentially mandates its use.

“It’s a complete mistake for us to get into a system where we are as a state managing and regulating the types of energy we’re going to need,” Hise said. “That clearly should be managed by the free market.”

But as long as the mandate is in place, Hise said, his district needs to be competitive. If the state’s utilities have to buy renewable energy from somewhere, it might as well be from Western North Carolina.

Bakst said Hise would do better to work on repealing S.B. 3, rather than benefiting from it.

What neither candidate is taking into account, he said, is that all North Carolinians are paying higher electricity rates.

“People think jobs will solve all our problems,” Bakst said. “What they’re not seeing is we’re spending a fortune creating these jobs.”

Other issues

Hise said he supports lifting the cap on charter schools, repealing “restrictive” state gun laws, enacting laws to “better protect the unborn human life,” and exempting North Carolina from the federal health insurance mandate.

58

“The federal government clearly has overstepped its bounds,” Hise said. It is a violation of states’ rights and individuals’ rights for the federal government to step in and say any item must be purchased by an individual.”

“We have to send the message that we will not tolerate it,” he added.

To deal with the state’s estimated $3 billion budget deficit, Hise said he would cut back on administration.

“The state wastes a tremendous amount of money administering programs — from education to corrections and the judicial system,” he said.

Queen said he was not prepared to comment on questions about the budget deficit, the health insurance mandate, or the cap on charter schools.

Queen Loses Appeal of ‘Stand By Your Ad’ Lawsuit (11/21/2012)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/queen-loses-appeal-of-stand-by-your-ad-lawsuit/

State Rep.-elect Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, cannot collect damages worth three times the amount of money his 2010 state Senate opponent spent on television ads in their campaign. That’s the unanimous decision of a three-judge panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Appellate judges ruled that neither Queen nor Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, “fully complied” with the state’s 1999 Stand By Your Ad law. Because Queen could not show that he complied with the law while Hise violated it, Queen is entitled to no money in the case.

“As both plaintiff and defendants failed to provide proper disclosures of the joint sponsorship of television advertisements by both the candidate committee and the political party,

59

plaintiff’s claim is barred by the statutory tu quoque defense,” according to Judge Donna Stroud’s opinion. The tu quoque or “you too” defense essentially says that the plaintiff in the case engaged in the same conduct as the defendant.

Queen was the incumbent and Hise the challenger in the 2010 campaign for the N.C. Senate District 47 seat. Hise beat Queen with 56 percent of the 57,055 votes cast in the western North Carolina race.

Queen’s election committee filed suit in January 2011 against Hise’s committee and against the N.C. Republican Executive Committee. The suit contended that Hise and the GOP violated state law by failing to disclose properly that the Republican group had paid for TV ads identified as being sponsored by Hise’s campaign committee.

A Haywood County trial court ruled in the Republicans’ favor in December 2011. The three-judge appellate panel heard Queen’s appeal Oct. 10.

Stroud’s opinion noted some of the difficulties she and fellow appellate Judges Cheri Beasley and Rick Elmore faced in deciding the case. No prior case has interpreted the relevant Stand By Your Ad law provisions, “and given the ambiguity inherent in the statute,” Stroud wrote, “it is not surprising that plaintiff and defendants would come to slightly different understandings of the requirements of the statute.”

The appellate judges “do not mean to imply that either plaintiff or defendants intentionally violated” the law.

At issue is the 1999 state law designed to help voters know who’s responsible for the content of campaign messages they see, read, and hear in the media. Dubbed “Stand By Your Ad,” the law allows a candidate for office to recover damages of up to three times the amount of money spent on “improper” advertising that does not identify the ad’s sponsor correctly.

60

“The enforcement mechanism chosen by our legislature is unique in the world of election law,” Stroud notes in her opinion. “[I]t appears North Carolina has the only statute that provides candidates with a private cause of action against their opponents for advertising disclosure violations, rather than enforcement through government-enforced criminal or civil penalties.”

A candidate can collect money from his opponent only if the plaintiff in a lawsuit can prove that he violated none of the law’s disclosure requirements and that the defendant did commit violations.

The 2010 race between Queen and Hise featured “several hundred thousand dollars” of television ads. The Democratic and Republican parties paid to produce the ads for their respective candidates. In both cases, the parties paid the bulk of the bill for the TV ad campaigns. Democratic Party contributions covered 91 percent of Queen’s advertising, while Republican Party contributions paid for 84 percent of Hise’s advertising, according to the court opinion.

“Substantively, the only difference in the actions of the plaintiff and the defendants is that the Democratic Party ran the contributed funds briefly through the candidate’s campaign account before they were used for a media buy, while the Republican Party sent the funds directly to the media company to be held ‘in escrow’ for the candidate to be disbursed for a media buy only at the candidate’s discretion,” Stroud wrote.

Judges noted that funds Democrats transferred to Queen’s campaign account normally remained with Queen “no longer than several hours — once only 11 minutes” before heading to the company responsible for buying media air time.

Both Queen and Hise listed themselves or their campaign committees as the ad “sponsor” in the required on-air disclosure statements. Neither candidate listed his political party as an ad sponsor.

61

Stroud labels as “ambiguous” the provision in the law regarding proper identification of the ad’s sponsor. It’s not clear whether the General Assembly meant to include the party that paid to produce the ad, the party that bought the media air time, or both, Stroud wrote.

The appellate judges sided with the last option. “Air time without a message is white noise; the message is the only portion of an ‘advertisement’ with any substantive content,” Stroud wrote. “Failure to identify the entity which paid for the message’s production would be contrary to the primary purpose of the ‘Stand by Your Ad’ law.”

“We hold that payment of production costs for the ‘message,’ here the videos, constitutes part of the sponsorship of an ‘advertisement,’” under the law, the judge added. “Thus, for the ‘sponsors’ to be properly identified, all of the purchasers of both parts of the advertisement [production and air time] must be identified in the disclaimer.”

Since Queen did not identify the Democratic Party as a sponsor or co-sponsor of his ad, he did not qualify to seek damages in the case. The appellate judges did not address whether Hise and the Republicans followed the law in the method they used to pay for the media air time.

Since the appellate panel’s ruling was unanimous, the N.C. Supreme Court is not required to take the case. The state’s highest court could choose to take the case if Queen appeals.

While Hise’s 2010 victory knocked Queen out of the state Senate, both men will serve in the new General Assembly that convenes in Raleigh in January. Hise won re-election to Senate District 47, while Queen won an open race for House District 119.

62

Legislature Passes Coal Ash Cleanup, Adjourns Quietly (8/21/2014)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/legislature-passes-coal-ash-cleanup-adjourns-quietly/

For all the drama in the days leading up to the adjournment of the 2014 “short session” of the General Assembly, the final day proved anticlimactic. While Tuesday saw the House defeating an economic incentives plan pushed by House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, Wednesday saw a more subdued House approving a bipartisan coal ash cleanup bill, adopting a scaled down economic incentives bill to help a mountain paper mill plant convert its energy source to natural gas, and agreeing to leave for good — or at least until January 2015.

The Senate Wednesday night figuratively turned the lights off in the Legislative Building after adopting the same coal ash cleanup bill and approving a fix that preserves confidentiality of unemployment insurance information.

The coal ash compromise requires all coal ash ponds to be cleaned up within 15 years. However, not every pond will be cleaned up in the same manner, said Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson.

“A coal ash pond in the mountains is very different than a coal ash pond sitting at near sea level down in a bunch of water,” McGrady said. “They really need to be looked at separately.”

McGrady said the legislation requires Duke Energy, which owns the ponds, to develop cleanup plans for each individual pond.

“There are going to be some of these coal ash ponds that are dug up and put in landfills,” McGrady continued. “There are going to be some of these coal ash ponds that the ash is used for beneficial purposes for structural fill. I suspect there are going to be some of these coal ash ponds where the coal ash went dry will actually be burned again so that the coal ash has the chemical composition that can be used in cement.”

63

Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, said he originally thought that all coal ash ponds should be dug up, but changed his mind after touring some of them.

“You began to realize this is not a one-size-fits-all solution,” McKissick said.

The bill leaves undecided who will pay for the cost of the cleanup — Duke stockholders or its ratepayers.

Rep. Pricey Harrison, R-Guilford, said the bill was “a good step for our state to be taking,” but it didn’t go far enough. She said she wished that it had mandated that cleanup costs would not be borne by ratepayers.

Lawmakers critical of the measure said if ratepayers had to foot the costs of cleanup, average monthly power bills could increase by $20 to $30 a month.

The House also approved a bill, previously passed by the Senate, that would provide natural gas infrastructure to help an Evergreen Packaging paper mill in Haywood County convert the energy supply for its boilers from coal to natural gas. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had mandated the switch without providing the company money for the transition.

“This is an important infrastructure improvement in western North Carolina to a facility that has a 100-year history of providing great jobs and strong input into our communities,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood.

The Senate agreed with the House on a measure addressing a legal battle with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Unemployment Insurance over client confidentiality. Since 2004, the Employment Security Commission (now the Division of Employment Security) had sold attorneys who paid a monthly fee a list of contested unemployment insurance cases. USDOL said the practice violated the confidentiality of workers who lost their jobs.

64

Dale Folwell, assistant commerce secretary for employment security, initially increased the monthly fee, and then halted the practice entirely. An attorney who purchased the lists sued the state, claiming her practice would not survive if she couldn’t purchase the lists.

Employers in North Carolina could have faced a penalty charged on every employee if the issue had not been resolved.

“It reduces the risk to the state on any potential problems in giving out private information on potential beneficiaries,” said Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg.

Folwell said the court case on the issue is scheduled for next week. “When the governor signs this piece of legislation, we will file a dismissal motion based on the fact that this is the statute,” Folwell said. “We’ve been aggressive in our attempt to comply with federal law by using judicial remedies.”

Talk of the General Assembly reconvening after the November elections to tackle Medicaid reform faded in the waning days. On Wednesday, both chambers adjourned sine die, though Tillis said Gov. Pat McCrory may call a special session to deal with economic incentives, including a tax credit for movie production that is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

Incumbent Rep. Queen Again Meets Challenger Clampitt in HD119 (11/2/2014)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/incumbent-rep-queen-again-meets-challenger-clampitt-in-hd119/

RALEIGH — The House District 119 race is a rematch of the tight 2012 electoral contest when Democrat Joe Sam Queen defeated Republican Mike Clampitt by just over 1,000 votes.

“It was sort of a no-brainer after being so close in 2012,” Clampitt told Carolina Journal regarding his decision to run again.

65

Although the incumbent Queen has raised more than $110,000 during the election cycle, three times Clampitt’s fundraising total, the challenger has $2,871 cash on hand — double the $1,463 reported by Queen — and the race is considered competitive due to the district’s demographics.

District 119 is deep in the North Carolina mountains, and covers Swain and Jackson counties, as well as a portion of central Haywood County.

While 43 percent of voters are registered Democrats compared to the 25 percent who are registered Republicans, 31 percent of voters are unaffiliated, which would be considered a pretty big bloc of swing voters.

While voters favored Republican Mitt Romney for president with 52.4 percent of the vote, and Republican Pat McCrory for governor with 54 percent of the vote, they cast more ballots for Democrats in six of eight council of state races in 2012.

Clampitt says the number of unaffiliated voters has risen in the North Carolina mountains, traditionally a strong, conservative Democratic region, as Democrats have become more liberal.

Clampitt thinks those unaffiliated voters will step up and cast their votes this year. He also thinks the 2013 law doing away with straight ticket voting in North Carolina will work in his favor.

“I think it will allow for a change in the demographics for voting in North Carolina, especially in this district,” Clampitt said.

Queen, a self-employed architect, is not worried about demographics or changes in voting law.

“My issues are nonpartisan, and I am supported broadly by all factions,” he said.

One thing is for sure, voters will have clear choice on the issues.

Clampitt, a retired Charlotte fire captain, said he supported laws passed by the General Assembly under the leadership of House

66

Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, and Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.

“Up here in the mountains, if somebody tells you they’re going to do something, you can better bet they’re going to be there an hour early to do it,” Clampitt said.

“Doing what you say you’re going to do, that’s a trait that is very unusual to find these days,” Clampitt said. “That’s a trait in Berger and Tillis that should be appreciated, and I don’t think enough people appreciate it.”

Meanwhile, Queen described the 2013-14 General Assembly session as a “march of folly on education, on healthcare, on jobs.”

The biggest disagreement is over Medicaid, which is among the most potent partisan issues facing the state at this time. Clampitt agrees with the General Assembly’s decision not to expand Medicaid, saying “there’s nothing free from the federal government,” while Queen believes the decision represents a subsidization of other states at North Carolina’s expense.

“By not accepting federal dollars to come back to North Carolina, we’re subsidizing the rest of the nation to the tune of $3.5 billion,” Queen told CJ. “Federal tax dollars have been denied to help the citizens of this state. That’s the camel that’s been swallowed while squinting at a gnat.”

Clampitt says the expansion of health care coverage and mandates under Obamacare resulted in a significant hike in his insurance premium, while Queen says it’s the failure to expand Medicaid that has resulted in premium hikes for working-class people, which make up the majority of the District 119 constituency.

While the candidates agree that charter schools are a viable option to traditional public schools, they disagree on the issue of education spending and teacher pay.

67

Clampitt characterizes education spending levels as “throwing good money after bad,” while Queen characterized legislative education reforms as “an assault on the teaching corps.”

Queen said he didn’t vote for the legislature’s average 7 percent pay raise for teachers because Democrats “added an amendment to give the 7 percent raise without firing any teachers, and without losing longevity, which would have been a far fairer approach.”

Clampitt does not begrudge teachers a salary hike, but by the same token, he said, “teachers are not the only state employees,” and that the desire for a higher salary is a personal decision. During his 28-year career as a firefighter, he changed fire departments three times in search of a higher salary.

“Teachers have to recognize they have to do what’s best for them,” he said.

The two candidates also differ strongly on what should drive the local economy. Clampitt believes clean industry such as computer technical support companies should be recruited to the area. He also supports business incubators to help entrepreneurs get their own companies started.

Queen, however, says government funding cuts have harmed the local economy.

“Hospitals and public schools are the top two employers in the district,” Queen said. “Of the Medicaid jobs lost, 800 or so of them would be in my district. We could sure use the good jobs. It’s hurting our citizenry and they’re telling me that.”

Queen has the edge in terms of direct legislative experience. His current term is his second in the House; he previously served in 2003-2004. He also served in the Senate from 2007-2010.

Clampitt will draw on his experience as the General Assembly’s sergeant-at arms.

68

“I have a working knowledge of the House,” Clampitt said. “I would not be like a freshman representative going down to Raleigh for the first time.”

McCrory Signs Medicaid Reform (9/24/2015)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/mccrory-signs-medicaid-reform/

RALEIGH — After several major revisions, Medicaid reform that had delayed budget approvals during recent years passed the General Assembly on Tuesday. Gov. Pat McCrory on Wednesday signed the measure.

“Under the current system, we wait until people get sick to provide care and pay for tests — not outcomes. This new system will focus on keeping people healthy and delivering care where it makes the most sense for patients,” McCrory said Wednesday. “We’re going to accomplish this reform by paying providers based on improving patient’s health — not how many services patients receive.”

House Bill 372 ends a fee-for-service system that pays health care providers for each visit made by Medicaid recipients. Instead, the new program eventually will pay a set monthly amount per recipient, adjusted higher for sicker patients.

The measure passed the House 65-40, and the Senate 33-15.

“I am very pleased that the House and Senate have reached a compromise that allows us to provide more financial stability for our state and our taxpayers,” said House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland.

“Now it is time to move to a model that places a higher priority on quality health care and long-term sustainability. Many other states are transitioning to similar plans, and North Carolina needs to be proactive,” Moore said.

69

“The reforms in this bill will not only save taxpayer dollars, and achieve greater budget sustainability, but will also provide an additional incentive for delivering the highest quality care and keeping North Carolinians healthy,” said Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.

The law overhauls the delivery of Medicaid services in a hybrid plan consisting of Managed Care Organizations and separate Provider-Led Entities.

It replaces the current Medicaid contracted administrator, Community Care of North Carolina, with three statewide networks that most likely would be MCOs operated by insurance companies, and 10 regional networks overseen by groups of hospitals and health care providers.

Medicaid recipients could choose which network they want to join.

The measure caps the combined amount of administrative costs and profits the network administrators may claim at 12 percent of total payments for the large, statewide plans, and 6 percent for the smaller, regional operators. That is more restrictive than the Affordable Care Act, which allows insurers to collect 15 to 20 percent for administrative costs and profits.

The networks would be capitated, meaning they, not taxpayers, would be responsible for any costs exceeding budgeted amounts.

Senators sought to remove Medicaid from the state Department of Health and Human Services and make it a separate Cabinet-level agency. The final plan creates a Division of Health Benefits still under DHHS. Its director would be nominated by the governor and confirmed by the General Assembly.

State Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, a staunch advocate of CCNC and the current Medicaid setup, joined Republicans Pat Hurley, R-Randolph, James Langdon, R-Johnston, Mike Speciale, R-Craven, and Speaker Pro Tem Paul “Skip” Stam, R-Wake, in voting against the measure.

70

Rep. George Graham, D-Lenoir, was the lone House Democrat voting for the measure.

Sen. Jeff Tarte, R-Mecklenburg, was the only Republican to vote against the bill in the Senate. Sens. Ben Clark, D-Cumberland, and Floyd McKissick, D-Durham were the only Democrats who voted for the bill in the Senate.

Tuesday’s House debate got a bit testy at times.

Dollar said conferees on the legislation inserted “a poison pill” into the bill that would terminate CCNC’s contract in March 2016 if the compromise bill didn’t pass. He decried the “legislative strong-arming.” Rep. Gale Adcock, D-Wake, called it “the nuclear option for CCNC,” and said “I don’t want to be extorted into voting for this.”

Medicaid claims cost have dipped 9 percent per enrollee from 2010-14 while the program grew by more than 200,000 participants, Dollar said. North Carolina is “far and away performing better than the majority of managed care states in this country,” ending with surpluses of $60 million in 2014, and $130 million in 2015, with projections it will be in the black the next two years as well.

North Carolina should keep the present system, “caring for our citizens and not for a group of stockholders,” Dollar said. That theme of profit-seeking out-of-state MCOs rushing into the state was echoed by several Democrats.

“I’ve got some news for you. They’re already here,” said state Rep. Justin Burr, R-Stanly, in hitting back at that contention. “You’re not talking about folks just coming into North Carolina.”

More than 7,000 employees of those companies already work here in what has become a significant presence of managed care entities in other health care arenas, Burr said.

Rep. Donnie Lambeth, R-Forsyth, pushed back on Adcock and Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, for saying quality of care

71

would decrease under MCOs. He asked each of them if they knew how quality of health care was measured. Neither did.

Lambeth also took issue with Democrats’ warnings that commercial networks would seek to increase profits by cutting optional services and lowering rates paid to doctors. The DHHS secretary will set the rates, with General Assembly approval, he said. The secretary would be empowered to change optional services, but MCOs could not do so arbitrarily, he said. The General Assembly retains authority to step in if needed.

Rep. John Blust, R-Guilford, responded to statements by Queen and several other Democrats arguing that doctors and hospitals should be left alone to run the Medicaid networks because Provider-Led Entities would be superior to commercial plans.

“Won’t this competition be one-sided? Won’t the providers just run the insurance-led organizations off the playing field … if what you’re saying is true?” Blust asked.

Queen said it is too early to tell.

Achievement School District Measure Passes House, Heads To Senate (6/2/2016)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/achievement-school-district-measure-passes-house-heads-to-senate/

By a 60-49 vote, the state House on Thursday passed a bill that would temporarily remove five of North Carolina’s lowest-performing public schools from their districts, placing them instead under the supervision of an Achievement School District that would allow charter-like flexibility and management.

House Bill 1080, which was hotly debated on the House floor and will be sent to the Senate, also includes provisions for two other school rehabilitation models to help failing schools that don’t qualify for entrance into the ASD. Innovation Zones would allow a school board that has already entered one of its schools into the ASD to create a modified schedule with extra flexibility for up

72

to three additional low-performing schools in its district. The school board then would be accountable to the State Board of Education, and would be required to meet specific goals and standards each year.

The bill’s other provision is a Principal Turnaround Model, which would allow a local school board to fire a school’s principal and instead hire a “turnaround” principal with a proven record of success. Any hiring choices under this model would require approval from the state board.

Several House members spoke out against the bill, saying that the concept has not delivered results in Tennessee and Louisiana — two states held out as models for the North Carolina project — and that money would be spent better on existing rehabilitation efforts within the Department of Public Instruction, which has assisted 75 out of 581 low-performing schools in North Carolina.

Rep. Bobbie Richardson, D-Franklin, contended that — instead of voting for the ASD pilot program — House members should commit to provide more funding for DPI’s efforts.

“We have a proven … achievement program within our state, with staff and with employees that have proven to be able to succeed in our school districts, and we are not referring to them,” Richardson said. “We don’t have to transport anybody in. [DPI] knows the lay of the land, they know the students, they know the staff, and they have been working closely with the staff.”

Rep. Rob Bryan, R-Mecklenburg, who is the bill’s primary sponsor, contested Richardson’s claim, citing a Duke University study that has shown DPI efforts work in some schools while failing in others.

Bryan also pointed out that DPI’s efforts to help failing schools has been expensive.

“It is costing millions and millions of dollars,” Bryan said.

73

Bryan also said that his plan to establish an ASD would cost $400,000. He estimated that the combined cost of an ASD, Innovation Zones, and Principal Turnaround Model schools would total $1 million.

“We’re talking about five schools in a possible ASD, and up to 26 schools could be in [Innovation Zones], where the districts who have asked us repeatedly for more flexibility for their lowest-performing schools will actually have [that],” Bryan added. “So I think that’s going to be a great benefit, and a great opportunity for us to work together to accomplish good things for all of our kids.”

Still, some House members remained unconvinced that spending money on a test program is wise for the state, saying that the issue can be solved by ensuring that high-quality teachers and principals are at work in every school.

“This bill reminds me of squinting at a gnat while we swallow a camel,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood. “We don’t need to look to operators to take over our public school boards. We just need the commitment to support our public school boards all across this state, with public policies and funding for a quality teacher in every classroom — and a high quality principal in every school.”

The bill’s supporters disagreed, pointing to a bipartisan belief in the need for quality education and opportunity for at-risk students as a reason to vote in favor of the bill.

Rep. John Bradford, R-Mecklenburg, told House members that H.B. 1080 is a school turnaround bill rather than a takeover effort, reminding them that — as the bill is written — a failing school would spend only eight years in the ASD, after which the Local Education Agency would once again take control.

“It will come back like a boomerang, and it will hopefully come back better than the way it left,” Bradford said. “So this is not a competitive threat in any way. It’s an opportunity to try something new. We teach our children every day to be creative,

74

to be innovative. That’s what makes America great, that’s what makes our school system great. We are trying to apply innovation and creativity to a piece of legislation to practice the very things that we teach in our schools.”

Queen-Clampitt go at it a third time in HD 119 (11/3/2016)https://www.carolinajournal.com/news-article/queen-clampitt-go-at-it-a-third-time-in-hd-119/

Swain County Republican Mike Clampitt is hoping the third time will be the charm in his effort to defeat incumbent state Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, for the House District 119 seat.

Queen, an architect, is running for his third term in the House. Previously, he served three terms in the state Senate. He beat Clampitt by a little more than 1,100 votes in 2012 and 2014.

House District 119 includes Jackson and Swain counties, along with parts of Haywood County. The N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation considers the district competitive.

Clampitt, a retired Charlotte firefighter, said the biggest difference between the candidates rests with their ideologies.

“He is liberal-left for bigger government,” Clampitt said of Queen. “I’m for smaller government, less regulation, and more money in people’s pockets.”

Jobs are always a top issue for the rural area of western North Carolina, Clampitt said. Morality and family values are concerns, too.

“It’s pretty much the Bible Belt,” said Clampitt, who is pro-life. “The liberal left just needs to go away.”

Clampitt said he opposes the state’s certificate of need law, which allows state bureaucrats to limit the supply of some medical services and equipment unless the provider can show a “need” for more of that service.

75

“I think the certificate of need should go the way of the Dodo bird.” Clampitt said. “It should be extinct.”

He opposes renewable energy mandates, which, he says, lead to higher costs for energy users. He supports school-choice initiatives, including charter schools and vouchers, and would like to move away from Common Core curriculum in the public schools.

Clampitt said he wants to work on tax policy and eliminate the state income tax. “It puts more money in the individuals’ pockets,” he said.

But he opposes expanding the sales tax to cover services and labor. “I do consider that an ethical issue,” he said. “A tax on a person’s labor is a tax on sweat equity.”

Clampitt said he wants to look at cutting spending on entitlements and thinks people receiving government benefits should be subject to drug tests, as should all elected officials.

Queen did not respond to multiple requests from Carolina Journal for an interview.

Queen’s campaign webpage touts his experience: “He’s proven. He’s effective. Joe Sam Queen gets it done.”

The Queen webpage credits Queen with helping get a new Western North Carolina Livestock Center, growing tourism, supporting gaming opportunities in Cherokee, expanding broadband access in the mountains, and funding Advantage West to help diversify the economy.

The page says Queen supports lifelong learning opportunities for people in western North Carolina. It also says the state must work to ensure children start school healthy and ready to learn. He supports keeping classroom sizes small.

Queen, on his webpage, says he supports investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, and that he believes in investing in preventative health care.

76

77

Carolina Public Press: Labor advocates convene in Asheville on cusp of new state legislative session (1/28/2015)https://carolinapublicpress.org/21643/labor-advocates-convene-in-asheville-on-cusp-of-new-state-legislative-session/

ASHEVILLE—Over plates of chopped barbecue and glasses of sweet tea, members of regional labor groups rallied for increasing wages and curtailing wage theft across the state as lawmakers were set to return to Raleigh this week.

MaryBe McMillan, secretary-treasurer for North Carolina’s chapter of the AFL-CIO, addressed the plight of organized labor in the state. James Harrison/Carolina Public Press

Roughly 60 people gathered for the lunch at Pack’s Tavern, which was hosted Saturday by the Western North Carolina Labor Council. Attendees included Democrats Rep. Susan Fisher, who represents portions of Asheville and Buncombe County in the 114th District, and Rep. Joe Sam Queen, who represents Swain and Jackson Counties in the 119th District. All state lawmakers representing Western North Carolina were invited, including newly-elected Buncombe Democrats Rep. Brian Turner and Rep. John Ager, who were not present.

The meeting was the third of five being held across the state. In light of recent policies approved by the General Assembly, leaders of the group emphasized their desires to organize for raising wages for North Carolina’s working families during the new session.

“Things are still far from rosy for the average working family,” said MaryBe McMillan, secretary-treasurer for the North Carolina state AFL-CIO. “The economic reality is that too many working folks are still struggling to make ends meet. Some are working part-time when they need full-time, some are working two or three low-wage jobs, and all of us here have probably seen our paychecks shrink.”

78

Speakers laid blame for a “weakened safety net” at the feet of the state’s Republican lawmakers, who approved policies rejecting Medicaid expansion and cutting maximum unemployment benefits in recent years. Others pointed to the problem of wage theft in non-union workplaces and called for legislative action to ensure workers were being treated fairly.

“I think there is a path forward, and I think [wage theft] is becoming a bipartisan issue a little more than it was last session,” Fisher told the group.

Later, the representative cited the $200 million revenue shortfall facing state lawmakers as a reason she was hopeful policies addressing the issue could move ahead, even in a GOP-dominated legislature.

“I just know this is something that has been talked about coming back to life in this session,” she said. “I think that with the $200 million shortfall that they’re looking at right now, they’re going to have to look at ways for the state to recover some revenue. Maybe we can convince folks on both sides of the isle that it could be one way of addressing it.”

Fisher said she had not yet discussed possible strategies with any of her House colleagues.

In remarks to the group, Queen suggested the best solution would be to elect a Democrat majority in at least one of the state’s legislative chambers. He said he feared that if Republicans continued to hold the governor’s mansion along with supermajorities in the General Assembly past 2016, North Carolinians would be “brought to the ground.”

“The way forward is to elect Roy Cooper in 2016,” Queen said, referring to the state’s attorney general, who is presumed to be the Democratic opponent to Gov. Pat McCrory in next year’s race. “If we can elect enough Democrats to have a veto-proof House, we can stop this foolishness. We have three election cycles to win a majority in one House, or you will be brought to the ground for a generation.”

79

Queen acknowledged the realities of district lines recently drawn by Republican lawmakers, designed to give GOP candidates an advantage in elections.

Still, organizers for groups repeatedly pointed to Democratic gains in Western North Carolina in last year’s elections, where Turner and Ager unseated two Republican incumbents, Tim Moffitt and Nathan Ramsey. McMillan said she was encouraged by the outcome of the races.

“The seats we gained was a hopeful sign,” she said. “I think the people of Western North Carolina should be proud, and it gives me hope if people organize and come together, we can make a difference.”

Following the meeting, Fisher also said she would like to pursue reforms to wages for the state’s service workers, including an increase in tipped minimum wage or potentially an elimination of the practice. The federal government requires at least $2.13 an hour be paid to workers who receive at least $30 in tips per month, and for employers to compensate those workers if wages and tips do not equal the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Fisher said she had become more aware of the issue after attending a recent conference, and was especially interested in exploring possible solutions for workers in Asheville.

“We need to pay service workers a minimum wage and let them make the tips on top of that,” Fisher said, suggesting the wage be equal to the wage mandated for non-tip-earning workers. “What [service workers] do for [Asheville], in my opinion, is way more valuable than $2.36 an hour. Our economy has thrived because of them, the breweries and restaurants. We’re a foodie town.”

Fisher said she would also be open to phasing in an increase in tipped minimum wage over time.

“It doesn’t have to be all at once,” she said.

80

North Carolina’s House and Senate members reconvene in Raleigh today at noon for the new legislative session.

Appropriations committees launch state budget talks (2/9/2015)https://carolinapublicpress.org/21848/appropriations-committees-launch-state-budget-talks/

RALEIGH — This week marks the start of regular meetings of appropriations committees, with House and Senate members sitting down together to go over the main task of the session: the biennial state budget.

The committee work will lay the groundwork for drafting a spending plan in anticipation of Gov. Pat McCrory’s budget proposal, which the governor says will be ready later this month.

In addition to the spending plan, at least one major restructuring is in the works.

Following on a proposal outlined by the governor in his State of the State speech last week, administrators at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources are working on a plan to move the state park system, natural sciences museums and the zoo and aquariums from DENR to DCR.

Memos went out shortly after the governor spoke last week confirming that a plan for the move is being drafted and would be a key part of the administration’s budget proposal this year.

McCrory says he wants to make the change in the name of efficiency and to put all the state’s attractions under one roof.

Queen says bonds a tough sell

At least one major part of the governor’s budget plan is already facing some serious questions, especially in WNC.

81

Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, said last week that legislators on both sides of the aisle appear cool to the idea of two massive bond proposals from McCrory.

The governor wants to put a $1.2 billion bond package for transportation before the voters and is asking the state legislature to approve another $1.2-$1.4 billion in bonds for improvements to state properties.

Queen said that, during McCrory’s speech, it was clear that many members were skeptical, including the Senate leadership.

With fewer state properties and almost no transportation projects on the new priority list, the western region, he said, would not see much from either bond program.

Although he expects a major push from the administration, right now the chances of the governor getting the idea though the legislature are not good.

“It’s not a even a 50-50 bet,” he said.

Overall, Queen gave the governor high marks for delivery, but said the governor’s record, especially on the economy, isn’t as stellar as claimed. WNC, he said, is still struggling.

“It was a silver-tongued speech,” he said. “But his rhetoric doesn’t stand up to his performance on the job.”

Raleigh Report: Blizzard of numbers hits NC legislature (2/16/2015)https://carolinapublicpress.org/21935/raleigh-report-blizzard-of-numbers-hits-nc-legislature/

...Legislation of note: Fracking included

Rep. Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe, was one of four primary sponsors of a bill that would disapprove recent rules for natural gas exploration through hydraulic fracturing. For now, the bill, H76, would disapprove new rules for fracking adopted by the

82

state Mining and Energy Commission. The commission was tasked with coming up with a set of rules to clear the way for fracking permits as early as this year, and it adopted two sets of rules, in December and January.

Disapproval by the legislature could force the commission to restart its rulemaking process. The bill’s co-sponsors are mostly Democrats, including WNC legislators Reps. John Ager, Joe Sam Queen and Brian

At the NCGA, a tide of bills regarding annexation, school calendars, ERA (3/9/2015)https://carolinapublicpress.org/22090/at-the-ncga-a-tide-of-bills-regarding-annexation-school-calendars-era/

...

Group calls for end to Citizens United

Western North Carolina was well represented at a recent press conference announcing legislation calling for a constitutional convention to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United.

Buncombe County legislators Rep. Susan Fisher, Rep. John Ager and Sen. Terry Van Duyn and Haywood County Rep. Joe Sam Queen, all Democrats, were on hand to show their support for the bill and rail against the ruling, which allowed the greater flow of so-called “dark money” into political races.

Tom Coulson of the Buncombe County chapter of Move to Amend, a nationwide group pushing the amendment, said he is concerned that the country is turning away from the ideals he fought for as a young man in World War II.

“It never came to me that, all these years later, they would be in greater jeopardy — and this time from within,” he said, “and [that] those ideals would be in retreat on many fronts and our constitution interpreted in ways that erode our democracy.”

83

The amendment, in short, states that corporations are not “people” under the law and that campaign contributions are not constitutionally protected free speech.

Fisher and Queen are sponsoring a House resolution (H125) on the amendment.

Raleigh Report: Asheville power plant bill moving fast (5/26/2015)https://carolinapublicpress.org/22575/raleigh-report-asheville-power-plant-bill-moving-fast/

Renewables fight continues

The fight over renewable energy portfolio standards for energy producers — known as REPS — and renewable energy tax credits saw rounds in both the House and Senate last week, with the House passing a compromise phase-out of the tax credits in its budget plan. The renewable tax credit would have ended this year without an extension, but the four-year extension originally envisioned by supporters was dialed back to two years with the 35 percent credit reduced to 20 percent for the second year.

Even that plan withstood a last-minute challenge when Wake County Republican Rep. Marilyn Avila tried to amend the budget to end the credit altogether. The amendment was defeated by a coalition of Democrats and the House leadership. Voting against the renewable energy credits on that vote were Western North Carolina legislators Reps. Michele Presnell, R-Yancey; Jonathan Jordan, R-Watauga; and Chris Whitmire, R-Transylvania.

Voting for it were Democratic Reps. John Ager, Susan Fisher and Brian Turner, all of Buncombe County, and Joe Sam Queen, of Haywood County. Also voting for the measure were Republican Reps. Josh Dobson, of McDowell County; Mike Hager, of Rutherford County; Chuck McGrady, of Henderson County; and Roger West, of Cherokee County.

84

The Senate, meanwhile, debated a freeze on the state’s renewable energy portfolio standards that had similar provisions to one in a bill already passed by the House.

That debate took place in the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, and it saw an abrupt end via voice vote that didn’t sit well with senators on both sides of the aisle. It also landed Senate Finance chair Bob Rucho, R-Charlotte, in hot water after he declared the matter approved and refused a request for a recorded vote. The bill has since been re-referred back to the Finance Committee.

NC’s state budget agreement may hinge on taxes, teachers and Medicaid (6/22/2015)https://carolinapublicpress.org/22835/nc-state-budget-agreement-may-hinge-on-taxes-teachers-and-medicaid/

RALEIGH — The passage of the two-year state budget by both the House and Senate chambers of the North Carolina legislature is certainly a significant step, but keep in mind that they did not pass the same budget.

That’s why it’s a little too early to call this legislative session nearly over. Over the weekend, House and Senate leaders signaled why you could call this phase the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger stressed that there are significant differences in the House and Senate plans. House Speaker Tim Moore said he want to spend whatever time is necessary to get this budget, his first as speaker, right.

“I’m in no hurry,” he told the (Raleigh) News & Observer.

That means that on or before June 30 — the last day of the state’s fiscal year — the legislature will have to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government running. Meanwhile, a House and Senate conference committee starts meeting this week to work out a compromise plan. Western region legislators on the

85

committee include Reps. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, and Roger West, R-Cherokee and Sens. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, Ralph Hise, R-McDowell, and Dan Soucek, R-Watauga.

Any compromise will hinge on resolving major disagreements on Medicaid restructuring, tax policy and teacher and state employee pay. Further complicating matters are disagreements both between the chambers and within them. Last week, the lone GOP vote against the Senate plan was cast by Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Rucho said he could not vote for the plan because the tax package includes changes to sales tax distribution which will have its heaviest impact in urban counties like Mecklenburg.

The House isn’t uniform either. In late May, when the House passed its budget plan, 11 GOP representatives were among 23 voting no. The House budget vote also saw a split among WNC Democrats with Reps. Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe, and Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, voting against the plan and Buncombe Reps. John Ager and Brian Turner voting yes.

Gun bill passes the House

After an often-tense debate that ran over two days last week, the House passed a heavily amended version of House Bill 562, an omnibus firearms bill. During floor action Tuesday and Wednesday, a coalition of Democrats and veteran GOP legislators were able to strike provisions that would have eliminated a local sheriff’s role in obtaining pistol permits and loosened state concealed carry laws.

The WNC delegation was divided on the bill, with Reps. Fisher, Queen and Ager voting against the final version and Reps. Turner, Roger West, Mike Hager, Chris Whitmire, Josh Dobson and Jonathan Jordan voting for the bill.

Turner, one of only five Democrats to support the bill, authored a key amendment that mandates the state Department of Public

86

Safety to work with federal officials to develop a background check system for private gun purchases.

An amendment by Ager to extend the authority of the N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture to prohibit the carrying of firearms at the Mountain State Fair in Asheville failed.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Law strips employees’ right to sue over any discrimination (3/28/2016)https://carolinapublicpress.org/24611/law-strips-employees-right-to-sue-over-any-discrimination/

The legislation pushed through North Carolina’s General Assembly last week, ostensibly over Charlotte public restroom policy, eliminates a key legal right for workers that has been in place in the state for three decades, according to lawyers who specialize in workplace discrimination cases and discussed the new law with Carolina Public Press.

The Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, also called House Bill 2, passed Wednesday in less than 10 hours during a special session of the state legislature, was aimed at reversing moves by Charlotte to expand the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance.

It has since faced a growing backlash from both LGBT rights advocates and the business community. Civil rights organizations filed suit in federal court to block the law Monday morning.

State policy change

Although most of the focus has been on the law’s impact on protections for transgender individuals and the preemption of local non-discrimination laws, other sections of the bill altered state law on employee protections.

One provision added a single sentence to a longstanding legislative public policy declaration, a change that experts say unravels North Carolina workers’ right to bring action in state

87

court for workplace discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex or disabilities.

“This will have a big impact all across the state,” said Jessica Leaven, an Asheville attorney who specializes in employment discrimination law, in an interview with Carolina Public Press on Saturday. The new law includes an addition to a legislative declaration of public policy on discrimination passed in 1977.

The declaration reads:

“It is the public policy of this State to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to seek, obtain and hold employment without discrimination or abridgment on account of race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex or handicap by employers which regularly employ 15 or more employees. It is recognized that the practice of denying employment opportunity and discriminating in the terms of employment foments domestic strife and unrest, deprives the State of the fullest utilization of its capacities for advancement and development, and substantially and adversely affects the interests of employees, employers, and the public in general.”

During the 39 years since its passage, state courts, including the state Supreme Court, have said the policy statement gives employees the right to bring discrimination cases in state court.

The addition to the legislative declaration passed Wednesday reads: “This Article does not create, and shall not be construed to create or support, a statutory or common law private right of action, and no person may bring any civil action based upon the public policy expressed herein.”

Leaven said that effectively wipes out using the policy declaration as a source to back up the right to sue in a state court.

“It’s been a source we can use to protect employees,” she said. “One little sentence undoes that.”

88

Leaven said the law, which took effect after Gov. Pat McCrory signed it Wednesday night, could affect many ongoing cases across the state. She said that majority of cases in the state are over discrimination because of age, sex and disabilities.

“To gut this in a day with so little discussion is a huge story,” Leaven said.

During debate on the bill last week, proponents argued that employees still bring discrimination cases under federal law, but Leaven how the two court systems handle discrimination involves vast differences.

In federal cases a plaintiff must file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with 180 days while the state allowed three years. A federal case cannot proceed without approval by the EEOC, which can take up to six months to investigate and approve a claim. Once approved, an individual has 90 days to file a case.

Leaven said the initial timeline is too short a time frame for many cases.

“For most people when they are fired they are trying to find ways to pay the bills and take care of their families,” she said. “It’s a traumatic event.”

While in some cases, the discrimination is plainly evident, it might take some time, she said, before a employees realize or discover they were fired because of discrimination.

“It’s very easy to miss the deadlines,” Leaven said.

Another barrier, she said, is that unlike state courts, which are located in every county, there are only a handful of federal courts in the state, which adds travel, time and financial barriers to bringing a case.

Backlash building, lawsuit filed

89

Over the weekend, as negative reaction to the new law built, more of the state’s major employee groups lined up in opposition to the bill.

In response to the growing backlash, the McCrory administration launched an effort to get its take on the bill out, sending an email to all state employees and press releases from nearly every major state agency titled “Myth vs. Fact” on the new law.

The 1,100-word release, a series of questions and answers on the bill, stresses that the law doesn’t prohibit private employers from adopting non-discrimination practices and that it creates a uniform standard across the state.

But the release did not include an explanation of the change in an employee’s right to sue for discrimination in state court.

Meanwhile, the ACLU of North Carolina and Equality North Carolina filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on behalf of two university system employees and a university students against McCrory, Attorney General Roy Cooper, the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina and board chairman W. Louis Bissette.

These plaintiffs were named due to their function in state government and university system rather than their individual position on the legislation. Cooper, for instance, is a Democrat who is currently running against McCrory for governor.

Protests continue against the law as well. After passage, last week, a handful of demonstrators were arrested at a rally outside the Executive Mansion and local demonstrations continued in several towns.

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, who attended a rally against the law last week, said she understands the outrage.

“We just elected our first openly gay county commissioner,” she said, referring to the March primary victory of Jasmine Beach-Ferrara. “This law is obviously going in the wrong direction.”

90

Manheimer said she’s concerned that the law sends the wrong message to the business community at a time when recruiting new employers is critical.

“We’ve seen businesses like Marriott, Lowes and IBM come out against the legislation,” she said.

“They understand that you have to have protections for employees. If you don’t have those basic rights in place, they’re going to go somewhere else where they do.”

WNC split along party lines

At Wednesday’s special session western region legislators voted along party lines. In the Senate, which voted 32 to 0 after Democratic Senators staged a walkout, Sens. Tom Apodaca and Jim Davis voted for the bill. Sen. Dan Soucek did not attend the session.

In the 82-26 vote in the House, which included 11 Democrats voting with the majority, Buncombe County Democrats Reps. John Ager and Brian Turner voting no and Republican Reps. Josh Dobson, Jonathan Jordan, Michele Presnell, Roger West and Chris Whitmire voted with the majority. Republican Rep. Chuck McGrady and Democratic Reps. Joe Sam Queen and Susan Fisher did not attend the session.

Queen told Carolina Public Press that he thought the session was “a complete farce.”

“This was grandstanding in a shameful way,” he said.

Fisher said she wanted to attend but is recovering from a severe muscle tear.

Fisher also called the session shameful and said the backlash from around the country is evidence that the consequences were greatly underestimated.

McGrady, one of a handful of Republicans not to join in the call for a special session, did not respond to an email inquiry from CPP by press time.

91

House budget plan includes pay raises, tax breaks (5/20/2016)https://carolinapublicpress.org/24942/house-budget-plan-includes-pay-raises-tax-breaks/

The North Carolina House of Representatives approved its version of the state budget including across-the-board pay hikes for teacher and state employees along with a staged increase in the personal income tax exemption.

The final vote on the budget Thursday was 103-12, the widest margin of victory in the House in several years. The plan calls for a 2 percent across-the-board raise plus a $500 bonus for all state employees, hikes in teachers salaries averaging 4.1 percent and a 1.6 percent cost of living adjustment for state retirees.

Rep. Roger West, R-Cherokee, who leaves office this year after eight terms, said the budget is off to a good start. He said the leadership had found the right balance of priorities.

“I think they did a good job,” West said. “And it was a good strong vote, too, very strong.”

The 12 no votes on the budget came mainly from House Democratic leaders, who said the bill fell short of what the state should be doing in areas like education and mental health. Many Democrats who voted for the $2.22 billion spending plan said they did so to support the raises and to send a message to the Senate that the House was unified.

During debate, Wake County Democrat Darren Jackson said he would vote for the budget, but disagreed with the spending target set by Senate and House negotiators at the start of the budget process. “I hope you don’t go out and make a big deal about how bipartisan the vote was, because our members who are voting with you are doing so to show strength in numbers to the Senate.”

92

Rep. Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe, was among the dozen Democratic no votes and the only member of the WNC delegation to vote against the budget bill.

She said last year’s tax cuts had constrained to the budget and as a result this year’s adjustments didn’t do enough for teachers, improving mental health services and in school funding.

“We are essentially restraining the recovery in North Carolina that other states are enjoying at this time,” Fisher said during debate on Wednesday afternoon. “This appears to me to be nothing more than an election year band-aid.”

Buncombe County Democratic Reps. John Ager and Brian Turner voted for the budget as did Republican Reps. Josh Dobson, Mike Hager, Jonathan Jordan, Chuck McGrady, Chris Whitmire and West. Democratic Rep. Joe Sam Queen was one of five representatives who had excused absences and did not vote....

Following the adult care home money in North Carolina (1/31/2018)https://carolinapublicpress.org/27603/following-the-adult-care-home-money/

Despite concerns about the more than 1,200 adult care homes in North Carolina that the news media and advocates for the rights of disabled people have raised in recent years, the way the state regulates these facilities hasn’t seen any dramatic changes.

Some advocates say that’s because the adult care home industry, which is the state’s de facto “solution” for housing mentally ill adults, enjoys out-sized political influence, thanks to years of effective lobbying and generous campaign contributions.

Last year Carolina Public Press launched the investigative series Questionable Care to examine issues with adult care homes in North Carolina and the state’s handling of them. The series explored serious incidents that led to large state fines against some adult care homes. It also looked at the overall system of

93

regulation and oversight, in which a mix of state and county inspections has led to accusations of inconsistency and ineffectiveness.

The article that follows examines how the adult care home industry’s political giving may have affected this situation.

Record of giving

Carolina Public Press found that the North Carolina Association of Long Term Care Facilities has given many campaign donations to politicians of many political stripes according to State Board of Elections campaign finance records that go back nearly 30 years.

Two of the largest individual donations, for $4,000 and $1,000, went to Dennis Wicker, the Democratic former state representative and lieutenant governor from Lee County, in the 1990s. The only other campaign to receive a four-figure gift was former Democratic Senate leader Marc Basnight of Dare County.

But both these candidates and many other candidates also received multiple smaller checks that have added up over the years.

Some prominent North Carolina political figures of past and present who received donations up to a few hundred dollars at a time from the adult care home industry organization include Virginia Foxx, Frank Ballance, Art Pope, Roy Cooper, Jim Forrester, Bev Perdue, Bob Hunter, Beverly Earle, Richard Morgan, Dan Blue Jr., Robin Hayes, Norris Tolson, Phil Berger, Jim Black, Leo Daughtry, Jim Hunt, Jim Gardner, Mike Easley, Wesley Meredith, Martin Nesbitt, Justin Burr, David Redwine, Tony Rand and Joe Sam Queen,

And that’s just a very partial list. Identifying all such gifts from the Board of Elections database is complicated because the same organization’s name is listed in many different ways, sometimes with misspellings or unpredictable attempts at abbreviation. The Board of Elections records these gifts from reports submitted by

94

the various recipients, who may write such donor groups’ names in various ways.

There’s also little way to account for gifts given by the owners or managers of individual adult care homes. It’s also not possible to know whether an individual gift from such a person had anything to do with the industry, or might relate to some unrelated personal political agenda.

Even this partial list might seem like a lot of money going to a lot of politicians. But it isn’t necessarily unusual. Organizations that represent industries regulated by the state and federal government frequently give to political campaigns, sometimes in substantially greater amounts.

Unless the law prevents this type of giving, organizations that don’t play the campaign finance game might be considered derelict in representing their members’ interests....

95

Citizen-Times:Smoky Mountain Folk Festival is Queen family tradition (8/23/2014)https://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2014/08/23/smoky-mountain-folk-festival-queen-family-tradition/14503813/

Joe Sam Queen is a renaissance man, Southern Appalachian style. A dance caller, farmer, architect, state legislator and family man, the Haywood County native is founder and producer of the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival that takes the stage Aug. 29 and 30 in Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska.

He carries on his family traditions with mountain elegance, a quick smile and the slogan “lets all join hands in one big circle.”

“I follow in my grandfather Sam Love Queen’s footsteps,” Queen said. “He came out of the ’20s and was instrumental in developing our great clogging team style that was part really of the folk revival that began with radio and recorded music.”

Queen feels the arrival of radio created a huge music boom; small mountain music acts thrived and for the first time had an audience in the mass media. Everywhere there was music there was dance and folk music was centered on the large public gatherings for social dance.

Born in the 1880s, Sam Love Queen called dances for 70 of his 80 years and was an important leader in the dance community. His clogging team, the Soco Gap dancers, is considered to be the first organized performance dance team.

When the railroad arrived in the mountains, Sam Love Queen would call dances for the tourists at the many big hotels along the way — in Lake Lure, Hot Springs, Balsam Mountain. To make sure there were enough people attending, he would invite dancers from each region to join in, often creating the beginnings of a formal dance team that would follow.

96

When Bascom Lamar Lunsford began Asheville’s Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in the ’20s, he invited his friends Sam Love Queen and Cecil Pless to help organize the dancers.

“This is my 45th year of calling dances,” Queen said. “My grandfather died in January of ’69, and that year, I started following in his footsteps. Before that, I was a grandson tagging along.”

In the summer of ’69, he took over the lead role calling the street dances in Waynesville, and the following year founded the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival to honor his grandfather’s legacy.

On August 29 and 30, the 44th annual festival takes the stage at Lake Junaluska, a spectacular site filled with the sounds of singing, banjos, fiddles and the clatter of taps on wooden boards as string bands, ballad singers and dance teams perform. One longtime tradition at the festival is a free slice of watermelon and jamming by the lake.

“We don’t always look for new and different, we look for the tradition and the old to bring to the stage,” Queen said. “In a lot of ways, we grow our own. Our musical families just continue to bring their children on board and our junior Appalachian musicians are becoming a big part of it.”

Wife Kate Queen is a physician in Waynesville, daughter Sara Queen and son Charlie Queen are graduates of the UNC college system. Everyone in the family dances and Charlie Queen can call dances.

“I have been blessed to be from the mountains of North Carolina and appreciate them,” Queen said. “I love to sleep out under the stars, hear the rainfall, the crickets singing, I hate air conditioning. I really love the mountains. Everyone who leaves wants to return.”

97

Queen, Van Duyn honored for environmental stands (5/14/2015)https://www.citizen-times.com/story/elections/2015/05/14/joe-sam-queen-terry-van-duyn-north-carolina-league-of-conservation-voters/27303355/

The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, the political arm of the state environmental movement, is honoring two Western North Carolina legislators as part of its annual Green Tie Awards.

The league named Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, as its Representative of the Year. The league said in a news release that Queen is being honored "for his vocal opposition on anti-environmental legislation and the consequences such bills would have on the health and safety of our communities. In particular, he has been a vocal force on strengthening the rules governing hydraulic fracturing ('fracking')."

Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, is among four legislators the league recognized as Rising Stars. The award goes to new legislators who make environmental issues a priority. Van Duyn first joined the Senate last year.

Others named Rising Stars are Sen. Jeff Jackson, D-Mecklenburg; Rep. Graig Meyer, D-Orange; and Rep. Robert Reives II, D-Lee. All are serving their first terms.

The league said it is not naming a Senator of the Year or Defender of the Environment this year, contrary to its usual practice. Most of its current and previous Green Tie winners would quality for the latter category "as attacks to repeal sound environmental policies continue in Raleigh," it said.

98

Civitas Institute: Thank Charles Albertson for your High Energy Bill (3/12/2008)https://www.nccivitas.org/civitas-review/thank-charles-albertson-for-your-high-energy-bill/

Just as we’re getting crunched by recession and higher prices at the pump, SB3 comes along and dims the lights in the name of global warming (and for the sake of special interests). Here’s the breakdown:

Utilities in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and two dozen other states may face a credit-crimping consumer backlash over costs to increase power supplies from wind and other renewable sources, Standard & Poor’s said.

A surge of so-called renewable portfolio standards in the past two years means the higher cost of wind or solar generation will be added to bills at the same time as higher prices for traditional fuels and network expansions, Ann Selting, a San Francisco-based S&P analyst, said in a report released yesterday.

Along with Albertson, co-sponsors of this piece of dung (dung burning?) were: Austin M. Allran; Bob Atwater; Stan Bingham; Julia Boseman; Janet Cowell; Walter H. Dalton; Clark Jenkins; Eleanor Kinnaird; William R. Purcell; Joe Sam Queen; John Snow; Richard Stevens; Jerry W. Tillman; David F. Weinstein.

Secretary Marshall in Bed with Lobbyists? (7/1/2010)https://www.nccivitas.org/civitas-review/secretary-marshall-in-bed-with-lobbyists/

This past Tuesday, the North Carolina Democratic Party held a fundraiser in their headquarters that was attended by Gov. Bev Perdue, members of the Council of State, a handful of legislators (including Speaker Joe Hackney), and an unknown number of lobbyists. The gathering was held the same week that members

99

of the General Assembly were debating ethics reforms and the state budget.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall was also one of the guests attending the function. Curiously, Marshall’s office maintains a Lobbying Compliance Division, which directly regulates lobbyists. According to an article appearing in the News & Observer, Marshall was unsure that lobbyists would also be in attendance. While strolling into the fundraiser with Sen. Joe Sam Queen (D-Haywood), Marshall said, “I knew it was a fundraiser, but I didn’t know who was on the invitation list.”

A video of Secretary Marshall walking into the fundraiser with Sen. Queen can be seen below.

SB 1441: Broadband, the New Welfare (8/13/2010)https://www.nccivitas.org/2010/sb-1441-broadband-new-welfare/

The multitude of pricey welfare programs burdening our nation continues to grow, and SB 1441 enables North Carolina to participate in one of the most recent of these federal programs: Lifeline Online, a brainchild of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). SB 1441, sponsored by Sen. Joe Sam Queen (D – Haywood), appropriates $25,000 to e-NC to apply for this FCC program, which affords substantial discounts on broadband Internet service costs to welfare-participating families. This program allows welfare recipients to receive more funding for nonessential purposes, creates perverse incentives to stay on welfare, and passes the costs on to taxpayers.

The Lifeline Online program is an emerging communications welfare program that seeks to connect low-income and welfare-participating families with access to broadband Internet access by providing them with substantial subsidies to pay their bills. Like its predecessors Linkup and Lifeline, Lifeline Online is funded by taxing telecommunications companies, which in turn, pass the costs on to the consumer. These funds are channeled into the Universal Service Fund (USF), which has collected

100

nearly $9 billion. Due to the government allowing telecommunications corporations to tax the public to compensate for revenue lost by this initiative, programs like Lifeline Online are an unseen tax on the public.

SB 1441 seeks to hand out $25,000 so that e-NC can apply for the Lifeline Online pilot program and become the agency controlling the dissemination of USF funding. E-NC is the state initiative to connect all North Carolina to broadband Internet, specifically focusing on rural and low-income areas.

This bill is complicit in the expansion of the myriad of already existing welfare policies, which encourages a dependency on those programs amongst its participants and taxes the industrious working class. For example, to meet the eligibility requirements for Lifeline, Link-up, and other programs, you would only have to receive welfare such as Medicaid or Food Stamps. Therefore, participants have an incentive to keep below a certain income level, because if they exceed a particular income amount, they not only lose Medicaid and Food Stamps, but also their communications welfare.

Broadband Internet is a luxury, not something that should be handed out to everyone. Hard working Americans should not have to pay more so that welfare recipients can get the latest high speed Internet. This creates more perverse incentives to encourage people to get on, and stay on indulgent welfare programs. For aiding and abetting our ballooning welfare state, SB 1441 is this week’s bad bill of the week.

Civitas Candidate Survey Update: The Non-Responders (4/17/2012)https://www.nccivitas.org/2012/civitas-candidate-survey-update-the-non-responders/

Over 150 candidates have responded to our Civitas survey so far! Surveys were mailed to all Governor, Lieutenant Governor,

101

Council of State, and NCGA candidates. Please check out those who have responded here.

They have taken the time to let voters know their thoughts and views on important policy issues affecting you.

However, we also wanted to take a moment to share with our readers those who have chosen not to respond. If you recognize a candidate on this list, please contact them and urge them to fill out our survey....Joe Sam Queen – Dist 119 HB 447, Restore Teaching Fellows Program (4/8/2013)https://www.nccivitas.org/2013/hb-447-restore-teaching-fellows-program/

Facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit in 2011, the state legislature reduced and eliminated a variety of programs in order to balance the budget. One program the legislature ended future funding for was the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program. The Teaching Fellows program awarded renewable scholarships of up to $6,500 annually to 500 high school students who were interested in becoming teachers and who promised to work in North Carolina public schools for at least four years after graduation.

Recently state Reps. Deb McManus (D-Chatham) and Joe Sam Queen (D-Haywood) introduced legislation (HB 447, Restore Teaching Fellows Program) to provide $3.25 million to restore the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program for this year and subsequent years.

Understandably, eliminating the Teaching Fellows program produced an outcry of support from teachers, alumni and other supporters of the program. Still there were valid reasons why the state stopped funding it.

The Teaching Fellows program was created in 1986 as part of a 10-point teacher recruitment plan. At the time North Carolina population and student enrollment was increasing at record rates

102

and more teachers were needed. Those conditions don’t exist today. With all the cutbacks and demographic changes, North Carolina actually has 231 fewer teachers than in 2009-10.

While there is no denying there are areas of growth, we can’t forget that almost half of North Carolina’s counties are expected to lose population in the coming years. There are areas where teachers are in demand, but the problem is a maldistribution of teachers, not a shortage.

How are localized shortages addressed? North Carolina is contracting with Teach for America to serve parts of North Carolina. So far the experiment has worked well for both sides. Alternative certification programs can also help to meet the need. Both of these options can help to meet the need for teachers at far less cost than Teaching Fellows.

And speaking of cost, it’s important to note the bill requests $3.5 million for tuition and scholarships. However, that is only for one class of teachers. In subsequent years, second- third- and fourth-year classes would also be added. Hence, the $3.5 million figure is really $14 million to keep the program running. Add to that another $810,000 annually – the amount think tank Public School Forum of NC was being paid to administer the program – and you’re looking at a very different bill.

In 2009, the News & Observer ran a story about the difficulty Teaching Fellows were having finding jobs. According to the state’s Department of Public Instruction, less than half of all graduates of UNC education schools had a job in education a year after graduating. Yes, it’s true the job market is slightly better than in 2009, but that’s not saying much. Teachers with math and science background have better options, but an informal check in 2011 revealed only a smattering of Teaching Fellows had such a background. It’s unlikely the figure has changed much since then.

Program supporters say Teaching Fellows shouldn’t be eliminated because the program is working. They forget that

103

North Carolina is not where it was in 1986, nor is the demand for teachers.

An abundance of research attests to the important link between quality teaching and student achievement. North Carolina needs quality teachers more than it needs more teachers. While the Teaching Fellows program has certainly produced some good teachers, our needs today are different.

Because it ignores the ability to improve teacher quality through other less expensive options, (professional development, alternative certification, raising academic standards, etc.), and conceals the true long-term costs, restarting the Teaching Fellows program is a bad idea for North Carolina, and makes HB 447 this week’s Bad Bill of the Week.

20 Legislative Races to Watch in NC (9/28/2016)State House Races to Watch....

District 119 (D+1) Incumbent Joe Sam Queen (D-Haywood) has served two terms in the House. (He also served two terms in the state Senate). Queen won the 2012 race with 51.7 percent of the vote and the 2014 race with 52.5 percent of the vote. In November he will face Mike Clampitt, whom he defeated in 2012 by a margin of 51.7 to 48.3 percent, and again in 2014 by 52.6 to 47.4 percent.

104

Mountain XPress:

Senate District 47 (10/30/2002)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/1030ncsenate47-php/

Posted on October 30, 2002 by Nicholas Holt

Three candidates are competing to represent the 47th state Senate District. Republican state Rep. Gregg Thompson, Democrat Joe Sam Queen and Libertarian Sherry Hill (of whose candidacy Thompson and Queen were unaware) are all vying to see who will represent the district, composed of Madison, Mitchell, Avery, McDowell, Yancey and most of Haywood counties.

Sherry Hill

Age: 34

Home: Clyde

Party: Libertarian

Occupation: Assists husband in their home business, “Hill Kennel and Dog Supply,” but primarily sees herself as a wife and mother.

Education: Studied business administration at Haywood Community College.

Years in the community: 34

Political history: First run for public office

Joe Sam Queen

Age: 52

Home: Waynesville

Party: Democratic

105

Occupation: Architect, farmer and businessman

Years in the community: 52

Education (formal and informal): N.C. State (B.A. & M.A., architecture); Leadership Haywood graduate.

Political history: First run

Gregg Thompson

Age: 38

Home: Spruce Pine

Party: Republican

Occupation: Owns three small businesses

Years in this community: 30

Education: Montreat College (A.A.), UNCA (B.A. in politcal science), plus graduate studies at Western Carolina University and N.C. State. Also a fellow of the American Council of Political Leadership and the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership.

Political history: Five terms in the N.C. House

Questions and answers

Mountain Xpress: Do you support a state lottery? Why or why not?

Sherry Hill: “I’m very much in support of it. I see the people of North Carolina wanting that just by the fact of how many people are going across the state lines to buy lottery tickets for other states. And the income generated from that — hopefully, it would be used for something like education, would stay inside the state of North Carolina, rather than going towards the budget of another state.”

Joe Sam Queen: “My position on the lottery is that the citizens should vote upon it, and I will support their vote.”

106

Gregg Thompson: “I do not support a state lottery … or a referendum on the state lottery … for several reasons. First, I’m one of those people who believes that a referendum is unconstitutional. … Elected officials are elected to make tough decisions, and I think that if a lottery were to be implemented in the state of North Carolina, then that should be a straight up or down vote in the legislature. … Being chairman of Appropriations, I see where there are places that tax dollars are wasted. … A lottery is projected to generate between $300 and $400 million … which, of course they want to spend on education. And in order to generate the $300 to $400 million, there would have to be $1 billion to $1.2 billion in lottery tickets sold, because the final figure that the state would see as revenue is one-third of the total cost of a lottery. I feel like until the waste in state government is done away with, then we don’t need to tax, and I feel like a lottery is a tax on the people who can least afford it.”

MX: Studies in other states have shown that for every 10 percent increase in tobacco taxes, the number of young smokers drops by 6 percent, and the number of cigarettes smoked by youth drops by 11 percent. The World Bank says that a 10 percent tax increase has cut the number of smokers by from 4 to 8 percent in every country studied. Given those figures, do you support the North Carolina Senate bill that would increase our state’s cigarette tax by 50 cents?

SH: “I don’t support any tax increase.”

JSQ: “I’m definitely considering it. I think it makes a lot of sense, for the reasons you’ve just said.”

GT: “No.”

MX: Boston is currently spending more than $1 billion to undo the transportation mistakes it has made in recent decades running wider and wider roads through the middle of the city. Can we learn from that city’s problems? Would you prefer to see

107

transportation funds spent on widening highways or on alternative-transportation plans?

SH: “I would rather see more money spent on alternative-transportation plans, perhaps enhancing public transportation, which cuts down on the traffic on the highway, as well as the air pollution [and] bridge maintenance. … The increased traffic demands seem to increase the numbers in major vehicle accidents as well as environmental damage.”

JSQ: “I think we are going to have to build more roads and have alternate … we’re going to have to do a little of both. But we definitely need to make our urban areas work, because sprawl is not efficient, or effective or cost-effective [for] our citizens.”

GT: “I think that the state of North Carolina is going to have to probably do both. Our population is growing; there are more cars on the highways. I definitely think that we need to look at alternative transportation — trains, bus, whatever — but also, at the same time, in some of the cities that are really fast-growing cities we’re going to have to widen some of the highways and continue the plans with that. There are already plans in the works for widening major highways. I think we need to work on both of those approaches.”

Batter up (10/30/2002)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/1030score-php/

Xpress is expanding its political coverage this year to include some of the bigger political races outside Buncombe County. All the state-level candidates we interviewed were hit with the same three questions. Races taking place in our core distribution area received more in-depth coverage.

In addition, candidates were asked, on the spot, to list or describe the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments to the Constitution) and the Ten Commandments. Candidates were

108

given a corresponding Civics Score and Bible Score; if an answer was even close, we awarded the point.

Civics Score/Bible Score

Tom Apodaca – Civics: 3 / Bible: 3

Brian Barber – Civics: 7 / Bible: 10

R L Clark – Civics: 4 / Bible: 5

Mark Crawford – Civics: 5 / Bible: 10

Bruce Goforth – Civics: 0 / Bible: 6

Sherry Hill – Civics: 0 / Bible: abstain

Jean Marlowe – Civics: 4 / Bible: 9

Steve Metcalf – Civics: 8 / Bible: 7

Martin Nesbitt – abstained from both

Robert Parker – Civics: 7 / Bible: 5

Bill Porter – Civics: 5 / Bible: 8

Joe Sam Queen – Civics: 4 / Bible: 9

Mike Ruby – Civics: 5 / Bible: 7

Gregg Thompson – Civics: 0 / Bible: 4

Trudi Walend – Civics: 2 / Bible: 5

Clarence Young – Civics: 8 / Bible: 6

Milkman (7/23/2003)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/0723ramsey-php/

Posted on July 23, 2003 by Nelda Holder

“I think [farming helps] you see what government can do, but you also see what government can’t do.”

— Chairman Nathan Ramsey,

109

Buncombe County Board of Commissioners

“You’ve got to be efficient,” proclaims Nathan Ramsey, a lawyer by training and the current chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners. If he says it once, he says it at least a dozen times. Ramsey, however, isn’t talking politics — he’s talking about running a dairy farm. Wearing a not-so-clean T-shirt, he discusses his daily routine — the facts and figures, the hows and whens.

Dairy farmers, he notes, play it close to the edge. You can’t afford many mistakes; you can’t afford any really big mistakes. And even the little ones could lose you your farm.

Speaking with a rural inflection, Ramsey tackles such topics as common-sense, efficient, market-based economics, government and environmental regulations. And underlying each of these subjects is an attachment to the land that plants his feet firmly in pragmatism and his heart in farming.

“I enjoyed law school,”admits the earnest 34-year-old, a 1992 University of Tennessee graduate. “[But] to be honest with you, when I was in [high] school, my brother and I wanted to farm. We thought all along that we’d grow up and have more cows.”

Nathan’s childhood was spent ranging the rolling hills of the family farm off Wilson Road in Fairview, where his grandparents (Lena and the late N.P. Ramsey) settled into dairying in 1968. He still lives in the stone farmhouse that guards the path to the barn, with its twin stone silos and weathered outbuildings. Nathan’s father and mother (Roy and Rebecca) and his brother (Bart) live there, too. The operation, now managed by the two brothers, is one of 14 dairy farms remaining in Buncombe County — down from 50 a mere 15 years ago.

For the young attorney, the decision to return to the farm meant turning down a job at the influential Texas law firm of Vinson & Elkins (the late Gov. John Connally practiced there). The firm was recently in the news as the outside counsel for the scandal-

110

plagued Enron. “Who knows — I could have been in prison now,” quips Ramsey.

Instead, he and Bart are living out their teenage dream.

After Nathan finished law school in 1992, they began putting life back into the barns their dad had closed down back in 1987, during the government’s whole-herd buyout.

“We started out milking 60 cows,” Nathan reports. And when Bart graduated from UNCA in 1995, the two began adding to the herd, working a split shift in order to avoid hiring outside help.

Bart, a chemistry major, explains the routine of mixing the chlorine solution to spray the cows’ teats, managing the artificial insemination that produces more cows, and overseeing the testing required by Milkco, which buys their product. “Every load of milk,” he says, “they check for cell-count bacteria, check for water (to see if somebody’s added water to their milk), and check to see if there is antibiotic residue.” If the latter is found, the milk is summarily dumped.

“You have to pay for the whole tanker load,” says Bart. “More than two [antibiotic] violations in one year, they close you down.” As a safeguard, the Ramseys have off-site testing done.

As they developed their two-man operation, each brother was putting in roughly 65 hours a week over five or six days, says Nathan. “It’s worked pretty well — one person in the morning, one in the afternoon — until ’98.”

That’s when Nathan waded into political waters, first getting involved in the county’s nonbinding referendum on zoning (he opposed it), then plunging into a run for chairman of the Board of Commissioners that saw the Republican novice defeat veteran Democrat Tom Sobol in 2000. Interestingly, Nathan himself hails from a Democratic stronghold. In fact, he was the first person in his family to register as a Republican. Why? “Just to be contrary,” he confesses, musing, “You’ve got to rebel against your parents a little bit.”

111

“Papaw was a Democrat, and all this family, but they were conservative Democrats,” Nathan explains. Then he laughs, recalling a conversation he’d had last year with newly elected Democratic state Sen. Joe Sam Queen of Waynesville. Referring to Ramsey’s deep Buncombe County roots, Queen had quipped: “How are you a Ramsey and a Republican? You must have drunk bad water.”...

May I see your license? (4/11/2007)https://mountainx.com/opinion/041107bennett/

Posted on April 11, 2007 by Margaret Bennett

A bill filed in the N.C. General Assembly late last month would require all complementary and alternative health-care practitioners in the state to be licensed. This is unnecessary, impractical and contrary to the wishes of many Western North Carolina residents.

Another bill, filed April 5, follows other states’ lead in protecting people’s fundamental right to choose their own health care. The fate of these bills could significantly affect your access to now-widely-available treatment modalities that pose no risk of harm to the public.

To date, an estimated 4,000 state residents have signed a petition supporting health freedom. As many as 3.3 million North Carolina residents receive a substantial volume of health-care services from complementary and alternative practitioners. This follows a nationwide trend: In 1997, Americans made substantially more visits to complementary and alternative health-care providers than to primary-care physicians, according to a study by Dr. David Eisenberg of Harvard Medical School.

North Carolina’s broad definition of medicine requires anyone practicing the healing arts to have a license unless they’re practicing under an exemption or “safe harbor.” But the state

112

does not provide such an exemption for the many widely practiced natural, complementary and alternative healing arts.

Last April, the House Select Committee on Complementary and Alternative Medicine held a hearing at The North Carolina Arboretum that considered ways to facilitate consumer access to complementary and alternative health care. The committee recommended creating another study committee in 2007 to consider and report on a number of issues, including “the need to safeguard public health and safety by requiring mandatory licensure of all persons who engage in the practice of complementary and alternative health-care services to ensure minimum standards of competence, a minimum level of education and experience.”

But the resulting Naturopathic Physician Licensing Act (HB 969 and SB 1080) is overly broad in its current form, requiring across-the-board licensing and attempting to define “natural medicine”—a blend of art and science, of left- and right-brain knowledge and thinking, that defies conventional medical boundaries.

Complementary and alternative health-care services exist within a network of people with widely varying backgrounds, skills and cultural identities. Referrals are prevalent and have been part of the practice of the healing arts throughout the ages. Within this community-specific “culture,” people naturally get to know who is helpful in dealing with different types of issues. This organic system is closer to the concept of community elders than to the structure of conventional medicine today. If the complementary and alternative health-care services were allowed to grow and thrive in a clearly legal environment, communication about them would also improve.

Meanwhile, another bill, the Consumer Health Freedom Act (HB 1358), would provide a safe harbor for people practicing healing arts within strictly specified parameters. Similar to House Bill 1303 from the 2005 legislative session, it takes a common-sense approach used by other states (California, Idaho, Louisiana,

113

Minnesota, Oklahoma and Rhode Island) whose laws have produced no adverse consequences. Some 30 additional states are either developing similar laws, clarifying existing ones, or otherwise taking steps to defend the right to health freedom. At this writing, Rep. Susan Fisher is among the 13 sponsors of the Consumer Health Freedom Act, and other WNC representatives have said they plan to sign on as well.

This bill’s rationale is that everyone has the right to choose his/her own healing path; that people want more health-care options; and that complementary and alternative health care has a history of safety and can be appropriate for acute, preventive and chronic care.

But the broader public debate dates back to the 16th century, when the Herbalist’s Charter was enacted under Henry VIII. When the American colonies declared their independence in July 1776, they each adopted the laws of England as the common law of the state, including the Herbalist’s Charter. Never repealed, this act remains part of our common law, offering protection to alternative practitioners “at all Time from henceforth.” Nonetheless, as recently as 2003, a bill proposed in the N.C. Senate would have made it a felony to “practice medicine without a license”; it did not pass, perhaps because of the public outcry.

Among the most biodiverse regions of the world, the mountains of North Carolina are full of natural healing energies. Both healers and those seeking healing are drawn here in various ways. But if the licensing requirement becomes law, many complementary and alternative practitioners will leave the state, resulting in the loss of a considerable community of services and the related revenue generated here in WNC. Cultural and indigenous healers could also be at risk.

Rep. Fisher and Sens. Martin Nesbitt and Joe Sam Queen are among the WNC legislators co-sponsoring the Naturopathic Physician Licensing Act. I urge you to contact your state representative and senator to express concern about overly

114

broad licensing requirements and voice support for the Consumer Health Freedom Act. Please also consider contributing time and/or money to defend this basic right, and encourage your friends and family to get involved as well. Together, we can help ensure health freedom in North Carolina.

To find out who your state representatives are, go to www.ncga.state.nc.us, select “Homework Assistance” and then “Who Represents Me?” You can also view the full text of the bills on the Web site. To learn more about the issues or to get involved, attend the April 12 meeting (see below) or go to www.citizensforhealthcarefreedom.org.

[Asheville-based classical homeopath Margaret Bennett is a member of Citizens for Healthcare Freedom. She can be reached at ashevillehomeopath@earthlink.net.]

The battle of the (wallet?) bulge (7/26/2007)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/the_battle_of_the_wallet_bulge/

WNC’s Joe Sam Queen, state senator from District 47 (Avery, Haywood, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell and Yancey counties), says a campaign contribution made by a realtors’ political-action committee after he was elected is not the reason he opposes letting local voters decide whether to adopt a property-transfer tax in their counties. Quoted in The News and Observer yesterday, Queen (who’s pictured at right) explains that he sees home equity as “one of the three keys to prosperity” — the other two being “a good job and a sound education.” If approved at the state level, the local-option transfer tax would be applied as a percentage to property sales within counties whose voters give approval for its implementation.

Queen is not alone — neither in receipt of funds from development-oriented PACs nor in opposing the tax option for counties. The debate, which is stalling action on the $20 billion state budget, has reached a high profile recently, with Gov. Mike

115

Easley joining House Democratic leaders in pressing the tax option to give counties with rapidly increasing populations another tool to pay for schools and infrastructure. But according to the N&O article, Queen and others in “swing” districts are reluctant to vote for a state budget containing the transfer-tax option at a time when their districts are targeted by realtor-funded “Fight the Home Tax” ads.

Supporters of the option, including municipal associations, road builders and general contractors, have also launched lobbying campaigns. But the financial edge goes to the realtors and home builders, whose PACs ranked first and second in campaign contributions during the last election (according to nonprofit research group Democracy North Carolina) to the tune of $816,000.

Cherokee County’s Sen. John Snow, who also opposes the option and who, according to the article, also received campaign money ($3,250) from the realtors’ PAC during the last election, credited the realtors and home builders for taking up a lot of the slack in his district caused by plant closings and a poor economy. And Rutherfordton Sen. Walter Dalton advocated separating the option from the budget bill for purposes of debate. Dalton, says the N&O, received $8,500 from the realtors PAC in 2006.

Welling up (4/23/2008)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/042308wells/

On April 11, state Sen. Joe Sam Queen of Haywood County arrived at the Old Fort home of Leonard and Janice Hensley. The couple handed the legislator a 4-inch pile of papers bearing signatures of residents opposed to any measure to meter water use in private wells in North Carolina. According to Janice Hensley, Queen intends to hand-deliver copies of the petition, collected in 28 counties, to Sen. Marc Basnight, president pro tem of the state Senate, and Gov. Mike Easley.

116

Only here’s the thing: According to letters by Queen and state Rep. Ray Rapp, both of whom sit on the General Assembly’s Joint Select Committee on Agricultural Drought Response, as well as other legislators in Raleigh, no such measure is even on the table.

Well, well, well: State Sen. Joe Sam Queen, left, receives anti-well-monitoring petitions from Janice and Leonard Hensley.”>

“Let me be clear as a pristine mountain stream,” Rapp wrote to Janice Hensley on March 25. “There is no consideration being given to monitoring or metering private wells.”

That sentiment is echoed in letters from several other state legislators, including Rep. Susan Fisher of Buncombe County.

But such assurances apparently offer little comfort to well owners like Hensley, who says she thinks the issue could resurface. And she’s not alone: The topic has become an ignition point for heated discussions on local talk radio as well.

“I think they put it on the back burner,” Hensley says of well monitoring. The petition, she says, is intended to make sure the “dead issue,” as Fisher describes it, stays dead, and now she is turning her attention to a bill intended to protect water quality in wells—much to the dismay of clean-water activists.

That’s not to say the controversy was invented out of thin air. Members of the drought committee say the idea to monitor water use in private wells came from Gov. Easley’s office but that the committee immediately dismissed it.

“No one on the committee responded to the idea and it was clear there was not one vote on the committee to support such a measure,” Rapp wrote in an e-mail to Xpress. Rapp says that after the February meeting where the notion was floated, he relayed the information to one of Easley’s aides, who said the governor would not pursue it.

Then, an article in the Feb. 26 Asheville Citizen-Times, “N.C. May Keep an Eye on Water Use,” included remarks from Queen

117

that seemed to support well metering. “I think in the short term, people are just going to have to register their water use, one way or the other,” he was quoted as saying.

The Citizen-Times ran a correction the next day, stating that only agricultural operations and large businesses using well water were being considered for monitoring. Then, on March 23, the newspaper published a commentary by Queen in which he denounced the proposal while acknowledging that the mix-up had triggered widespread concerns and a petition drive.

But a fire had already been lit under the issue, and word traveled fast around Western North Carolina. On the afternoon radio talk show Take a Stand! with Matt Mittan, on 570 AM, the phones kept ringing and the conversation kept going.

“It was massive,” Mittan says. “It has been the biggest reaction” from his audience, he says, since the partisan-election issue rankled Asheville voters in 2007.

That momentum was fueled, Mittan believes, by what was seen as backtracking by politicians. He thinks the legislators only backed down when they heard the outcry from well owners, and that, he says, “seemed to upset people even more.”

For Hensley, even the specter of the possibility that the state could meter her well was enough to keep the petition moving along. She hopes the strength of the indignation expressed through those signatures is enough to convince legislators that the issue “is a hot potato, and [they] better not touch it.”

The petition also addresses the fact that the issue came up when the legislature is about to go into a short session—a schedule that Hensley says is too streamlined to provide adequate public input on such a controversial proposal. When Hensley handed off the petition to Queen, she estimated it contained nearly 10,000 signatures, and she says more continue to arrive in the mail—evidence, she suggests, that the assurances of the proposal’s demise are not enough to stem public outcry when property

118

rights are on the line. “They’ve never seen so many people so angry,” she says.

Building on those sentiments, Hensley is turning her attention to another well-water issue: a new state law that will go into effect in July and require water-quality testing for private wells. Though she says she supports healthy drinking water, Hensley objects to key parts of the regulation.

“We ALL want clean water without exception,” she wrote in an e-mail to Xpress. “But the bill is extremely overbearing in fines, fees and red tape.”

Hope Taylor, executive director for the nonprofit Clean Water for North Carolina, calls the prospect of a campaign to repeal the new law “terrifying.” The water-testing law, which regulates only new wells and those that are transferred as part of a property sale, is only the beginning, in terms of what is needed to protect drinking water, she says.

“We know [of] dozens of often low-income communities that have had contaminated wells for years,” she wrote in an e-mail to Xpress. “We’ve just begun to correct this problem by ensuring that NEW wells are inspected and tested … but millions of us in NC are not protected.”

Busy days in the state legislature (7/11/2008)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/busy_week_in_the_legislature/

It’s a busy time at the N.C. General Assembly, with the end of the 2007-2008 Session anticipated soon. On Monday, the House and Senate finalized a $21.4 billion budget that authorizes some $850,000 in borrowing for capital construction projects around the state. Other bills or resolutions of note, particularly for the Western North Carolina region, include those listed below. The votes of the region’s legislators (when recorded) are noted as well.

119

Ratified

Budget bill: HB 2436 was ratified on July 8 and presented to the governor for signature. It authorizes $21.4 billion in spending and includes $850 million in borrowing for capital construction projects. Sens. Martin Nesbitt, John Snow and Joe Sam Queen voted in favor; not voting: Sen. Tom Apodaca.

N.C. General Assembly gets down to 2009 business (2/1/2009)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/nc_general_assembly_gets_down_to_2009_business/

Posted on February 1, 2009 by Nelda Holder

N.C. General Assembly gets down to 2009 business-attachment0

With the opening of the 2009-2010 session of the N.C. General Assembly, several bills of particular interest to Western North Carolina legislators and constituents went into the starting gate on Jan. 29. A synopsis of some of those bills with their WNC sponsors follows...

Senate Bill 2: Change the current Lottery School Capital Fund Formula to provide for all the funds to be distributed based on average daily membership (removing the 35 percent distribution based on effective county tax rate). Referred to the Committee on Appropriations/Base Budget. Sen. John Snow of Cherokee/Clay/Graham/Haywood/Jackson/Macon/Swain/Transylvania counties, primary sponsor; Sens. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County and Joe Sam Queen of Avery/Haywood/Madison/McDowell/Mitchell/Yancey counties, co-sponsors.

...Senate Bill 3: Allow use of fees collected from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park special state license plate to be used for ordinary administrative and operating expenses. Referred to the Finance Committee. Snow, primary sponsor; Queen, co-sponsor....

120

Senate Bill 20: Provision for voter-owned (public finance) election of the state treasurer. Nesbitt, Queen and Snow, co-sponsors.

Week two in the Legislature: four-year terms in the future? (2/9/2009)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/week_two_in_the_legislature_four_year_terms_in_the_future/

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Nelda Holder

Week two in the Legislature: four-year terms in the future?-attachment0

The General Assembly’s second week of the 2009 session included the introduction of a number of bills of particular interest to Western North Carolina legislators and constituents, including a provision to create four-year terms for the legislators (HB 71). Synopses of some of those bills with their WNC sponsors follow...

SB 32: Requires that employers in the state use the federal E-verify program or similar verification program for new employees, operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pursuant to the Immigration and Control Act of 1986, and appropriates funds to support implementation. Referred to Commerce Committee. Sen. John Snow of Cherokee/Clay/Graham/Haywood/Jackson/Macon/Swain/Transylvania, primary sponsor; Sens. Tom Apodaca of Buncombe/Henderson/Polk, Steve Goss of Alexander/Ashe/Watauga/Wilkes, Martin Nesbittt of Buncombe, Joe Sam Queen of Avery/Haywood/Madison/McDowell/Mitchell/Yancey, co-sponsors.

121

Appalachian Mountains preservation hits a double in N.C. Legislature (3/2/2009)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/appalachian_mountains_preservation_hits_a_double_in_nc_legislature/

Appalachian Mountains preservation hits a double in N.C. Legislature-attachment0

The legislative clock begins to tick louder in March, as filing deadlines begin for the 2009 session. The first due-dates are March-April deadlines for bills to be sent to bill drafting; second deadlines are for actual filing in the respective chambers. May 14 is the bill crossover date—the last date for legislation not requiring new spending to get in line for action and potential passage by both chambers...

SB 329 — Constitutional Amendment; Right to Hunt: Amends Section 1, Article XIV of the N.C. Constitution to add the right to “hunt, fish and harvest wildlife” for the citizens of North Carolina, subject only to laws enacted by the General Assembly and rules and regulations adopted by its administrative agencies. (Would not modify provisions of common law or statutes relating to trespass or property rights.) Referred to Committee on Ways and Means. Sens. Joe Sam Queen of Avery/Haywood/Madison/McDowell/Mitchell/Yancey, Apodaca, Goss and Snow, co-sponsors.

Legislature considers steep slopes, small breweries, alternative medical services (3/30/2009)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/legislature_considers_steep_slopes_small_breweries_alternative_medical_serv/

The legislative quest for a safe-slopes act in the N.C. General Assembly was renewed with the filing of HB 782 last week by WNC Rep. Ray Rapp. He was backed by two more area legislators, Reps. Susan Fisher and Phil Haire. Rapp, who lives in

122

Madison County, has attempted to move slope-safety regulation in the past session, but his bill was stalled in committee as it was opposed by the North Carolina Home Builders Association and the North Carolina Association of Realtors, according to Rapp (see “The Green Scene: Finding Stable Ground,” Xpress, Feb. 4, 2009).

The assortment of other bills introduced in the past week ran the gamut from HB 795, exempting National Guard members from tuition at the state’s community colleges (for courses required for their National Guard duty), to HB 842, a Consumer Health Freedom Act designed to provide access to complementary and alternative medical services not covered under N.C. licensing. Buncombe County Rep. Susan Fisher was co-sponsor of both bills.

And in the most curious companions department, HB 838 and companion bill SB 654 would create a weight-and-size exemption for sage haulers on light-traffic roads.

In the Senate, SB 918 was filed to increase limits on small breweries before wholesale distribution is required, with WNC’s Sen. Joe Sam Queen of co-sponsoring. Sens. Tom Apodaca, John Snow and Queen filed SB 915 to repeal state authorization for all counties to opt for a land-transfer tax. These and other bills of interest to WNC legislators and citizens are summarized below....

SB 915 – Repeal County Land Transfer Tax: Repeals the authorization for all counties to levy a four-tenths percent local land transfer tax. Filed; referred to Committee on Finance. Sen. Tom Apodaca of Buncombe/Henderson/Polk, Joe Sam Queen of Avery/Haywood/Madison/McDowell/Mitchell/Yancey, Snow, co-sponsors.

SB 918 – Increase Small Brewery Limits: Increases small brewery limit from 25,000 gallons to 60,000 gallons before the brewery must use a wholesale distributor to distribute its products. Filed; referred to Committee on Commerce. Queen, co-sponsor.

123

Sex education, developer responsibility and bottled water all on tap at the Legislature (5/4/2009)https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/sex_education_developer_responsibility_and_bottled_water_all_on_tap_at_the/

Sex education, developer responsibility and bottled water all on tap at the Legislature-attachment0

The N.C. Senate is considering the Healthy Youth Act (SB 221), which passed the House in April (HB 88) and provides for abstinence-until-marriage and comprehensive sex-education programs in grades 7 through 9. Buncombe Rep. Susan Fisher was one of the primary sponsors in the House. The bill is scheduled for a second-reading vote, along with SB 526 (HB 548), the School Violence Prevention Act addressing bullying and harassment in the schools, for which Fisher was a primary sponsor with WNC Reps. Phil Haire (Haywood/Jackson/Macon/Swain), Ray Rapp (Haywood/Madison/Yancey) and Jane Whilden (Buncombe) co-sponsoring. (Bills are not considered passed by the House or Senate until they are acted on favorably in a third reading.)

In the House, a small bill headed for its third reading would modify public-school history and geography curricula. HB 1032 amends current state law to require one yearlong course of instruction in elementary school on North Carolina and one on U.S. history with N.C. history integrated “where practicable.” The latter would include “contributions … by the racial and ethnic groups that have contributed to the development and diversity of the State and nation” – wording formerly limited to the state itself. Rapp is a primary sponsor of the bill; Fisher is a co-sponsor.

Bills passed in the Senate and House last week include of particular note to WNC legislators or citizens include the following:

124

House Action

HB 442 – Parental Involvement in School Discipline: Requires reasonable attempt by school officials to notify parent/guardian before administering corporal punishment; prohibits corporal punishment if parent/guardian has so requested in writing; requires local school boards to report corporal punishment occurrences. Adopted 91-24; now in Senate Committee on Education/Higher Education.

Voting Aye: Fisher (primary sponsor), Bruce Goforth (Buncombe), David Guice (Henderson/Polk/Transylvania), Haire, Carolyn Justus (Henderson), Rapp, Whilden

Voting No: Phillip Frye (Avery/Caldwell/Mitchell/Yancey), Roger West (Cherokee/Clay/Graham/Macon)

Senate Action

SB 761 – Street Construction Developer Responsibility: Amends current state law to limit the responsibility of developers for street or highway construction cost to the amount necessary to serve the projected traffic generated by the development (limits apply to acceleration and deceleration lanes, traffic-storage lanes, traffic-control devices and other improvements). Passed third reading, 44-4; sent to House for consideration.

Voting Aye: Sens. Tom Apodaca (Buncombe/Henderson/Polk), Doug Berger (Franklin/Granville/Vance/Warren), Steve Goss (Alexander/Ashe/Watauga/Wilkes), Martin Nesbitt Jr. (Buncombe), Joe Sam Queen (Avery/Haywood/Madison/McDowell/Mitchell/Yancey)

SB 925 – Misrepresentation of Bottled NC Spring Water: Amends current state law to require that persons engaged in selling bottled water as a beverage not misrepresent the water to be “North Carolina natural spring water” if that water is not both (1) derived and free-flowing from an underground land formation, and (2) collected at the natural orifice in the earth’s surface connected to the underground formation and that is on

125

land located in North Carolina. Passed third reading; sent to House for consideration.

Voting Aye: Apodaca, Berger, Goss, Nesbitt

Voting No: Queen

N.C. House members pushing bipartisan redistricting bill (4/16/2013)https://mountainx.com/blogwire/n-c-_house_members_pushing_bipartisan_redistricting_bill/

Posted on April 16, 2013 — Nelda Holder

The prime sponsors of a nonpartisan redistricting bill in the N.C. House of Representatives plan a press conference at noon in the Statehouse press room tomorrow to discuss their support for H.B. 606. The bill is based on the so-called “Iowa Model” — a criteria- and data-driven model that avoids partisanship and gerrymandering in the redistricting process. The bill has some 57 co-sponsors, who believe the new method “will create stability, certainty, and citizen involvement” in the process, according to a press release from the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform, a non-partisan group advocating transparency in government. Rep. Chuck McGrady, Republican of Henderson County, is one of the primary sponsors of the bill; Western North Carolina co-sponsors include Reps. Susan Fisher of Buncombe County and Joe Sam Queen of Jackson County, Democrats, and Republican Nathan Ramsey of Buncombe County. The bill is the same as a bipartisan bill that passed easily in the House in the last legislative session, but which was never acted on by the Senate.

March for Health planned for April 1 in Sylva (3/25/2017)https://mountainx.com/blogwire/march-for-health-planned-for-april-1-in-sylva/

126

On April Fool’s Day, April first, a nonpartisan group of local citizens will join marchers around the US for a very serious cause: healthcare access. Organizer Nilofer Couture is planning a satellite march in Sylva that will coordinate with marches set for Washington D.C., New York City, Seattle and other communities across the country.

The goal is “equitable, affordable, quality health care for all” and an extensive Bill of Rights. Under the new administration, people everywhere have grown concerned with the future of healthcare and losing the important gains that were made with passage of the Affordable Care Act. Marchers are insisting that healthcare is not a red or blue issue, but a human one. “Regardless of whom you voted for last November, women don’t want to go back to the days of paying more for their health insurance than men”, says Nilofer. The group’s Bill of Rights includes demands that both Democrats and Republicans can agree on, such as ‘those with pre-existing conditions receive exactly the same rates and the same access to coverage as everyone else’ and ‘No one loses coverage as the result of any legislative transition period.’

The aim of the march is to put a human face on the people with so much at stake- all Americans. “You shouldn’t have to worry that you’re one bad test result away from bankruptcy,” says Lauren, explaining “if coverage caps are once again instituted every person is at risk.”

Asheville activist and journalist Leslie Boyd will be the keynote speaker who, along with Dr. Ed Morris from Franklin, Doug Trantham (Behavioral Health and Clinical Director, Cherokee Hospital), Caitlan Wyatt (Community Field organizer, Planned Parenthood) and Joe Sam Queen, (former Democratic member of the House of the NC House of Representatives), will speak at the rally before the march. They will speak about those lives that stand to be affected by any loss of coverage. The speakers feel passionately about healthcare as a human right. “Women and children especially stand to lose so much in preventative care

127

that they’ve been getting for free. Things like well-woman and well-child visits, vaccinations, mammograms, and pap smears.

Marchers will gather first at the Bridge Park in Sylva from 1:00 – 3:00 pm for a rally and then march down Mill Street and Main Street where the march will end at the fountain.

128

North Carolina Health News: Motorcycle Helmet Bill Crashes in Committee (5/10/2013)https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/05/10/motorcycle-helmet-bill-crashes-in-committee/

A bill that would have removed the requirement for motorcycle riders over the age of 21 to use a helmet while riding ran into a roadblock this week.

The bill, which passed the House Transportation Committee in late March, took a detour for close to a month before resurfacing this past week in a House judiciary committee.

In the 1960s, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration told states that in order to keep federal highway funding they would have to enact helmet laws. Forty-seven of 50 states complied.

Bill sponsor Rep. John Torbett (R-Stanley) told the committee on Wednesday that since repeal of that requirement in the 1970s, more than 30 states have gone back to allowing “freedom of choice” for riders.

Torbett said that he often rides his motorcycle to South Carolina, where he can then remove his helmet. He told the committee that helmet-free states are able to bring in additional tourism dollars.

He also maintained that the statistics don’t support safety advocates’ claims that riding without a helmet is less safe then riding with one or that health care costs for trauma rise in states without universal helmet laws.

But Torbett hit a pothole in the committee, where both Republican and Democratic members recounted stories from family and friends who had been injured or died on motorcycles.

“I visited a counseling session for what I thought were mentally retarded folks getting mental health services,” recounted Rep. Joe Sam Queen (R-Waynesville). “Out of about a dozen folks in

129

the room, a good half were regular guys I grew up with who had motorcycle wrecks and were severely brain damaged.”

Queen said that before that experience, he would have voted for Torbett’s bill, but the memory of it had changed his mind.

Tom Crosby of AAA Carolinas told the committee that North Carolina is rated first in the nation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for traffic safety relating to motorcycle fatalities. He pointed out that one in eight traffic fatalities in the U.S. is a motorcyclist.

WakeMed emergency department doctor David Kammer related gruesome stories of helmetless motorcycle riders from South Carolina who he treated while working in a trauma center in Charlotte.

“We allow minor infringements on personal freedom because the benefits to society are deemed as far outweighing the costs,” Kammer said. “Helmets are no different.”

In the end, committee chair Rep Jonathan Jordan (R-Jefferson) didn’t call for a vote, meaning the bill is, effectively, out of gas.

House Passes Bill to Cover Medicaid Shortfall (5/17/2013)https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/05/17/house-passes-bill-to-cover-medicaid-shortfall/

A bill to cover this year’s shortfall for Medicaid easily passed the House of Representatives Thursday, allocating $401 million to cover the budget gap in the program.

In March, Medicaid head Carol Steckel told lawmakers that the shortfall would fall between $70 million and $130 million. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that gap had grown to about $248 million.

According to House Appropriations Committee chair Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Apex), that gap is now at about $283 million, with an additional $118 million needed to pay back the federal

130

government for a drug rebate mistakenly drawn down from the federal government in 2009.

This year’s total Medicaid budget is expected to be more than $13 billion.

According to the bill that passed the Appropriations Committee Thursday morning and then on the House floor that afternoon, about $213 million will come from the general fund. Other funds to pay off the shortfall will come from unspent money in the DHHS, excess tax collections and drug-rebate funds in the Medicaid program.

“When Republicans took the majority, we inherited a $600 million gap in Medicaid,” said bill sponsor Rep. Justin Burr (R-Albemarle). “The following year, we reduced that to $375 million. It was the hope that it’d be down to about $150 million, and we would continue to close that. That is what we were expecting.”

“This is more proof that we need to work with the governor as he has proposed to reform Medicaid and control spending,” he said.

Dollar said the governor had brought in private consulting firm Ernst & Young to assist in the forecasting for the program.

Some Democrats pointed out that overruns are to be expected in an entitlement program that is notoriously difficult to forecast.

“Medicaid serves a huge number of citizens in North Carolina with health care,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville). “It is a $13 billion program, and it will have forecasting issues.

“We saw on the forecasting of hurricanes how many different paths a hurricane can take. In an economy as big as North Carolina’s, when we have unemployment that’s a point and a half higher than the national average, when you have issues of health – whether it’s a flu epidemic in the previous year or the uptake of the Medicaid services – it’s hard to be precise.”

131

Queen noted that North Carolina’s Medicaid program has had the slowest year-over-year growth in the country for most of the past five years.

“It’s hard to make accurate predictions on it, and you’re going to have shortfalls,” said Rep. Mickey Michaux (D-Durham). “Every state in the union will have a shortfall; it varies depending on the size of their program.”

The bill passed with only one dissenting vote.

LIVEBLOG: House Debate on Abortion Bill SB 353 (7/11/2013)https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/07/11/liveblog-house-debate-on-abortion-bill-sb-353/

North Carolina Health News will be liveblogging the debate on Senate Bill 353, a bill presented in committee Wednesday that would add restrictions to the provision of abortions in North Carolina to a bill originally about motorcycle safety. To see updates, you can refresh your browser. Earlier posts will be at the bottom, more recent at the top.

Rose Hoban – 4:45

Tillis brought the bill to a vote, for second reading, the preliminary step to a final vote, second vote: 74-41.

Often on controversial bills, opponents will object to the third reading, pushing the final vote to the next time the chamber meets, but apparently, the agreement between the majority and the minority meant that legislators held the third vote right away. That count was the same: 74-41.

Now the bill goes to the Senate for concurrence, which will probably happen next week. That means there will be one more debate on this bill, in the Senate, next week...

Rep. Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville) said all medical facilities, including abortion clinics, have room for improvement. But, he

132

said, bills like this are not the way to go about it and will not improve women’s safety.

“What we are doing here is using government power to reduce access to quality care,” he said. “Access to quality care is what creates safety.”

Tobacco-cessation Funds Missing from NCGA Budgets (6/25/2015)https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2015/06/25/tobacco-cessation-funds-missing-from-ncga-budgets/

In 2011, North Carolina’s youth smoking rate hit an all-time low. In 2013, the state hit another low: Legislators reduced funding for tobacco control and prevention programs to zero, and it’s stayed there ever since.

Tobacco use rates among high school students rose from 25.8 to 29.7 percent in those years, according to the North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey.

Pam Seamans, executive director of the North Carolina Alliance for Health, said this pattern will continue if legislators don’t prioritize prevention and re-implement the programs the state once had.“We need to restore these education programs or we will see our youth experimenting with new and traditional tobacco products,” she said.

A pattern of cuts

In 2011, the legislature allotted $17.3 million for youth tobacco-prevention programs. These programs included Tobacco. Reality. Unflitered., a teen prevention campaign that won national awards and was replicated in multiple states.

In 2012, tobacco-prevention funding dropped to $2.7 million, then down to zero in 2013.

“When funding was at its most robust, at $17.3 million, we had the lowest teen tobacco rate that North Carolina had ever seen,”

133

said Ray Riordan, state grassroots lobbying director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. “We don’t think it’s a coincidence that since the funding has been pulled, we’ve seen an increase in tobacco use.”

Riordan and other ASC CAN members gathered at the legislature Wednesday morning to ask lawmakers to reconsider.

“Clearly, something is not right. We’ve got the money,” he said, referring to the approximately $140 million the state will get this year from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco companies.

That settlement was intended to remediate the harm tobacco had caused the state by paying for health care for people suffering from lung and heart diseases.

Right now, this money goes to the state’s general fund.

Seamans said the fact that these funds are available but not being used to pay for prevention programs makes the loss of funding especially disappointing.

“There is a way to pay for these programs,” she said. “They have chosen not to use these funds.”

Currently, the House and Senate budgets allot $1.2 million for QuitlineNC, which provides all North Carolinians with free tobacco-cessation services, but there’s nothing specifically for teens. Seamans said that’s not enough, especially in light of the CDC’s recommendation that North Carolina should be spending $99 million on tobacco-cessation programs.

“It just makes no sense,” she said.

Alternative addictions

Youth tobacco-use rates weren’t the only thing that increased between 2011 and 2013. Use of alternative tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes and hookahs, rose by 352 percent.

134

“That is showing that our youth are trying new products,” Seamans said.

The legal age to purchase e-cigarettes is 18, but that doesn’t mean kids aren’t getting them, she said, adding that with flavors like bubblegum and watermelon available, they’re attractive to youth.

E-cigarettes are not subject to the same advertising restrictions as traditional tobacco products, nor are they taxed at the same rate. While e-cigarettes are often marketed as a healthier alternative to regular cigarettes, the exact level of harm is not known, and they contain high levels of nicotine.

“It’s safe to assume until evidence shows e-cigarettes are absolutely safe, they should be treated the same as tobacco,” Seamans said.

A new 5-cent-per-milliliter tax on e-cigarettes goes into effect June 30. One milliliter usually contains the same amount of nicotine as in a pack of cigarettes.

“The North Carolina Alliance for Health was very disappointed in this e-cigarette tax because it was a low tax,” she said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how much money the vapor tax really does yield. We will be advocating for that to be put toward youth tobacco-prevention programs.”

A new bill

A bill to tax e-cigarettes at the same rate as all other tobacco products has been filed but has been waiting to be heard in committee since April. If passed, House Bill 939 would raise the e-cigarette tax to 12.8 percent of the product cost and produce more than $20 million in annual revenue, which would fund tobacco-prevention programs.

“We have worked very hard in this state, a great tobacco state, to have a strong tobacco-prevention program, but unfortunately this legislature has eliminated all of our provision funding,” Rep.

135

Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville), the bill’s primary sponsor, said. “We need to restore it.”

Medicaid Overhaul Plan Only Needs Governor’s Signature (9/23/2015)https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2015/09/23/medicaid-overhaul-plan-only-needs-governors-signature/

In a legislative session where it could be argued that most of the sharp words have been spoken behind closed doors, the General Assembly’s House of Representatives was the scene of some pointed exchanges Tuesday, as one leading Republican lawmaker picked apart a compromise Medicaid bill that had been negotiated by his own party.

After the final version of the Medicaid overhaul bill had been introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives by Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Winston-Salem), Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Cary) stood up to oppose it.

Adressing House Bill 372, which has been negotiated for months, Dollar decried what he called its “fundamental flaw,” namely, the introduction of managed care into North Carolina.

“First, insurance HMOs have failed repeatedly in North Carolina. They were tried in the hospitals down in Mecklenburg County a couple of decades ago; they failed,” Dollar said. “They failed in the mental health system … and they also failed in the State Health Plan in the ’80s and the ’90s, every time, leaving problems for this state to fix.

“And I worry that may be the situation we face several years down the road.”

But Lambeth, who negotiated the months-long compromise with the Senate, argued that the bill was a good deal that retains a “focus on quality, access, patient satisfaction and budget predictability.”

136

“While this plan does not have all the aspects you might have preferred, it is a very good framework that resolves the reform conflict and moves North Carolina forward,” Lambeth said.

Gov. Pat McCrory has said he’ll sign the bill.

Middle man

The bill, which could be signed as early as Wednesday, allows for the introduction of three statewide for-profit managed care companies that will be tasked with providing three competing Medicaid plans, something members of the Senate pushed for. In addition, the bill allows for the establishment of as many as 10 locally run “provider-led entities” to operate in at least one of six newly designated regions across the state, and perhaps even statewide.

The idea is to have at least three insurance plans compete for Medicaid patients in each of the regions.

“The benefits will be the same all across the state regardless of whether it’s a commercial plan or a PLE plan,” Lambeth said.

But Dollar decried the introduction of those for-profit companies that become the intermediaries between the state, which provides the dollars for the program, and doctors, who deliver the care.

Did you know NC Health News is a non-profit? Last year, a third of our funding came from readers. Please consider a donation today!“If we want competition, let it be with the provider of the services,” he said. “Why more than double the administrative costs we are currently paying by adding middle men between doctors and patients? I just don’t see where the value is.”

He also pointed to problems other states – such as Virginia, Tennessee, Florida and South Carolina – have had with managed care companies.

“[South Carolina’s] General Assembly was looking at withholding money from the insurance HMOs because of poor quality of the

137

care for their citizens,” Dollar said. “Do you hear complaints from patients here in North Carolina? It’s very rare.”

Dollar’s arguments were echoed by Democrats.

“I think there’s one thing the people of North Carolina need to know,” said Rep. Graig Meyer (D-Hillsborough). “If we put this plan into action, your taxpayer dollars are going to turn into profits for insurance companies based on their ability to limit and cut services to poor people.”

‘Good for providers’

While the 90-minute debate was dominated by members opposed to the bill, some Republicans argued in favor.

Rep. Josh Dobson (R-Nebo) said he supported the original House bill, primarily because he believes the state’s providers would have been the best to deliver good care to Medicaid patients. But as the Senate was adamant in its desire to introduce managed care to North Carolina, negotiators, including Dobson, developed this hybrid plan.

“After that compromise was reached … I made it a priority to make sure if that was the model, if that was the hybrid approach that we were going to take, that everything else in this bill had to be good for the providers,” Dobson said. “And it had to be good for the patients.”

“I believe … we’ve done that.”

Dobson pointed out that the bill protects Community Care of North Carolina, the organization that North Carolina has used to help coordinate care.

“In the Senate proposal, it was eliminated starting next year,” Dobson said. “This proposal at least allows them to operate through capitation and then it gives a plan for them to go forward and have a role to play after that.”

The compromise also retains the state’s publicly funded mental health managed care organizations, integrating them into the

138

larger providers after six years. It excepts the so-called dual-eligibles who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare, the program that pays for care for the elderly and disabled.

And dentistry is exempted from the managed care regimen, something that drew criticism, especially after Rep. Bert Jones (R-Reidsville), a dentist, got up to support the bill.

“You’re a dentist, I believe, and dentists are carved out of this package,” Rep. Verla Insko (D-Chapel Hill) said.

Rep. Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville) noted that others left out of the deal are about a half-million uninsured who would be covered if the state expanded Medicaid.

“It’s not reform, it’s regression,” he said. “There will not be better satisfaction, there will not be lower cost, there will not be better health care in rural areas.”...

State Budget, with Several Mental Health Provisions, Nears Approval as House Gives First OK (7/1/2016)https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2016/07/01/state-budget-with-several-mental-health-provisions-nears-approval-as-house-gives-first-ok/

The state House on Thursday approved on first reading a $22.4 billion dollars increasing spending for mental health care while raising some teacher salaries,, cutting income taxes and filling North Carolina’s rainy-day fund to a level of $1.58 billion.

The 92-23 tally for approval means that the House needs only one additional vote to send the budget to Gov. Pat McCrory by the end of the fiscal year Friday.

“We are seeking excellence in this state and we are also investing in infrastructure,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Wake), a principal budget writer. “We were also to make sure we are shoring up for the future.”

139

Dollar noted that under recommendations of Gov. Pat McCrory’s mental-health task force, the budget spends $10 million in recurring funding and $10 million in non-recurring funding toward mental health and substance-abuse treatment priorities.

There’s another $20 million, drawn from the state’s sale of the Dorothea Dix property, for the establishment of mental health beds in rural counties and crisis centers for adults and children. In all, Dollar said, the state will be providing an additional 120 to 130 beds for mental-health and substance-abuse treatment

However, Rep. Verla Insko (D-Chapel Hill) noted, mental health programs are still recovering from tens of millions in cuts in the previous budget, made by Republican leadership in connection with dissatisfaction with the performance of local management entities in charge of the programs.

Rep. Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville) brought a contentious response from Dollar when he maintained that the undiscussed “elephant” in the budget discussion was North Carolina’s decision not to expand Medicaid spending under the federal Affordable Care Act.

“Is the gentleman aware that we have put $16 million into building health-care infrastructure in Western North Carolina?” Dollar asked after permission to take the floor from Queen.

The state projects represented millions in spending, Queen said, but the decision not to expand Medicaid amounted to billions.

Project CARE, a widely praised respite program for caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s that has had a precarious existence for years, was funded at $550,000, insuring it for another year...

Following the Adult Care Home Money in North Carolina (2/5/2018)https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2018/02/05/following-the-adult-care-home-money-in-north-carolina/

140

Despite concerns about the more than 1,200 adult care homes in North Carolina that the news media and advocates for the rights of disabled people have raised in recent years, the way the state regulates these facilities hasn’t seen any dramatic changes.

Some advocates say that’s because the adult care home industry, which is the state’s de facto “solution” for housing mentally ill adults, enjoys out-sized political influence, thanks to years of effective lobbying and generous campaign contributions.

Last year Carolina Public Press launched the investigative series Questionable Care to examine issues with adult care homes in North Carolina and the state’s handling of them. The series explored serious incidents that led to large state fines against some adult care homes. It also looked at the overall system of regulation and oversight, in which a mix of state and county inspections has led to accusations of inconsistency and ineffectiveness.

The article that follows examines how the adult care home industry’s political giving may have affected this situation.

Record of giving

Carolina Public Press found that the North Carolina Association of Long Term Care Facilities has given many campaign donations to politicians of many political stripes according to State Board of Elections campaign finance records that go back nearly 30 years.

Two of the largest individual donations, for $4,000 and $1,000, went to Dennis Wicker, the Democratic former state representative and lieutenant governor from Lee County, in the 1990s. The only other campaign to receive a four-figure gift was former Democratic Senate leader Marc Basnight of Dare County.

But both these candidates and many other candidates also received multiple smaller checks that have added up over the years.

Some prominent North Carolina political figures of past and present who received donations up to a few hundred dollars at a

141

time from the adult care home industry organization include Virginia Foxx, Frank Ballance, Art Pope, Roy Cooper, Jim Forrester, Bev Perdue, Bob Hunter, Beverly Earle, Richard Morgan, Sen. Dan Blue Jr., Republican Party Chair Robin Hayes, Norris Tolson, Phil Berger, Jim Black, Leo Daughtry, Jim Hunt, Jim Gardner, Mike Easley, Wesley Meredith, Martin Nesbitt, Justin Burr, David Redwine, Tony Rand and Joe Sam Queen.

And that’s just a very partial list. Identifying all such gifts from the Board of Elections database is complicated because the same organization’s name is listed in many different ways, sometimes with misspellings or unpredictable attempts at abbreviation. The Board of Elections records these gifts from reports submitted by the various recipients, who may write such donor groups’ names in various ways.

There’s also little way to account for gifts given by the owners or managers of individual adult care homes. It’s also not possible to know whether an individual gift from such a person had anything to do with the industry, or might relate to some unrelated personal political agenda.

Even this partial list might seem like a lot of money going to a lot of politicians. But it isn’t necessarily unusual. Organizations that represent industries regulated by the state and federal government frequently give to political campaigns, sometimes in substantially greater amounts.

Unless the law prevents this type of giving, organizations that don’t play the campaign finance game might be considered derelict in representing their members’ interests.

Buying influence?

Most of the campaign giving from the North Carolina Association Long Term Care Facilities took place during earlier elections cycles. Jeff Horton, who became the organization’s director last year, told Carolina Public Press that the group hasn’t given to any political campaigns since he took office.

142

head shot of Horton

Jeff Horton is executive director of the North Carolina Association, Long Term Care Facilities.

Despite saying he didn’t really know what type of giving strategy has been followed in the based, Horton doesn’t generally disavow the past practice of political giving.

“Since I’ve been on board, we haven’t given,” Horton said in a December phone interview with CPP. “That may change.”

Regardless, industry organizations aren’t foolish enough to engage in quid-pro-quo giving to politicians. That’s a bribe and it’s against the law.“It’s illegal to say to a lawmaker, ‘Here’s some money, get this bill passed,’ ” Horton said.

However, if the long term care facilities organization sees that someone has been “supportive of the industry,” that might be someone to whom the group would consider giving, he said.

He also stressed that the industry organization wants to see a healthy dialogue with state government and reasonable legislation and regulatory policy.

Some of the worst cases of adult care home abuses documented by the state Department of Health and Human Services and reported by CPP have involved companies such as Cedarbrook Residential Center of McDowell County that aren’t members of the industry organization.

Horton said his group doesn’t want changes in the laws that would allow rogue players to run amok. “Most folks in the industry think that if you have someone who is not doing a good job and makes the industry look bad, maybe it would be better if they just went away,” he said.

Asked about whether past political giving has given the adult care home industry an abnormal level of influence in Raleigh, Horton expressed skepticism based on his own experience on the other side.

143

Before taking his current job, he worked for the Adult Care Licensure Section of the Division of Health Service Regulation within DHHS, the state agency that investigates adult care homes, assigns star ratings, catalogs deficiencies and levies financial penalties.

From within that agency, he encountered a false perception that it was a different but related industry, the nursing homes, that controlled everything. He always found that this perception of either industry’s influence was simply false, he said.

Today, his board members would be very skeptical about the idea that they’ve accumulated immense influence, Horton said.

“If we’re that influential, why aren’t we doing better as an industry?” he asked.

Advocate concerns

Corye Dunn is policy director for Disability Rights North Carolina, a watchdog organization that has concerns about abuses at adult care homes, but also about the lack of choice given to people who end up being housed – “stored,” Dunn says – at these facilities due to lack of options.

She believes the adult care home industry’s strategy has built up sympathy in Raleigh from influential leaders who have insulated adult care homes against more effective regulation and changes in the basic model of care for disabled adults.

“There have definitely been times in the last 10 years when we have seen policy decisions that valued the needs of the adult care home industry over the rights of” their residents, Dunn said.

She also noted that this issue isn’t partisan. Like the record of industry gift-giving, the industry has received support from political leaders of all parties.

Dunn is especially concerned that lawmakers in Raleigh have taken baby steps, such as implementing a review of the controversial star rating system for adult care homes, rather

144

than considering the big picture, including a federal lawsuit that challenges the basic model in North Carolina.

“That’s where we go wrong,” she said. “That’s where we violate the law.”

According to the U.S. Department of Justice legal filing last year, North Carolina has failed to meet its obligations under a previous legal settlement to create real options for disabled adults who do not necessarily need to be housed in adult care home facilities.

Rather than fixing the problems raised in the federal litigation, the state has filed responses in the courts disputing the federal findings.

What’s next?

Several upcoming developments could be telling for the future of adult care homes in North Carolina. Depending on the thoroughness of the star-system review, lawmakers could decide that more far-reaching reforms are in order. That could especially be true if they take a closer look at the state’s 2016 settlement with Cedarbrook Residential Center that resulted in the fabrication of a new four-star rating for a facility that had earned a zero-star rating.

shows the outside of Cedarbrook adult care home in Nebo.

Negative state findings and penalties against Cedarbrook disappeared as part of court-ordered compliance with a settlement agreement in January 2017. Photo credit: Frank Taylor/ Carolina Public Press

The Cedarbrook case is in many ways an outlier. The deficient findings and financial penalties imposed against the facility in 2015 and 2016 dwarfed those against all other facilities up to that time. The state’s about-face in settling such a mammoth case and leaving Cedarbrook with no penalties was not comparable to any other action involving an adult care home that has come to light.

145

After CPP began asking questions and seeking state records regarding Cedarbrook in late 2017, DHHS and McDowell County initiated new inspections and took new actions against the facility in October, a few days after CPP’s story on the settled case was published. Cedarbrook’s appeal of this new state regulatory action could have a broad impact on the state’s ability to regulate adult care homes effectively.

The Nebo-based facility has asked the Office of Administrative Hearings to set aside a DHHS-imposed ban on new admissions to the facility, claiming an undue financial burden and that state and county surveyors conspired in a malicious and capricious way to shut Cedarbrook down. State witnesses disputed this, saying their actions came because of serious red flags they identified at Cedarbrook. A administrative law judge has temporarily allowed new admissions again while considering Cedarbrook’s and the state’s arguments and is expected to rule in mid-February.

If the judge permanently prevents DHHS from halting admissions at Cedarbrook, it could set a precedent that would erode a key tool the state has used to bring troubled facilities into compliance.

Perhaps the biggest potential change could come in either a new settlement or a federal court decision in the federal case against North Carolina’s housing options for mentally ill adults. Lawmakers could offer legislative reforms as part of a settlement that would allay federal concerns. So far, there’s been little movement publicly on that front.

146

North Carolina League of Conservation Voters: CIB 8/25/2014 (8/25/2014)https://nclcv.org/cib-8252014/

Environmental issues are leading the news on multiple fronts in North Carolina. NCLCV candidate endorsements, fracking rule hearings, and the coal ash legislative disappointment are all reviewed this week inCIB.

Campaign Watch: NCLCV CPAC Endorses Pro-Conservation Legislative Candidates

Today, NCLCV’s Conservation Pac (CPAC) released its 2014 general election endorsements of pro-conservation candidates for the NC General Assembly (the state legislature). NCLCV is backing 14 candidates (six incumbents and eight challengers) for state Senate, and 21 candidates (11 incumbents and ten challengers) for state House.

“After two years of unprecedented anti-environmental attacks by the leaders of this General Assembly, we need these pro-conservation candidates to come to Raleigh and stand up for clean air, safe drinking water, and the health of our communities,” said Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for NCLCV. The 2013-2014 General Assembly passed a succession of bills weakening protections for clean air, water, and land; cutting funding for environmental enforcement and for conservation trust funds; fast-tracking the environmentally hazardous drilling method of fracking; and failing to require full cleanup of dangerous coal ash pits.

Here are the 2014 general election endorsements of NCLCV, including district number, name, and counties represented...District 119 – Rep. Joe Sam Queen; Haywood, Jackson, Swain

NCLCV makes endorsement decisions based on the environmental voting and leadership record of incumbent

147

legislators, issue questionnaires sent to candidates, and other background information.

In addition to the 35 formal endorsements named above, NCLCV also released a list of 27 “Friends”– legislators recognized for their pro-conservation records who were not taken through the formal endorsement process because they don’t have general election opposition.

2015 Green Tie Award Winners Announced (5/4/2015)https://nclcv.org/2015-green-tie-award-winners-announced/

NC League of Conservation Voters announced today the recipients of its annual Green Tie Awards. The Green Tie Awards honor North Carolina legislators who have stepped up, spoken out, and carried water for environmental issues at the General Assembly. Whether it’s sponsoring legislation that protects our air and water, or being a consistent voice and vote for the health and safety of our communities, these awards are a way to recognize true environmental champions.

2015 Representative of the Year – Representative Joe Sam Queen

The Representative of the Year award recognizes Representative Queen for his vocal opposition on anti-environmental legislation and the consequences such bills would have on the health and safety of our communities. In particular, he has been a vocal force on strengthening the rules governing hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).

2015 Rising Stars – Senators Jeff Jackson and Terry Van Duyn; Representatives Graig Meyer and Robert Reives II

This award recognizes new voices at the General Assembly who make the environment one of the issues they champion as they move into leadership positions.

It is worthy to note the absence of some other traditional awards the organization has bestowed in previous years, including

148

Senator of the Year and Defender of the Environment. In reality, the majority of previous and current Green Tie award recipients would fall into the latter category as attacks to repeal sound environmental policies continue in Raleigh. Without their tireless efforts to offer amendments to offset potential harms and to educate fellow legislators, the state’s natural resources would fare even worse.

Official presentation of the awards will take place on May 27 at NCLCV’s Annual Green Tie Awards in downtown Raleigh. The event is attended by business, environmental, and political leaders from across the state and this year will feature Attorney General Roy Cooper as keynote speaker. Attorney General Cooper will speak on relevant environmental issues affecting the citizens of North Carolina, from cleaning up coal ash to persevering the treasured places of this state.

Over 200 Gather to Honor Pro-Conservation NC Legislators (5/28/2015)https://nclcv.org/over-200-gather-to-honor-pro-conservation-nc-legislators/

Last evening, more than 200 supporters of clean air, clean water, and clean energy came together in downtown Raleigh for the 2015 Green Tie Awards hosted by the NC League of Conservation Voters. Now in its ninth year, the annual Green Tie Awards honors elected officials and key North Carolinians who champion pro-conservation values to make the state a better place to live.

Attorney General Roy Cooper served as the event’s keynote speaker. A recipient of NCLCV’s Catalyst Award at the 2009 Green Tie Awards dinner, Attorney General Cooper touched on how far North Carolina has come in protecting the places and people who call the state home – and noted how far we still have to go in promoting pro-conservation policies.

149

“Our state had made such great strides in cleaning up our air and water by holding polluters accountable, whether it was large entities like Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) or hog operators in the eastern part of North Carolina. Unfortunately, we’re seeing these efforts slowly chipped away by the anti-environmental agenda coming from the Governor’s office and General Assembly. These rollbacks on sound environmental policies not only put the health and safety of our natural resources in jeopardy, but they also put our communities, our workforce, and our children at risk, today and continuing in the future.” Cooper stated.

This year’s slate of Green Tie Award recipients includes four freshman legislators who championed key environmental issues that impact the lives of millions of North Carolinians. From cleaning up coal ash to demanding strong rules governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking), they spoke out for their constituents by advocating for policies that promoted clean air, water, and land. Senators Jeff Jackson and Terry Van Duyn and Representatives Graig Meyer and Robert Reives II received recognition as Rising Stars within the General Assembly. Several attempted to add the coal ash ponds located in their districts to the high priority list during the Coal Ash Management legislative debate last year.

Representative Joe Sam Queen, a vocal opponent of fracking, received NCLCV’s 2015 Representative of the Year award. While representing the western parts of North Carolina, Rep. Queen has continued to highlight the consequences fracking would have on the health and safety of all North Carolina communities.

150

The Progressive Pulse: Top of the morning (1/14/2009)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2009/01/14/top-of-the-morning-14/

The political money shuffle continued in 2008. Legislative leaders in both political parties raised huge sums of money and then sent most of it to their state party. The parties then funneled it in giant chunks to legislative candidates in close races. That means Raleigh money decided key races across the state, making a mockery of the state’s campaign finance laws.

Many states limit how much a political party can give to a candidate, but not North Carolina. The N.C. Coalition for Government and Lobbying Reform wants lawmakers to pass legislation this session establishing limits, but don’t hold your breath. The Democrats like the lack of limits because they are winning and raising huge amounts of money. The Republicans are doing the same thing, but haven’t been as successful. Time to call off the arms race of money laundering.

Here are a few numbers from the year-end campaign finance reports.

Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, who faced no opposition for his Senate seat, raised $1.6 million and gave the Democratic Party $1.3 million. Senate budget chair Linda Garrou gave the party $184,000. Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand chipped in $373,000.

The Democratic Party gave $511,000 to Senator Julie Boseman’s reelection campaign, $393,000 to Keith Melton in his unsuccessful Senate bid against Republican Debbie Clary, and $181,000 to Senator Joe Sam Queen.

House Speaker Joe Hackney raised $930,000 and gave the Democratic Party $675,000. House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman contributed $110,000.

151

On the Republican side, Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger’s campaign gave $211,000 to the N.C. Republican Party. Senator Tom Apodaca gave $148,000. The party gave $104,000 to Bettie Fennell in her unsuccessful race against Senator R.C Soles and $91,000 to Kathy Harrington in her race against Senator David Hoyle, who was reelected.

Fisher Redefines North Carolina’s Housing Mission (4/4/2009)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2009/04/09/fisher-redefines-north-carolinas-housing-mission/

The North Carolina Housing Coalition gave Susan Fisher, a state representative from Asheville, its Legislator of the Year Award.

The choice of Fisher marks a change in some of the gospel within housing circles. Fisher has championed the reform of our state’s manufactured housing. The underlying principal of her aims should make sense to other “housers“, as manufactured housing provides shelter for the least well off in the state – families earning less than half of median family income.

Still, it is a new direction. Advocates from both inside and outside of North Carolina have resisted seeing the light on manufactured housing for years.

Fisher sponsored and helped to pass H1700, “Prevent Displacement of Manufactured Homes,” which gives park owners a tax incentive to sell their mobile home parks to resident groups. It covers sales to non-profit groups, or even to resident-owned cooperatives.

Chris Estes, the Housing Coalition’s Executive Director, framed Fisher’s work within broader concerns to address our manufactured housing. “Mobile homes house 18 percent of the North Carolina residents. They are on the largest source of non-subsidized affordable housing in the state,” he added. These

152

days, the sector makes one-third of all housing starts in North Carolina.

Fisher accepted the award but acknowledged that more can be done. She emphasized how it fit within goals for homeownership. Perhaps she was reaching out to state leaders attending the Summit. Sen. Joe Sam Queen, who arrived later and reiterated several longstanding critiques of manufactured housing, but remains dedicated to increasing homeownership.

Top of the morning (7/15/2009)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2009/07/15/top-of-the-morning-140/

Environment, schmironment. That was the message from the majority of the members of the Senate Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday.

The committee approved a proposal by Senator Charlie Alberston that would shut down the Environmental Management Commission for a year, prohibiting the commission from adopting any rules or regulations to protect the state’s drinking water supply, air quality, or park lands.

Albertson is upset that the commission is holding public hearings about a proposal that would require hog farmers to take water samples from nearby creeks and streams to check for contamination from the farms.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources told the committee that Albertson’s bill would delay requests from six local governments seeking to expand their water supply, halt work on regulations about unclaimed water and buffer zones for development and shut down work on a host of other important environmental issues.

Despite the objections of Senators Ellie Kinnaird and Joe Sam Queen, the committee approved Albterson’s ridiculous proposal after a round of cheerleading for the plan from Republicans,

153

happy to have an opportunity to rail against government, with Senator Andrew Brock suggesting that it was time to look at permanently scaling back the EMC.

Who needs clean water to drink and clean air to breathe anyway?

Justice Center announces 12th annual Defenders of Justice Awards (9/30/2010)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2010/09/13/justice-center-announces-12th-annual-defenders-of-justice-awards/

The NC Justice Center’s annual awards honoring those whose work is creating a better, healthier, and more prosperous North Carolina comes to Durham at the end of this month.

The 12th Annual Defenders of Justice Awards Ceremony & Dinner happens Thursday, Sep. 30, from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. at the American Tobacco Campus, Bay 7, in Durham.

2010 AWARD RECIPIENTS

Litigation

Jane Wettach

Director, Children’s Education Law Clinic

Duke University School of Law

Grassroots Empowerment/

Community Capacity Building

Kay Zwan

Health care and disability rights advocate

Wilmington

Legislative Advocacy

Senator Joe Sam Queen

Waynesville...

154

Judging themselves (10/11/2012)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2012/10/11/judging-themselves/

Here’s an interesting twist to the growing perception that partisanship and private money are creeping into judicial elections: What happens when elected judges are asked to interpret campaign finance rules that have governed their own campaigns?

That’s what’s playing out in a case argued yesterday before a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals involving provisions of the state’s “stand by your ad” law. That law requires candidates or committees to disclose who’s paid for television ads they run.

After the 2010 election, the Friends of Joe Sam Queen — the committee for the Democratic candidate running for the 47th Senate District seat that year — sued his challenger Ralph Hise’s committee and the Republican Executive Committee for violations of that law.

Hise went on to win that seat, and is now seeking re-election. Joe Sam Queen is running for a House seat this year.

In the case before the court, Queen claimed that the Republicans paid for Hise ads but didn’t disclose that, allowing the ads to air instead with the statement “paid for by Ralph Hise for Senate.”

His committee wants to collect the nearly $250,000 Hise paid for those ads as damages, as permitted under the “stand by your ad” law.

But the Hise committee said he paid for the ads by virtue of an account the Republicans had set up with the campaign’s media company, American Media, for the benefit of candidates. The party deposited funds into that account, but only after Hise approved an ad could American Media draw down on that account to pay for air time and expenses.

155

That differed only slightly from the way Queen paid for his ads, Hise added. Once Queen approved an ad and needed to pay for air time, the Democrats sent money to the Queen committee, which then paid the invoice directly – sometimes only minutes later.

Any violation by the Hise committee, if found by the court, was technical at best, its attorney Thomas Farr argued, and certainly didn’t warrant the damages sought by Queen.

The law is vague, Farr added, as it doesn’t define “purchaser” for purposes of disclosing who paid for an ad. Plus, the damages sought amount to “compelled speech” disallowed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, since in effect they force a candidate to make a contribution to his adversary’s campaign.

The judges, all who’ve sat in the candidate seat before, did little to tip their hands in partisan fashion.

John Wallace, who represented the Queen committee, opened his argument by noting the irony of a campaign finance appeal being heard in the midst of a contentious election cycle by a panel of judges who are veteran campaigners.

That remark barely drew a reaction from the panel.

What was the significance of a payment made to a media account for the benefit of a candidate versus a payment made directly to a candidate to pay for media, Judge Rick Elmore asked Wallace. Elmore is a Republican.

Control, Wallace answered. Hise never had control over the funds being paid to American Media.

Judge Cheri Beasley, a Democrat, questioned both parties about the practical effect of any violation by Hise and the harm it caused Queen and the public.

Wallace responded with a floodgates warning, arguing that once we allow candidate money to pass through vendor accounts we open the door to an infiltration of money from improper sources.

156

But here, Farr said, the source of the funds was known, and nothing was paid until Hise gave his approval. Control never left his hands.

And Judge Donna Stroud, a Republican, focused on why Queen didn’t file the lawsuit himself – an argument raised by neither side. Isn’t that what the statute required, she asked both attorneys. Where was the evidence in the record that Queen had even authorized the lawsuit?

Farr, to his credit, said that as much as he wanted his clients to win the case, he had little doubt that Queen had authorized the action and did not view that to be an issue on which the court’s decision should turn.

If the judges split along party lines, the 2-to-1 result lends itself to an automatic right of appeal to the Supreme Court, which means clarity on this point of campaign finance law may come just in time for the election – in 2014.

Candidates – who’s standing by your ads? (11/20/2012)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2012/11/20/candidates-whos-standing-by-your-ads/

If you were fortunate enough in this past election to have someone other than your campaign committee pay for the production of your radio or television ads — or for their air time — you might want to check your disclosures.

In an opinion handed down today, the state Court of Appeals ruled that sponsors of political ads aired on radio or television include both the producers of the message and the buyers of the media time, and that any such ads must disclose both in order to comply with the state’s “stand by your ad” law.

The case arose out of the 2010 battle for the 47th Senate District seat between Democrat Joe Sam Queen and Republican Ralph Hise. Hise won that election, and as we reported earlier, Queen later sued the Hise Committee for failing to disclose in television

157

ads that the Republican party had purchased the air time for those ads.

Both candidates received contributions from their respective parties which they used for ad buys. In Queen’s case, the Democratic party wired money to his campaign committee, which in turn used those funds to buy media time. But for Hise, the Republicans sent funds directly to the media buyer, which then bought air time once Hise approved an ad.

Queen argued that because the Hise committee never had control over those funds, it could not disclose itself as the sponsor of ads; rather, the Republican party should have been identified as the sponsor.

But the Court of Appeals didn’t reach that argument, finding instead that both campaigns failed to comply with the law by not disclosing who paid for both the production and the air time for their respective messages.

“We hold that payment of production costs for the ‘message,’ here the videos, constitutes part of the sponsorship of an

‘advertisement’ under [the law],” wrote Judge Donna Stroud for a unanimous panel. . . . “Thus, where different entities or individuals jointly purchase the message, the air time, portions of either, or both, they must disclose joint sponsorship under this section.”

Because the law requires aggrieved candidates to have otherwise fully complied with its provisions — which Queen did not — he could not recover any damages from Hise.

Final approval of tax overhaul could come Wednesday (video) (7/16/2013)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/07/16/final-approval-of-tax-overhaul-could-come-wednesday-video/

158

Both the NC House and Senate wasted little time Tuesday in giving preliminary approval to the tax overhaul plan introduced a day earlier by Governor Pat McCrory.

When Rep. Joe Sam Queen suggested the tax proposal was not a job creator and simply an effort to eliminate taxes for the wealthiest North Carolinians, Republicans introduced a motion to end any further debate in the state House.

Queen’s assessment was echoed as well by Budget & Tax Center director Alexandra Sirota, who described the tax package this way on The Progressive Pulse:

‘The loss of deductions and exemptions and the fact that the benefits of the rate reduction disproportionately benefits the wealthiest taxpayers results in certain taxpayers losing just under the income tax changes. For example, if you send your children to child care and once were able to claim the child and dependent care credit, its loss in this plan could make your income tax bill increase. Or perhaps you own a small business; the $50,000 business income deduction is eliminated under the tax deal. Other ways that your income tax load goes up, loss of the Earned Income Tax Credit, no more medical expense deduction, loss of the personal exemption, loss of the standard deduction for seniors and the deduction for retirement income.

Of course, there is also the sales tax expansion. This will impact low- and middle-income taxpayers both directly and indirectly as these taxpayers spend more of their annual income on taxable goods and services. It is also true that businesses, no longer benefiting from sales tax exemptions, will pass on a portion of their increased sales tax to the consumer in the form of higher prices.’

Despite those concerns, it’s expected both chambers will give final approval to the plan Wednesday, sending House Bill 998 on to the governor’s desk.

159

Advocates: Fracking won’t start in North Carolina without a fight (3/17/2015)http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2015/03/17/advocates-fracking-wont-start-in-north-carolina-without-a-fight/

On the day it has become legal under state law to apply for a fracking permit in North Carolina, advocates at Environment North Carolina joined with a group of state lawmakers at the Legislative Building this afternoon to make clear that the controversial drilling procedure will not commence in the Tar Heel state without a fight.

Armed with a damning new report on the myriad problems to which fracking has given rise in Pennsylvania (“Fracking Failures: Oil and Gas Industry Environmental Violations in Pennsylvania and What They Mean for the U.S.”) and forecasting litigation if any permits are approved by the state Mining and Energy Commission, the advocates and legislators addressed a gaggle of cameras and reporters at a press conference and made clear that the battle over fracking in North Carolina is far from over.

According to Environment North Carolina spokesperson Liz Kazal, “North Carolinians are no longer guaranteed safety” from an industry in which “every company is a bad actor.” Pointing to the disastrous results in Pennsylvania — where, she said, there have been at least 243 examples of drinking water contamination as the result of fracking and where the top 20 polluters have racked up more than one significant regulatory violation per day for years — Kazal argued that the only responsible course for North Carolina lawmakers is to reinstate the moratorium on fracking until, at a minimum, much tougher rules can be enacted.

In echoing Kazal’s call for a reinstatement of a moratorium, Rep. Pricey Harrison of Guilford County observed that North Carolina is, without any kind of history in the oil and gas drilling field, essentially making up the rules in this area “from whole cloth” and breaking previous promises made by fracking advocates in

160

the General Assembly that the state would have the strongest environmental protection rules in the country. She added that lawsuits challenging any approved permits under other state environmental protection laws are a virtual certainty should the Mining and Energy Commission approve any permits. She went on to note that given the current economics of the industry, the only fracking businesses likely to even try the controversial process here would be so-called “wildcatters” — i.e. small, independent outfits with less experience than major energy companies and the very kind of actors most likely to have accidents and cause pollution.

Kazal and Harrison were joined at the podium by several lawmakers from the region of the state most likely to be targeted for fracking — including Rep. Robert Reives of Lee and Chatham Counties and Senator Mike Woodard of Caswell, Durham and Person Counties. Both Reives and Woodard conveyed grave concern on the part of their constituents about the prospects for water, air and noise pollution in their neighborhoods as well as the threat to basic land ownership rules posed by “force pooling” — the controversial practice under which landowners can be forced to allow fracking under their land.

Several of the speakers at today’s event also disputed the notion advanced by fracking proponents that the industry might somehow spur significant job growth in the state. Pointing to a state Department of Commerce report from a few years back which concluded that the number of potential jobs is in the 300-400 range, Rep. Joe Sam Queen of western North Carolina highlighted the terrible cost of polluting groundwater in a region — essentially forever — in exchange for a handful of “flash-in-the pan” jobs.

The bottom line from today’s event: Anyone in the fracking industry who thought that North Carolina will be rolling out the red carpet as a result of today’s law change may want to think again. In addition to overcoming some highly questionable economics, potential frackers will also have to overcome a whole

161

lot of smart and committed advocates and public officials if they really want to frack here. With any luck, this fact may be enough to convince the industry to look elsewhere. Let’s hope so.

162

Project Vote Smart:Biography (Undated)https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/41253/joe-queen#.WvjbhIVzL4Z

Full Name:

Joe Sam Queen

Gender:

Male

Family:

Wife: Kate; 2 Children: Sara, Charlie

Birth Date:

06/18/1950

Birth Place:

Waynesville, NC

Home City:

Waynesville, NC

Religion:

United Methodist

Education

MA, Architecture, North Carolina State University, 1974

BA, Architecture, North Carolina State University, 1972

Political Experience

Representative, North Carolina State House of Representatives, 2013-2017

Candidate, North Carolina State Senate, District 47, 2010

Senator, North Carolina State Senate, 2002-2004, 2006-2010

163

Candidate, North Carolina State Senate, District 47, 2004

Caucuses/Non-Legislative Committees

Former Vice Chair, Aging Committee, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Former Member, Agriculture Committee, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Former Member, Appropriations Committee, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Former Member, Judiciary II Committee, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Former Member, Regulatory Reform Committee, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Former Member, Subcommittee on Appropriations, General Government, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Former Member, Subcommittee on Appropriations, Transportation, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Former Member, Transportation Committee, North Carolina State House of Representatives

Professional Experience

Architect, present

Property Manager, present

Farmer

Religious, Civic, and other Memberships

Member, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, present

Member, Board of Directors, Daniel Boone Council, Boy Scouts of America, present

Member, Downtown Waynesville Association, present

Member, Friends of Scouting, present

164

Member, Haywood County Chamber of Commerce, present

Member, Haywood Heritage Council, present

Member, Haywood Historic Society, present

Member, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, present

Member, Leadership Giving Council, United Way, present

Member, North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, present

Chapter President, Sons of the American Revolution, present

Member, Swain County Chamber of Commerce, present

Member/Paul Harris Fellow, Waynesville Rotary Club, present

Member, Wilderness Trail, Incorporated, present

Member, American Institute of Architects

Member, Board of Directors, Advantage West

Member, Board of Directors, Appalachian Music and Dance Preservation Society

Member, Board of Directors, Folkmoot United States of America

Member, Board of Directors, Friends of Mountain History

Member, Board of Directors, Haywood Arts Repertory Theatre

Member, Board of Directors, Haywood Regional Medical Center Foundation

Member, Board of Directors, North Carolina Progress Board

Member, Board of Directors, Western North Carolina Tomorrow

Former President, Haywood County Arts Council

Member, McDowell County Chamber of Commerce

Director, Smoky Mountain Folk Festival

Producer, Summer Street Dances of Waynesville

165

Former President, Voices in the Laurel Youth Choir

President/Member, Board of Directors, Haywood, 2000

Additional Information

Awards:

Voted "Most Effective Freshman Democrat" in the North Carolina Senate

North Carolina REAL Advocate of the Year for Real Entrepreneurial Education

North Carolina Business Incubator Society Legislator of the Year

Legislative Advocate Award for Mountain Micro Loan Enterprises

North Carolina Legislative Advocate Award for Civic Education

Outstanding Legistlator of the year for Conservation, The Green Tie Award

Spouse's Occupation:

Rheumatologist for MedWest

Positions (Undated)https://votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/41253/joe-queen/#.Wvjb3IVzL4Y

166

Ratings & Endorsements (Undated)https://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjb_oVzL4Y

167

168

169

170

Statements (Undated)https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/41253/joe-queen#.WvjcioVzL4Z

171

Issue Position: Education (Undated)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/498914/issue-position-education#.WvxrPYVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Location: Unknown

Education is the foundation of our economy and our society. To have a bright future, we must renew our historic commitment to be second to none in educational opportunity.

Lifelong learning opportunities are critical for the people of Western North Carolina to be competitive in a rapidly changing world.

We must work to see that our children start school healthy and ready to learn. We must also ensure that when they arrive, we have invested in enough quality teachers to keep their classroom sizes small and effective.

172

To discourage dropouts, we must invest in a learning environment that motivates our students to use these years of public education as a springboard to success.

Our community colleges are extraordinary and have shown phenomenal growth in recent years. These schools are vital to all students, from college aged to mid-career professionals to displaced workers. Investment in our community college system is essential in building the strong, local, and responsive economy that will provide security for our region's future.

Our state university system is a source of strength and economic leadership for our people. We must continue to keep tuition affordable and accessible to all our students.

At all levels, we must invest wisely in a technological infrastructure, such as access to broadband internet and computers.

As the son of two public school teachers, as a parent of two college students, with both my wife and myself former graduates of our great university system, I am deeply appreciative of the fact that quality education is the critical investment for a better future for all North Carolinians.

Issue Position: Jobs (Undated)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/498913/issue-position-jobs#.WvxrPoVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Location: Unknown

The economy of our mountains is changing. We must pursue our vision and create a strong, dynamic, and broad-based economy, well-stocked with locally-owned, locally grown enterprises. The result will be a sustainable economy, flexible enough to take

173

advantage of opportunities that a changing world provides. Such an economy will provide security and opportunity for us all.

To do this, we have to invest in our schools, our community colleges, and our universities. These public entities develop the skilled, talented workforce that creates the leadership for our future.

We must focus on recruitment and retention of business and industry, as well as encouraging the development of locally grown businesses through entrepreneurship training, micro-loans, and small business development centers. In our rural economy, it is critical we support small business development by funding organizations such as the Golden Leaf Foundation, the NC Rural Center, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, NC Real, and other innovative small business development initiatives.

We must establish our place in the emerging health care economy: the Mountains are naturally an attractive place to retire, and our region should be a leader in North Carolina with the new NC Center of Health and Aging.

Construction is one of our strongest industries here in the Mountains, and I strongly support equity building housing and quality development, while insisting our growth be smart and responsible, protecting clean air, clean water and natural beauty-assets we all share and benefit from.

We should encourage high quality heritage tourism, emphasizing mountain hospitality and our authentic regional character.

My record as your senator and my continuing efforts as a Board Member on Advantage West attest to my commitment to the vision of building a strong job-creating economy essential to a promising future here in the Mountains for ourselves and our children.

Issue Position: Education (1/1/2012)

174

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/750675/issue-position-education#.WvxrloVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Jan. 1, 2012

Location: Unknown

Education is the foundation of our economy and our society. To have a bright future, we must renew our historic commitment to be second to none in educational opportunity.

Lifelong learning opportunities are critical for the people of Western North Carolina to be competitive in a rapidly changing world and we must invest wisely in all aspects of education including technological infrastructure, such as access to computers and high-speed internet.

We must work to see that our children start school healthy and ready to learn. We must also ensure that when they arrive, we have invested in enough quality teachers to keep their classroom sizes small and effective.

To discourage dropouts, we must invest in a learning environment that motivates our students to use these years of public education as a springboard to success.

Our community colleges are extraordinary and have shown phenomenal growth in recent years. These schools are vital to all students, from college aged to mid-career professionals to displaced workers. Investment in our community college system is essential in building the strong, local, and responsive economy that will provide security for our region's future.

Our state university system is a source of strength and economic leadership for our people. We must renew this state's constitutional commitment to keep tuition affordable and accessible to all our students. We must support WCU to be our region's Center of Excellence for higher education.

175

As the son of two public school teachers, both WCU graduates, as a parent of two college students, with both my wife and myself graduates of our great university system, I am deeply appreciative of the fact that quality education is the critical investment for Real Family Security.

Issue Position: Healthy Communities (1/1/2012)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/750674/issue-position-healthy-communities#.WvxrxIVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Jan. 1, 2012

Location: Unknown

Despite wonderful achievements in healthcare, there's much work to be done.Few things have a greater impact on Real Family Security than access to health care. It impacts our ability to care for our loved ones as they age and the ability to ensure a healthy and promising future for our children.I believe quality health care should be affordable and accessible for each of our citizens. I will back our own state employee health care coverage and hold it up as a model for others.

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, from infancy to old age, including investments in community recreation facilities for citizens of all ages. It is my belief that investing in preventative healthcare is our wisest long-term strategy. This includes advancing our region as the leader for North Carolina in Wellness and Aging Research.

With the broad experience of serving as architect and Community Campaign Chairman for the Haywood Regional Medical Center's Health and Fitness Center, being married to a dedicated physician, Dr. Kate Queen, and as a Hospital Foundation board member, I am deeply committed to health,

176

health care, and the healthcare economy -- all critical aspects for a brighter future here in the mountains.

Issue Position: Healthcare (1/1/2014)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/498915/issue-position-healthcare#.Wvxr-4VzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Jan. 1, 2014

Location: Unknown

Despite the wonderful achievements made in healthcare, there's much work to be done.

Few things have a greater impact on Real Family Security than access to health care. It influences where we choose to live and work. It impacts our ability to care for our loved ones as they age and the ability to ensure a healthy and promising future for our children.

I believe quality health care should be affordable and accessible for each of our citizens. I believe our society can afford to help the least among us, who can't care for themselves. I believe it is a shame that in this great land of ours, many people can't get health care until they arrive at the emergency room.

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, from infancy to old age, including investments in community recreation facilities for citizens of all ages. It is my belief that investing in preventative healthcare is our wisest long-term strategy. This includes advancing our region as the leader for North Carolina in Wellness and Aging Research.

I will work for progressive, comprehensive tort reform that reduces medical liability by encouraging our medical and legal systems to rise to higher accountability and responsibility with a

177

focus on better outcomes for all. I will argue that caps on non-economic damages are a reasonable part of the doctor/patient relationship.

I support greater flexibility in employee health care coverage, and I support state incentives to encourage small businesses to cover their employees with health insurance. I will back our own state employee health care coverage and hold it up as a model for others.

With the broad experience of being a spouse of a dedicated physician, as architect and community campaign chairman for the Haywood Regional Medical Center's Health and Fitness Center, and as a Hospital Foundation board member, I am deeply committed to health, health care, and the healthcare economy - all critical aspects for a brighter future here in the mountains.

Issue Position: Jobs (2/3/2014)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/903819/issue-position-jobs#.Wvxr_oVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Feb. 3, 2014

Location: Unknown

Jobs

We must pursue a vision for strong, dynamic, and broad-based economy, well-stocked with locally-owned, locally grown enterprises.

As senator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

* Creating the new WNC Livestock Center

* Growing heritage tourism by pioneering the Trout Heritage Cities program

178

* Promoting small town farmer's markets and small town revitalization projects

* Supporting Cherokee gaming opportunities, leading to hundreds of local jobs

* Cutting taxes for small business owners and small farm producers

* Establishing the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area

* Expanding broadband access across the mountains

* Working to provide high-speed internet to every home, student and business

* Funding AdvantageWest in its work to diversify our economy

The economy of our mountains is changing. We must pursue a vision for strong, dynamic, and broad-based economy, well-stocked with locally-owned, locally grown enterprises. The result will be a sustainable economy, flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities that a changing world provides. Such an economy will provide security and opportunity for us all.To do this, we have to invest in our schools, our community colleges, and our universities.

Education is the foundation of our economy. These public entities develop the skilled, talented workforce that creates the leadership for our future.

We must focus on recruitment and retention of business and industry, as well as encouraging the development of locally grown businesses through entrepreneurship training, micro-loans, and small business development centers. In our rural economy, it is critical we support small business development by funding organizations such as the Golden Leaf Foundation, the NC Rural Center, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, NC Real, and other innovative small business development initiatives.

179

We must establish our place in the emerging health care economy: the Mountains are naturally an attractive place to retire, and our region should be the leader in North Carolina with the emerging NC Center of Health and Aging.

As an architect I strongly support equity building housing and quality development, while insisting our growth be smart and responsible, protecting clean air, clean water and natural beauty, assets we all share and benefit from.

We should encourage high quality heritage tourism, emphasizing mountain hospitality and our authentic regional character.

My record as senator and as a Board Member on Advantage West attest to my commitment to the vision of building a strong job-creating economy essential for Real Family Security here in the Mountains.

Issue Position: Education (2/3/2014)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/903818/issue-position-education#.Wvxr_4VzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Feb. 3, 2014

Location: Unknown

Education

To have a bright future, we must renew our historic commitment to be second to none in educational opportunity.

As senator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

* Making WCU a leader in Health and Aging with the new Health and Human Science Building as part of the Millennial Initiative

180

* Securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to fund innovative dropout prevention programs for our mountain schools

* Obtaining funding and additional teachers for small, geographically-isolated mountain schools critical to their communities

* Funding millions of dollars for graduate nursing and education programs serving Western North Carolina

* Expanding state funded scholarship programs for our community college and university students

Education is the foundation of our economy and our society. To have a bright future, we must renew our historic commitment to be second to none in educational opportunity.

Lifelong learning opportunities are critical for the people of Western North Carolina to be competitive in a rapidly changing world and we must invest wisely in all aspects of education including technological infrastructure, such as access to computers and high-speed internet.

We must work to see that our children start school healthy and ready to learn. We must also ensure that when they arrive, we have invested in enough quality teachers to keep their classroom sizes small and effective.

To discourage dropouts, we must invest in a learning environment that motivates our students to use these years of public education as a springboard to success.

Our community colleges are extraordinary and have shown phenomenal growth in recent years. These schools are vital to all students, from college aged to mid-career professionals to displaced workers. Investment in our community college system is essential in building the strong, local, and responsive economy that will provide security for our region's future.

181

Our state university system is a source of strength and economic leadership for our people. We must renew this state's constitutional commitment to keep tuition affordable and accessible to all our students. We must support WCU to be our region's Center of Excellence for higher education.

As the son of two public school teachers, both WCU graduates, as a parent of two college students, with both my wife and myself graduates of our great university system, I am deeply appreciative of the fact that quality education is the critical investment for Real Family Security.

Issue Position: Health Care (2/3/2014)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/903815/issue-position-health-care#.WvxsAYVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Feb. 3, 2014

Location: Unknown

Health Care

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, from infancy to old age.

As senator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

* Securing over $100 million to establish the NC Center on Health and Aging

* Providing funding to make North Carolina a national leader in cancer research

* Expanding by 40% the number of children eligible for health coverage

* Supporting the successful efforts to save Haywood Regional Medical Center

182

Despite wonderful achievements in healthcare, there's much work to be done. Few things have a greater impact on Real Family Security than access to health care. It impacts our ability to care for our loved ones as they age and the ability to ensure a healthy and promising future for our children.I believe quality health care should be affordable and accessible for each of our citizens. I will back our own state employee health care coverage and hold it up as a model for others.

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, from infancy to old age, including investments in community recreation facilities for citizens of all ages. It is my belief that investing in preventative healthcare is our wisest long-term strategy. This includes advancing our region as the leader for North Carolina in Wellness and Aging Research.

With the broad experience of serving as architect and Community Campaign Chairman for the Haywood Regional Medical Center's Health and Fitness Center, being married to a dedicated physician, Dr. Kate Queen, and as a Hospital Foundation board member, I am deeply committed to health, health care, and the healthcare economy -- all critical aspects for a brighter future here in the mountains.

Issue Position: Education (1/1/2016)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/1093761/issue-position-education#.WvxsdoVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Jan. 1, 2016

Location: Unknown

Dedication to a strong future in education

183

To have a bright future, we must renew our historic commitment to be second-to-none in education opportunity.

As a Legislator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

Making WCU a leader in the fields of Health and Aging with the new Health and Human Science Building as part of the Millennial Initiative

Securing hundreds and thousands of dollars in grants to fund innovative dropout prevention programs for our mountain schools

Obtaining funding and additional teachers for small, geographically isolated mountain schools critical to their communities

Funding millions of dollars for graduate nursing and education programs serving Western North Carolina

Expanding state-funded scholarship programs for our community college and university students

Put your trust in an education leader

Education is the foundation of our economy and our society. To have a bright future, we must renew our commitment to education opportunities.

Lifelong learning opportunities are critical for the people of Western North Carolina to be competitive in a rapidly changing world and we must invest wisely in all aspects of education including technological infrastructures such as access to computers and high-speed Internet.

We must work to see that our children start school healthy and ready to learn. We must also ensure that when they arrive, we have invested in enough quality teachers to keep their classroom sizes small and effective.

Our community colleges are extraordinary and have shown phenomenal growth in recent years. These schools are vital to all

184

students, from college-aged to mid-career professionals to displaced workers. Investment in our community college system is essential in building the strong, local, and responsive economy that will provide security for our region's future.

Our state university system is a source of strength and economic leadership for our people. We must renew this state's constitutional commitment to keep tuition affordable and accessible to all our students. We must support WCU to be our region's Center of Excellence for higher education.

Issue Position: Healthcare (1/1/2016)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/1093766/issue-position-healthcare#.WvxsdoVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Jan. 1, 2016

Location: Unknown

Dedicated to providing quality healthcare access

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles, from infancy to old age.

As a Legislation, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

Securing over $100 million to establish the NC Center on Health and Aging

Providing funding to make North Carolina a national leader in cancer research

Expanding by 40% the number of children eligible for health coverage

Supporting the successful efforts to save Haywood Regional Medical Center

185

Put your trust in our experienced leadership

Despite wonderful achievements in healthcare, there's much work to be done. Few things have a greater impact on real family security than access to healthcare. It impacts our ability to care for our loved ones as they age and our ability to ensure a healthy and promising future for our children. I believe that quality healthcare should be affordable and accessible for each of our citizens. I will back our own state employee health care coverage and hold it up as a model for others.

I support investments in programs that promote healthy lifestyles from infancy to old age, including investments in community recreation facilities for citizens of all ages. It is my belief that investing in preventative healthcare is our wisest long-term strategy. This includes advancing our region as the leader for North Carolina in wellness and aging research. I am deeply committed to health care, as well as the healthcare economy and all its critical aspects for a bright future here in the mountains.

Issue Position: Jobs (1/1/2016)

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/1093755/issue-position-jobs#.WvxseYVzL4Y

Issue Position

By: Joe Queen

Date: Jan. 1, 2016

Location: Unknown

We must pursue a vision for a strong, dynamic, and broad-based economy that is well-stocked with locally owned, locally grown enterprises.

As a Legistlator, Joe Sam Queen has led in:

Creating the new WNC Livestock Center

186

Growing heritage tourism by pioneering the Trout Heritage Cities program

Promoting small town farmer's markets and small town revitalization projects

Supporting Cherokee gaming opportunities, leading to hundreds of local jobs

Cutting taxes for small business owners and small farm producers

Establishing the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area

Expanding broadband access across the mountains

Funding Advantage West in its work to diversify our economy

As a trusted, local professional, expect dedication

The economy of our mountains is changing. We must pursue a vision for a strong, dynamic, and broad-based economy with locally owned and locally grown enterprises. The result will be a sustainable economy, flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities that a changing world provides. Such an economy will provide security and opportunity for us all. To do this, we have to invest in our schools.

Education is the foundation of our economy. These public entities develop the skilled, talented workforce that creates the leadership for our future. We must focus on recruitment and retention of business and industry, as well as encourage training, micro-loans, and small business development centers. In our rural economy, it is critical we support small business development by funding organizations such as the Golden Leaf Foundation, the NC Rural Center, and Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, NC Real, and other innovative small business development initiatives.

We must establish our place in the emerging health care economy. The Mountains are naturally an attractive place to

187

retire, and our region should be the leader in North Carolina with the emerging NC Center of Health and Aging.

As an architect, I strongly support equity building housing and quality development while insisting our growth is smart and responsible, protecting clean air, clean water, and natural beauty -- assets we all share and benefit from.

We should encourage high-quality heritage tourism, emphasizing mountain hospitality and our authentic regional character.

My record as Legislator and a Board Member of Advantage West attest to my commitment to the vision of building a strong job-creating economy essential for real family security here in the mountains.

Votes (Undated)https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/41253/joe-queen#.Wvjcs4VzL4Y

188

189

190

191

192

193

194

195

Smokey Mountain News:The race is on to Election Day (9/13/2006)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/13074-the-race-is-on-to-election-day

As the front page of this week’s paper illustrates, it’s election season. Trouble is, it’s just not feeling much like it yet. U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor, R-Brevard, and Heath Shuler, this Democratic challenger from Waynesville, are still mostly preaching to their respective choirs at local party events.

But it is heating up. A recent news article pointed out that the fund raising is going to a new level. Taylor is lending money to his campaign, and Shuler is off to D.C. to attend some fund-raising events. Last night on the tube I saw a Taylor ad that touted his ability to bring money to the region while at the same time showing a fuzzy, unflattering picture of Shuler repeating the line “it’s irresponsible.” This race will get vicious.

Beginning in this week’s edition, we’re going to start trying to sort through some of the issues important to this race. From today onward, we’ll have a story each week on this race. As Election Day nears, stories about the other important races in the region will also begin to appear in our pages...

Joe Sam Queen and the GOP

Politics makes great party talk, and this was the topic of conversation at a social event in Waynesville the other night — the need for Haywood Republicans to help get a local guy to the state Senate.

For those who don’t know, Democrat Joe Sam Queen is running against N.C. Sen. Keith Presnell, R-Burnsville, in North Carolina’s 47th Senate District. Queen won the seat four years ago but was beaten two years ago. Now he’s running again. When Presnell won two years ago, it was during a presidential election. Each of the candidates won three of the counties in the six-county district, but Presnell’s GOP majority in Mitchell and

196

Avery counties, in particular, wiped out the support Queen got in his home county from Republicans.

Some are hoping that will change this election. Queen quickly rose to power while in Raleigh, befriending the state’s top leaders and earning a reputation as a smart, hard-working senator who could be counted on to grasp the nuances of complicated issues and work to build consensus between parties and opposing camps.

If folks in Haywood County want a local man they can count on in the Senate, then it’s going to take the support of Republicans. I would encourage those on the right to get to know Queen and realize that he will work for them and the district while in Raleigh. Be vocal about that support, or we will once again end up with a little-known senator from a distant county representing us in Raleigh.

How high on the totem pole? Each with two years of experience under their belts, Presnell and Queen vie for NC Senate (10/11/2006)https://smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/11371-how-high-on-the-totem-pole-each-with-two-years-of-experience-under-their-belts-presnell-and-queen-vie-for-nc-senate

When Joe Sam Queen arrived at a reception hosted by the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce earlier this year, the greeters working the door plucked a red carnation from a vase of water, snipped the stem, pinned it to his jacket lapel and sent him inside.

The greeters soon realized their faux pas. They had just bedecked Queen with the signature carnation reserved for elected officials. The problem: Queen wasn’t an elected official anymore. He had lost his seat in the state Senate two years earlier. Queen’s opponent would up show up any minute. Luckily, there were extra carnations.

197

Although Sen. Keith Presnell, R-Burnsville, beat Queen in 2004, many in Haywood County still think of Queen as their state senator. During a press conference at Haywood Community College last fall, an emcee who pointed out important people in the audience introduced Presnell, promptly followed by Queen. In the annual Folkmoot festival parade in Waynesville this summer, Queen rode in the line-up with elected officials, even though he wasn’t one.

Presnell is continually dogged by this form of equal play that elevates Queen to the same status as a sitting senator. Polls conducted by Queen’s campaign show that “Joe Sam Queen” is a more familiar name with voters than “Keith Presnell” — an odd reversal of the advantage incumbents typically claim.

Queen faults Presnell for failing to deliver for Western North Carolina the past two years, and says the region has suffered as a result.

“He is a good enough fella, but he doesn’t have a clue what they do at the legislature,” Queen said. “He’s been down there two years and hasn’t figured it out yet. That’s why he was rated one of the least effective senators. He doesn’t do anything.”

In response, Presnell said he did not want to “lambash” his opponent.

“People can look at our records. I think people need to look at that,” Presnell said.

Comparing the records

So this week, we did just that. Both Presnell and Queen have spent two years in Raleigh — Queen in 2003 and 2004, Presnell in 2005 and 2006 — making for a relatively apples to apples comparison. Interviews with local leaders in the region — both Democrat and Republican — and a review of Presnell’s and Queen’s legislative record show that Queen has been more effective at both bringing home money for the region and getting policies passed to benefit the mountains.

198

During Presnell’s tenure, he failed to get a single bill passed that he sponsored.

“Where is the vision? Where is the initiative?” Queen asked. “If you don’t set some traps, you don’t catch any rabbits. If you don’t plow and sow, you can’t expect a harvest.”

Some say Queen has done more for the region during the past two years than Presnell did — even though Queen wasn’t the one in office.

When the international Folkmoot festival sought a state grant last year, they didn’t go to Presnell. They went to Queen, who despite being out of office helped secure a $100,000 earmark in the state budget. The Penland School of Crafts — from Presnell’s own neck of the woods in Mitchell County — also sought Queen’s help in its quest for money. Queen had gotten Penland a $400,000 grant to promote Appalachian arts and crafts while still in office, but it was $100,000 shy of the $500,000 Penland officials wanted. So they went back to Queen last year to help get the rest.

Presnell, on the other hand, failed to deliver special interest money for the region during his two years in office. But Presnell pointed to one area where he beat Queen: voting.

“He missed 112 votes in two years,” Presnell said of Queen. “I didn’t take a walk on any bills. I was there to do the job people sent me to do.”

Queen missed 10 percent of the more than 1,000 votes during his two years in office. But Queen questioned whether being in the chamber for every vote, many of which are procedural, is truly a bragging point.

“The only distinction Presnell has was he was there for 100 percent of the votes?” Queen asked.

Queen said Presnell was often asleep at wheel, like with the slated closure of the minimum-security prison in Waynesville. Small prisons cost more to run than big prisons, so nearly every

199

year the proposal is floated to close the small Haywood prison. Legislators from here have to fight to keep the prison open and preserve the jobs of people who work there.

Presnell didn’t put up a fight, however. In fact, he didn’t realize it was happening. Haywood County leaders had to turn to other state representatives to help keep the prison open.

“He doesn’t follow things,” said Queen. “We don’t get our fair share with this kind of representation.”

Presnell dodged the question when asked whether any bills he sponsored were passed.

“I would have to look those up,” Presnell said.

Presnell was at a disadvantage, however. One was the record volume of bills introduced during his term.

“Many did not make it out of committee,” Presnell said.

Plus, Democrats control the state Senate, so it was easier for Queen to break into the established pecking order than it was for Presnell.

Bringing it home

Nonetheless, when Queen was in office, he brought home the bacon. He got $20 million to preserve 4,000-acres on Lake James as a state park. And when Queen noticed state legislators from down East cooking up a plan to build a cancer research center in Chapel Hill and a heart and stroke research center in Greenville, Queen felt something was amiss — namely a comparable health care initiative in the mountains.

Queen rallied mountain legislators to demand a $105 million Health and Aging Research Center for Western North Carolina be included as well.

“That was a legacy project,” Queen said. “That is the first time ever Western North Carolina has been included in a major investment in medicine. We will have hundreds of research

200

fellows in Western North Carolina doing post-doc work around aging and wellness issues.”

Queen said Presnell’s failure to win money for the region is even more dismal given the $1.8 billion budget surplus the state saw this year. Compare that to Queen’s tenure when the state faced $1 billion budget shortfalls.

“Presnell is down there in a surplus year and didn’t do a darn thing. The contrast couldn’t be starker,” Queen said. “The difference is I brought something home. He brought nothing home.”

Presnell took credit for voting for millions of dollars in flood recovery for the mountains following the devastation of hurricanes Frances and Ivan. But most towns give Queen credit for securing the funding. Queen was still in office when the floods hits in September of 2004. He was made co-chair of a flood relief committee in charge of surveying damage and writing a flood relief bill.

“His efforts on that committee fighting for Western North Carolina has helped Clyde in many ways,” said Joy Garland, town manager of that severely hit town.

In the meantime, however, Queen lost the election. But he continued to serve as co-chair of the state flood relief committee and continued to lobby for the money, giving slide shows in Raleigh.

“It was key they understand how serious this was for my part of the state,” Queen said. “They were skeptical we had the needs we were claiming. I had to get their support and convince them.”

When the General Assembly convened in February for the first time following the floods, Queen was no longer in office. Presnell was the sitting senator and takes credit for voting “yes.”

“It wasn’t until I was there that I pushed a green button to send money for the flood,” Presnell said. “It was one of our very first votes.”

201

But Dean Hicks, a commissioner from Yancey County, said that Queen, not Presnell, deserves credit for the state flood relief.

“The legwork was already done,” said Hicks, a Democrat. “Joe Sam worked really hard I know for a fact.”

Presnell votes

The majority of Presnell’s accomplishments this election are things he voted for, but not necessarily worked for. Presnell was one of only six Senate Republicans to vote for the state budget, which was primarily written by the Democrats who control the legislature. According to Queen, the Republican leaders in Raleigh told Presnell it was OK to break party lines and vote for the budget this year since Presnell faced a tight race and needed talking points. Like this one:

“I am proud to report that I voted to cap the gas tax in North Carolina,” Presnell said. “When you are able to cap the gas tax, there was a cut, not enough, but a cut in the sales tax and in the income tax, that one vote for the budget would have given $200 million back to families to help on their feed and help businesses create jobs. By that bill, the vote to cut the sales tax and income tax, that frees that money back. It would have been $200 million.”

Presnell touted his “yes” vote for the budget as helping raise teachers’ pay by 8 percent. His “yes” vote for the budget also led to a cap on counties’ share of Medicaid payments. North Carolina is one of the few states where counties are asked to chip in on Medicaid. The burden has been a long-standing problem for poorer counties.

Both Andrew Webb, commissioner chairman of McDowell County, and John Renfro, the former commissioner chairman in Yancey County, gave Presnell kudos for working to cap the county share of Medicaid.

But Presnell had little real input in the effort other than simply voting yes on budget day. Sen. William Purcell from Laurinburg,

202

who has led efforts to help counties over-burdened by Medicaid, said he doesn’t remember Presnell ever working on the issue.

“I don’t remember him saying anything about it, and I was at all the committee meetings,” Purcell said. “I don’t remember him taking a leadership position or being out in front pushing this issue.”

Presnell also touted efforts to protect private property rights, but again it appears Presnell did little more than vote “yes” when it came up for a vote.

“After the U.S. Supreme Court said the taking of property for private use was acceptable, my colleagues and I acted to stop that practice in North Carolina,” Presnell read from his list of talking points during an interview.

When asked to elaborate, he couldn’t remember much about it. At first he said it was embedded as a measure in the budget.

“That was in the budget ...Wait ... I have to look at that again ... Actually that might have been Snow’s bill,” Presnell said as he flipped through his notes. “No, it was what’s his name ... Democrat from Madison County...Bruce Goforth’s bill in the House. I voted for that.”

So did everyone else in the Senate. It was a unanimous vote. And Goforth is from Buncombe, not Madison.

Another item on Presnell’s list of accomplishments was health care.

“I worked diligently with doctors and patients to craft medical malpractice reform,” Presnell read from his list of talking points. “This measure will reduce the cost of health insurance and put more money back in your pockets.”

But again, the details of this effort escaped him when asked to elaborate.

“I’m not sure. I can’t get into the details right now. Let me get more on that,” Presnell said.

203

The details of Presnell’s own bills — ones that he sponsored — sometimes escaped him as well. During a trip to Raleigh in the final weeks of the state legislative session in June, The Smoky Mountain News asked senators and representatives from this region what they hoped to get done before the session ended for the year. Each of them rattled off a list they were lobbying for up until the last minute, except Presnell, who couldn’t think of any at first. He then cited a bill he wrote to get money for Haywood Community College. Except he couldn’t remember what it was for.

“That is for ... let’s see, I’ll just get it for you,” Presnell said, rifling through a binder on his desk, but couldn’t find the bill.

“Rhonda will have to get it for you,” he said referring to his assistant.

Work it

Queen got his first lesson in pushing a bill through the legislature when he began drumming up support for a bill to create a specialty license plate for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation had been asking for the specialty license plate for five years but was not successful.

“It looked to me like surely I could get a license plate done,” Queen said.

But it proved harder than he thought. There were undercurrents to get rid of all the specialty plates, including the Friends of the Smokies tag. The DMV had gotten fed up with the proliferation of specialty license plates.

“I made the case that I can’t sell my assets — the Smokies, the elk, the Parkway, the Appalachian Trail — on a First in Flight license plate,” Queen said. “I wanted my region to have its specialty plates.”

Ultimately, Queen got all 50 senators to sign the bill as co-sponsors.

204

Houck Medford, the executive director of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation and a Waynesville native, called Queen an “exceptionally talented legislator.”

“His determination and diligence in securing passage of the license tag bill for the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Trail is a perfect example. He had every senator in North Carolina to sign on to the bill before it reached the floor for a vote, an almost unheard of occurrence,” Medford said.

County leadersstuck largely to party lines when asked to comment on the role either Queen or Presnell played during their respective tenures. Dean Hicks, a Democratic commissioner from Presnell’s home of Yancey County, said he preferred working with Queen.

“To be quite honest, I felt Joe Sam was more effective,” Hicks said.

Queen secured a $100,000 economic development earmark for Yancey County during his term. When Presnell was in office, Yancey County sought money for a senior center. It didn’t seem like Presnell tried as hard, Hicks said.

“There was no follow through. There was no push to get it,” Hicks said.

Apparently the $100,000 economic development grant didn’t impress John Renfo, however, who was also serving on the Yancey County board of commissioners at that time.

“Sen. Queen was receptive to what we had to say, but I don’t think we got too many results,” said Renfo, a Republican.

Back in the Democratic corner, Mark Swanger, the chairman of the Haywood County commissioners, sided with Queen.

“I found Joe Sam to be far more energetic in searching for solutions to county problems. Joe Sam tried to find a way to say yes,” Swanger said. “I have not found that to be the case with

205

Keith Presnell. I did not see his skill sets as conducive to fashioning legislation successfully.”

Kevin Ensley, also a Haywood County commissioner, wasn’t quite as hard on Presnell. Ensley, a Republican like Presnell, said he shares the same ideology as Presnell on issues like abortion and gay marriage. But Ensley agreed Queen worked harder.

“With Joe Sam Queen, I think he would bring more money to this area,” Ensley said.

Haywood County commissioners became somewhat disgruntled with Presnell when he refused to introduce a bill that would have raised money for a Haywood Community College expansion through a half-cent sales tax.

“I’m not introducing bills that raise taxes,” Presnell said.

The commissioners didn’t want Presnell to enact the tax, however. They wanted to put it to a countywide vote and let the people decide whether to raise a half-cent sales tax. But the county needed the state’s permission to hold the vote.

“I am a little concerned with his ideology being so rigid it would not even allow the citizens of Haywood County to make their own decision regarding a half-cent sales tax for the community college,” Swanger said of Presnell.

Instead, Presnell introduced a bill to give Haywood Community College $1.8 million in state funds for a new building.

“I would rather do appropriations to meet the needs of our community college,” Presnell said.

Only he didn’t get the appropriation, and the college didn’t get the money it wants, and now county commissioners have to decide whether to fund the college expansion through property taxes. Queen said he would have gotten the county its half-cent sales tax vote.

206

“That was what they really wanted, and he didn’t do it,” Queen said. “Instead he throws in this bogus bill as a smoke screen for incompetence.”

Back in the Republican corner, Andrew Webb, the county commissioner chairman in McDowell County, said Presnell was a hard worker and often stopped to chat when passing through on his way to and from Raleigh. Webb said Presnell worked with McDowell County to promote economic development. He could not name any specific measures Presnell assisted with other than showing up for the dedication of a new boat factory and showing up again when a U.S. Senator toured the plant. Meanwhile, Queen claims that he helped secure a state economic development grant to land the boat factory. But Webb disagreed.

“He was not even in office when Cobia Boats was recruited,” Webb said.

It is somewhat expected for a county commissioner to support the state candidate from their own party, so it is unclear how much can be gained from this tit-for-tat support.

“Three weeks before an election you aren’t going to find too many people jumping over party lines,” Renfro said.

But there’s an unusual twist in Avery County, where the Republican school board chairman is supporting Queen.

“It is nothing personal against Mr. Presnell, but I feel like Mr. Queen gets things done,” said Peck Taylor of Avery County. “I feel like Mr. Queen is willing to get down in the trenches for you and try. He doesn’t give up very easily.”

Queen said he lost two years ago after being targeted by the state Republican Party, which pumped money into Presnell’s campaign.

“I was the most effective freshmen senator that had come down the pike in a while,” Queen said. Their only hope to unseat Queen before he became too powerful was after his first term in 2004.

207

That claim was met with a guffaw by Bill Peaslee, chief of staff for the state Republican Party.

“Joe Sam Queen has an exaggerated opinion of his own abilities,” Peaslee said.

The value of endorsements (11/1/2006)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/11310-the-value-of-endorsements

Come Nov. 7, voters will choose candidates based on many different factors. In almost all cases, those choices will be their own, as they should. But newspaper endorsements continue to serve a useful purpose for voters.

Anyone reading this editorial probably also reads other newspapers, so you know that newspapers throughout this region still take part in the time-honored tradition of endorsing candidates. It’s difficult to say how much those endorsements help candidates or help voters make their decisions. Editors and reporters definitely study issues and take great pride in providing voters with useful information.

One suspects that, when it’s said and done, endorsements perhaps play just a small part in the overall process of deciding who to vote for. Television and Internet blogs have also become the favored information sites for some voters, and some newspapers are also using these tools. A newspaper in San Francisco is streaming its candidate interviews onto the Web while other papers regularly provide readers with links to blogs they considers worthwhile. Locally, WLOS and The Asheville Citizen-Times worked hard to put together a joint debate between the two congressional candidates. In our democracy media of all types work on many different levels to get information about candidates out to the public.

In addition to helping voters choose candidates, however, endorsements have come to play another role, one that is almost

208

as important: they tell readers a lot about the people who are in charge of the newspapers they read. Are the endorsements well-researched? Are the issues cited as important to the editors of the paper the same issues that are important to the reader? Are their fundamental disagreements about which issues should carry much weight? Do you simply disagree with the editors of a particular newspaper?

As readers consider the endorsements in the various newspapers they read, here’s a point worth remembering — disagreeing with an endorsement doesn’t negate its usefulness. We learn just as much — perhaps more — from those we disagree with.

That said, we’ve decided to endorse only two candidates this election. Sometimes newspapers feel compelled to deliver an endorsement in every single race. We’re endorsing two candidates whom we believe stand head and shoulders above their opponents, both on the issues and in personal skills.

Queen, Snow for state Senate

On Election Day 2006, we encourage voters to support two candidates who are clearly able to provide superior leadership for this region — Joe Sam Queen for the 47th state Senate District and Sen. John Snow for the 50th state Senate District.

Queen in the 47th

Queen, who served in the Senate from 2002-2004, established himself very quickly in his first term as a leader who was able to both bring a vision to Raleigh and work effectively to shepherd legislation through the General Assembly.

During his first term Queen was one of the lawmakers who developed the idea for the Health and Aging Research Center that should provide meaningful research and employment over the next few decades as it comes to fruition. The center will be a partnership between regional health care facilities, universities and colleges, and it is a prime example of the kind of consensus building that is one of Queen’s strengths.

209

In addition, Queen secured funding for several area agencies and local governments while in Raleigh, proving himself adept at working the legislative process to benefit mountain residents. Even after he was defeated, Queen won praise for his continued efforts to help the region get the necessary state help to recover from the devastating floods of 2004.

Queen’s opponent, Sen. Keith Presnell, is a likeable man with an easygoing personality. To his credit, he did vote for the budget passed this year by the General Assembly, a budget that gave needed raises to teachers and state employees. Otherwise, though, Presnell’s legislative record showed little accomplishment, especially when compared to Queen’s.

Western North Carolina would clearly be best served by Joe Sam Queen’s vision and ability. Voters would do the state and the region a favor by returning Queen to office...

Brochure highlights militia’s march against Cherokee (4/4/2007)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/10610-brochure-highlights-militia’s-march-against-cherokee

A military expedition against Cherokee villages at the onset of the Revolutionary War has been documented with the publication of a full-color informational brochure.

The brochure folds out to display a map and timeline of the Rutherford Expedition through Western North Carolina, as well as stories of Cherokee and the white militia. It was funded by the state Office of Archives and History and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

“It is our ambition that this trace will get National Historic Designation, too,” said Charles Miller of Waynesville, who has dedicated years to uncovering the forgotten history of the Rutherford Expedition.

210

The Rutherford Expedition waged by thousands of white militia men obliterated 36 Cherokee villages from Waynesville to Murphy, burning and destroying homes, crops and livestock. The campaign was both retaliation against the Cherokee for attacks on white settlers and a pre-emptive strike to keep the Cherokee from joining forces with the British.

Miller said the goal behind the brochure is to educate.

“People just don’t know it happened. It is a part of history that has been left out in Western North Carolina,” Miller said.

Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, has been instrumental in the project. Queen said he learned about the Rutherford Trace from Miller and two other Rutherford Trace buffs — Earl Lanning and Garrett Smathers, also from Haywood County.

“They asked for help getting state and national attention for this piece of history,” Queen said. “I have learned a lot in the process. I have learned this is a story of the western frontier of the nation and North Carolina’s role in founding the nation.”

Queen said the Rutherford Expedition is also a story of the Cherokee, their homeland and villages, and their tenacity as a people. It is also the story of a cultural clash between two groups of people.

“We have two great heritages in Western North Carolina, our Appalachian Scotch-Irish pioneer heritage and our Native American Cherokee heritage. This story is the intersection of those two great stories. I found it compelling,” Queen said.

The Rutherford Expedition is known as the Rutherford Trace for the large imprint the thousands of horses and men left on the landscape. The Cherokee have renamed the expedition the “War Against the Cherokee.”

Miller, along with other Rutherford Trace buffs, spent long hours reconstructing the route of the campaign. Their primary tools were the diaries of men on the expedition. Some was educated

211

guess work, like the exact spot where the men would have crossed Wallace Gap in Macon County.

“When you get out and look at the layout of the land, there is only one place where you could get 2,500 men and 1,200 pack horses through the mountain,” Miller said.

By some accounts, the real motivation behind the Rutherford Expedition was claiming Cherokee land for white settlement. Many of those on the military campaign returned to the region after the Revolutionary War and settled it.

“They were all looking for good fertile bottom land to settle,” Queen said. “This Cherokee territory was prime real estate.”

At the time, there were no white towns or settlements west of Old Fort. The seven western counties were 100 percent Cherokee territory, save the few white traders who had integrated with the Cherokee. Many of the prevalent family names in Haywood County — those that date back to the early 1800s — appear on the rosters of the Rutherford Expedition.

“A lot of these people came back and settled here,” said Miller, whose own fifth grandfather served on the expedition.

The rallying of the militia for the Rutherford Expedition is seen as a crucial moment in the Revolutionary War, Miller said. Some Cherokee war bands had ventured down the mountain to strike white settlements on the frontier. White settlement was encroaching on land that was established as Cherokee territory by the British and the Cherokee wanted the white settlements to move back off their land. Miller said men could not go off and fight the Revolutionary War if their homes were vulnerable to attack.

“If they hadn’t have stopped the Cherokee threat they would have had to stay home and protect their homes,” Miller said.

It also removed the threat of the Cherokee Nation joining the British against the Americans. Many of the same militia went on to defeat the British at King’s Mountain, Miller said.

212

Queen said the British had recruited the Cherokee to fight against the colonists during the War, claiming — rightfully — that the colonists would not honor the land treaties with the Cherokee so they were better off with the British. Stirring up animosity of Native Americans against the colonists was one of several grievances cited against King George in the Declaration of Independence.

Queen said he hopes to get national designation for the Rutherford Trace, much like the Over Mountain Victory trail.

“I am very interested in telling the story of the western frontier,” Queen said.

Queen said it will also help gain recognition for the dozens of Cherokee towns that dominated the landscape of Western North Carolina prior to the military campaign.

Clean energy future may be blowing in the wind (7/29/2009)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/2272-clean-energy-future-may-be-blowing-in-the-wind

Will wind-generated power save the environment or sacrifice it?

The answer depends on who you ask and it could have broad implications for the future of clean energy in North Carolina.

In a debate raging in the General Assembly, Western North Carolina senators are calling for limits to the development of large-scale wind power in the mountains. Wind-power advocates say the proposal would be a death blow to the alternative technology, effectively blocking off some of the state’s greatest untapped wind potential.

The proposal would only permit windmills under 100 feet used to power a single home. In contrast, windmills used for large-scale energy production often extend 400 feet into the air.

213

"It's not worth the compromise it gives to our sense of place and the beauty of the mountains,” Sen. Joe Sam Queen (D-Waynesville) said of the larger turbines.

Others argue that the benefits of generating cleaner energy through windmills outweigh any aesthetic argument, and that lawmakers could be committing a grave mistake if they pass the proposal.

“Wind is our greatest chance for making renewable energy in the state,” said Quint David, outreach coordinator for Appalachian State University’s Renewable Energy Initiative. “[The bill] would effectively kill the hope of wind technology in the mountains.”

Background

This isn’t the first heated debate over what structures to allow on mountain ridgetops. The current law on the books, known as the Ridge Law, was adopted in 1983 in response to the construction of a 10-story condo on the top of Sugar Mountain in Avery County. The law forbids the construction of buildings over 40 feet tall on ridges with an elevation of 3,000 feet or more. But under the Ridge Law, some structures are exempt — including windmills. The law leaves it up to local governments to define a windmill, including the height and size of such a structure.

“The law has an exception for windmills, and it’s ambiguous as to what’s legal or not,” David said.

Because the law isn’t clear, developers of wind technology have stayed away from North Carolina — unsure of whether their structures will be challenged.

“Developers don’t want to risk millions to have to go to court to figure out what the Ridge Law really means,” David explained.

So state legislators enlisted the help of environmental agencies and wind energy groups to establish a system to define and permit windmill structures. The legislation would also determine where windmills could and couldn’t be — they would be banned in protected areas, like national forests.

214

“The idea was to preserve places that there shouldn’t be wind development, but at the same time, provide an opportunity for wind development in other places,” said Avram Friedman, founder of the Canary Coalition, a clean-air advocacy group.

Then, several weeks ago, senators Queen, Martin Nesbitt, D-Asheville, and John Snow, D-Murphy introduced a modification to the bill that would effectively ban large-scale windmills across the board in the mountains. Queen said the action was an attempt to strictly enforce the Ridge Law.

“The pressure is strong, but one thing we shouldn’t do is compromise the Ridge Law,” Queen said. “What we stand for is an appreciation of that law.”

Supporters of wind energy balked at the modification, waging a protest that temporarily staved off the proposal’s passage. The bill is currently stalled in the General Assembly, and the debate has garnered national attention. The New York Times called such a ban “virtually unprecedented.”

“Your senators are very brave in what they’re doing,” said Lisa Lingoes of New Hampshire-based Wind Action, a group critical of wind technology. “The legislature already concluded when it adopted the Ridge ordinance that your mountains have cultural significance to the state. When asked now to consider whether that value is worth more — or less — than wind generated electrons on the grid, your mountain senators are doing what most politicians in the U.S. have not done. They’re putting a cold eye to the options and deciding wind is not worth the sacrifice, at least for now.”

Advocates of wind energy seem taken aback by the conclusion of the mountain-area senators.

“This permitting bill has been years in the making, getting all these groups together to make something we all agree on,” David said.

215

The permitting process would establish strict guidelines for windmill location and environmental impact — rules that would seem to ease the legislators’ concerns about building on ridges. Yet the guidelines can’t erase the intrinsic question of whether such large structures belong on mountaintops.

“We’re back to sort of arguing about the impacts that are harder to quantify,” David said.

Eye of the beholder

Queen, Nesbitt, and Snow say much of their argument in favor of windmill limits is based on aesthetics. To many, mountain views are priceless — and shouldn’t be compromised at any cost.

Queen calls the ridges in question — those over 3,000 feet — “the top of the Christmas tree for us.”

After taking out all protected ridges in this category, “You just have a very few other ridges left, and we would change the whole landscape for wind opportunity,” Queen said.

Charles Johnson, a Waynesville resident, is one of many constituents who support Queen’s views.

“You look at all the photography people have taken, and you wouldn’t’ have those kind of views anymore,” Johnson said. “Any structure on top of ridgelines that spoils the view, I think it’s a very poor idea.”

Views define the mountain economy, and have helped grow both the tourism industry and second-home market. Wind energy advocates deny that windmills would have an adverse effect on either of these. David cites a study by the British Wind Energy Association that found wind farms to be popular tourist destinations, with thousands of people flocking to visit them each year in the U.K.

“In some respects, tourism even increases,” said David,

Others are skeptical.

216

“I don’t think people are going to come to the mountains to see wind turbines,” says Don Hendershot, a local naturalist who has written about the issues associated with wind turbines in a weekly column for this newspaper.

In contrast, visitors to the mountains “are seeking a wild, natural, and quiet experience,” Linowes said. “Finding giant turbines and miles of new 36-foot wide roads leading up to and along the mountain top does not inspire awe and feelings of being with nature.”

Arguing about the impacts of wind turbines involves a lot of back and forth. It seems no matter the issue, those for windmills and those who question them have a study to back their point of view. For instance, turbine opponents say windmills kill tens of thousands of birds each year; wind advocates say such numbers are likely exaggerated. Those not in favor of windmills say they cause property values to drop; windmill supporters cite studies that show property values staying the same, or even increasing because windmills “heighten the profile of communities near them.”

Linowes says the wind industry ignores the very real impact windmills have on the surrounding environment.

“The wind industry has established a pattern over many years of denying that industrial wind energy facilities cause significant impacts in these areas,” Linowes said.

Meanwhile, wind energy supporters accuse those in the other camp of using any excuse to keep windmills out of their sight.

“It’s sort of a not in my backyard sentiment — I’m for it, but I’m not for it here,” David said. “It’s the same with nuclear, and it’s the same with coal. We’re pushing over these mountains that aren’t in our backyard, while pretending we’re protecting the mountains by not allowing wind. People aren’t seeing the big picture.”

Enough?

217

The mountains hold more promise than any other region of the state when it comes to harnessing wind power, say advocates of the technology.

“We have one of the greatest wind resources in the country because we have high winds on ridgetops,” David says. “In the mountains per kilowatt, wind will generate more than solar and water.”

The coast is the other region of the state where wind power could be generated, but there are limitations. One is cost.

“There’s a lot out there, but you have to go offshore,” David says. “The cost is more than twice of building a wind turbine on land.”

Because of the expense, developers are prone to ignore North Carolina’s coast in favor of cheaper swatches of land out west. In fact, there are no offshore wind farms currently in existence in the United States, David says.

Still, senators are pushing to focus wind energy development toward the coast.

“Down on the coast is where this needs to be tried,” Sen. Martin Nesbitt (D-Asheville) said.

Queen says at least there, windmills can be built several miles offshore and out of view of the beach.

“They can get away from them, but we have to put them on top of the biggest mountains,” Queen said.

But wind turbines wouldn’t overwhelm the mountains, supporters insist. When each protected ridge over 3,000 feet is taken out of the equation, only 5 percent of ridges with that elevation could potentially hold wind turbines.

“We’re not talking about every ridgetop,” Friedman assures. “We’re not talking about the Blue Ridge Parkway or the top of Mt. Mitchell. We’re talking about hundreds of ridges in the backcountry that are generally not seen by tourists ... places

218

where there are already power lines and cell towers on the landscape.”

David says wind turbines could still be seen, but infrequently.

“Every now and then there would be a windfarm in a clustered location ... not on every ridge as people tend to think,” David says. “Probably you would never see more than 10 wind turbines on our mountains here.”

David envisions a likely maximum of 400 turbines, each powering about 400 homes.

Some in the opposing camp, however, question whether that’s enough power generated to make the cost and environmental impact of the turbines worthwhile.

Linowes estimates that erecting 400 2-megawatt turbines (or about five turbines per linear mile) would necessitate the construction of about 80 miles of roads in the mountains.

And Hendershot points out that if wind turbines were built on all 5 percent of the qualifying ridgetops, they would still only produce about 2 percent of the state’s total electricity.

“That’s not very much. Is it worth desecrating all those ridgetops?” Hendershot questioned.

To Johnson, the answer is no.

“The amount of power that’s generated is not worth the aesthetic cost,” Johnson said.

“Our mountains are more important than minor projects in wind energy,” agreed Queen.

Far from perfect

Wind power has some major limitations. Perhaps the most significant is that it’s not entirely reliable, since wind doesn’t blow constantly.

219

“Wind’s unpredictability is its Achilles heel,” says Linowes. “Ridgeline wind is unavailable when needed, shows up when unexpected, and when it does arrive, often behaves erratically.”

As a result, wind power has had to be reconsidered as an end-all approach for a cleaner energy.

“Wind was presented as being that panacea that was going to create all the electricity you need,” Hendershot says. “When people started putting them together and erected them, they found that when wind doesn’t blow, there’s no power.”

Hendershot cites a study that found no windfarm in the Eastern U.S. performs at more than 30 percent of its maximum capacity.

But despite its limitations, advocates of wind energy say wind power is still the most promising alternative technology in the mountain region.

“To effectively ban wind is shooting yourself in the foot. It’s one of the cheapest and cleanest ways to make the most green power,” David said. “In the mountains, per kilowatt, wind will generate more than solar and water.”

Wind power may have its own set of challenges, David says, but it’s a far cry better than the most commonly employed energy source — coal.

“We need to look for sources of energy that won’t destroy the mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia, and that won’t pollute more,” he said. “In my opinion, when we don’t utilize our green energy sources, we’re pushing over mountains to push over coal.”

Using wind power won’t completely wean consumers off coal. Linowes points out that when onshore winds diminish, coal often kicks in to fill the gap and ensure constant service.

“Having windmills everywhere won’t cut down on coal mining — there’s not enough energy produced,” Johnson adds. “You would have to put them all over the mountain and destroy the place.”

220

Looking closer

Those who question the use of wind power say people on both sides of the issue need to step back and study the technology more thoroughly before pursuing it.

“We’re in a heat to get as much renewable energy as possible, but there’s little consideration as to whether these are the best projects, whether they’re servicing our electricity needs,” Linowes said.

Hendershot says wind power has pros and cons, but ultimately lacks scientific, objective peer-reviewed research.

Those on the other side of the issue feel more certain of the technology’s potential.

“There are vast, abundant resources in the mountains for wind energy,” says Friedman.

“That’s the fact,” agrees David. “Whether we want to utilize it or not, that’s up to the people of North Carolina.”

Spruce Pine project launched debate

A proposed wind farm atop a mountain in Spruce Pine was the catalyst for the proposed ban on large, commercial windmills currently being considered by the General Assembly.

According to news stories that included interviews with Mitchell County officials, the Spanish company Acciona Energy was looking at a site near Spruce Mine that was formerly a feldspar mine. Local officials were supportive of the project.

Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, said the windmills under consideration in Mitchell County would be as high as a 15-story building. Queen, along with Sen. John Snow, D-Murphy, and Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Asheville, are leading the fight in the General Assembly to ban the huge windmills.

Acciona and other companies began looking at North Carolina after passage of a 2007 law that requires utilities to tap

221

renewable sources of energy. That law requires publicly held utilities to get 12.5 percent of their energy from renewable sources, while electrical co-operatives are required to secure 10 percent of their energy from renewable sources.

Prison to remain open, but future not rosy (8/12/2009)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1855:prison-to-remain-open-but-future-not-rosy&Itemid=424

The minimum-security Hazelwood Prison in Waynesville is the only correctional facility of its kind to survive state budget cuts. It is now the sole remaining old-style prison left in North Carolina.

“It’s a certain thing — it will remain open,” said Sen. John Snow, D-Murphy, who fought a tough battle on behalf of the prison. It’s a fight Western North Carolina legislators are accustomed to. The facility has appeared on the chopping block numerous times over the years, only to be rescued by the efforts of Snow and other regional representatives.

“It’s the effectiveness of our delegation,” said Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, who also fought, once again, to save the prison. “We worked hard, pinned it down early, and stayed with it the whole way.”

Hazelwood will be the state’s last example of a small dormitory-style brick prison built in the 1920s. The only other two like it, in Gates and Union counties, were slated for closure as well.

“They’re older prisons, and that was one of the reasons they were targeted for closure,” said Snow. “Some of them cost a lot to maintain.”

Like Hazelwood, Gates and Union also have their staunch supporters. The prisons provide a means of employment for locals, and inmates perform work detail in the community and provide local churches with an outlet for volunteering. But for

222

one reason or another, Gates and Union were both felled by budget cuts. So why did Hazelwood survive?

“I think it’s the location of the prison, and the fact that it’s the only prison in far Western North Carolina,” said Snow. “It’s almost 90 miles from Murphy to Haywood County, so if they closed it down, the next closest minimum security prison would be somewhere in McDowell County.”

If inmates are kept further away, their loved ones are less likely to visit — which can detract from an inmate’s rehabiliation.

“It’s very important to the families of Western North Carolina, whose family members are incarcerated, that they be closer to home,” said Queen.

If Hazelwood were to close, it might be harder to place its employees in equally well-paying jobs close to home — another reason the prison may have fared better than the others.

“These other prisons that we closed, we had facilities close at hand that employees could be transferred to and keep jobs,” said Snow. “Here, we would have had a harder time transferring employees to equal jobs. That was one of the things that was very important — we would have lost about 50 positions.”

Local government officials have advocated on behalf of the prison, largely due to the amount of work detail the inmates provide to the surrounding community. The inmates pick up trash on the highways and performance maintenance to schools.

“It’s very important for the services that these minimum security prisoners deliver, helping governments do chores and tasks around Western North Carolina,” said Queen.

Snow said he received letters from county commissioners and school board members telling him how important the prison was to them. The Haywood County Commissioners even passed a resolution asking, “Who’s going to keep the highways clean if the Haywood Correctional Center closes?”

223

Snow also said the prison may also have survived cuts because of its rather good condition.

“It’s in good shape, considering its age,” Snow said.

But Queen stresses that saving the prison this time around is simply buying time and is only a temporary solution. Eventaully, the facility will have to be replaced.

“It’s very important for us in Haywood County and WNC to keep this minimum security unit open until we can upgrade it, but there’s no question it needs to be modernized and replaced with a new facility,” Queen said.

Queen said he plans to make a bigger push toward that goal.

“I want to work with the county, so we can be prepared to replace it with a modern facility as soon as we can find money for capital improvements,” he said.

Queen said a new facility can’t be put off much longer.

“This year we didn’t build any, but we almost lost our prison,” he said. “We definitely need to realize that we had our warning, and now we need to prepare and make other plans.”

Queen gets early challenger for state Senate seat (8/19/2009)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/1874-queen-gets-early-challenger-for-state-senate-seat

A competitive state Senate race appears to be on the horizon once again for Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville.

Andy Webb, a Republican challenger from McDowell County, has gotten a head start by already announcing his candidacy for the 2010 election cycle.

Webb is a three-term county commissioner in McDowell County and has been board chairman for six years.

224

“I look forward to getting acquainted with the good people of our district in the months to come,” Webb said in a press release last week.

Queen, who is serving his third two-year term in Raleigh, said Webb will have his work cut out for him.

The district spans six mountain counties, sprawling from Haywood County northward as far as Avery and back down to McDowell.

“I can tell you having campaigned in this district, he has a lot of ground to cover,” Queen said. “He may be known in McDowell, but he is unknown elsewhere.”

Queen said he is already established throughout the district as an effective legislator, including Webb’s home turf of McDowell County.

“It is a rare week I’m not in McDowell,” Queen said.

Haywood and McDowell are the two largest counties in the district, and both candidates will be looking to pull down as many votes as possible on their home turf while battling it out in the remaining counties.

Queen narrowly eked out his first victory in 2002. He narrowly lost the seat in 2004, and narrowly won it back in 2006. But in 2008, he won by a comparatively comfortable margin of 54 percent, indicating he had finally begun to establish himself.

The sign-up period for candidates isn’t until early 2010, so it won’t be known for several months whether Webb will face competition in a Republican primary and advance to a final round against Queen. But getting his name out early could help Webb stave off other Republicans thinking of a run.

The past three elections, Queen has faced off with the same candidate, Keith Presnell, R-Burnsville.

Queen said it wasn’t a matter of if there’d be competition, but who the competition would be this year.

225

“I wasn’t expecting the absence of competition. My district is entirely too competitive to expect that,” Queen said.

Queen spent as much as $800,000 on the race in 2006, making fundraising a significant challenge for what has become one of the most expensive seats in the North Carolina Senate.

Webb said he was deeply concerned about the state’s financial situation.

“Tax and spend budgets year after year; scaring our state and local employees with cuts in critical jobs, starting at the ground level, is unacceptable,” Webb said. “There is more to sound budgeting than growing government through tax increases.”

Queen countered that this year’s budget marks the largest budget reduction in state history. However, Queen acknowledged that there will be plenty of fodder for opponents in this year’s state budget, which not only included budget cuts but tax increases.

“Anybody can pile on in this recession,” Queen said. “I’ll remind Andy which party created this recession. It wasn’t created in North Carolina. It was created from failed national policy, and we are doing the best we can to grow out of this recession and get back to prosperity for all. It will be tough for Republicans to make their case, and he needs to start early.”

Webb criticized what he called “a liberal world view from Raleigh” that is undermining mountain values.

Lawmakers close loophole in video poker ban (7/20/2010)https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/307-lawmakers-close-loophole-in-video-poker-ban

Owners of video sweepstakes parlors in North Carolina are out of luck for now.

226

Governor Bev Perdue is expected to sign a bill passed by the legislature that will ban cyber sweepstakes starting Dec. 1 this year.

Sweepstakes operators in Canton, Maggie Valley, Franklin and other towns who have paid $2,500 or more for a business license fee won’t receive a refund — even though the ban goes into effect midway through the fiscal year.

“A business license is annual,” said Canton Town Manager Al Matthews. “If a business closes after operating for a few months, there is no refund.”

Gas stations, laundromats and other businesses with sweepstakes terminals often house them in exchange for a cut of revenue from the machine owners.

Internet sweepstakes is a form of computer gambling that took advantage of a loophole in the General Assembly’s 2006 and 2008 bans on video poker.

The video gaming industry has adamantly fought against the two bans, filing challenges against the state in court and conjuring up new ways to get around the law.

Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Mars Hill, has long been a strong advocate against video gambling. Rapp said while he hopes this round will be the last against the gaming industry, he’s not overly optimistic.

“I’m not naïve enough to know this will be the end,” said Rapp.

The N.C. Council on Problem Gambling reported that every Gamblers Anonymous Group in the state has increased in size by 75 to 100 percent in the first half of 2009 when sweepstakes games emerged. About 88 percent of new calls to the nonprofit indicated that Internet sweepstakes was the source of addiction.

Ira Dove, director of Haywood County’s Department of Social Services, confirmed that more residents are suffering from gambling addiction than before.

227

“The cost for them, their families and U.S. taxpayers is severe,” said Dove.

In the N.C. House, the statewide ban passed 86-27 following three hours of back and forth on July 8. State senators had put their foot down more decisively with a 47-1 vote against sweepstakes earlier.

The chief argument centered on whether sweepstakes should be banned outright or whether the state should begin regulating and taxing the industry during a severe revenue shortfall. According to one estimate, regulating video gaming could bring $500 million a year to the state.

The economic argument failed to win Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, who called the ban the single most important legislative action taken by the Senate this year.

“This industry is predatory,” said Queen. “We’re strong in our resolution to stop this scourge on North Carolina.”

Rapp emphasized that the industry was highly exploitative of citizens who could least afford to lose their paychecks.

Police Chief Bill Hollingsed of Waynesville said he has come across gambling addicts who have spent entire paychecks on gambling and those who have opened up fraudulent bank accounts in order to keep playing.

Hollingsed said ever since sweepstakes arrived on the scene, it’s been a confusing issue to tackle for officers who are charged with enforcing the video gambling ban.

“This provides the clear direction we’ve been looking for for several years,” Hollingsed said

Business owners that attempt to secretly house the machines face a misdemeanor on the first offense and a felony on the second.

“We’re serious about it,” said Rapp.

228

DNA testing for crime suspects sparks ethics debate (7/27/2010)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/376-dna-testing-for-crime-suspects-sparks-ethics-debate

Starting next February, all law enforcement officers will be required to collect DNA from people arrested for certain crimes.

Anyone arrested for murder, rape, burglary, kidnapping or even cyberstalking will automatically have their DNA collected via a cheek swab.

The DNA sample will be entered into a database to see if it matches DNA collected in unsolved crimes. By law, arrestees who are proven innocent will have their DNA eliminated from the database.

For a long time, DNA was routinely collected only from convicted criminals. Taking DNA at the time of arrest had required a warrant or permission from the individual.

State leaders are touting the new law as a step into the 21st century that will help close the books on unsolved crimes and prevent future crime.

“It’ll be a tool to solve crimes quicker, more effectively and the public will be well-served by this,” said Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville. State officials say this measure will help solve hundreds of violent crimes and prevent even more.

But civil libertarians argue the law is unconstitutional and violates the right to privacy.

Sarah Preston, policy director for North Carolina’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, likened the new legislation to an end-run around the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

“Taking DNA is invasive,” said Preston. “It could also reveal a great deal of information. Thousands of genetic traits are contained within DNA.”

229

Preston said the existing law already allows police officers to collect DNA from those arrested in certain cases — they just need to get a warrant or an individual’s permission to do it. Making it mandatory in every single arrest, however, infringes on privacy rights, Preston said.

North Carolina joins 23 other states that have passed similar legislation, along with the federal government, which collects DNA from arrestees and detained immigrants.

Local law enforcement officers wholeheartedly support the move.

“DNA is the wave of the future,” said Capt. Blaine Jones of the Waynesville Police Department, adding that the legislation is much needed.

“It’s going to be a big asset to the law enforcement,” said Swain County Sheriff Curtis Cochran.

Someone arrested for a particular crime today might also be guilty of an unsolved crime in the past. Collecting DNA from these individuals at the time of their arrest could put the earlier mystery to rest.

Moreover, in certain crimes like rape and murder, fingerprints — which can easily be wiped from a crime scene by the perpetrator — are not enough to nab a suspect.

“DNA is the 21st century fingerprint,” said Queen. “This new law will allow the state to fight crime with high-tech identification tools.”

But Preston disagrees that DNA is anything like a fingerprint.

“It’s pretty obviously not,” said Preston. “At the very least, there is so much more information that could be subject to a lot more abuse.”

Christopher Heaney and Sara Huston Katsanis, researchers at the Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy at Duke University, recently wrote an editorial pointing out a serious flaw in how the system currently operates.

230

Government reports show that evidence from hundreds of thousands of rapes are left untested for DNA, even years after the crime is committed.

While labs would be testing thousands of arrested criminals’ DNA, they might find it nearly impossible to take care of the major backlog of DNA samples already collected from crime scenes, the researchers wrote.

Still, Cochran has faith that the new law will be for the overall good and that the benefits outweigh the cost.

“It’s going to work both ways — for the guilty and for the innocent,” said Cochran.

Queen emphasized that arrested individuals who are found innocent can be assured that their DNA will be expunged from the database.

“We think we’ve got plenty of safeguards for abuse of this DNA evidence,” said Queen.

Landlords show spotty compliance with new carbon monoxide law (8/3/2010)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/438-landlords-show-spotty-compliance-with-new-carbon-monoxide-law

A little known law went into effect this year requiring landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors in any rental property with oil or gas furnaces, gas appliances, fireplaces or attached garages.

The bill, passed by the N.C. General Assembly, went into effect Jan. 1, 2010. However, some landlords are unaware of the new law.

In a survey of 15 landlords advertising rentals in newspaper classifieds or on craigslist, only half had carbon monoxide

231

detectors despite all the rental property meeting the criteria. Six did not have detectors and two said they didn’t know.

Four rental agencies in the region that manage fleets of properties were also surveyed. One had never heard of the law, another heard of it but hadn’t yet complied with it, and another refused to say. Only one of the four had both heard about it and was currently in compliance.

Warren Putnam, Waynesville’s Code Enforcement Officer, said there’s no good way to get the word out about the new law.

“There’s really no way we can enforce it unless someone calls to complain about it,” said Putnam.

But tenants are even less likely to know about the law, so the lack of a carbon monoxide detector fails to raise a red flag as something worthy of complaint.

Putnam said he’s inspected three to four houses this year that were required to have detectors and didn’t.

“We are trying to work with the landlords, not against them. They’re willing to fix the problem,” Putnam said.

However, rental houses don’t get inspections as a matter of course. Nor is there a database of landlords that would make it possible to send them all a letter.

Bruce Totty, the former broker manager at Select Homes in Haywood County, found out about the new legislation in January shortly after the law went into effect, thanks to a property owner of one of their rentals.

“When we got the word to start installing them, we started putting them in,” she said.

Dawn Johnson, property manager for a large number of rentals owned by Joe Sam Queen in Haywood County, found out about the new law by reading the April edition of the Waynesville town newsletter.

232

“They expect us to know it, but we’ve not received much of a formal notice,” Johnson said.

It took the firm until June to finish installing carbon monoxide detectors in all its units. Queen is a state senator.

Carolina Vacations, another rental property company in Haywood County, refused to say whether it had carbon monoxide detectors in its rental units. The company said that it doesn’t give out that kind of information.

Don Wood, a Jackson County landlord, home inspector and appraiser, was unaware of the new law but is a champion of carbon monoxide detectors. Wood said all his properties that have combustion occuring inside have had detectors since he’s owned them, simply because it is the safe thing to do.

“You should never live in a place that absorbs oxygen as a part of its operation that doesn’t have one,” said Wood.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas. It is released as a byproduct of combustion — the burning of wood, oil, kerosene, coal, propane or other fossil fuels. Inhaling too much is fatal.

Carbon monoxide bonds better than oxygen to the hemoglobin in red blood cells. If a person inhales too much carbon monoxide, it prevents the blood cells from bonding with oxygen. Therefore, the red blood cells are not able to carry vital oxygen to body tissue, and the person suffocates.

About 170 people die every year in the United States from carbon monoxide poisoning that is the direct result of malfunctioning appliances, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Digging out Lake Junaluska … again (9/22/2010)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/1488-digging-out-lake-junaluska--again

233

In the ongoing battle to keep Lake Junaluska from filling with silt, the lake will once again be partially lowered this winter so accumulated sediment can be dug out.

Scooping sediment out of the lake is a costly proposition. There have been four digs over the past decade, costing $1.7 million. Of that, $1.2 million came from state and federal grants, and Lake Junaluska Assembly contributed $500,000.

When the first “big dig” was undertaken at the beginning of the decade, so much sediment had accumulated it was a mere four to eight inches from the lake’s surface around the mouth of Richland Creek.

“At that point we were in danger of losing that whole west end of the lake,” said Jimmy Carr, executive director of Lake Junaluska.

Carr and his team first had to play catch-up before putting in place a plan to keep sediment at bay with smaller digs every other year.

“The problem will never be solved. What we are trying to do is get it so it is manageable,” said Buddy Young, director of residential services with Lake Junaluska Assembly.

To set the stage for periodic clean-outs, the lake bottom was reshaped near the mouth of Richland Creek to confine sediment being dumped into the lake into one area, making it easier for the bulldozer operators to get at.

This next round of sediment dredging will cost $300,000 — with half coming from the state and half from Lake Junaluska Assembly.

Lake Junaluska requested $350,000 for the dredging back in 2009, but it didn’t come through that year. Carr said the assembly is thankful Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, continued to fight for the appropriation.

“He really stayed with it in a very difficult budgeting time,” Carr said.

234

The economic impact of Lake Junaluska Assembly on the entire region helped win the funding.

“Lake Junaluska is a valuable asset to the Haywood Community and the entire region,” said Queen.

Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center attracts 100,000 people each year for dozens of conventions held on its grounds, with an annual economic impact in the millions plus intangible benefit of outside exposure.

The sediment piling up in Lake Junaluska is a countywide problem. One only has to look at the color of Richland Creek during a heavy rain to see the mud and erosion making its way into the water.

“When it hits the lake it slows and the silt settles out,” Carr said.

The lake can be unsightly while work is being done. Lower water levels expose a ring of mud around the shore in the main part of the lake, and a mudflat in shallower areas. The work usually raises eyebrows.

“I think a lot of the locals understand this is a regular thing, but for visitors to the area it is the No. 1 question we get during the draw down: is there something wrong with the lake and why are you doing this?” said Ken Howle, marketing director for Lake Junaluska Assembly.

Though there has been some discussion of sacrificing the lake at the mouth of Richland Creek and allowing it to become a wetland, Young said it would not be a good route to take.

“It is not like it would build up a good quality wetland. It would be a shifting sand bar,” Young said.

For Queen and Hise, job creation is the primary concern (10/27/2010)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/2150-for-queen-and-hise-job-creation-is-the-primary-concern

235

The race for the state’s 47th Senate District is a case study in the political battle of freshness versus experience that characterizes this mid-term election across the country.

The race in the 47th pits 60-year-old Democrat Joe Sam Queen, a three-term state senator and incumbent, against Ralph Hise, the 34-year-old Republican mayor of Spruce Pine going for his first state seat. If elected, he would be the youngest person in the Senate.

Recent polls show Hise ahead of Queen, who is facing a tough race in this Tea Party year.

According to a mid-September opinion poll by the Carolina Strategy Group, Hise was leading Queen by 12 percent. Queen’s edge with Republicans and unaffiliated voters had slipped considerably since the group’s June survey.

Both candidates are campaigning on a fairly narrow platform, pinning their hopes on strategies for job creation.

Hise is toeing his party’s line when it comes to campaign promises: he wants to bring jobs back to stimulate the flagging economy and drum up work for the unemployed of the district by deregulation and lower taxes, hoping this will encourage small businesses to swell their employment ranks a little more.

“The backbone of our economy is small business, and we must create an atmosphere for them to develop and thrive, rather than be taxed to death,” said Hise. “We must look to reduce government.”

His strategies for accomplishing his goals, while not clearly defined, all revolve around lower taxes and slashed spending to boost jobs and revenue.

“Ralph will fight for us,” promise his television ads. “He’ll cut taxes, end the waste and get people back to work.”

Queen, however, has a different tactic for job creation: bringing state spending to the western part of the state. Queen doesn’t

236

promise to end state government spending, but he advocates bringing it back to the district, where it can be spent creating jobs and improving education.

Queen preaches a message of reinvestment for salvation, promising to continue bringing home the kind of funding and support from Raleigh that he says he’s been pulling in as senator. He points to initiatives like the Golden LEAF Foundation, the N.C. Rural Center and other government-funded job-creation initiatives as the way out of the recession, and promises to keep plugging for them and for the district’s colleges and universities.

He’s working to remind voters of what he’s kept in their district: the agricultural research station in Waynesville, “$250 million of assistance to distressed mountain communities,” and the quarter-cent sales tax in Haywood County to benefit Haywood Community College, among other things.

According to the Carolina Strategy Group survey, though, a steady stream of funding from Raleigh may not be what voters in the 47th are looking for. Fifty-one percent told pollsters that they think Republicans would be better managers of the state’s debt, compared to only 31 percent who would favor Democrats as managers.

This isn’t Queen’s first heated battle, however. He’s faced several cut-throat election cycles, most notably going up against former Sen. Keith Presnell, by whom he was unseated in 2004 but edged out in the last two races.

In this year of incumbent backlash, Hise’s no-spending mantra coupled with his freshness in the political game seem to be currying favor with voters, at least according to the most recent polling numbers.

237

Queen sues opponent after losing state election (3/16/2011)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/3432-queen-sues-opponent-after-losing-state-election

All is fair in love and war, but apparently not in politics.

Former state Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, is suing his opponent in the last election for violating state campaign finance laws.

The suit claims Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Spruce Pine – who beat Queen in November – misled voters about who paid for a series of television commercials. In a tag line at end of the commercials, Hise said that he paid for the ad, when in fact the state Republican Party did.

If true, it is a violation of the state law known as “Stand By Your Ad,” which requires whoever pays for a political ad to identify themselves. By falsely stating Hise paid for the ad when he didn’t, the commercials got a price discount only available to candidates and potentially curried more favor with voters, according to the suit.

“He’s got to play by the rules and be fair. If he doesn’t, then we have no recourse but to file a lawsuit,” Queen said.

Hise is one of 10 Republican state Senate candidates accused of the same misstep, and one of three being sued for it. Hise said the suit has no merit, however, as did his attorney.

“We deny the allegations of the complaint. We think the lawsuit has no foundation in fact or law,” said Thomas Farr, a Raleigh attorney representing Hise and the other Republicans targeted by the same suit. “We are confident the Republican senators will be vindicated.”

The N.C. Republican Party is also named in the suit, and likewise rejected the accusation.

238

“We believe this is a frivolous complaint and deny the allegations,” said Mark Braden, spokesperson for the state Republican Party. “We are confident that the N.C. Republican Party and Sen. Hise will prevail.”

The N.C. Republican Party bought $1.4 million worth of television commercials for 10 Senate candidates across the state, all of whom won their seats. Hise got more than most, with $277,000 in commercials advocating him over Queen.

When buying the ads, the Republican Party used an advertising agency called American Media and Advocacy, based in Virginia. The agency arranged for the commercials to air on various TV stations, but when doing so, misrepresented who was paying for the ads, according to the suit.

American Media told the TV stations the ads were being purchased by candidates themselves, rather than by the Republican Party.

“That is not a trivial matter. That is a fundamental violation of the campaign finance law,” said Frank Queen, a Waynesville attorney representing Joe Sam Queen.

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is among those that ran commercials saying he paid for them when in fact he didn’t, according to the suit. Davis defeated former state Sen. John Snow, D-Murphy, but Snow has not joined in the suit.

Stand By Your Ad

Democrats took a beating in the election last fall, losing control of both the N.C. Senate and House for the first time in over a century.

Despite how it might look, the lawsuits are not a case of Democrats being sore losers, according to John Wallace, a Raleigh attorney representing all three Democrats who chose to file suits.

239

When North Carolina created the Stand By Your Ad provision in 1999, it was only the second state in the country to make such a law.

The law was inspired by the rise in ugly attack ads. It forced those running ads to clearly identify themselves “so voters can hold the sponsor of the ad accountable,” Wallace said.

The popularity of Stand By Your Ad grew, and a version of it eventually became federal law in 2002.

“I think it is possible it keeps people honest,” said Chris Cooper, political science professor at Western Carolina University. “It doesn’t allow you to shoot at the opponent and not say who you are.”

Voters often view ads run by the candidate more favorably than ads backed by the party.

“In many markets, it is advantageous to the candidate to purchase purportedly in his own name,” the suit states.

A study of the Stand By Your Ad law by Brigham Young University showed voters put more stock in ads that were endorsed by the candidate himself. Ads endorsed by the candidate instead of a political party may curry more favor among independent voters, according to Cooper.

Cooper pointed to Congressman Heath Shuler, D-N.C., as a prime example. In his conservative leaning district, an ad paid for by the Democratic Party is the last thing Shuler would want, Cooper said. In fact, he bent over backwards to distance himself from the national party.

If Hise wanted to take credit for the ads, the Republican Party should have first donated the money to Hise, and then allowed Hise in turn to buy his own commercials. But for whatever reason, the party chose to control the ad buys.

240

“There are circumstances in which parities may determine that it is safer, better or faster not to contribute money to candidates,” Wallace said.

In some cases, the party may want control the ad in order to control the message, according to Cooper. Or, the party may think it can do a better job than the candidate.

“You have decades of experience at the state party level so the candidate might prefer that, too,” Cooper said.

If the party had donated the money to Hise and let him buy his own ads, the donation would have showed up on Hise’s campaign finance reports.

Tracking the money

Donations received through September are reported on a candidate’s third quarter fundraising report. During October, a candidate must report any contribution over $1,000 within 48 hours. The disclosure alerts other candidates what kind of spending their opponent has at his disposal.

“Anybody can see the money coming in and out,” Frank Queen said.

But since the money for the TV commercials didn’t come to Hise first, it didn’t show up in his fundraising reports. While the spending was indeed reported by the N.C. Republican Party, it is harderto track outside spending on a candidate’s behalf, known as soft money, as opposed to hard money spent by the candidate himself, Frank Queen said.

Since Queen monitored Hise’s fundraising reports, when a plethora of commercials began showing up in the final weeks of the campaign, he realized that Hise didn’t have the money to be paying for the ads himself.

Queen sent Hise a warning letter, which Hise received through certified mail on Oct. 29, asking him to stop running the commercials with the false tag line bearing Hise’s name.

241

In the letter, Queen told Hise he was “misleading the voters of the district in which you are running for office.”

“Furthermore, this misrepresentation of who is paying for the advertisement is in direct violation of the Stand By Your Ad laws, which require the group or candidate paying for each ad to specifically identify themselves and to take responsibility for the content of those advertisements,” the letter stated.

But the ads continued to run through Election Day.

Candidates are entitled to cheaper television advertising rates than third parties buying an ad on the candidate’s behalf. By law, candidates buying political ads are entitled to the lowest rate tier that a station offers.

The ads were 20 to 50 percent cheaper under the lower rate tier than it could have had the commercials been bought by its own name rather than Hise’s, the suit claims.

“By falsely representing that it was paid for by the candidate’s committee, they qualified for and indeed paid the lowest rate that was available, lower than they would have otherwise,” Frank Queen said.

While complaints have been filed with the N.C. Board of Elections, the state statute spells out an interesting recourse for violations: the other candidate is instructed to file a civil lawsuit. Thus the suit being filed by Queen is the only mechanism of enforcing the law, Frank Queen said.

What does Queen stands to gain? He won’t get his seat back, but if victorious Hise would be required under state statute to pay Queen an amount equal to the cost of the ads that carried the false tag line, as well as attorney fees Queen incurs in waging the suit.

Hise and the N.C. Republican Party will file a response to the suit in early April, Farr said.

242

Democrats sort out who will run for what in bid to reclaim seats (1/11/2012)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/5965-democrats-sort-out-who-will-run-for-what-in-bid-to-reclaim-seats

Two well-known Democrat senators from the mountains who lost in 2010 and hoped to reclaim their seats this year faced a conundrum.

Joe Sam Queen of Waynesville and John Snow of Murphy both wanted to run for the Senate again, hoping to take back the seats they lost to Republican challengers two years ago. But they found themselves at a stalemate after suddenly landing in the same political district when new legislative lines were re-drawn following the Census.

Queen’s home turf of Haywood County — once part of a jumbled legislative district that reached as far north to Mitchell and as far east to McDowell County — was grouped into a new district neatly comprised of the seven western counties. It put Queen and Snow in competition in their bid for office.

The upshot: only one of them would ultimately have their name on the ballot come November. Their choice: former political allies would have to run against each other in the May primary or one of them would have to gracefully concede.

As the clock ticked toward the opening day of candidate registration in February, no easy resolution was on the horizon.

“I think we are both electable,” Queen said as recently as last week. “I am not going to run against John and he is not going to run against me. We will evaluate which one of us should run.”

But the two political allies found an easy out after all. The unexpected and sudden news that Rep. Phil Haire, D-Sylva, would retire after 14 years in the legislature presented a solution.

Queen called it a “game changer.”

243

Rather than make a bid for the Senate, he would instead run for Haire’s old House seat.

“If (Snow) really has the fire in his belly and wants to do it, I will support him and run for Phil’s seat,” Queen said. “It is an attractive choice. It is serendipitous. It keeps experienced legislators in the game with the opportunity to serve.”

The Democratic Party is likely relieved by the development. At a regional meeting of the Democratic Party leaders from 12 counties last week, Brian McMahan from Jackson County cautioned against wasting political energy and money in a primaries against their own.

“Let’s harness our energy,” said McMahan, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Jackson County. “We don’t need to worry about primaries. Nov. 6 is Election Day. That’s where we need to make a difference.”

Queen said the party needn’t have worried.

“I assure you we were going to work it out because that’s what kind of guys we are,” Queen said. “I certainly would not have run against him.”

In the end, had it not been for the Haire “game changer,” it appears Queen would have had to be the one to acquiesce regardless. Snow said that he was committed to run for the Senate regardless of what Queen decided, however.

“To be real honest with you, I was willing to go through a primary if I had to,” Snow said. “I think it is obvious I would be the stronger candidate.”

Snow believes he has better name recognition in the seven western counties than Queen would have had. As a judge, Snow presided over court in those same seven counties for 30 years, plus served for six years in the legislature representing those counties already.

244

Queen, 61, pointed out that he is nine years younger than Snow. He believed he likely had more years of political service ahead of him — and in Raleigh, tenure can be everything.

“The biggest difference between John and I was our age. Who is going to claim this seat for a decade?” Queen asked last week.

Snow, meanwhile, pointed to his record as a more socially and fiscally conservative Democrat, a leaning that squares with voters in the seven western counties.

“Anybody that looks at my record can see I am probably one of the more conservative Democrats in the Senate,” Snow said.

Just as Rep. Heath Shuler is one of the more conservative Democrats in Congress, Snow said.

“That is a reflection of the people we represent,” Snow said.

Queen’s decision clears the path for Snow to emerge as the Democratic candidate in a November rematch against Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, who squeezed out a narrow victory over Snow by just 161 votes two years ago.

Queen, however, will face a primary election against long-time judge Danny Davis of Waynesville, who has also announced plans to run for the seat formerly held by Haire.

Snow said that he would back Davis in the primary race as he and Davis both served on the judicial bench together for years and are personal friends.

Test farm helps WNC growers stay ‘ahead of the game’ (5/30/2012)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/7164-test-farm-helps-wnc-growers-stay-‘ahead-of-the-game’

You’d be hard pressed to name a state-run entity more closely aligned with the region it serves than the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville. The work going on there is important for

245

the agriculture economy and critical for the emerging crop of growers trying to specialize in exotic and specialty varieties. And researchers at the farm continue to provide direct help to farmers growing crops and livestock that have for years been the traditional mainstays of mountain agriculture.

Perhaps just as important, the Mountain Research Station promotes the lifestyle that will continue to make this region unique. More and more residents place a high value on rural areas and green space, and farms are just as much a part of this movement as wilderness areas. This means doing what we can to help small and large growers remain profitable.

The products from those growers are often going straight into homes. Many who live here are more than willing to pay a little extra for high-quality and tasty foods that come local farms, and many groups and organizations are promoting this lifestyle. As the grow-local, buy-local philosophy gains steam, it builds and strengthens the micro-economies in our rural communities.

It was just a few years ago (2008) that state lawmakers suggested closing the 410-acre research station. Regional supporters fought back hard. Joe Sam Queen, at that time a state senator and now running to return to Raleigh as a state representative, was among those who rallied for the research station.

“We have a diversified agricultural sector with small producers,” he said. The research station provides vital help to these growers, he argued. However, the much-larger farms in the eastern part of the state often carry more political clout.

The Mountain Research Station survived. Bill Skelton, director of the Haywood County Cooperative Extension Office, says the test farm does important work and does it well. He cited its work to improve the cattle herd in the region, while also touting its crop research.

“They put those questions in the ground and see if they can find answers,” said Skelton.

246

Current work “in the ground” —35 separate research projects — includes tests on what could be new crops in this region like broccoli, truffles and canola (for alternative fuels); continued work with Fraser firs (the first experimental Frasers in North Carolina were grown at the Waynesville farm in the 1970s) and heirloom tomatoes; a project to improve weed control for organic farmers; and continued research to help cattle producers.

“We are becoming more diverse. It’s important that we remain cutting edge. We need to be ahead of the game,” said Mountain Research Station Director Kaleb Rathbone.

The test farm is succeeding at doing just that — staying “ahead of the game.” Let’s hope this economic engine for WNC is here for another 100 years.

12 votes separate Queen, Davis in race for N.C. House (5/9/2012)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/6995-12-votes-separate-queen-davis-in-race-for-nc-house

The race for N.C. House of Representatives between two well-known and prominent Waynesville Democrats, Danny Davis and Joe Sam Queen, came down to the wire Tuesday night.

Queen emerged as the top vote getter by only 12 votes. But, Davis said he was not prepared to concede the race. Results are considered “unofficial” on election night and are not certified for another two or three days, after the county election boards are able to verify provisional ballots, a process that can result in a shuffling of few votes here and there.

“Twelve votes is just too close,” Davis said Tuesday night. “I want to wait until we know more about these other ballots.”

Davis spent 26 years as a District Court judge in the seven western counties, what he calls a “front row seat” on the issues affecting people’s lives. Meanwhile, Queen, an architect with a

247

side business managing a vast inventory of rental property, points to his six years spent in Raleigh as a state senator.

While Queen and Davis are both from Waynesville, the candidates had the most at stake in Jackson County — clearly the largest bloc of Democratic voters compared to much smaller Swain County and the fraction of Haywood that lies in the district.

Queen and Davis both spent the day campaigning in Sylva.

“We had a very pleasant day together at the same precinct all day long in the rain and in the sun. We had good sensible conversation, intermittent with shaking hands and trying to win our share of the votes,” Queen said.

Queen said Democratic voters were torn, witnessed by the close vote.

“We are both well-known, well-like Democrats with significant records of public service and loyal constituents,” Queen said.

Queen has been a state senator representing Haywood County but has never been on the ballot in Jackson.

Queen campaigned actively in Jackson County, attending community functions and hosting meet-and-greet receptions with voters.

“Jackson County is half the district, and it was new to me, so it was certainly my battle ground,” Queen said.

The winner will run against Mike Clampitt, a Republican from Swain County, come November.

Where state candidates stand: abortion and women’s health (9/26/2012)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/8871-where-state-candidates-stand-abortion-and-women’s-health

248

During the past two years, several keystone issues regarding abortion and women’s reproductive health have been debated at the state level.

The Republican-led General Assembly has attempted to cut funding for Planned Parenthood and passed the Women’s Right to Know Act, which dictates new regulations for receiving an abortion.

Although the law is under review by the courts, its language implemented new protocols such as a 24-hour waiting period for a woman wishing to receive an abortion, a mandatory ultrasound and a state mandated-script detailing alternative options available like adoption.

The Smoky Mountain News questioned candidates in this fall’s state races where they stand.

N.C. House of Representatives, District 119

This seat includes all of Jackson and Swain counties and half of Haywood County (Waynesville and Lake Junaluska area, including Iron Duff).

Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville

“Women’s health is very important — important to the next generation. Children should be wanted and prepared for, and women should be in control of their own reproductive decisions. The legislature should stay out of those personal decisions.

“They have voted to force pregnant victims of rape and incest, if they’re thinking to end the pregnancy, to have unwanted vaginal probes while their doctors describe the fetus. I think that is way out of line for the legislature. It is meddling in a personal relationship between a woman and her physician.”

Queen went on to comment about the controversy over state funding for Planned Parenthood.

“This current legislature’s assault on Planned Parenthood was ideologically driven. It shows that some legislators are willing to

249

throw women’s rights away to curry favor with special interests. I’m not one of them.”

Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City

“It’s very simple. I am pro-life and I believe life begins at conception. I’m a conservative Christian, and I believe what the Bible says, that before we’re born God knows the number of hairs on our head.

“I think there should be stricter standards for abortion clinics, and I don’t think they should be on every street corner. Abortion is too many times being used and abused as a form of birth control — and any abortion clinic is just facilitating a legalized, pre-meditated murder of unborn children.

“I know it sounds hard line, but people need to take more responsibility for their actions. I would not feel bad at all without an abortion clinic in Western North Carolina — or any place at all.”

Clampitt added that it is not the role of government to provide birth control and instead of supporting organizations like Planned Parenthood there should be an emphasis on abstinence education.

Forum attracts diverse audience, engaged candidates (10/17/2012)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/9085-forum-attracts-diverse-audience-engaged-candidates

Nearly 200 people came out for a candidate forum in Jackson County Monday (Oct. 15) to listen to a slate of candidates spar over local, state, federal — and sometimes existential — issues facing Western North Carolinians today.

The crowd in the old Sylva courthouse that night was surprisingly cordial, considering the range of beliefs represented

250

at the political forum — from the far right, conservative crowd to the liberal, leftist types.

It’s rare to see, at the same political function where no shouting or name calling is involved, a woman sporting a NORML T-shirt, which stands for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, sitting in close proximity to another person sporting a shirt reading: “I’m the God-fearing, gun-toting, flag-waving conservative liberals warned you about.”

People no doubt had opinions on the opposing party’s supporters, but they largely kept them to themselves.

One woman in the crowd, Barbara Bell from Sylva, came out to support N.C. House candidate Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, and other Democratic candidates. She said she had her mind made up already for the election, but regardless wanted to hear some of the ridiculous things the Republicans had to say.

“I wouldn’t vote for a Republican even if he kissed my face,” she said. “But we think it’s important to hear both sides.”

Other people in the crowd seemed equally entrenched and not likely to be swayed. A large contingent wore red shirts to express their conservative affiliation, including a bloc arriving in a caravan from neighboring Macon County to support hometown politician N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin. Many in the group were sporting the red, Davis T-shirts with bumper stickers for N.C. House candidate Mike Clampitt stuck on their backs.

“We gotta support Davis,” said Linda Herman, from Franklin. “We know him and know what he stands for — good Christian values.”

Despite promises of hissing and boos from the politically devout before the forum, there were virtually no incidences or heckling during the proceedings. At its worst over the two-hour event, polite groans and laughs sparsely marked the silence. At one point a man from the crowd yelled out “time” when N.C. Senate

251

candidate John Snow, D-Murphy, went over his allotted speaking time.

More so, the attendees appeared interested to hear the reactions from the candidates vying for a range of political posts — from Jackson County commissioner candidates to the N.C. Senate.

And the questions lobbed at the six-member candidate forum kept the proceedings interesting. They ran the gamut — from food labeling requirements for genetically-modified foods to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling to local library funding.

Many elicited interesting and crafted responses from the candidates, but some landed a bit wonky. Especially when Jackson County Commission candidates Marty Jones and Mark Jones had to reply to issues far outside of any local commissioner’s political realm, such as global warming or Obamacare.

But, a question posed by an audience member became one of the few points of agreement between Snow and Davis. The question, specifically targeted for the state senate candidates, asked if they would support labels for food with genetically modified ingredients in North Carolina. California is currently in a statewide debate over such labeling.

“We all eat genetically modified food and I have been for years, and I’m still living,” Davis said. “I think we have so many other things to worry about, that that is way down on my list.”

Snow’s response was quick.

“I agree with him,” he said, pointing to Davis, who sat shoulder to shoulder with him behind the crowded candidates’ table. The crowd followed with laughter.

One attendee from Cashiers, Nick Chambers, a conservative, said he felt the questions were somewhat liberally slanted. Questions included the growing gap in income disparity, Obamacare and global warming.

252

Two sponsors of the forum were largely from entities considered liberal leaning, including the Western North Carolina Occupy movemen and the clean air advocacy group the Canary Coalition.

The Macon County League of Women Voters and The Smoky Mountain News also sponsored the event.

“The questions were biased toward the liberal persuasion,” Chambers said. “But our guys handled it well.”

According to Carol Adams, communications chair of the Jackson County Republican Party, a conservative organization should have been included in the line-up for fairness.

She offered the Jackson County Patriots, for example, as a nonpartisan yet conservative-minded group that could have offered balance.

However, Adams said the forum, all in all, was well-orchestrated and the Republican candidates managed to get in their talking points on pertinent issues during the two-hour venue.

Both sides of the ballot did little to step beyond party boundaries.

Adams doubted that anyone who attended was surprised by the responses or had their opinion changed by the forum.

“You pretty much knew what the Democrat and Republican answers were going to be,” Adams said. “It didn’t change anybody’s mind.”

That point was apparent at the opening question, when The Smoky Mountain News publisher Scott McLeod asked the candidates to give two examples of specific areas where they would be willing to reach across the aisle to support measures their own political party would not traditionally support.

True examples were scarce, and most of the candidates instead mentioned instances in which the other party should compromise.

253

N.C. Senate candidate John Snow, D-Murphy, cited his views in support of Corridor K as one issue where he might differ with his party. The highway through rural Graham County is needed to bring economic development to the region but is being held up by environmentalists.

“People might say it is those Democrats and those tree huggers causing the problem,” Snow said. “It is time to look at a situation where we can look at common sense rules to allow this road to happen.”

But Snow said he sides with Democrats and environmentalists on other issues, such as his opposition to fracking.

Snow’s opponent, N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, agreed that compromise was needed on environmental regulations, but put the burden back on Democrats to do the compromising. Current environmental regulations are hurting industry, he said.

N.C. House Candidate Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, also cited two instances where he would like the opposing party to compromise instead of when he would compromise.

Health care was one, and government regulation was another.

“Our government regulations have gotten out of control in North Carolina. We are stifling businesses,” Clampitt said.

His opponent, Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, said he would be willing to compromise with the other party on tax reform.

“It takes both parties to work on tax policy,” Queen said.

Queen’s second example was more dodgy, suggesting compromise was needed on education. But his answer sounded more like the traditional Democratic talking points on strong support for education thananything else.

“North Carolina has a history of innovating in education,” Queen said. “Education is absolutely essential.”

254

Forum moderator Marsha Crites said the candidates were caught off-guard at times but in general she thought the questions forced answers that formed clear distinctions between the candidates. A goal of the forum was to present a wide spectrum of issues for politicians to weigh in on and none of the questions were given to the politicians ahead of time, she said.

She also remarked on the cordial atmosphere present at the forum, between the candidates and the crowd.

“When it gets this close to election time people get tired of the ugly partisanship,” Crites said. “It was good to see a room of people respectfully listening.”

Economics, jobs, and future business (10/31/2012)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/9229-economics-jobs-and-future-business

To the Editor:

Do our politicians that run for public offices really care about our future, or are they just thinking of theirs? Just over two years ago Swain County had the golden opportunity to land a construction project — the North Shore Road — that would have created almost 1,000 construction jobs and well over $14 million dollars in retail sales alone. Not to mention the associated benefits of trickle down jobs. On the national average, one construction job touches no less than three to five other professions.

All of this because of our elected officials and candidates in this election are not standing up for Swain County and Western North Carolina. Politicians like John Snow, Joe Sam Queen, Hayden Rogers, and Walter Dalton are only interested in their election and selfish interests. Now, these same individuals that are running for public office in this election are asking us to trust them, when they have turned their backs on us and our region.

Who are these guys kidding? There would have been a huge economic windfall for the years of the construction and the rest

255

of the future. This project would have given many opportunities for individuals to access our county, our region and our state into the future. We lost these jobs and retail sales because they were and are not supportive of us, the people they say they want to represent. Their records speak for themselves, regardless of the rhetoric they constantly spout.

Raleigh Grant

Bryson City

Queen slips by Clampitt in House race (11/7/2012)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/component/k2/item/9301-queen-drubs-clampitt-in-house-race

Waynesville Democrat Joe Sam Queen beat out Republican candidate Mike Clampitt by a commanding margin to take an open seat in the N.C. House.

Queen, an architect and businessman with a long mountain lineage, carried a district that includes Swain, Jackson and part of Haywood counties — one of the more Democratic leaning areas of Western North Carolina. Queen won in all three counties, including Clampitt’s home turf of Swain.

Queen will be one of only three Democrats from WNC heading to the N.C. House.

Queen, although seizing an open seat this time around, is a state political veteran, serving three terms in the state Senate over a 10-year span. Queen lost his senate seat in 2010, however. This time, he ran for the N.C. House after long-time Rep. Phil Haire, D-Sylva, announced he would retire after this term, leaving the seat open and up for grabs in a district historically favorable to Democrats.

Queen’s dedication to funding education and other social programs such as health care may have carried him to victory, but achieving his goals when in office could be another story.

256

This will be the first time Queen, in his political tenure, will be part of the legislature’s minority.

When asked how he would be effective in a Republican-dominated state government, he admitted it’d be tough.

“I’ve got to figure that out quite frankly,” Queen said. “It depends on how mean spirited the Republicans are. I’m full of good ideas and I’ll share them.”

Yet, he asserted that his campaign promise of standing up for public schools, community colleges and universities would not waver. Queen formally served as co-chair of the Education Committee while a state senator and said he would like to undo some of the damage he said Republicans had caused through budget cuts.

“I’m really interested in restoring education and our historical commitment to education,” Queen said.

For his first state election, Clampitt, a retired firefighter, still made a decent showing. He earned the votes of many in the community who knew him. Also, many loyal Tea Party Patriots in the district liked his fiscal plans.

Clampitt said he was happy with the tight race and pleased with his supporters showing at the polls.

“It was a lot of fun, a lot of work, and really exciting,” Clampitt said. “I have no regrets. I’d do it all again.”

Clampitt was constantly on the go during the race, frequently appearing at events in his own personal fire truck.

He said he will remain politically active and build on what he’s started.

Although Queen’s platform may have helped him win, name recognition couldn’t have hurt when placed alongside Clampitt, who was virtually unknown outside Swain at the outset of campaign season. Queen’s long tenure in WNC, and his family’s history in the area, may have given him the edge.

257

For 45-year-old Susy Sims from Whittier, casting her ballot for Queen stemmed from those very factors, and what she said was Queen’s dedication to mountain communities.

“I’m voting for Queen because he comes from a good, local family,” Sims said.

Clear sailing ahead for Haywood room tax hike (2/20/2013)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/9861-clear-sailing-ahead-for-haywood-room-tax-hike

If anyone opposes an increase in Haywood County’s overnight lodging tax, they did not make their enmity known at Monday’s board of commissioners meeting.

The Haywood County Board of Commissioners unanimously, and without protest, agreed to send a bill to the North Carolina General Assembly asking the legislature to approve a 2 percent increase in the county’s lodging tax.

It would bring in an additional $450,000 a year and would be earmarked specifically for tourism-related capital projects, such as a tournament-caliber softball complex already being floated as a possible use for the money.

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, have both told commissioners that they will support the bill...

Parrying between tourism interests slows progress on tourism tax bill (3/27/2013)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/10019-parrying-between-tourism-interests-slows-progress-on-tourism-tax-bill

The prospects of Haywood County’s tourism development tax increase making it through the General Assembly in Raleigh this

258

year is highly likely — or perhaps highly unlikely. It depends on whom you ask.

Those for the tax say they are on the cusp of a compromise that will pave the way for the bill to go through. Those against the tax say it is dead.

There’s only one man, however, who actually knows. Whether the bill will live or die is ultimately up to Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin.

Davis said the hastily put forward proposal appeared to have widespread support at first, but backlash has erupted in its wake. That’s given him pause over whether it was properly vetted locally before landing in his lap in Raleigh.

“They hadn’t done their due diligence before asking us to bring forth the legislation,” he said.

Davis has parked the bill in neutral until competing tourism interests stop feuding and come to the table to line up behind one version of the bill.

“It may take them a while to get things lined up. We may wait until next year until they get their ducks in a row,” Davis said.

But Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, said with a little more work, they can zero in on a compromise — the process has just been a little backward.

“If we had a little more time and weren’t under the deadline, we may have gotten it right the first time,” Queen said. “We were trying to build consensus in the middle of the night to file a bill.”

County commissioners and tourism leaders called for the additional 2 percent tax on overnight lodging to help build new tourism attractions or improve existing ones. The 2 percent tax on overnight stays would bring in roughly $450,000 a year.

The idea surfaced publicly in February. By then, it was already in the 11th hour, less than a month before the deadline to introduce bills in the General Assembly.

259

Proponents had to move, and move fast, to get it on the drawing board. The Haywood County tourism board and county commissioners hastily but unanimously endorsed the idea.

It was then shipped off to Raleigh in early March. State legislators Davis and Queen were called on to introduce the bill on Haywood County’s behalf and shepherd it through the General Assembly.

They obliged, but in hindsight got a little more than they bargained for.

“We got a little bit of pushback,” Queen said.

A brouhaha broke out between feuding tourism interests over just about every aspect of the funding raised by the tax. Who would decide how the money was spent? How much voice would Maggie Valley get? What about Canton? Would all the money be sucked up by one big project or spread around?

Since time was of essence, a placeholder bill was filed with bare bones language — under the assumption it would be massaged and hashed out later and amended.

But the fast pace irked Maggie Valley lodging owners, who have since voiced their opposition. While the tax is intended to boost tourism by creating new attractions, some lodging owners fear the additional 2 percent tax on hotel bills will keep tourists from coming here.

“It moved too fast and is being shoved down our throats,” said Sue Koziol, a member of the Maggie Valley Lodging Association.

The crux of the controversy: Maggie tourism interests want the biggest seat at the table when picking what projects get funded. But the rest of the county isn’t ready to hand over the keys to Maggie. Maggie can call shotgun, perhaps, but can’t have the driver’s seat all to itself.

Try, try again

260

Meanwhile, a flurry of new wording has been circulated from one end of the county to the other in the ensuing weeks in an attempt to satisfy the parties.

It has proved challenging, however. Many of the caveats being demanded are mutually exclusive. What leaders in Canton want is diametrically opposed to what leaders in Maggie Valley want. And the county commissioners want to keep their eye on the big picture of economic development countywide and forget town-centric politics altogether.

So Queen and Davis ended up playing the role of matchmaker and mediator.

“When we get agreement on one end we lose a little on the other,” Queen said, prompting another round of rewrites.

Queen isn’t ready to give up and feels they are on the verge of a compromise.

“We are working on a perfecting amendment to make it a consensus-building bill,” Queen said. “We are treading water to let the local ideas and opinions congeal.”

At the same time, Queen said the ball is now in the hands of local leaders.

“If everyone is going to get mad at us and can’t get along then neither Jim nor I will push this bill. We will just let it sit,” Queen said. “There is a real incentive for the local tourist business to get it together.”

Davis has gotten tired of being in the middle of a tug-of-war.

“I am not going to be the arbiter or the referee. That went on for so long that I finally said, ‘You need to figure it locally,’” Davis said. “Once they get all the stakeholders on board I will usher the legislation through the Senate.”

Queen and Davis say they will pull the trigger on the bill once there is consensus, compromise and agreement at the local level.

261

That could be hard to achieve. A faction of Maggie lodging owners have dug in and said they will never support a tourism tax increase (see related article)

“There will be some that don’t want the 2 cents period. They don’t see the benefit of it,” Queen said. “Consensus does not have to be 100 percent.”

Davis said those in favor of the tax need to win their critics over.

“They will have to give a compelling argument to the stakeholders. If not the bill will not survive,” Davis said.

It’s unclear, however, how much critical mass the opponents have. Canton Town Manager Al Matthews said a vocal minority is creating the illusion of widespread opposition and scaring off the state legislators.

“They are getting hammered by an extremely vocal minority,” Matthews said.

Davis said he doesn’t have a scientific way to measure when the majority has reached a consensus.

But, “I’ll know it when I see it,” Davis said. “They are not there yet.”

Versions of the bill are continuing to bounce back and forth between the parties this week.

Matthews said he understands Davis’ issue.

“He has worked very hard on this and caught a lot of heat,” Matthews said. “His condition was that all the areas come together and have a unified stance. It is going to take compromise.”

But Maggie Alderman Mike Matthews said they might need a cooling off period before trying to make another go of it.

“Now we can go back to the drawing board,” Mike Matthews said.

262

Mike Matthews is among those who believe the tax could potentially be a good thing — but wants built-in guarantees that the tourism projects that get funded would help Maggie Valley.

Mike Matthews said so many versions of the bill have been bouncing around that he’s skeptical the end product will actually be what Maggie wants.

“You bring up issues and express concerns and then you’d see a new draft that fixed them, but then the next day you would see a different version,” Mike Matthews said.

Stopping voter fraud or just stopping voters? (5/29/2013)https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/10399-stopping-voter-fraud-or-just-stopping-voters

A state bill mandating that voters show identification to cast a ballot has split opinions down the middle, with Republicans on one side and Democrats on the other.

Republicans have rallied around the bill as a panacea for voter fraud, while Democrats have disparaged it as a way to suppress votes.

For Lynda Bennett, head of the Haywood County 9-12 TEA Party, and other similarly minded individuals, the matter boils down to trust in the political system — something that has been wanting in her eyes.

“It starts with having fair elections, with fraud-free elections,” Bennett said.

However, Democrats say the bill will actually make elections unfair by preventing some legal citizens the right to vote. Opponents have also argued that voter fraud is almost nonexistent in the state and therefore needs no remedy.

“These bills that have been introduced are voter suppression bills. They are not to get at voter fraud,” said Luke Hyde, chair of

263

11th District Democratic Party and an attorney from Bryson City. “It is solutions looking for problems that don’t exist.”

With a Republican majority in the General Assembly, however, the voter identification bill swept through the N.C. House last month, following a mostly partisan vote, and now lies in wait in the state Senate. Both N.C. Representatives Michelle Presnell, R-Burnsville, and Roger West, R-Marble, voted for the bill. N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, voted against it....

Lake Junaluska merger bill off the table indefinitely (7/17/2013)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/11154-lake-junaluska-merger-bill-off-the-table-indefinitely

A state bill that would have merged Lake Junaluska with the town of Waynesville is dead for now.

“It doesn’t appear the political stars are aligning themselves for this to pass,” said Waynesville Mayor Gavin Brown.

The bill has faced a series of ever-changing, ever-mounting obstacles in the N.C. House. Despite half a dozen trips to Raleigh to make their case with legislators, leaders from Lake Junaluska and the town of Waynesville couldn’t overcome the seeds of skepticism surrounding the bill.

Now, the legislature will soon be concluding for the year and time has simply run out.

Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, supported the bill and remains hopeful.

“It is not lost and it is certainly possible, it just may take a little more time and a little more patience,” Queen said. “I think this collaboration between the town of Waynesville and Lake Junaluska will eventually come to pass.”

The town and Lake will have another shot at getting the bill through next year. In the meantime, they could bolster their case

264

that a merger is what the majority of residents want by holding an official vote.

Opponents to the merger bent the ear of conservative legislators with complaints that the merger was being foisted upon unwilling property owners.

“I just know mostly in my heart they do not need to be annexed. It will only be the thumb on Waynesville and not the Lake Junaluska Assembly,” said Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville.

Presnell said she thinks Lake Junaluska should incorporate as its own town instead of become part of Waynesville. However, in property owner surveys that option got fewer votes than merging with Waynesville.

Raleigh’s new Republican majority is generally opposed to the annexation of new neighborhoods by cities and towns unless a rigorous process is followed, including an official election to gauge the sentiment of residents.

But the town of Waynesville and Lake Junaluska didn’t go through the official process. Instead, they tried to get a special bill passed, which made sense at the time.

“Our board has been very clear about not wanting to appear that it is undertaking a forced annexation process,” said Town Manager Marcy Oneial.

To Presnell, however, it seemed the town of Waynesville and Lake Junaluska tried to make an “end run” around the official annexation process.

“It is the wolf at the door,” Presnell said.

In reality, the process used by Lake Junaluska and the town of Waynesville had more public meetings and more chances for public input than the statute technically requires. Audio and transcriptions, copious reports, pro and con assessments, and engineer studies filled web pages available for public viewing.

265

“We have gone way above and beyond what is required in the statute, but we are being taken to task for not following the statute. We were trying to be magnanimous and do it better than the statute,” said Mayor Gavin Brown.

But it didn’t include an official vote.

There was, however, was a mail-in survey. Around 60 percent participated, and of those 60 percent favored merging with Waynesville.

But to Presnell and other opponents, a survey is not the same as an official vote.

It only included one ballot per household, for example. And it polled all property owners, while a formal election would only be open to full-time residents registered to vote at their Lake Junaluska addresses.

Presnell called the surveys “totally absurd” because they used a sliding scale, allowing property owners to express “strong” versus “mild” support. They could also vote for more than one option if more than one future path was OK with them.

“It needed to be an up or down vote. Either a yes or no. But that is not at all what this was,” Presnell said. “Even when they got the surveys back, the only people opening up or handling the surveys are the people who were for annexation.”

Lake Junaluska and Waynesville are technically in Queen’s political district — not Presnell’s. Typically, legislators defer to the hometown legislator on such local issues, putting aside their own personal views on a subject.

But in this case, Presnell’s opposition as a member of the prevailing party apparently trumped Queen’s position as the hometown legislator.

“When those people call you and say we need your help, Joe Sam isn’t helping us, I can’t just ignore them,” Presnell said.

266

A merger with Waynesville is viewed as a rescue package of sorts for the 765-home residential community with century-old roots as a summer Methodist retreat. Lake Junaluska is burdened by crumbling infrastructure and is over-extended in the level of services it provides. It offers amenities on par with a bona fide town — water, sewer, police, trash pick-up, street maintenance and the like — without actually being a town.

HART reaches goal for new stage (7/24/2013)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/11213-hart-reaches-goal-for-new-stage

The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre (HART) in Waynesville reached its fund-raising goal of $600,000 sooner than expected, thanks to John and Susie Harmon.

The Harmon’s pledged the final $75,000 of the $600,000 needed for startup costs on a second main stage, during HART’s opening performance of Brigadoon on July 12.

About a year ago, HART announced its intent to raise $1 million dollars to build a Stage II, with the intent that construction should not begin until at least $600,000 in cash and pledges were in hand. By July 11, the theater had raised $525,000 from nearly 200 donors. The next night, the Harmons stepped forward to help HART reach its goal.

HART hopes the new space will be open next year. The addition will include a 150-seat theater, a bistro/café and a full kitchen.

Joe Sam Queen and his daughter, architect Sarah Queen, will design the new theater.

Elected leaders to push again for room tax hike in Haywood (1/29/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/12386-elected-leaders-to-push-again-for-room-tax-hike-in-haywood

267

Haywood’s elected leaders plan to invite their three General Assembly representatives to a March meeting in hopes of reviving a bill that would raise the tax on overnight lodging stays and using the additional money for capital projects to boost tourism.

“Each local government could pass a resolution in support of the tax. Then we could bring the resolution to the Council of Governments, invite all our representatives, and show them the unified support the bill has,” Maggie Valley Mayor Ron DeSimone proposed at a meeting of the Haywood County COG.

The idea for raising the tax was proposed in February 2013 by the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority. The board said raising the tax from 4 cents to 6 cents for every dollar spent on overnight lodging could raise up to $425,000 annually. Mostly tourists and part-time residents who rent hotels, cabins, condos and other accommodations for less than six months would pay the tax.

Every elected board in Haywood County supported the proposal except Maggie Valley, which had lost one alderman to a resignation and therefore had no way to break a 2 to 2 deadlock on the proposal. However, the November 2013 election changed the makeup of the Maggie board, which now supports the proposal. Just one alderman on that board — Phillip Wight — still opposes it.

“It’s not just the elected boards who support this,” said Haywood County Commissioner Kevin Ensley. “The EDC, the Recreation Advisory Committee and the TDA are all for it. Democrats and Republicans support it.”

With the Maggie Valley deadlock and some businesspeople in that town also opposing the hike, Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, chose not to support the bill even though he had introduced it into the Senate. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, had introduced the bill into the state House.

268

However, Haywood’s leaders said at the Jan. 27 COG meeting that Sen. Davis now supports the proposal and is willing to shepherd it through the Senate. The new roadblock, said the elected officials, is Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville.

While Rep. Presnell opposes the legislation, Canton Mayor Mike Ray said she and others might have some misconceptions about the bill.

“People have misconceptions. Rep. Presnell had some, and I spoke with her to clarify some of those,” said Ray.

Much of the controversy about the proposed tax hike revolved around how it would be administered. Some of those who oppose it are more upset about the makeup of the committee and where the members of that committee are from. Specifically, some in Maggie Valley think that town should have more influence on how the money would be spent since a majority of the room tax receipts are still raised from businesses in that town.

However, Ray cautioned that those who want the bill to pass should refrain from trying to get too specific about how the money should be spent.

“Let’s not name specific projects until it passes,” Ray told the COG leaders during the meeting at the Clyde municipal building.

In Rep. Presnell’s view, it’s local leaders be damned (3/26/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/12657-in-rep-presnell-s-view-it-s-local-leaders-be-damned

Some teacher a long time ago explained to my class of intro to political science undergrads the difference between a statesman and a representative. The statesman, once elected, votes his conscience and does not necessarily bend with the whims of voters; the representative votes according to the wishes of their constituency. That’s a notable difference. What’s confusing,

269

though, is when a leader goes both ways, depending on which is most convenient.

As Haywood leaders try to convince Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, to support a hike in the room tax from 4 to 6 percent that almost everyone who holds elected office in the county favors, I was reading what she had said about the tax and trying to figure out where her opposition is coming from.

Rep. Presnell has called the bill controversial.

“This is a very controversial bill. That is a fact,” Presnell said. “It is still controversial.”

The “still controversial” is her description after Maggie Valley’s board voted 4-1 in favor of hiking the occupancy tax by a penny. Maggie Valley’s decision follows unanimous votes last year by Waynesville, Clyde and Canton, along with the Haywood County commissioners, to ask our legislative delegation to approve the room tax hike. The proposal must be passed by the General Assembly, and Haywood’s other two reps — Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, and Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville — support it.

So despite the support of every elected leader in Haywood except one — Maggie Valley’s Phillip Wight — Rep. Presnell is still refusing to support it and still referring to it as “controversial.”

I attended the Haywood Council of Government meeting in January that was held in Clyde. The COG provides the elected municipal and county leaders in any particular county the opportunity to get together and discuss important matters. At that meeting, elected leaders once again voiced overwhelming support for the room tax hike. County Commissioner Kevin Ensley, in fact, pointed out that it wasn’t just elected officials who want this bill to pass.

“It’s not just the elected boards who support this,” said Ensley. “The Economic Development Commission, the Recreation

270

Advisory Committee, and the Tourism Development Authority are all for it. Democrats and Republicans support it.”

On Rep. Presnell’s side is a recently passed resolution from the Haywood County GOP, which puts it on record against the tax. But the GOP in Haywood is divided. Commissioner Ensley is a Republican, and he says a small faction has now taken over the party. No doubt others are against the bill, but by any measure it has the overwhelming support of those elected to lead Haywood County.

Tourism is the industry in Haywood (Evergreen Products in Canton notwithstanding), and so those who want the county’s economy to continue pulling out of this recession know this bill is tool to help achieve that without taxing locals.

The only conclusion I can make is that Rep. Presnell must be voting her conscience: tax increases are no good no matter what.

Presnell, who is from Burnsville and only represents a portion of Haywood because of the gerrymandered district that was drawn to elect a Republican, took a different approach to governing last summer when the Lake Junaluska-Waynesville merger bill was under consideration.

Despite support from Lake Junaluska leaders and Waynesville’s elected board, despite extraordinary efforts by Lake Junaluska to gauge public opinion that included a property owner survey in which 65 percent said they approved the merger, Rep. Presnell did not get behind the bill and shepherd it through the House.

Late in the game, she said she would support the measure if a formal referendum was held and residents said yes. So with the Lake Junaluska-Waynesville merger issue, Presnell fell back on the will of her constituents (although her district does not actually include Lake Junaluska). If they spend the time and money to hold a referendum and vote yes, she’ll lend her support to the bill.

271

In two of the most pivotal issues Haywood County leaders have dealt with over the last year, Rep. Presnell has come out against the wishes of most of her constituents and in opposition to the desires of the county’s elected leaders. That’s not the way it is supposed to work. She may as well be saying my way or the highway, local leaders be damned.

Rep. Presnell sponsors de-annexation bill (6/4/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/13013-rep-presnell-sponsors-de-annexation-bill

It’s only eight lines long, but a de-annexation bill Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, has filed with the General Assembly’s Government Committee is drawing ire from some and cheers from others. The bill would remove a 3.4-acre property owned by Joe Maniscalco, 77, from the town limits of Maggie Valley.

“That’s been voted on,” Maniscalco said. “That’s been legally voted on that my property should be de-annexed because it’s unservable.”

In 2012, the Maggie Valley Board of Alderman had voted to send a letter to Raleigh recommending that the legislature de-annex Maniscalco’s property, which became part of the town in 2009 during an annexation that included 130 homes on 166 acres. But the bill was never introduced, and four members of the current five-member board feel differently.

“It has come to our attention that Representative Presnell intends to file legislation to de-annex property owned by Joseph and Dolores Maniscalco from the Town of Maggie Valley,” reads a letter signed by all members of the board save Phillip Wight and sent to Presnell, Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, and Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin. “Please be advised that an overwhelming majority of the current Town Board does NOT support this legislation.”

272

His opposition to the bill, said Mayor Ron DeSimone, is two-fold: first, the annexation was done according to the proper procedure, so any legal claim against it should be taken up in a court of law rather than in the legislature; and second, the bill does not consider the will of local government.

“First of all, I think it’s pretty incredible that Ms. Presnell has filed that bill without any conversation or interaction with our board or with our town,” said DeSimone, correcting himself that Presnell had contacted Wight but had not spoken with any of the four board members who signed the letter.

“It’s a controversial bill to begin with,” he continued. “The town last voted on this with the last board, and that was a 3 to 2 vote, which makes it pretty controversial. It’s pretty interesting that Ms. Presnell thinks the occupancy bill was a controversial issue when 24 of the 25 elected officials in the county are for it.”

The occupancy bill DeSimone referred to would raise room tax in Haywood County from 4 percent to 6 percent, with the money earmarked for tourism development projects. The increase would require legislative approval, which in turn requires support from the local delegation. Of the 25 elected town board and county commission members in Haywood County, all but Wight do support the measure.

Wight, however, said that the letter the other board members sent the representatives isn’t legitimate at all — board members signed it on their own time, with no official action taken in a meeting.

“I wouldn’t change my vote with the same evidence presented to me today,” Wight said.

The backstory

Maniscalco lives on a gated mountaintop property that was annexed in 2009, one of 130 homes occupying a total 166 acres. In 2012, he finally made some headway with his assertion that his property should remain outside the town when the board

273

decided in a 3-2 vote to send a letter to Raleigh supporting the de-annexation. However, no such bill was introduced, so the property remained in Maggie Valley.

In 2013, another installment to the saga began when Maniscalco was indicted on a slate of eight charges for presenting falsified papers to support his case.

“He has fraudulently manufactured false letters, misrepresented his case,” said Queen. “So the gentleman, the property owner is not exactly aboveboard on this at all.”

Maniscalco was indicted on five misdemeanor charges and three felony charges for falsifying and eventually took a plea deal to plead guilty to four of the misdemeanor charges. Though he did take a plea deal, Maniscalco contends he did so because mounting a defense would cost more money in attorney’s fees than it would be worth.

“Once you get arrested, it costs you a fortune to undo that arrest,” Maniscalco said, later continuing, “I don’t have a chance in the world to prove my innocence, so I take the plea.”

He was required to pay a $100 fine, complete 24 hours of community service and refrain from contacting the Register of Deeds or Maggie Valley employees unless he needed to complete some official business.

Presnell, however, would not comment on the charges and their relationship to her sponsoring the bill.

“I would just say what I have been saying,” she said. “The town has not kept up their end of the bargain.”

The case

After visiting Maniscalco’s home a few months ago, she concluded that the decision boiled down to right versus wrong.

“The person is not getting the services that a town is supposed to provide when you annex them,” she said. “His road is 8 feet wide. There is no trash pickup. There is no snow removal. The

274

man was up there for three weeks and couldn’t get his snow removed.”

Maggie Valley Mayor Ron DeSimone, however, said that’s just because Maniscalco’s sleeping in a bed he made himself.

“He isn’t getting services because he stopped those services,” DeSimone said.

Maniscalco claimed that it wasn’t safe for trash trucks and snow plows to service his property because they then had to back all the way down again.

However, DeSimone said, “The trash truck backs up most roads. He backs up my road and turns around. It’s not unsafe for them to do that.”

A waiting game

The bill is currently awaiting hearing in the House Government Committee, where it could stay for some time — or even for the whole session.

“We just have to wait and see if they hear it,” Presnell said. “They may not.”

For a legislative committee to hear a local bill like Presnell’s, it’s typically expected that it have the support of the entire local delegation. In this case, that’s not true. Davis is waiting until the bill reaches the Senate, if it ever does, to state a position, and Queen is opposed to it.

“She is taking one bad apple who has been fraudulent in presenting his case in every way, and she is using that as an excuse for an overreaching bill that could have big consequences statewide,” Queen said.

Such a bill, Queen said, could open a can of worms when it comes to other people, in other localities, who for one reason or another want to be de-annexed from their towns.

Wight agrees, though he doesn’t see that as a negative outcome.

275

“You could be opening up a case-by-case scenario that most governments would not want to go down,” he said, “but does that mean that you’re going to violate his rights?”

A similar phenomenon happened in Maggie Valley in 2012, after the board voted in Maniscalco’s favor. Within a month of the vote, four people came forward asking that their properties be de-annexed too. However, Presnell said that none of those people have contacted her office.

“Not one person up there other than Mr. Maniscalco has contacted my office,” Presnell said. “I have heard not one word, not one phone call from any of them. If they have an issue, they need to call me.”

However, odds are that no action will come of the bill.

“That’s for me a 2 percent bill,” Wight said. “It would be a long shot for it making it all the way to the floor.”

Drilling, fracking bill speeds through legislature (6/4/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/13004-drilling-fracking-bill-speeds-through-legislature

Written by Holly Kays 04 June 2014

Natural gas drilling is one step closer to becoming reality after the North Carolina General Assembly delivered a newly ratified bill to Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk on Friday, May 30.

The bill wouldn’t allow drilling to begin until 60 days after rules currently being written by the Mining and Energy Commission are adopted, but the act lifts the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing that had been in place in North Carolina and outlines a legal framework to pave the way for energy development in the state.

“I think it’s really important that we use all our resources,” said Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, who co-sponsored the bill. “It’s going

276

to be a boon to our economy. It’s going to add more jobs, and we can do all that and be environmentally responsible as well. That bill is going to have the toughest environmental regulations of any state in the country.”

That’s not a universal opinion, however. Though the bill passed the Senate 33-12, the House vote was closer, 64-50. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, believes the bill was pushed through too hastily, including too many concessions to the energy industry and not enough time for constituents to react.

“There are a lot of loose ends and there is no need to rush this at all,” Queen said. “It is foolhardy. The risks far outweigh the gain.”

The path through the capital

The first version of the bill was filed in the Senate on May 15, and it passed first reading on May 19. By May 22, it had passed the third and final reading before being sent to the House. The House then took up the bill May 27 and passed the third reading May 29. Later that same day, the Senate concurred on the House’s changes, and by May 30 the Energy Modernization Act was on the governor’s desk. As of press time, it is still there.

“We had a heck of a time just meeting their deadline, so they succeeded in having our backs to the wall,” Queen said.

“It happened quickly,” said Katie Hicks, assistant director of Clean Water for North Carolina. “It happened without enough time for constituents to make their feelings known to the legislature.”

Davis, however, takes issue with that assertion.

“This has been in the works since at least two years ago,” he said.

Over that time, the chief sponsors of the bill visited Pennsylvania and Arkansas, both states that have recently become high-producing gas states, to gather information, Davis said, and the

277

Mining and Energy Commission has been working on its rules since it was formed in July 2012.

And this bill isn’t necessarily the starting gun for fracking and horizontal drilling in North Carolina, Davis said. According to the bill, no development can happen until permits are issued, and no permits can be issued until two months after the MEC’s rules are adopted. The rules must be written by Jan. 1, 2015, and they will be subject to legislative review in the next regular session. That means that legislators will be able to introduce bills to disprove any portion of the rules.

“That whole process is going to be dynamic,” Davis said. “It’s always going to be open to revision.”

The 26-page bill changes the deadline for the MEC’s rules from Oct. 1 to Jan. 1, 2015, establishes an Oil and Gas Commission under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and reconstitutes the current MEC under the name North Carolina Oil and Gas Commission, with different rules for naming members. It establishes minimum bonding requirements and permitting fees, states that companies will be responsible for water contamination within a half-mile of each well and outlaws injecting waste associated with fracking into the ground, to name some of the ground it covers. The bill includes a section outlining who will have what information when it comes to the chemical composition of fracking formulas and makes it a misdemeanor to disclose information protected as a trade secret.

Debating local control

But it does all this while invalidating any local rules that would “prohibit or [have] the effect of prohibiting oil and gas exploration, development, and production.” Fracking and horizontal drilling themselves are hot-button issues that bring out passionate people on both sides, but this section of the bill has likewise elicited some heated opinion.

“We have totally voted against it, done a resolution opposing the fracking bill,” said Swain County Commissioner David Monteith.

278

Monteith, Chairman Phil Carson and County Manager Kevin King even traveled to Raleigh to tell Davis and Queen just that.

“There’s not enough information, and one of the things we did tell our legislators is that something that takes place in the eastern part of the state may not work on our mountains, and we need to look to make sure,” Monteith said.

“Until there’s more information comes out, our board has instructed me that the county needs to be opposed to it,” King said. “We alerted our legislators that’s the position Swain County is taking.”

Not all counties are following Swain’s lead, however. The energy industry comes with a steep learning curve, so some leaders are taking the middle road for now, stepping back from an opinion until they’ve had time to educate themselves a little more.

“I think there’s probably a lot of education that needs to take place for a lot of folks, including myself, because I don’t understand the issues enough to know what I should be concerned about,” said Jackson County Manager Chuck Wooten.

“I’m concerned about the environmental aspects of it, and I’ve heard conflicting messages on it,” said Haywood County Commissioner Kevin Ensley. “I’d probably study it more as a commissioner before I made up my mind, but I think it’s America’s future, really, natural gas.”

“Conflicting messages” is probably an accurate statement. When it comes to fracking and horizontal drilling, environmental groups tell horror stories of contaminated drinking water, air polluted from heavy truck traffic and decimated land left behind from irresponsible energy companies walking away from too-low bonds. Meanwhile, proponents promote it as a panacea, a technology that has progressed so far as to be nearly infallibly environmentally safe, an industry that promises easy money and abundant jobs.

279

“I would like to get evidence that fracking is safe for everyone before it’s done, and I’m not willing to take the industry at its word,” said Robert Smith, acting board chair of the Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance.

With a nearly limitless number of questions to ask and issues to explore, some local leaders see wisdom in the bill’s clause disallowing counties from banning the industry in their boundaries.

“Local control is the best, but it almost seems like there would be too many things involved to make a decision on,” Ensley said. “The state has the ability to hire scientists to come in and make a decision, and the county wouldn’t have the expertise. I hate to say the state could make a better decision, but they definitely have more resources.”

“I certainly think the state does have the resources we don’t have,” Wooten agreed.

That’s precisely why, Davis said, the bill includes that provision.

“You can’t have different regulations in all 100 counties, so we had to have a template to operate it from the state,” he said. “For example, counties don’t have the experts to know how to deal with this issue. They don’t have the geologist on staff, they don’t have the particular environmental staff, they don’t have the legal issues. This is a complicated issue, and as such it needs to be regulated by the state.”

Queen, however, disagrees.

“There might be some local government issues,” he said, citing needs such as increased law enforcement, fire protection and road crews that could accompany a boomtown. “But they’ve pretty much tied local government’s hands. Local government will have to be first responders, they’ll have to deal with the cleanup.”

An amendment to delete that section of the bill was introduced in the Senate but defeated by a 30-16 party-line vote.

280

Chances for development

But in practice, natural gas drilling won’t necessarily become a statewide reality. When it comes to fossil fuels, not all formations are created equal, and wells cost millions of dollars to drill, so energy companies would concentrate their efforts where a return was most likely.

Though the wells aren’t producing since North Carolina put a moratorium on oil and gas drilling, the piedmont region of the state already has some exploratory wells. That region of the state contains part of the Deep River basin, which the U.S. Geological Survey named in the top three of the five East Coast basins it assessed for energy potential.

“I doubt we’re going to get an commercial enterprise to invest the time and the effort and the money in to harvest that natural gas resource if there’s only a small limiting supply,” Davis said.

However, it’s all but impossible to know for sure what’s under the ground until you start poking holes. Even in a productive region, a well drilled in one location could pump up a fortune while one drilled a mile away comes up dry.

In a few months, though, the USGS will start the research to take its best stab at the resource potential in Western North Carolina. Testing will begin in late summer or early fall using rock samples taken from Department of Transportation rights-of-way. The General Assembly has appropriated $300,000 statewide in 2014-15 and $250,000 for 2015-16, with $11,725 earmarked for the seven western counties. If the initial work indicates potential for shale gas development, an additional $128,000 will become available for WNC.

Planning for the future

Until those numbers come in, the future will remain an elusive guess to local leaders and planners.

“I would say we’re probably looking through the summer months before we really know how this will impact us,” said Rich Price,

281

director of the Jackson County Economic Development Commission.

Though the bill, as written, doesn’t give counties the ability to opt out, local governments do get to decide how to address whatever situation the mineral resources below bring forth in their jurisdiction. But it will be a while before it’s possible to make a plan.

“Right now we don’t know enough to be able to say, ‘OK, we feel like this is going to impact Jackson County, so let’s take all these steps to be ready for it’ when it might not even be present,” Price said. “It’s way too early for us to be able to say anything definitive with how we feel like this is going to impact Jackson County.”

“We just have to follow the process closely,” agreed Mark Clasby, Haywood County’s economic development director.

And, potential economic impact isn’t limited to the reality of what’s under the ground. It also depends on the marketplace, and natural gas prices are historically volatile. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the March 2014 citygate price for natural gas was $6.56 per thousand cubic feet, just about half of its historic high, recorded in July 2008 when natural gas sold for $12.48 per thousand cubic feet. But it’s risen substantially from just one year ago, when that number was $4.75.

With so many unknowns milling around, then, local leaders are waiting for the dust to settle before they plan for the future.

“It is just a wait and see approach for us now,” Price said.

...

How they voted

Yes

Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin

282

Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville

Rep. Roger West, R-Marble

No

Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville

Conservation Voters release legislator rankings (6/11/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/13119-conservation-voters-release-legislator-rankings

Written by Admin 11 June 2014 Archived Outdoors

The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters has released its 2013 scorecard for North Carolina legislators, a number based on the legislators’ voting record on key environmental issues.

This year, a record number of legislators — 82 — earned a score of zero. Among them were Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin; Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville; and Rep. Roger West, R-Marble. Previously, West and Davis had seen somewhat higher scores of 30 and 10, respectively. This is Presnell’s first term. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, earned a score of 89, a jump from his previous high of 82.

New state tax hits entertainment venues (6/18/2014)https://smokymountainnews.com/aae/item/13390-new-state-tax-hits-entertainment-venues

When the clock struck midnight this past New Year’s Eve, a new North Carolina state tax took effect.

“This isn’t a tax reform, it’s a tax shift,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville. “It’s just part of the shift by the Republican legislature on revenues. They cut taxes on big business, then entertainment, tourism and nonprofits, who do so

283

much with so little, and are the engine of our economy, get taxed while those huge tax breaks are given to those who contribute to the call.”

The 4.75 percent tax, known as a privilege tax or admission charge, will now be added to any live performance or other live event, motion pictures or films, a museum or cultural site, garden, exhibit, show, guided tour or similar attraction. These listed items are considered by the state as a service, and with that, should be taxed in the eyes of the legislature.

“It is simply an added burden to charities,” said Steve Lloyd, executive director of the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre. “In the meantime, the legislature has cut funding support. Given the role the arts play in growing the economy, attracting business and contributing to the quality of life, this is regressive.”

Rep. Queen said he did not support the tax when it was brought up for a vote. He noted the money collected wouldn’t be worth the hardships now put upon entertainment venues and small business owners.

“The tax is hard to collect and inconsistent,” Queen said. “The [Republicans] say taxation is bad for business, well it’s particularly bad for the entertainment business. It’s not the small folks in the entertainment and the arts getting these tax breaks — it’s big business.”

Entertainment Expenses

With the new tax increase, there are plenty of complaints and groans echoing through the mountains of Western North Carolina. For several years now, profit margins have already been slim due to the lingering effects of the economic recession, and the mere fact more Americans don’t have as much of a disposable income anymore for entertainment endeavors.

“I have to pay it. I don’t like it, and you get nothing for it, but what are you going to do?” said Kyle Edwards, owner of The Stompin’ Ground in Maggie Valley.

284

Edwards said he hasn’t changed his prices in an effort to not deter folks from coming through the door. But, with that, he’ll be paying more out of his pocket to cover the tax.

“Business hasn’t been very good lately, pretty average for this time of year,” he said. “If it gets much worse, I don’t know what will happen. This will affect tourism. It’ll get less and less. The economy nationwide is so bad, no jobs out there, which means no money for vacations.”

Down the road at the Maggie Valley Opry House, home to legendary banjoist Raymond Fairchild, his wife, co-owner Shirley Fairchild, is worried what the future will hold for his longtime beloved business.

“Right now, we have not increased our ticket prices of $12 due to the slow tourist turnout so far this year, but will have to before the season’s over,” Fairchild said. “The tax increase has put another dent in our profit along with having to pay the music licensing companies SESAC, ASCAP and BMI. People are being taxed out of business, but we can survive this, and I am determined to do so.”

The tax will also affect the out-of-the-gate success of new businesses. After years of dormancy, The Strand Theatre (now The Strand at 38 Main) in downtown Waynesville was recently renovated and reopened, where it now showcases vintage/blockbuster films and regional music acts. The business decided to pay the tax out-of-pocket, making their profit margins slimmer, all in an effort to not raise prices.

“The additional burden of the ticket sales tax is another drain during the difficult start-up period, especially because attendance at events has been slow to pick up,” said co-owner Rodney Conard. “It was very important to us to make ticket prices affordable for a fun night out on the town; The Strand has absorbed the additional cost of the tax to keep ticket prices low. The reinstated tax is certainly a hurdle, but ultimately The

285

Strand will thrive or fail depending on the enjoyment and attendance of the community.”

That out-of-pocket will also come into play for the Water’n Hole Bar & Grill in Waynesville. As a band cover charge at the door now warrants a tax, the bar, which occasionally charges a small fee for live music, will play by the rules, even if the parameters and accountability factors seem fuzzy.

“I’m not sure exactly how they will [collect the tax]. It depends on how they will try to implement the tax, since it’s usually cash only for extremely small businesses that have music,” said co-owner Becky Robinson. “I include any door money collected in my sales for the night already, so hopefully it won’t affect me. It will just depend on how they want us to pay the tax. I could see how this tax hike could really affect the small arts. Sometimes it is hard to get people to participate in those activities, and higher prices definitely won’t help.”

Even for larger, more successful and profitable venues, the entertainment tax will still make noticeable changes to how the public will respond and how the business itself will properly market and adjust to the situation.

“Any time you have to roll out something new or add a step to a process that you have been doing for years, it is tough. Our patrons have never paid an admission tax and it has raised more questions than anything,” said Paul Garner, general manager for the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. “As of January 1, we started adding the mandated admission tax to the face value of our tickets. We have not seen a huge pushback from our patrons, and we are thankful for that. Many other states have been paying this tax for years and it was only a matter of time before North Carolina introduced this tax law.”

Keys To Survival

But, there are certain exemptions out there with the new tax. In the bill, exemptions can be made for events held at an elementary school, secondary school or sponsored by a school; a

286

commercial agricultural fair; a festival or other recreational or entertainment activity that lasts no more than seven consecutive days and is sponsored by a nonprofit; a youth athletic contest sponsored by a nonprofit; and a state-funded attraction.

“We will have to add it to all ticket purchases. Nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply to get back sales tax they pay. Most of us have never done that but most of the arts organizations are now planning to start,” said Lloyd, with HART being a nonprofit.

So what does this mean for Folkmoot USA, known as North Carolina’s International Festival and a key economic driving force for Haywood County and beyond?

“All of us at Folkmoot USA are very concerned about the tax increase, especially as it can hurt all nonprofits that host any kind of ticketed event. Festival ticket sales are about a third of our annual budget, and we cannot afford to lose ticket buyers due to this tax,” said Karen Babcock, executive director of Folkmoot.

To stay ahead of the new tax, Folkmoot decided to sell tickets for 2014 earlier than normal, offering them for purchase last year up until Dec. 31, 2013. That move prevented the festival from losing money on certain ticket sales. But, that measure can only work for so long.

“In 2015, we will be forced to add the tax to all ticket sales,” Babcock said. “[For 2014], we are offering free admission to children 12 and under for most ticketed performances. We hope this will help our audiences and keep Folkmoot performances affordable, despite the new tax.”

But, until the new tax pans out and the true effects are visible, entertainment venues and small business owners are hoping for the best, yet preparing for the worst. As of press time, the state legislature is searching for more exemptions — like county fairs — for the tax.

287

“I’m going to do my best to get it taken off of county fairs and support to take it off of other nonprofits,” Queen said. “If we ever get back the majority in the legislature, I hope to take it off of all venues.”

Merger bill moves forward in Raleigh (7/2/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/13668

Lake Junaluska’s bid to merge with the town of Waynesville flickered to life in the state legislature last week after languishing in political purgatory for the past year.

A last-ditch political maneuver by N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, revived the merger. Davis tacked an amendment onto an unrelated bill moving through the General Assembly.

By lassoing another bill headed for passage, the Lake Junaluska merger would presumably tag along for the ride. The plan met a hitch, however, and it is unclear whether it will come off as hoped.

But chances are certainly better than they were a week ago — when the bill appeared all but dead as the General Assembly headed into its final throes before dismissing for the year.

Davis had successfully ushered the Lake Junaluska merger through the Senate last year. But it failed to gain traction in the House. It was shunted off into a House committee, where it languished.

The bill needed a champion in the House to move it forward. The bill had a wingman in N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, but as a Democrat in a Republican-controlled legislature, Queen couldn’t pilot it.

At least not in light of opposition from N.C. Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville. Presnell represents part of Haywood County — but not that part that includes Lake Junaluska. Lake Junaluska falls in Queen’s geographic territory. Nonetheless,

288

Presnell stymied the merger from sailing through in the House as it had in the Senate.

Queen called it “absolutely ridiculous.” Legislators have an unspoken code to support each other’s so-called local bills — routine bills dealing with a chiefly local issue that simply need a legislative rubber stamp.

“You don’t monkey with another legislator’s district. There should be no objection from other members,” Queen said.

Davis was disappointed the issue had been the subject of so much political wrangling.

“This was a local bill and she interjected herself into it. That is a no-no in the legislature,” Davis said of Presnell’s opposition.

Davis said finding another bill to serve as a vehicle for the Lake Junaluska merger was the only option left. While not rare, the tactic isn’t exactly common either. And it runs the risk of miffing the legislator whose bill got saddled with an unrelated amendment, potentially gumming up the works for their own bill.

“Is there a chance they would be miffed? Possibly. But that doesn’t address the fact it has been sitting in committee for a year without being heard,” Davis said.

Queen said the bill was destined to “die on the vine” if not for Davis’ creative move to advance the bill.

“When he told me about it I said ‘Good legislating.’ He said ‘I hate games but that’s where we are at,’” Queen recalled.

Specifically, Davis attached the Lake Junaluska merger to an obscure, hyper-local bill from Pender County deannexing a tract from the town limits of Watha.

It had previously passed the House, prior to the amendment being tacked on.

Whenever the Senate and House pass differing versions of a bill, they have to be reconciled. The new version of the Watha bill,

289

now saddled with the Lake Junaluska amendment, was shipped back to the House for concurrence.

That could have gone one of two ways.

“It could go straight to the floor to be voted on. Or it can be sent to a committee to check it over,” Queen said.

Rather than slide straight to the finish line, it was sent for a pit stop in committee — essentially sending it back to the same starting gate where the original Lake Junaluska merger bill has been sitting for the past year.

But it’s still better off than before, according to Buddy Young, public works director for Lake Junaluska Assembly.

“We certainly raised awareness,” Young said of the flurry of attention the merger as gotten. “It was demonstrated once again that Senator Jim Davis is working this as hard as he can.”

Still, the strategy isn’t a shoe-in. Theoretically, the legislator that introduced the Watha bill — namely N.C. Rep. Chris Millis, a freshman Republican — would want his own bill to pass badly enough that he would become the newest fan and best ally of the Lake Junaluska merger, whose fate was now intertwined with Watha.

But instead, Millis jumped ship on his original bill. Not wanting to see his bill slowed by the Lake Junaluska amendment, he sought out another bill to hitch the Watha language to. He tacked an amendment of his own onto yet another unrelated bill being passed by the House, allowing it to advance independently from the original bill that now bears the Lake Junaluska merger.

The Lake Junaluska merger is once again left on its own.

But there is hope it could now finally get an airing in the House committee. According to third parties, Presnell has said she will drop her opposition.

“Rep. Presnell has told me personally she has lifted her objections to it and is not going to fight it any longer and if we

290

want to move it, to go ahead and do it. We can move forward without her objection,” Queen said.

Davis said he couldn’t predict the chances it has in the House committee.

But, “the chances of me giving it my all are 100 percent,” Davis said.

The large majority of homeowners and registered voters at Lake Junaluska — two-thirds according to both a petition and mail-in survey — have voiced support for merging with the town of Waynesville.

“If you are willing to listen to the facts, there is $10 million in infrastructure needs at Lake Junaluska and the community doesn’t have the resources to address those. Waynesville is being a great citizen and willing to address those needs,” Davis said.

Lake Junaluska is a residential community of roughly 775 homes ringing the sprawling campus of the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center with century-old roots as a Methodist enclave.

State budget provides raise for teachers: Critics say raise is ‘phony’ (8/13/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/14052-state-budget-provides-raise-for-teachers

It took nearly two months of conferencing, but a state budget bill is finally passed and signed. At the heart of that drawn-out process was education funding. Specifically, what state Republicans are hailing as the largest raise in history for North Carolina teachers.

“The priority for our budget this year was for education and to put more money in K through 12 and to get beginning teachers up to speed salary-wise,” said Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin. “We tried to give everybody a raise, but our emphasis was on

291

teachers. We believe the most important person in the school is the kids and the second most important is the teachers.”

The new budget gives beginning teachers a 7 percent jump in salary from their current levels, bringing the starting salary for North Carolina teachers from $30,000 up to $33,000. Republican lawmakers have said they want to get that starting number up to $35,000 next year.

But this decision doesn’t exactly have educators jumping up and down. In fact, Macon County teachers are planning a demonstration in front of the county courthouse Wednesday (Aug. 13) to showcase their displeasure.

“We’re upset about the phony pay raise,” said John deVille, a social studies teacher at Franklin High School and president of the Macon County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators. “They’re taking our longevity pay and giving it back to us and saying they’re giving us a raise.”

Decades ago, the state decided that teachers who have taught in the state for 10 years or more would get some additional pay, based on a percentage of their salary, to recognize the value of their experience on the job. The percentage varies by number of years’ experience, but as a reference, a teacher who has worked in the state for 24 years would receive an additional 3.25 percent. At 25 years, that rate increases to 4.5 percent.

The new budget counts longevity as part of a teacher’s base salary, so a teacher who is already earning a hefty longevity rate doesn’t wind up with much extra money.

“If you’ve got 20 years or more, you’re not getting a very big raise at all,” said Mike Murray, superintendent of Jackson County schools. “There’s mixed feelings out there among the troops.”

“The way one of the teachers explained it for me is it’s like telling your child you’re going to give them a raise in their allowance but you’re going to take it out of their piggybank,” added Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville.

292

Under the new salary schedule, a teacher with 30 years of experience would only make 0.3 percent more than he did in 2013-14.

Previously, teachers had been paid on a 37-step schedule, with each step representing one year. The new schedule shrinks that down to six steps, so that first- through fifth-year teachers earn the same salary, with pay jumping at year six and again at years 11, 16, 21 and 26. Teachers with 30 or more years of experience get the salary and longevity combo they had in 2013-14 plus a $1,000 bonus.

“It makes it a lot simpler and allows teachers a lot less complicated pay raise,” Davis said of the new six-step scale.

Bill Nolte, associate superintendent of Haywood County Schools, isn’t so sure.

“I don’t really see any benefits on the operational side,” Nolte said. “There may be some monetary savings they can explain, but right now we have a lot of employees who, other than a 1.2 percent pay raise right before the last big November election, they essentially make the same amount of money whether they’ve been working for one year or six or seven years. That is hard to explain to them.”

When the recession hit in 2008, legislators froze the pay scale so that an individual teacher’s salary stayed where it was in 2007-08. Under the new schedule, Nolte pointed out, teachers would have to wait again for a good several years for their next raise rather than receiving small bumps along the way, as in the old schedule.

When deVille compares the 2007-08 schedule and the new pay plan crafted in this budget, he doesn’t even see a raise at all.

“The day the budget got released I did a calculation,” he said, comparing his new salary to what he would be earning had his compensation increased step-by-step according to the 2007-08 schedule rather than remaining frozen at 2008-09 levels. What

293

he found is that his new annual salary was actually $997 less than that amount. And that’s not adjusting for inflation.

But the recession was hard for everyone, and the bottom line is that this budget increases teachers’ paychecks, Davis said. He doesn’t have much sympathy for teachers who complain that the hike isn’t big enough.

“If they want to keep their longevity pay, they can go back to the previous pay scale. They don’t have to take their raise,” he said. “I’m getting really frustrated with these people. You can never make them happy.”

Giving teachers a boost was a big priority for the legislature, he said, and though the move to a six-step system has caused plenty of criticism, he sees it as a first move toward a more loftygoal: instituting a pay-for-performance system in which teachers whose students make the biggest gains from the beginning of the year to the end make the most money.

“A teacher that’s been there 25 or 30 years is not necessarily the best teacher,” Davis said. “Experience is valuable, but it’s not everything.”

But putting aside any debate about the pros and cons of a pay-for-performance system, Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, said there’s no guarantee that such a system will be layered onto the salary schedule recently created. As of now, the dollars posted on the new schedule are the only ones teachers can count on.

“They had not delivered any substantive administrative plan to do that,” Queen said. “That is just rhetoric.”

Questions for the future

The funding mechanism for this year’s raises are a problem in themselves, Queen said. He explained that about $25 million of the increase comes from non-recurring funding — money that won’t necessarily be there next year — and $48 million will come

294

from eliminating 3,300 teaching assistants or 1,500 teachers statewide.

“You can always give those that remain a raise if you cut enough of them out of the ranks,” Queen said.

But Davis tells a different story, one in which public schools receive an additional $282 million in funding and the only expense to local school districts is matching the raises for teachers paid with local dollars. When local school districts don’t feel that state funding provides enough teachers to do the job right, they can hire their own. But when they do that, they have to cover any raise the legislature passes for state employees out-of-pocket for those funded locally.

According to Gwen Edwards, financial officer for Jackson County Schools, the system is seeing some cuts come through for the coming school year. Transportation funding will go down 1 percent, the equivalent of $10,000, and the state will no longer fund driver education. At-risk student funding will go down 3 percent, about $30,000.

“At this point I’ve not seen my budget increasing anywhere,” Murray, the Jackson superintendent, said. “I’ve seen the raises go into place but we still have a lot of line items that are going to get reductions.”

Another thing that’s up in the air is what the budget bill means for future school years.

A last-minute conference addition says that schools will no longer get funding on a per-student basis, meaning that legislators would have to approve increased funding based on population growth, rather than it happening automatically according to a formula. That’s a provision that many lawmakers and education leaders are just finding out about, so no one is quite sure what it will mean down the road.

“We really don’t know what it means until numbers arrive to us on paper,” Nolte said. “Sometimes even when the numbers arrive

295

there are corrections that need to be done and the state will pass a technical correction bill. Until someone hands us a piece of paper with real numbers on it, we’re probably guessing.”...

House fails to pass $12 million in grants for Canton paper mill (8/20/2014)https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14135-house-fails-to-pass-12-million-in-grants-for-canton-paper-mill

A bill that would provide a $12 million incentive package to the Evergreen Packaging paper mill in Canton failed to garner enough votes from the state House.

“I did my best — that’s all I can say,” said Rep. Michelle Presnell, R-Haywood, on Tuesday afternoon.

Presnell sponsored the bill.

“I’m disappointed, very disappointed, she said.”

Known as House Bill 1224, the bill would have provided funds to help pay for new natural gas fired boilers at the paper mill. The need for the new boilers came from stricter industrial air pollution limits imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that go into effect in 2016.

Evergreen estimated it would cost upwards of $50 million to convert the current coal-fired boilers to natural gas. Although an enormous economic driver in Western North Carolina, the company is also labeled as the largest industrial air polluter in the region, and one of the highest in the state, according to federal emission reporting.

“House Bill 1224 was very simple when it was introduced in May. It was for Evergreen and its more than 1,000 well-paying jobs in my district,” Presnell said in an email release. “This bill failed in the House today (Friday, Aug. 15) with 47 voting in favor and 54 against.”

296

Originally sponsored by state Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, the bill was brought to the floor as “Senate Bill 3.” Passed unanimously in the Senate, it was then brought to the North Carolina House of Representatives, where it was sponsored by Presnell.

“But the bill that the Senate sent back over [to us] was not the bill we started with,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood. “It became so loaded down with unpopular motions that didn’t make sense and we couldn’t get a majority.”

According to Queen, the bill sent back by the Senate also included a measure that would have kept in place the current system of funding for teacher assistants next year, an issue that has been hotly contested in the legislature this year. The bill also included $20 million in economic development incentives for the state Commerce Department to attract industry.

“The portion [of the bill] that I was for was the infrastructure improvements [for the paper mill], which was sponsored in the Senate bill by Davis,” Queen said. “… Presnell tried to hijack Davis’ bill and take credit for it, and in the process lost complete control of the bill.”

“Yes, it was amended by the Senate, from a two-page bill, to 14, to 20, and now to a 33-page bill. Some amendments added by the Senate were not going to affect my district,” Presnell wrote in her email. “We have our Commerce Secretary, Sharon Decker, who needed some of these amendments and now has very few tools in her toolbox to bring large manufacturing businesses to the mountains or, for that matter, anywhere in the state. South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Virginia are all very happy right now because these businesses will go to their states due to their incentives. We only have a small amount in North Carolina.”

“There were too many hands in the cookie jar,” Queen said. “[House Speaker Thom] Tillis couldn’t deliver, McCrory couldn’t deliver, Presnell couldn’t deliver, and Queen couldn’t deliver.”

297

Both Presnell and Queen did note there was a possibility of the bill coming back to be voted on.

“[Gov. Pat McCrory] can bring us back anytime and do a new majority consensus on the bill,” Queen said. “We could deliver a unanimous vote on the bill if the governor brought it back.”

Evergreen gets its green: Lawmakers approve $12 million for natural gas upgrades in Canton (8/21/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14140-evergreen-gets-its-green-lawmakers-approve-12-million-for-natural-gas-upgrades-in-canton

In a last-minute turnaround, North Carolina lawmakers wrapped up their short session last week with passage of a bill granting Evergreen Packaging’s paper mill in Canton $12 million for natural gas upgrades.

The economic incentive money was initially denied on grounds that the bill had been loaded down with extra amendments many were finding unpalatable. After being voted down Aug. 19, it was then passed the next day — minus the extra amendments.

“[The bill] was lost yesterday and today it’s been found,” N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, said after the bill’s passage. “The mill is safe and the plant will be served with natural gas. I hope we have a long and secure future for Evergreen Packaging and the jobs and workers of Haywood County.”

The paper mill estimates it will cost $50 million to convert its coal-fired boilers to natural gas in order to meet stricter industrial air pollution limits coming down the pike. Evergreen paper mill is currently the largest industrial air toxin polluter in Western North Carolina and one of the largest in the state, according to federal emissions reporting.

The temporary impasse was resolved by stripping out contentious amendments that had been tacked on, such as $20 million in economic incentive money, and instead reverting to a

298

previous Senate version of the bill, which hadn’t included those measures...

On the way to Trout City: Bryson City trout waters to get some cred (9/10/2014)https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14236-on-the-way-to-trout-city-bryson-city-trout-waters-to-get-some-cred

Bryson City will soon have another feather in the cap proving its worth as an outdoors Mecca. If all goes well, the town will get its name added as a Mountain Heritage Trout Water City by the time summer rolls around again.

“Trout fishermen come and they stay a while,” said N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, who filed the original bill calling for the trout city designation. “They stay in your bed and breakfast, they eat at your restaurants and often they bring their other family members.”

The goal of the program is to create more of them. The program recognizes cities with especially abundant and accessible waterways and works to make them even more accessible and well-stocked, creating a rewarding fishing experience. Then, it makes a special $5, three-day fishing license — which includes a loaner pole and tackle — available, designed for beginning fishermen who want to give the sport a try without laying a lot of capital on the line.

“The trout city is an intro and once you get the bug as a trout fishermen, we hope you will explore the more interesting and diverse waters of Western North Carolina,” Queen said.

Planning the waters

Swain County wants the designation, Bryson City wants the designation and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission wants to give it to them. It will just take some time to work with property owners to create additional access points through town

299

and to decide what, exactly, the boundaries of the town’s Mountain Heritage Trout Waters will be.

Right now, it’s looking like the area will at least include the stretch of the Tuckasegee River between Governor’s Island Bridge and the bridge near Mountain Ford, a length of 2.5 miles. It could also include part of Deep Creek.

“It’s just a really good section down there. We’ve got access on the road on both sides,” said Eugene Shuler, head guide at Fly Fishing in the Smokies and one of the main forces behind the push to get Bryson City the designation.

No matter what the exact boundaries of the waters, they will be well-stocked. Mountain Heritage Trout Waters get a little extra stocking to promote success and, therefore, encourage budding anglers to pursue the sport further. The numbers are based on acreage of water and food available. Estimates put potential stocking numbers for the Tuckasegee portion of the designation at 24,000 trout per square mile.

“It will actually put that river as one of the highest trout count totals in the nation,” Shuler said. “It’s a staggering number of fish to go in that stretch of river.”

From October to June each year, that portion of the Tuck will be a catch-and-release river, with anglers allowed to keep their catches during the summer and fall. The rules and stocking numbers would likely be different for any portion of Deep Creek that fell within the designation, but those details are still being worked out.

A good thing for Bryson

What has been decided, though, is that this is a good thing for Bryson City.

“This area of the country is starting to get really widely recognized as a top fishing destination,” Shuler said. “I think the more that we promote that, the better off it’s going to be. Adding

300

a trout city designation is going to be a huge step to moving that in a positive direction.”

“I think it’s just a natural fit,” said Swain County Manager Kevin King.

It’s not merely a symbolic designation. Trout fishing is big business.

“The [N.C.] Wildlife [Conservation] Commission has done an economic impact of trout fishing in Western North Carolina, and it approaches $200 million,” Queen said. “We have as large an impact in North Carolina as sport fishing does on the coast.”

If Bryson City can get recognized as a prime location for that sport — which, Shuler says, it most certainly is — it can draw on those tourism dollars as well.

That’s a strategy that has worked before. In 2009, Jackson County kicked off the WNC Fly Fishing Trail, which takes anglers to 15 prime spots in the county. Five years later, success is apparent. The trail is attracting new visitors, boosting Jackson County’s total tourism numbers and drawing anglers from as far away as Texas and Montana to fish its waters for the first time.

Swain County is pursuing a similar idea. A new fishing brochure from the Swain County Chamber of Commerce points out 26 separate fishing locations, including information such as the type of water, access instructions, type of fish and which fishing license is required. The fishing guide also has an online form, housed at www.greatsmokiesfishing.com.

With the Trout City designation in place, new anglers will be able to get their start in Swain County and from there explore some of the more remote, interesting waters on the map. Internal review at the Wildlife Conservation Commission will be wrapping up soon, and then a public input period will open. Finally, the commission is expected to approve the designation for good sometime in late spring or early summer 2015. That would make

301

Bryson City the 12th Mountain Heritage Trout Waters city in North Carolina, and the sixth in Queen’s district.

“It’s an introduction fishing opportunity,” Queen said. “If you’ve never done it before, try it. We’re going to provide your poles. It’s only going to cost you $5.”

Brookie on the back

Anglers will soon be able show their support of the fly fishing life with a speckled trout license plate, recently approved by the N.C. General Assembly after N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville filed a bill to create the plate. The plate costs $30 above the price of car registration, with $20 of that going to the N.C. Wildlife Conservation Commission for work supporting fly-fishing in North Carolina.

“It’s a very simple and beautiful plate and we hope to sell tens of thousands of them and enhance the quality of trout fishing,” Queen said.

The full-color plate was designed by Waynesville resident John Jicha, professor of graphic design at Western Carolina University. It features a brook trout in the center on a light blue background, with the words “Native Brook Trout” written in italics at the top.

N.C. House candidates Queen and Clampitt draw distinctions during debate (10/1/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14337-n-c-house-candidates-queen-and-clampitt-draw-distinctions-during-debate

N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, and Republican challenger Mike Clampitt are on a similar mission. Each is trying to assure voters they are nothing like the other guy.

Recently, the two candidates seeking the 119th District House seat faced off for a debate in Cullowhee hosted by Western

302

Carolina University. The pair discussed education, healthcare and fracking. They got into immigration reform and term limits and more. And they disagreed at every turn.

Early on, Clampitt tried to distinguish himself from Queen by ticking off successful efforts of the Republican-led General Assembly and wondering aghast how the representative could not have supported them. He asked how Queen could have possibly voted against such legislation as the Regulatory Reform Act, the Tax Simplification and Reduction Act or the Domestic Energy Jobs Act. He was appalled that Queen would have voted against an effort to supply schools with free EpiPens to treat anaphylaxis, or serious allergic reactions.

“He voted against children’s safety in schools,” Clampitt charged.

Queen then went into a routine he was bound to repeat throughout the evening: clarifying his position and dissecting the political particulars.

“The Energy Modernization Act was fracking, so I voted against that,” Queen countered. “You’ve got to watch how they label these bills, because they are not what they appear to be. And they fill them full of poison pills with a few nice things like EpiPens and so forth.”

The spirited debate remained a trade of political punches throughout. Clampitt focused on graspable one-liners, while Queen beckoned voters to wade with him into the details.

The state House debate drew a packed house and required the set up of an overflow room with the bout on a big screen. It offered voters more than an hour of illustrative and revealing back-and-forth.

Here’s a sampling:

On first piece of legislation if elected

303

Clampitt: I believe for Swain County that would be an easy one. To make the federal government honor their agreement and payment to Swain County residents for the Road to Nowhere. That’s to me is a no-brainer. It’s money that was owed, it’s money that was promised and we’ve got a second piece of paper from another congressman that says we’ll pay it. I think a resolution from the state House would be in order.

Queen: I think one of the tragedies of this session has been not expanding Medicaid. We’ve lost $3.5 billion of our taxes. We’ve got to expand Medicaid in North Carolina. This next session that will be $2.5 billion of our taxes that will be denied coming to North Carolina in we do not correct this action.

On North Carolina’s new voting laws

Queen: This bill is really about keeping seniors from voting, keeping young people from voting, making it difficult to vote and as a consequence fewer people will vote. They know this, it’s statistically proven, but it’s the wrong thing for our democracy, it is the wrong thing for North Carolina.

Clampitt: As far as disenfranchising students from voting, I remember when I was in college I applied for an absentee ballot in Swain County and voted in the election. And that’s the first presidential election I got to vote in, when I got an absentee ballot, so what’s the big deal? You know, a stamp is 46 cents now I think, but still, that’s not a problem, should not be a problem. And I think Mr. Queen has also forgotten that to get government assistance in North Carolina you have to have a photo I.D. to get that government assistance.

On the need for an independent commission to oversee redistricting

Clampitt: That’s a scream from the left-hand side because of gerrymandering. They want to say that gerrymandering is something that the big, bad Republicans come up with … it is a fact of life, it is going to change every time we have a change in leadership in the state. Left, grow up, get over it.

304

Queen: I can assure you that just the way big-data is working, gerrymandering is a much more sophisticated enterprise than it has ever been in America, so it is time to have an independent commission on this issue … I will admit Democrats have had their hands in gerrymandering, but it’s a matter of degree. If you look at these maps, it’s a matter of degree. I’m not claiming innocence for my party, I’m just saying that the Republicans have gotten so much better at it, partly because of the Census-track data mechanism that they have used to do it.

On corporate taxes

Clampitt: Our Republican-led legislature and governorship has done a great job of streamlining the corporate and personal income taxes of North Carolina. North Carolina has now become one of the more business-friendly states of all the surrounding states to North Carolina. That being said, when you take and encourage business growth, the growth of the business will take and employ more people …. In order to establish more business growth, they’ve got to have the burden pulled off of them, and also the heavy regulatory fees and the stringent guidelines that they have to go through.

Queen: I did not support the so-called tax reform that this Republican General Assembly passed. There are 77,000 corporations in North Carolina, the top 200 of them got a million dollars a piece in tax cuts. They eliminated the small business tax credit, which gave small businesses the first $50,000 tax free in North Carolina … They’ve given 99 and a half percent of the tax cuts of this so-called tax reform for corporations to the top half of a percent of corporations. It’s a disgrace, it’s not good for jobs, it’s not good for economic development, it’s not fair.

On fracking

Clampitt: The thing about it is, it’s not viable in Western North Carolina. Folks, that is off the table. It is not even on the table to be done. Everybody’s screaming panic about that right now, but it’s a true thing.

305

Queen: If you can recognize an election stunt — if they find natural gas in Western North Carolina, there is nothing to take it off the table. So, it’s just a stunt for the election. Sen. Davis sponsored the bill from Western North Carolina and there are folks that think there is money to be made quick and easy here.

On teacher salaries

Queen: We definitely need to do more than we’re doing.

Clampitt: I think it’s a step program, it can’t be done overnight.

On immigration reform

Queen: I think a quality immigration policy is absolutely essential. It is mired in bitter, political — I don’t know what you’d call it, skirting around the issues. We need to solve it. It’s fair and right for the people involved … It’s not really a state issue, it’s really a national issue, so it doesn’t come up often in the legislature.

Clampitt: We need to have immigration reform starting at the state level and going all the way to the federal government. The federal government is dropping the ball and not doing their jobs … When Mr. Queen says it’s not a state problem, it is a state problem. It’s a state a problem in a sense that it’s costing us, the taxpayers of North Carolina, money in to the hospital system, into the educational system and the entire system across the board.

On term limits

Clampitt: The political suicide answer is I believe in term limits. I believe the correct answer is, I believe in term limits.

Queen: I serve at the privilege of the citizenry. I have run six times, I have lost two. They can send you home just as quick as they can elect you. Generally speaking, if you have good representatives you should keep them. If you have poor ones, the ballot box is exactly the place you can limit their terms.

306

Queen, Clampitt battle it out again (10/22/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14466-queen-clampitt-battle-it-out-again

Election season is winding down to the finish line and both candidates in the N.C. House’s 119th District race are eyeing Raleigh. Challenger Mike Clampitt and incumbent Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, have been here before. They went up against each other in 2012 and both are back for more.

The campaign season — even these last frenzied weeks — suit Queen just fine. He loves the ballgames, homecomings and festivals.

“I’m a happy warrior,” the incumbent said. “I like campaigning and pressing the flesh and getting out with my constituents. I actually like the season.”

Clampitt, too, seems to be enjoying himself. He’s been crisscrossing the district, hitting events and going door-to-door.

“You may have seen me on a billboard somewhere,” Clampitt reenacts his pitch. “I am that guy, I really do exist.”

The barbecue, budget and office decor

On the table before Clampitt is a plate of barbecue and some political mailers. One of the mailers in particular has caught the candidate’s attention. It features him, with arm draped over Gov. Pat McCrory, and describes the Republican pair as creating “one big, enormous, fracking mess.”

“That’s gonna backfire, it’s going to be taken negatively by most people I know up here,” Clampitt said. “That’s over the line. Most folks are going to know what they mean by that word.”

Besides, fracking’s a dead issue anyway. A distraction that shouldn’t play into the election, Clampitt said.

“The resources, if they’re found, will be back east, not in the west,” Clampitt stressed. “This is an emotional issue more than it is a real issue, if you want to call it that.”

307

The candidate is tired of the fracking debate. Clampitt would much rather discuss other issues facing North Carolina. For that matter, he’d rather discuss the state budget. In detail.

“You wanna see the budget? I got a copy,” Clampitt said. “No, no, sit right here, I’ve got a copy, I’ll be right back.”

The candidate got his copy of the budget at the capital in Raleigh. It’s a thick read, with enormous staples binding it together.

“That’s about as authentic as you can get right there,” Clampitt said, holding up the tome. “It’s interesting reading. It’s dry reading.”

Clampitt enjoys using the state budget to illustrate differences between he and his opponent. He defends Republican-led efforts on issues like education funding, health care and government regulations and paints his opponent as being well-meaning but on the wrong side of each debate.

“It’s not an us-versus-them thing,” Clampitt explained. “I don’t see it as an us-versus-them, because I think both sides have the interest of everyone at heart, but there is a decisive difference in how to achieve their goals.”

Clampitt hopes to join these debates in Raleigh. He’ll be on the “pro-life, pro-gun, friend of small business” side of the aisle. The majority side.

He won’t be there to make everyone happy. Especially not people who’ve “got their hand out.”

“If you’re gonna wait for me to tell you what you’re wanting to hear you’re gonna have a long wait — there’s only so many ways you say ‘no,’” Clampitt said. “If you want more money spent tell me how you want to raise that money.”

Clampitt also has some ideas on how to improve things. He’d like to launch a multi-county consortium within his districts, inviting local governments, schools and chambers of commerce to the

308

table to together tackle issues facing the region — “strength in numbers.”

“I call it IRS for issues, resources and solutions,” Clampitt said. “The best ideas come from the local and county governments.”

The candidate looks back down at the “big, enormous fracking mess” mailer on the table. The hand draped over McCrory’s shoulder — “that ain’t my fingers” — is superimposed. Still, it’s a dandy picture.

Recently, Clampitt had an opportunity to discuss the doctored photo with the governor. They had a good laugh.

“He pulled that out and he said, ‘My God, Clampitt, that’s a good picture. Why can’t you look that good all the time?’” the candidate recalled.

Clampitt plans on holding on to the mailer as a memento. Plans on turning the negative ad into a positive.

“When I’m elected I’m framing that one,” he said, “and putting it on the wall down in Raleigh.”

Ready for another rough round in Raleigh

It’s been rough in Raleigh recently. A tough place for a Democrat, anyway.

“I have been a one-legged man at an ass-kicking this year,” Queen said. “It has been awful.”

Sitting in his downtown Waynesville office, the incumbent lawmaker tried to stay positive.

“You know, you never give up your fight,” Queen said. “I stand up for my people.”

It’s easy for Queen to get worked up when talking about goings-on in Raleigh. He disagrees with much of what has taken place in the General Assembly as of late.

309

“McCrory-Tillis is killing our health care, they are killing education,” Queen said.

Queen takes issue with the way Republicans have handled the state’s education funding. He’s outraged they won’t expand Medicaid, arguing that the expansion would bring about 140,000 healthcare jobs to the state, as well as insure the currently uninsured.

Queen is also livid about what he views as tax cuts for the wealthy. He charged that Republicans have adopted a “robber baron” approach to economics.

“We’re backing into a 19th century tax code and these guys have a bunch of 19th century ideas,” Queen said.

The incumbent contrasted the legislature’s decision to repeal the estate tax with its decision to up the tax rate on mobile homes — “I use the Biblical analogy that they squint at a gnat while they swallow a camel.”

“So, if you’re a little guy it costs you $3,500 to take a $55,000 doublewide home,” Queen said. “Why is the rich man getting richer and the poor man getting poorer? That’s why right there — public policy.”

Queen doesn’t have any delusions of turning the majority tide in Raleigh. He knows the Republicans have conquered the capital for now.

But the incumbent is optimistic about this election.

“My prediction is we will pick up three to four Democratic legislators,” Queen said. “I think we’ll pick up Hicks, John Ager, Brian Turner, and my money is still on Jane Hipps — right now that’s the longest shot, but it’d be the biggest upset, it’d send a message to Raleigh that we get it.”

As for his own race against Clampitt, the candidate has every intention of heading back to the capital for further abuse.

310

“I doubt very seriously I’ll get beat this year,” Queen said. “If I do I’m not jumping out of any window, but I don’t think I will be beat.”

Mike Clampitt, 59, Republican

Mike Clampitt was born and raised in Swain County. He graduated from Swain High School, then obtained a degree in Fire Science.

The candidate spent his career years — 28 of them — in Charlotte, where he served as a fire captain with the City of Charlotte’s fire department. He retired in 2004 on Christmas Day.

After retiring, Clampitt headed home — “I’m traditionally a mountaineer and I’ve always wanted to come home” — to Bryson City.

“I inherited my grandparents’ farm,” he said. “The house is 93 years old.”

Clampitt ran initially in 2012 but did not win election. More recently the candidate has spent some time in Raleigh serving as an Assistant Sargent of Arms for the General Assembly.

“I had an opportunity to observe the legislature and I thought it might help me in my next election,” Clampitt said.

The time in Raleigh served to energize the candidate. It’s that energy he’s taken out on the campaign trail.

“After listening to some of the left, liberal comments on the House floor,” Clampitt explained, “it gave me the determination and drive to push for the conservative ethics, morals and principals of the people of Western North Carolina.”

• On not expanding Medicaid: “There’s no such thing as a free ride and no such thing as free money.”

311

• On gay marriage: “Striking down the marriage amendment goes against the will of the people of North Carolina. The will of the people has been violated by the judicial.”

• On perspective: “I’m not a professional politician. I had a blue-collar job. I’ve been out there in the workforce and seen a lot of crazy stuff, government regulations and such.”

• On relaxing: “For the last debate, to get relaxed I mowed my yard.”

Rep. Joe Sam Queen, 64, Democrat

Joe Sam Queen’s family has been around these parts for quite a while. He traces his roots back six or seven generations.

“We were here with the first white man,” Queen said.

The incumbent state representative got his political start as a 10-year-old boy. He was assigned a job by his dad, who was managing Terry Sanford’s 1960 gubernatorial bid against Beverly Lake in Haywood County.

“I was given a ladder and my job was not to let a Beverly Lake sign go up in Waynesville,” Queen recalled.

In 2002, Queen ran for a state Senate seat. It was a late-season decision.

“My Senate district didn’t have a Democratic candidate,” he said. “this was Fourth of July in 2002.”

Queen wasn’t suppose to win, but eked out a 49 percent victory. His opponent, he feels, didn’t take the contest seriously.

“He took the race for granted, quite frankly, he thought he had it in the bag,” Queen said.

Queen went on to serve in three terms in the state Senate. Then, in 2012 — following a redrawing of political districts — he decided to try for the 119th District N.C. House seat and won.

Now, he’s up for another round.

312

“I’m probably as much on fire as I’ve ever been,” Queen said.

• On not expanding Medicaid: “Cynically speaking, they don’t give a damn and they want healthcare to fail and blame Obamacare.”

• On the GOP’s budgetary direction: “The way out is common sense, decency. Let’s stop using political rhetoric as economic policy.”

• On trickle-down theory: “It does not work. George H.W. Bush referred to it as voodoo economics, and he’s exactly right.”

• On expanding broadband availability: “Our rural children do not have the internet. The digital divide is real, let’s close it.”

Class warfare looms in debate over state tax reform (10/22/2014)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/14465-class-warfare-looms-in-debate-over-state-tax-reform

Tax reform was one of the top issues tackled by the new Republican majority in Raleigh last year, but voters hitting the polls this election season don’t yet know whether they’ve come out ahead or behind, since the changes don’t come into play until next April’s tax returns.

The debate over tax reform has hues of class warfare. Democrats claim the tax cuts helped the rich and hurt the poor. Republicans claim the old tax structure was punitive for higher-earners, and lower taxes will improve the overall business and economic climate, in turn helping all.

The single biggest change is a flat income tax rate for all — instead of the old graduated scale where the rich paid a higher tax rate than the poor and middle class. The income tax rate is now the same 5.75 percent for everyone.

“We think it is an important step in North Carolina history,” said Jim Tynen with the Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank in

313

Raleigh. “When you are taxing income you are penalizing people for producing and making more money. And that hurts overall productivity.”

N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, has been a vocal critic of the tax cuts, chalking them up to political kickbacks for millionaire campaign donors.

“The more money you make the bigger your tax cut was,” Queen said.

The rich saw their income tax rate come down 2 percent, the middle class by 1.25 percent, and the poor by only 0.25 percent.

But Tynen disagrees that the rich are winners and the middle class are losers in the new tax code.

“By cutting taxes we believe there will be an economic boom. The people who need jobs most are the lower and middle class. If taxes are less burdensome, and you get rid of punitive regulations, that will mean more jobs and better paying jobs overall for people in the lower middle class,” Tynen said. “I think our critics are jumping to a conclusion. These rates have just gone into effect. Time will tell.”

Roy Cordato with the John Locke Foundation, also a conservative think tank based in Raleigh, said state legislators took a bold and needed step to eliminate a litany of tax loopholes and breaks for special interests.

“From an economics perspective, what was done was exactly right,” Cordato said.

Tax loopholes, even popular ones, were closed. Yes, people will no longer get tax credits for college savings plans, for senior medical expenses, for childcare costs or for educational expenses like college tuition.

But in exchange, the income tax rate for everyone came down.

“What the legislature did was reduce all our tax rates,” Cordato said.

314

Queen said the claim is a farce, however, because for many in the middle class, the loss of tax credits and exemptions will mean they pay more taxes at the end of the day.

“It is hitting the middle class the most while taxes have been cut substantially for the wealthy,” Queen said. “You have to cut through the deception and distortion. You are paying more taxes even though your rate is lower.”

Further, sales tax is now tacked on to things that used to be exempt, from mobile homes to oil changes to college meal plans. There’s no more sales tax holiday for back to school supplies, and sales tax is now tacked onto museums, concert tickets and sporting events.

“They’ve added more sales taxes than they’ve cut,” Queen said.

Tynen pointed out those purchases are optional, however.

“If you feel the sale tax on your movie ticket is too exorbitant, you don’t have to buy it,” Tynen said.

A better business climate?

In the name of reform, tax incentives for certain industries were also eliminated.

Developers of historic properties or affordable housing projects will no longer get special tax credits that others don’t. The movie industry will no longer get economic incentives that others don’t.

“There were loopholes everywhere for this special group or that special group,” Cordato said.

But once again, in exchange for closing loopholes, the corporate tax rate as a whole was lowered. The reforms made taxes “a little lower and also fairer,” Tynen said.

N.C. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, said the changes were all about improving the state’s business and jobs outlook.

315

“It is more business friendly now. Our actions have moved North Carolina from the bottom to 17th best in the business tax climate,” Davis said.

Haywood County’s Economic Development Director Mark Clasby said that should help the jobs outlook.

“From a business standpoint trying to be attractive, lowering the corporate income tax was a benefit from a recruitment standpoint,” Clasby said. “That it is helpful because it is a very competitive world out there right now.”

But Democrats claim the corporate income tax cut primarily helped the most profitable companies at the expense of the state as a whole.

“It went wildly disproportionately to the top,” Queen said. The top 200 corporations got an average tax cut of $1 million each, he said.

Meanwhile, the corporate tax cuts took money out of the state budget, which in turn meant cutting vital state programs. The tax cuts, all told, will take $700 million out of the state budget this year, and a projected $5 billion over the next five years as more scheduled tax cuts hit the books, according to state budget officers.

And that means less to spend on things like education.

“They’re giving millionaires tax breaks and cutting education,” said Queen.

Doug Jackson, a spokesperson for the pro-education advocacy group Aim Higher Now NC, said it doesn’t make sense to take a bite out of the state budget when schools are struggling.

“The cuts to education could be easily ameliorated if they did away with these tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy,” Jackson said.

But Tynen disagrees.

316

“There is a lot of debate over the necessities of keeping tax rates as low as feasible and balancing a budget that had gotten out of whack considerably,” Tynen said.

Republican legislators also laud the elimination of the estate tax, but Queen again chalks that up as a “privileged tax cut for the super rich only.” The estate tax only applied to individual assets of over $10 million.

“There wasn’t a single citizen we could find in my district who was wealthy enough to pay the estate tax,” Queen said.

Queen shuts down Clampitt, again (11/5/2014) https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/14594

After winning re-election in the N.C. House District 119 race, Rep. Joe Sam Queen sounded more glum than one might expect.

“It’s a mixed night for me,” Queen said.

He was feeling pretty low about races around the state. The Tillis-Hagan results had him down, and the other state races hadn’t panned out the way he’d hoped.

“I got some help from Buncombe County with John Ager and Brian Turner. I was hoping to get Dean Hicks, but it doesn’t look like I’m gonna get him,” Queen said. “I’d gladly have lost to win Kay Hagan, cause it’s not about me.”

While Queen didn’t see all his Democratic cohorts make the Election Day cut, his own showing was respectable. The incumbent state representative won with 53 percent of the vote against Republican challenger Mike Clampitt, who got 47 percent of the vote.

“I’m proud of my constituents,” Queen said at the end of a late evening. “They keep sticking with me, and I’ll keep sticking with them.”

This was Queen’s second time to go up against Clampitt for the 119 seat. For Clampitt, it’s a second upset.

317

“Naturally, I’m disappointed,” Clampitt said following his loss. “But, you know, the people have made their choice about what kind of representation they want to have in Raleigh. Evidently, they want to continue the same-ol’ same-ol’.”

Clampitt said he was surprised by the election outcome and expected more of the district’s voters.

“Real simple,” Clampitt said, “I thought the people of Western North Carolina were smarter than the way they have voted.”

Voters in the district, however, felt differently. Enough of them apparently disapproved of the direction Republicans have taken the state and decided to throw their votes behind Queen.

“The last year has been pretty bad in North Carolina,” said Waynesville voter Beth Pratt. “We needed a massive change. I felt like the state was being hijacked, and we looked ridiculous to the rest of the country.”

General Assembly resumes; Local legislators to tackle key issues (1/14/2015)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/14941-general-assembly-resumes-local-legislators-to-tackle-key-issues

North Carolina Legislators are back in session in Raleigh this week with a full agenda, including unfinished items from last year’s short session. The local delegation is ready to tackle the budget, Medicaid, education, fracking and other local issues affecting Western North Carolina.

Budget

Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, said passing the budget would be his No. 1 priority as he returns to the General Assembly.

“I think the first order of business for the Senate will be dealing with the budget — it starts in the House this time,” he said.

318

The biggest concern is a $190 million projected revenue shortfall.

“We have to deal with that, but I hope with the Christmas season (revenues) we’ll be able to cover that. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

In general, Davis said he would like to continue moving more toward a consumption tax and get away from using income tax.

“Though we’ll probably never do away with the corporate income tax, we’re continually competing with other states that did away with income tax so I’d like to see that happen,” he said.

Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, said the expected revenue shortage could be contributed to the Republican tax code changes made in 2013.

“They dug a hole by giving away tax breaks to the wealthy, so we’re going to have a revenue hole,” he said. “Do we keep cutting or do we ask those doing well to pay their fair share?”

Overall he is hopeful for a productive session and looks forward to working with new and returning colleagues and with a new Speaker of the House, Rep. Tim Moore.

“The budget starts in the House so it will be interesting,” he said. “It’s deeply divided right now and hard to get on both sides.”

Medicaid

Whether or not North Carolina will expand its Medicaid program also will likely be a divisive issue during this session. To date, 27 states and Washington, D.C., have expanded Medicaid, but North Carolina legislators chose not to expand the program during the 2013 session.

Though the federal government committed to paying the entire cost of the state expanding the program for three years before tapering off the funding, Republicans said the state system wasn’t ready for an expansion. GOP Gov. Pat McCrory called the

319

current system “broken” and said it would need to be fixed before the state could expand.

Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, said she recently met with health care providers at Mission Health in Asheville to discuss Medicaid expansion and other things that could help them financially. “We’re still working on that (Medicaid), but we probably should not expand right now,” she said.

Davis, who voted to block Medicaid expansion in 2013, said he was willing to listen to any new developments presented this year.

”I anticipate a pretty heated discussion with the House and the governor,” he said. (McCrory) seems to be more open to expanding Medicaid this year and the House is more inclined to go along with him.”

He added that McCrory recently met with President Obama to discuss some special waiver options for North Carolina. However, he said the Senate still feels like the state needs to get a better handle on the program first.

“I think we’re in a better position but I’d like to be in great position before we look at that,” he said. “We also need to see what’s going to happen with the Supreme Court decision when it comes down in June.”

Queen voted in favor of expanding Medicaid in 2013 and his position hasn’t changed. If Medicaid expands, he said it would mean 15,000 low-wage workers in his district would receive free health care and 800 new health care provider jobs would be created to serve those people.

“We passed a pretty good resolution in the House to progress in that direction but the Senate hasn’t been very receptive,” he said.

Queen said he didn’t understand how the state could not accept $2.5 billion from the federal government to expand the program

320

because it means taxes paid by North Carolina residents are now going to other states that chose to expand Medicaid.

“Every million represents 20 to 25 jobs in North Carolina, and we would definitely get our share here in Western North Carolina,” he said.

A new study out of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and funded by the Cone Health Foundation and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, shows county by county the effects of not expanding Medicaid in North Carolina.

According to the report, North Carolina will miss out on $21 billion in federal matching funds between 2016 and 2020 if the state does not expand Medicaid by 2016. The study also concludes that Haywood County will have 115 fewer jobs created by 2020, $35.1 million less in growth to the county’s economy from 2016-20 and $767,000 less in collected tax revenues.

Education

The 2014 short session addressed many education issues, including pay raises and teacher tenure, but legislators say they aren’t done yet.

“We fixed the worst of the problem (last year) with entry level teachers’ pay, but veteran teachers didn’t like it because they felt they were ignored this last time,” Davis said.

Queen said he would continue his efforts this year to support the profession of teaching through professional development, respect and proper pay.

“I’m all about doing things better year after year,” he said. “Their (Republicans) idea of reform is cutting it. They want to improve third-grade reading scores but then they cut out the reading coaching. It doesn’t make sense.”

Davis said he was looking at cutting driver’s education from the public education budget for some additional savings. Parents and

321

students would then be responsible for paying that cost through a private program if they want their child to participate.

“I doubt they would complain about that,” he said.

Presnell also said she thinks more needs to be done with education reform, but this year she would like to focus more on the students instead of the teachers.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, they’re not going to be satisfied, but we will continue to work on it and get it done properly,” she said. “I want to focus more on the students and see that they are getting a good education and that goes for kindergarten through college if they have the opportunity to go.”

Fracking

In 2012, the General Assembly passed a bill legalizing fracking but kept a moratorium on permitting until rules and regulations could be developed and passed by the legislature. Even though the proposed rules have yet to be voted on, the legislature lifted the moratorium in 2014. The proposed rules went through several public comment sessions and now the Mining and Energy Commission plans to present the rules for adoption during this session.

Local legislators said they haven’t had a chance yet to read the 120-plus proposed regulations.

Davis supported the fracking bill last year and said his position hadn’t changed much, but he looks forward to seeing the MEC’s recommendation. With the price of oil coming down, he said the demand for fracking in the state would likely come down.

“The mere fact that Saudi Arabia and Russia know we’re willing to harvest our own resources will probably lead to a reduction in price,” he said. “But as I’ve said before, so long as we can do it safely, I’m all for trying to be energy independent.”

Queen attended many of the public hearings held throughout Western North Carolina and said the MEC was not particularly

322

responsive to the citizens’ input. A majority of residents advocated for stricter fracking rules. He added that he hopes the lower gas prices at the moment would also lower the need for fracking.

“It will be challenged in the courts so hopefully that will slow it down enough to bring some sense to it and not pollute the ground waters of North Carolina,” he said.

Local bills

Haywood County has been trying to push through two local bills for the last two years — one to increase the county’s occupancy tax from 4 to 6 percent and one to annex Lake Junaluska into the town of Waynesville.

Neither of the bills was successful at getting through both chambers because of Presnell’s opposition to annexation and raising taxes.

Even though Davis anticipates hearing from Lake Junaluska about getting annexed and the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority about the occupancy tax, he said the issues are dead in thewater without all the local delegation on board. Queen and Davis both supported the occupancy tax and annex bills.

“Even though I’m against tax increases, I’m an even stronger proponent of local control,” Davis said.

“Lake Junaluska wants to be annexed. My suggestion to them is to prepare for a public referendum,” Queen said. “Don’t aggravate the General Assembly. If (Presnell) won’t support it, it won’t move through the House.”

Folkmoot center renovation plans finalized (2/25/2015)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/15156-folkmoot-center-renovation-plans-finalized

323

Folkmoot USA has finalized its capital improvements and business plan for the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Hazelwood.

Since taking over ownership of the building from the county last year, Folkmoot has been working on plans to renovate the building to accommodate year-round programming for the organization.

The first priority was to stabilize the building by making emergency repairs before developing a capital campaign to raise funds for future renovations. About $100,000 has been spent so far on a new roof and renovations to the cafeteria of the former Hazelwood Elementary School.

The town of Waynesville recently approved granting Folkmoot $25,000 toward the campaign after being presented with the final plans. The $1.2 million capital campaign for Folkmoot consists of three parts — $400,000 in facility improvements, $600,000 to grow the Border Foundation Endowment to $1 million, and $200,000 to boost annual programming.

The endowment was created in 1989 to provide support for Folkmoot programs. The endowment currently only contains around $400,000.

The Folkmoot building project team consists of local architect Joe Sam Queen and Steve Kaufman with Reece Noland and McElrath. According to the building plans, the auditorium will contain 200 fixed seats plus room for 100 moveable seats and tables. A commercial kitchen will be restored in the cafeteria, which also includes a small stage. Classrooms will be converted into dorms for the international groups during the summer festival.

Other renovations include three administrative offices, three large storerooms, restrooms, two shower rooms and laundry facility.

324

Outgoing Folkmoot Executive Director Karen Babcock asked the town board to also consider a three-year commitment to the capital campaign.

Town Manger Marcy Onieal said the request for additional funds would have to go through the special appropriations process during the upcoming 2016 budget discussions to be considered with other community partner requests. Applications are due to the town by March 30.

Legislature weakens voter ID requirement (6/24/2015)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/15909-legislature-weakens-voter-id-requirement

In an unexpected turn of events, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation last Thursday that will allow people to cast a ballot in 2016 even if they don’t have an acceptable form of identification.

The decision is a significant modification to the voter ID law passed by the Republican majority in 2013. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, who opposed the legislation in 2013, said the new provision would allow voters without a photo ID to cast a ballot as long as they sign an affidavit stating that they have a reasonable excuse.

The acceptable exceptions include a lack of transportation, disability or illness, lost or stolen photo ID, or a lack of a birth certificate or other documents to obtain a photo ID.

“It’s a very good step forward for our voters so they shouldn’t be discouraged from trying to vote,” Queen said. “I was glad to support it. We want voters to vote because that’s the only way to fix what’s wrong — at the ballot box.”

Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, a proponent of the 2013 Voter ID laws, said he was comfortable with the new compromise. He said people without proper photo ID can cast a provisional ballot but will still have to show some kind of proof that they are who they

325

say they are — whether it’s the last four digits of their Social Security number or other documentation.

“I think it loosens up the requirement to ensure people who may show up at polls without an ID can cast a provisional ballot that can be quickly evaluated,” Davis said. “I’m OK with that — the goal is to ensure everyone entitled to vote is able to vote.”

The North Carolina Board of Elections recently held public hearings throughout the state to gather public input on its proposed rules to enforce the new voter ID laws. The Western North Carolina hearing was held in Sylva and the room was packed. Roger Turner, voting rights coordinator for the Jackson County Democrats, said the Sylva meeting had more people than the meeting held in Raleigh. While he would like to think that the Legislature made the change to the law after hearing all the negative feedback from the public, he said he knows better.

“You can wax about how grassroots efforts helps these kinds of things, but I think it has to do with the lawsuits that are pending,” Turner said. “I don’t know how much of a win it is — it’s more about the Legislature protecting themselves in court.”

Queen said the court challenges regarding the constitutionality of these types of laws in North Carolina as well as other states definitely played a major role in the Legislature’s decision to weaken the voter ID burden.

Turner said the new modification makes North Carolina’s voting laws similar to South Carolina’s, which is a safer bet legally. While the change is welcomed, Turner worries that it may still be too late to prevent any more confusion when it comes to Election Day.

“You still have to be a pretty involved person to understand what’s going on these days with voter ID laws,” he said. “I’m afraid there’s going to be a lot of confusion for people. We’re going to have to prepare and have well trained precinct workers at the polls.”

326

Turner would like to form a voter rights task force to continue to follow these issues and educate the public on the laws so that they are prepared for the 2016 elections.

Political posturing once again waylays vote on Lake Junaluska, Waynesville merger (7/22/2015)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/16065-political-posturing-once-again-waylays-vote-on-lake-junaluska-waynesville-merger

A bill paving the way for the merger of Lake Junaluska with the town of Waynesville was blocked at the 11th hour this week in the N.C. General Assembly.

N.C. Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, once again worked against the bill to stop it just as it neared the finish line. The bill was scheduled for a vote Monday night, but Presnell spoke out against it during a gathering of the Republican caucus.

“She has gone out of her way to raise a bunch of bogus issues. It is a litany of red herrings and we just keep answering them and moving down the road,” said N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, who supports the merger.

Presnell blamed Queen for the bill being pulled, however. Presnell said Queen obviously had not worked hard enough to usher it through the House.

“Rep. Queen should own this bill. The annexation of Lake Junaluska would affect two of the larger communities in his district, and the effects of annexation would be upon him,” Presnell said in a press release distrubuted Tuesday afternoon. “He hasn’t spoken to me about the bill whatsoever.”

As a Democrat, Queen can’t attend the Republican caucus meetings, so he had no way to defend it, thus the only option at that point was to pull the bill and regroup.

327

The merger of Lake Junaluska with Waynesville has widespread support among homeowners and unanimous support of local elected leaders throughout the Haywood County. The merger has been in limbo forthree years, however, lacking the blessing of the Republican-controlled N.C. General Assembly.

While Presnell has held up the bill in the House, the bill has cleared the Senate with flying colors three times in three years. There, it has been championed by Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, who’s been willing to carry water for the local elected leaders back home.

As a senator, however, it can be difficult for Davis to influence what happens in the House.

“I think truth always wins out in the end. When I get down there I’ll go to work,” said Davis.

Davis wasn’t around for the scheduled vote Monday, having remained in the mountains through Tuesday morning to attend the funeral of Maggie Valley’s mayor, where he delivered the eulogy.

Queen traveled back home for the funeral as well.

“We were out-of-pocket due to the tragic death of our good friend Ron,” Queen said. “We will bring this sensible bill back to the floor in a bipartisan manner when we are both able to present it and not both away at a funeral.”

Queen said Presnell told him and Davis earlier in the year that she wouldn’t try to block the bill this time around, but did anyway.

Presnell in a press release said a “legislative misstep” by Queen was to blame for the bill being pulled, but Queen countered that she was “blowing smoke.”

Representative from the town and Lake Junaluska have made countless trips to Raleigh over the past three years, but come home empty handed. This week was no exception.

328

“We were surprised to travel to Raleigh Monday night only to have the bill pulled just before session,” Waynesville Town Manager Marcy Onieal said.

When Presnell was contacted for a comment about the issue on Tuesday morning (July 21), someone who sounded identical to Presnell answered her office phone in Raleigh.

After being asked for a comment for this article, the woman on the phone who sounded just like Presnell said Presnell was in a conference and would then be tied up in the legislative session into the afternoon.

When confronted about her voice resemblance to Presnell, the woman denied that she was Presnell but would not say who she was. When asked if there was an email address where questions could be sent, she replied, “That would be great” but quickly hung up.

Presnell doesn’t have a female office assistant. Her male assistant usually answers the phone.

A call placed immediately to the legislative office across the hall from Presnell confirmed that Presnell does not have a female office assistant.

Presnell did not reply to a follow-up email or phone call inquiring about the identity of the woman who had answered her phone line.

The merger bill was unanimously approved by the House subcommittee on annexation earlier this summer, and also approved by a majority of the House finance committee. In both cases, representatives from the town and the lake had an audience with the committee lawmakers to explain the rationale behind the merger and answer questions.

But it has been challenging for the lake and town to address concerns being raised behind the scenes with the larger House membership.

329

“We have attempted to address all the questions that have been raised, but they continue to come back,” Lake Junaluska Conference Center Director Jack Ewing said. “From the beginning we began with the principal of integrity and transparency and honesty and we have stayed with that throughout.”

Lake Junaluska property owners have twice shown that a merger has widespread community support. Both a mail-in survey and petitions have demonstrated two-thirds of property owners — both year-round and part-time residents — want to join Waynesville town limits.

Meanwhile, the anti-merger camp attempted to oust pro-merger board members on the Lake Junaluska Property Owners Organization at the group’s annual meeting two weeks ago.

Three anti-merger candidates were nominated from the floor at the meeting in an attempt to gain power from the pro-merger leadership of the property owners’ organization, according to several homeowners who were in attendance.

But the coup attempt by the anti-merger camp failed, again signaling that the majority of property owners support a merger.

The exact vote among the 140 in attendance has not been disclosed. A four-member election panel — including at least one merger opponent — counted the ballots, which were kept under lock and key by a deputy. The extreme ballot counting measures were taken this year to prevent the anti-merger camp from claiming the board election wasn’t properly counted.

Does Lake Junaluska need Waynesville? (11/25/2015)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/16775-does-lake-junaluska-need-waynesville

To the Editor:

330

Here we go again. Another article (Nov. 18 Smoky Mountain News or at www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/16735) regarding the annexation of Lake Junaluska that only shows one side of the issue, those who have been trying to get this through the legislature. I would like to shed some light on what I consider half-truths or perhaps mistaken innuendos that are stated in this article.

“Lake Junaluska homeowners still support it, too.” Partially true. Many homeowners support it, but there are also some who do not. Unfortunately there are also a lot of non-resident owners who don’t understand what is going on. This is a very important issue which those looking to annex do not want to discuss (more on this later). I personally spoke with some of these people over the summer.

“Clearly the expectation was we would be supported in finding a democratically determined outcome.” I find this statement particularly disturbing for two very important reasons. Our local state representative, Joe Sam Queen, supports the annexation. If the “pros” can be represented in Raleigh, isn’t it in the democratic process for those against it to have someone to represent us in Raleigh?

Rep. Michele Presnell was lambasted in the article for her efforts to defeat this bill. “Her subversive role working against the merger was strongly suspected but difficult to prove ....” Sounds like she was really doing something horrible. No, it sounds like she is working for those of us who are against the bill.

All of that brings me to the most important part of the democratic process. Should this bill pass, it would then be voted on by the residents of Lake Junaluska and Waynesville who are legally registered in Haywood County. You know that word “disenfranchised” that we hear so much about when it comes to voting? Well, at least half of Lake Junaluska property owners would not be allowed to vote. Talk about disenfranchised voters on something as important as the issue of annexation!

331

Many of our former full-time residents are now in retirement homes or reside elsewhere but still retain their homes here and come to stay for a while. Some are still working, so they can only come up here for vacations. Some are retired but live in the eastern part of our state but like to come to cool off in the mountains in the summer. To not give these people the right to determine if they want to pay Waynesville taxes for the rest of their lives is anything but democratic.

“... the community is at a loss to understand why a bill giving the community the right to self-determination was blocked.” As just, only half of the community would determine the destiny for all in the community.

We would not “be in limbo” if this annexation which has been going on for three years would be dropped and lets start planning for our future without Waynesville. Yes, our fees will go up, but I would rather pay money to our residential services and know my money was going for our water, sewer, roads, etc. We have nothing in writing that says what Waynesville will do once we start giving them our tax money, only promises, which could change in years to come.

By the way, we have a terrific residential services manager who in the year he has been here has cut our water losses greatly to acceptable standards, and done some major sewer improvements and more are in the works. Why do we need Waynesville?

Gretchen Branning

Lake Junaluska

Infrastructure bonds garner bipartisan support (1/20/2016)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/17020-infrastructure-bonds-garner-bipartisan-support

332

On March 15, North Carolina voters will be asked whether they support borrowing $2 billion to fund a backlog of infrastructure projects throughout the state.

The $2 billion Connect NC Bond proposal includes funds for earmarked projects in 72 out of 100 counties for universities, community colleges, state parks, National Guard facilities, agricultural research, water and sewer upgrades and more.

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory developed the bond proposal but it has garnered overwhelming support from legislators on both sides of the aisle. It’s unusual for Democrats and Republicans to reach consensus on spending legislation in the General Assembly, but lawmakers representing the western region all agree this bond is crucial for North Carolina’s infrastructure needs.

Therapeutic Massage

Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, and Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, fall on fairly opposite sides of the political spectrum, but both agree the bond is the best way to begin catching up on a long list of needs the state budget hasn’t been able to handle.

“This is an opportunity for all North Carolinians of both parties to help their state. This bond is balanced, it’s modest — some would like it to have more and some would like less — but it’s fair across the state and it invests where we need to invest,” Queen said. “All of our major needs have been on the backburner since the recession. This bond will will create tens of thousands of jobs and meet the critical needs of our growing state.”

Needs or wants?

Legislators say the projects earmarked in the bond are not pie in the sky wants —they are crucial capital projects needed to grow the state’s top industries — agriculture, tourism, health care, defense and technology.

McCrory has been across the state lobbying hard for the bond proposal since last May when he unveiled the plan at Western

333

Carolina University. WCU stands to gain $110 million from the bond, which is the largest single project included in the bond proposal.

But McCrory will only see a fraction of his original bond proposal on the March 15 primary election ballot. His original plan included $1.3 million for highway projects, but the highway projects didn’t make it through to the final bond issuance.

Davis said he was against borrowing money to complete highway projects. Though the projects are sorely needed, he believes there will be funding available in the Highway Trust Fund to start completing them without a bond.

“This budget year is the first in a long time where we haven’t transferred money out of the Highway Trust Fund to the general fund,” he said. “We’ve put an end to that finally and we believe by not taking $250 million a year out of the trust fund we’ll be able to do the projects with current money.”

What remains is $2 billion for new construction and renovations for universities, community colleges, state parks and zoos, agriculture and public safety. The bond also sets aside $312.5 million for water and sewer projects. Rural county and municipal governments will be able to apply for that funding if the bond is passed.

Davis said he is taking every opportunity to tell people about the benefits of voting yes on the bond in March. He said he worked closely with all the community colleges in his district to make sure their most pressing infrastructure needs were met in the bond as well as getting WCU a new science building.

“Western is having incredible enrollment numbers for nursing and pre med and engineering and the science building is critical to the entire university because everyone has to take classes in that building to graduate,” Davis said.

334

As it stands now, he said the 50-year-old building with shaky floors is not conducive for science classes in which scientific measurements are being taken.

“When I visited Western, Chancellor (David) Belcher said the building was obsolete, but I say it was obsolete when it was built,” Davis said.

Queen said the WCU science building project was absolutely critical given the need for an educated workforce in the western region. Areas of growth in this area include health care, engineering and other high-tech industries, and Queen said he wants to make sure those types of jobs stay in the region.

“It’s a focused investment for the future of our university system,” he said. “We really we worked hard to get it in the general budget in other ways but there was no other way.”

WCU may have the largest project, but Queen said some of the other projects are just as critical to the region and the state as a whole. He said money going to fund infrastructure projects at state parks and zoos and to build new National Guard facilities would create hundreds of thousands of jobs and also get the state caught up on capital needs that have been on the backburner since the recession hit in 2008.

Good time to borrow?

Connect NC is the largest borrowing packages residents have voted on since 2000 when voters overwhelming approved $3 billion for universities and community colleges. The state could have its debt nearly paid off by 2026 if the new bond wasn’t added, but the new bond would add a few more years to retiring that debt.

Even though the Federal Reserve recently increased interest rates by a quarter of a point, rates are still at a historic low. The interest rate on the bond could be between 3.5 and 5.75 percent, according to data on Connect NC’s website.

335

Davis said passing the bond wouldn’t result in raised taxes and wouldn’t increase the state’s debt service long term because the state is paying off older debt at a fast rate.

“I’m not one for borrowing money, but if we’re going to do it, now is the time to do it and these are critic needs in the state,” he said.

Queen said the bond should pay for itself in about five years because of the current debt being retired quickly and because he anticipates these new projects will generate new revenue for the state that can be used to pay back the bond. He added that the new bond shouldn’t affect the state’s AAA credit rating, which is the highest rating given to state governments.

“It actually improves our position because part of maintaining a triple A rating is having the infrastructure in place to sustain the economy, but we haven’t invested in infrastructure since the recession,” Queen said. “This is a wise investment — it will build jobs, build revenue and it will have a solid return.”

Could it be derailed?

Even with bi-partisan support among legislators, some worry about the fate of the referendum. Davis and Queen say they haven’t heard much negative feedback on the bond, but only time will tell.

One concern is that the bond referendum will be on the primary ballot instead of the general election ballot in November, which could result in lower voter turnout. Another concern is that the bond campaign team hasn’t had a lot of time to rally support. The bond was approved by the General Assembly in November just before the holidays so the campaign team is just now hitting the ground running to drum up support across the state.

Proponents of the bond have expressed concerns over the bill being able to pass during a primary election. With a hotly contested Republican presidential primary, pundits worry that

336

conservatives who are against government borrowing could shut it down at the polls.

“You always worry about that, but this is a bipartisan issue that wouldn’t have passed without bipartisan support,” Queen said.

Davis said the primary election wasn’t an ideal placement but time is of the essence to get a low interest rate nailed down and get to work on these projects. He thinks the primary will garner enough interest on both ides of the political spectrum.

“The reason it’s on the primary ballot is to get it done sooner,” he said. “In view of the fact we have a lot of interest in the national election, I think we’ll have a good turnout in the primary.”

The state political parties haven’t taken an official position on the bond referendum. The Democratic Party has only come out to warn McCrory that it would be inappropriate for him to be the face of the bond campaign because it would benefit his re-election efforts.

Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, said the party has not taken a position either way with the bond and he doesn’t anticipate it will do so.

So far there has only been a small group of opponents to the bond — a website Agaisntthebond.com with an accompanying Facebook page — NC Against the Bond that had 432 likes as of this week. The group recently filed the paperwork need to become an official referendum committee.

Rep. Mark Brody, R-Monroe, was one of few who voted against the bond proposal. He said he would like to see the state debt-free before undertaking all these projects.

He said the state has $6 billion in debt and pays off about $700 million in principal and interest on that debt every year.

337

“That’s $700 million we pay that takes away from other priorities just to fund the current debt — imagine what we could do with $700 million in the budget?” Brody said.

If the bond is approved and the state adds $2 billion more to the debt, Brody said that would be a grand total of $1.1 billion the state would have to allocate each year from the budget to pay it off in six years.

“I feel like we’re about four election cycles away from being debt free if we don’t borrow any more and that’s my number one argument against the bond,” he said.

He also disagrees that the bond will be an economic driver since the highway projects were taken out of the proposal. While transportation projects may move the economic needle, Brody said building new buildings does not.

“If you really want to move the needle, you pay down debt first,” he said “If the state were debt free we’d be a good example for the federal government to follow.”

When asked if he was surprised that even the most conservative Republicans are backing the proposal, Brody said, “Nothing surprises me anymore. I’m at the end of my second term, but maybe I would have been at the beginning. Politics is a strange game sometimes.”

Canton welcomes first brewery (8/12/2016)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/18214-canton-welcomes-first-brewery

After operating in Waynesville for the past four years, BearWaters Brewing will be making a big move to downtown Canton.

While it may be sad news for craft beer fans in Waynesville, the town of Canton will be getitng its first brewery and taking one more step toward downtown revitalization.

338

BearWaters' current location on Frazier Street off Russ Avenue will stay open until the new location is up and running. The new facility — the former NAPA Auto Parts store, will give BearWaters 11,000 square feet of taproom and manufacturing space.

Sandefur said the new space will allow him to install a 15-barrel brewing system, and they hope to be up and open for business by the end of the year. The space will also be able to host corporate and private events.

He said purchasing the new building wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville and Rep. Brian Turner, D-Asheville, who helped him secure funding through a government loan program.

BearWaters had to begin looking for a new location a few months ago when they received word that their current space was being sold. Sandefur is thrilled to finally have a permanent space where the business can grow. Closing on the building is scheduled for Aug. 30.

“It’s been a real long time coming and we’re turning a corner,” Sandefur said. “This is the next chapter of our business and we’re excited to see where BearWaters will go from here.”

The Smoky Mountain News will be doing a full feature article about the project in the coming months.

Supreme Court denies McCrory’s request to reinstate voter ID (9/7/2016)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/18350-supreme-court-denies-mccrory-s-request-to-reinstate-voter-id

A request by Gov. Pat McCrory to reinstate North Carolina’s 2013 voter identification requirement and shortened early voting period was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court last week.

339

McCrory and Republican officials had asked for more time to appeal a July decision by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that struck down what they called “one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history,” saying it targeted African Americans with “almost surgical precision.”

“Pat McCrory needs to stop wasting state money and start living by the Constitution,” said Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville. “It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars. The attorney general [Roy Cooper, who will face McCrory on the ballot in November] advised him not to do it, but he wouldn’t listen to any of it.”

County boards of elections directors across the state like Haywood County’s Robert Inman had been dealing with a fair amount of uncertainty over the summer, complicating plans to roll out a smooth process in this year’s General Election that should feature relatively high turnout due in part to a competitive presidential race.

Prior to July 29, they had prepared to authenticate valid identification required at the polls, and to present a 10-day early voting period to the public; the Fourth Circuit’s ruling on that day removed the ID provision and returned the early voting period back to its pre-2013 length of 17 days.

But McCrory’s mid-August request to Chief Justice John Roberts meant that Inman and others would have to be ready for the possibility that they’d again have to comply with the 10-day early voting period and the voter ID requirements.

Although McCrory’s effort has failed for now, it’s certainly not over; the Court’s refusal to grant him more time to file an appeal means that such an appeal won’t likely be heard before the November election, but may still be heard after it.

State Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, expressed confidence Aug. 1 that such an appeal on what she and other Republicans are calling a “common sense voter ID law” would be “ultimately upheld in higher court.”

340

However, Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the N.C. NAACP, expressed gratitude in a Sept. 1 press release over what he said was the Court’s rejection of the state’s attempt to implement procedures that clearly held discriminatory intent.

“This critical rejection of the State’s position will allow the people of North Carolina to exercise the fundamental right to vote this November without expansive restrictions by racist politicians or racist policies,” Barber said.

Queen-Clampitt: Third time’s a charm? (10/5/2016)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/18542-queen-clampitt-third-time-s-a-charm

Born and raised in Swain County, Mike Clampitt is a sixth-generation Western North Carolinian with roots in the area dating back to the Revolutionary War.

Born and raised in Haywood County, Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, is a sixth-generation Western North Carolinian with roots in the area dating back to the Revolutionary War.

That’s about where the similarity ends between these two candidates for the North Carolina General Assembly’s 119th district, which includes the entirety of Swain and Jackson counties as well as as pear-like strip that protrudes into the heart of Haywood County.

Clampitt is the product of single-parent household; upon graduation from high school in 1973, he went to Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem and embarked on a course of study that would lead him to be a machinist.

But Clampitt didn’t enjoy being “stuck inside” all day, so after completing his studies at Forsyth, he enrolled in the fire science program at Rowan–Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury. He then spent his career in fire service, retiring as a fire captain from the Charlotte Fire Department in 2004.

341

Bringing things full circle for Clampitt, when he met his father for the first time about 12 years ago, he discovered that his father was a firefighter who had two brothers who were also firefighters.

Queen is a practicing architect and graduate of North Carolina State University’s College of Design. He was, he said, an “unusual student” in that his mother read to him through high school because of his dyslexia. But what was a hindrance in high school became an asset in college; Queen referred to his dyslexia as a good spatial skill for designers, and now reads an hour or two a day.

Bringing things full circle for Queen, his daughter is now a professor of architecture at N.C. State.

Since 2003, Queen has served intermittently in the North Carolina General Assembly, first as a senator from 2003 to 2005 and then again from 2007 to 2009.

Today, Queen is the Democratic incumbent representative for the 119th district and Clampitt his Republican challenger for the third time in as many elections.

In 2012, which was also a presidential election year, when down-ticket Democrats historically perform better than usual — Queen bested Clampitt 51.7 to 48.3 percent.

In 2014, Queen again topped Clampitt, but by a slightly wider margin of 52.6 to 47.4 percent.

Turns out, turnout is the difference there; 32,241 votes were cast in the 2012 race, but just 22,400 were cast in 2014 — a non-presidential year in which Democrats historically perform worse.

So in theory, Queen should have done worse in 2014. Instead, he did better. This could spell trouble for Clampitt.

However, this year’s presidential race is unlike any other. A CBS/New York Times poll in March said that both presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were “viewed more

342

unfavorably than any front-runner for either party since 1984, when CBS began polling voters on the question.”

With a margin of just 1,100 votes in both victories, Queen is far from a shoo-in, especially considering many loyal Democrats and Republicans may not show up to the polls to support such unlikable presidential candidates; conversely, perhaps one party or another shows up in droves.

Uncertainty yet prevails, but one thing is certain — on Tuesday, Nov. 8, voters who do make it to the polls will have to choose between two men whose extended kin have been mingling about this region for the better part of three centuries. Those voters will make their ultimate choice based not on the candidates’ associations with national figures like Clinton and Trump, but instead on the positions of the candidates themselves.

Q & A with Mike Clampitt

Smoky Mountain News: You ran against Queen in 2012 and he beat you. In 2014, you ran against him again, and the margin widened. You also ran for Swain County Commission twice and lost. There’s an unwritten rule in politics that if you run twice and lose, you shouldn’t run again. Why is 2016 going to be different for you?

Mike Clampitt: I disagree completely. It’s a presidential year and people are tired of politics as usual. I’m not a politician, I’m retired fire service — I’m not going to tell you your house burning down is the best day of your life. I’m committed to being a representative the best I can.

Something different I’m proposing for the district that’s not being done by Queen or anybody else is to have an office in all three counties where people could come to me or a surrogate and be able to communicate, because that’s what representation means to me.

SMN: In 2008 as Obama was on his way in, he dragged lots of people to the polls, and that held an incredible benefit for

343

Democrats on down-ticket races, from Congress on down to the municipal level. Do you think Trump is going to have that much of an effect, especially in your district, to help people like you?

MC: Yes sir, absolutely. The people I’ve talked to — it’s a Trump year. And that being the case sometimes it’s not so much that people are voting for but against someone, and I think this is the year they’re voting for someone — they’re voting for a change that makes a difference and they’re voting for people they think are going to be able to do that very thing. I would like to think that I can coattail with that.

SMN: You’ve listed your top three priorities as education as it relates to trade and vocational schools, health care, and senior workforce re-entry retraining. We’ll get back to healthcare in a moment, but both of those educational priorities are very non-traditional. Why are those important?

MC: Being in contact with the communities in Swain and Jackson and Haywood, that is what I’ve seen. We have a lack of tradesmen. These are plumbers, electricians and HVAC. To expound on that, it’s something Gov. McCrory spoke about over a year ago, and I’m on board with that. Our vocations are missing out. They say we’ve got to have a computer-based background, and everybody’s going to be working for a dotcom company or whatever — not everybody wants to do that. People can’t be pigeonholed or boxed in, or pointed in one direction. I don’t think we have enough focus on community colleges and the high schools to where students can have that stair-stepping out of high school into a vocational or community college, and we need to encourage that.

SMN: If Democrats are to be believed, your future colleagues in the House don’t really share your enthusiasm for education. Are the Democrats right about that?

MC: No they’re not. They’re absolutely off base. In the last three years public education funding has gone from $24 million to $72 million. That’s a threefold increase. North Carolina schools have

344

increased form 37th to 17th nationwide. You just had an article saying that Haywood County Schools are up to tenth in the state. Somebody’s doing something right.

SMN: You’re against the expansion of Medicaid in the state.

MC: I am. If you rob Peter, you gotta pay Paul, and Paul’s always got money in his pocket. I know that’s a real euphemism, but the thing about it is, every time you take money from the federal government, there’s a string attached. When those strings are attached, you never get out from under that.

I’m a firm believer in Amendment 10 — states’ rights. At some point we need to tell the feds to step out of our lives and take a hike. Obamacare is the worst thing that has ever happened to our nation.

SMN: Joe Sam Queen said he couldn’t understand how one of your top issues could be health care but you’re against Medicaid expansion. How do we fill that gap? What’s the answer if Medicaid’s not it?

MC: Mr. Queen has the feeling that the money that we pay to the federal government is our money.

SMN: Isn’t it though?

MC: Well, it’s money that’s owed to the federal government. To give you a good example, the money you make that you pay to the bank, is it your money or the bank’s money for a car loan? Whose money is it, your money or the bank’s money? That car loan is something you owe.

SMN: Is he also off base about non-partisan redistricting? He supports it, you do not.

MC: Absolutely. Every 10 years the state is realigned according to the census. It’s been going on forever, but understand that’s the process and it’s a political process. The only reason the Democrats want to see that changed at this point is because they’re in the rear.

345

SMN: To the victor go the spoils?

MC: Your words are better than mine with that, and that’s very true.

SMN: I can see that – you’ve fought and won and want to exercise some of that privilege. But is it good for North Carolina?

MC: There’s only one caveat to all this, the splitting of a county. And I will say I think that — and Haywood County will be the county I use — we have split Haywood County between the 118th and119th. We have a set number of representatives, and I think representation should be bound by county lines.

It’s a split on a legislative level, especially when you have a Democrat and a Republican representing two halves of the county. Mr. Queen said repetitively last night in his last two minutes how he would work with anyone. Well, Rep. Presnell is the 118th District representative and he refused to work with her on issues involving Haywood County. So you can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth and say the same thing. I’m not going to tell people what they want to hear to get their vote.

SMN: Nearly every candidate running this year has mentioned high-speed internet as something we really need. You agree with that, right?

MC: I’ll agree with that. It’s sort of a no-brainer. With that, how you going to pay for it?

SMN: Well that’s the question – not one candidate has said how we get it. How do we get it?

MC: I’ll tell you that’s why I didn’t mention it – just because you mention something, yeah you need it, but how do you pay for it? You tell me – do you want another surcharge on your cable bill? A surcharge is just another name for a tax. So do you want another tax just to be able to give that affordability of internet to everyone? You pay for it? I don’t think people want to do that.

346

So until we can identify a funding mechanism to be able to pay for the high-speed internet everybody keeps talking about — which I’m for — remember, nothing’s free. It’s like that Medicaid expansion — nothing’s free. If the feds come in to give you a grant to do that, watch the strings. Watch those strings. I’d rather own an older car that’s dependable than buy a new car and have payments.

SMN: HB2 – good for N.C. or no?

MC: It is. North Carolina’s financial division did a survey that North Carolinians’ gross annual income was $510 billion dollars, and just based on what they were saying would be a loss for that was $10 billion and figured out as less than .1 percent loss of economic impact in North Carolina.

SMN: Sure, it didn’t have that large of an economic impact, but let’s talk about if it’s good for North Carolina moving forward.

MC: HB2 is very misunderstood; for one, HB2 is only five pages long. Nowhere in HB2 does it mention the word “transgender.” HB2 simply says that persons use the restroom according to the sex of their birth certificate. What’s wrong with that? Men are men and women are women.

It’s a safety issue and a property rights issue. The safety issue is, in high schools with the raging hormones of young teenagers, and we both are older males now but we probably remember those days in high school, if a young person wanted to take and capitalize on saying “I feel more of a female inclination today,” and go change clothes in the girls locker room or shower room, they have the opportunity to do that — before HB2.

So with colleges, and universities and schools and any public domain, it’s a safety issue for men and women. Thing about it is, would you want your wife, or your high school child to be sharing the restroom with a male, or a person who says they have tendencies to feel like a woman that day? Majority of the time it is that, rather than a female saying that they feel like a male. And we’re also speaking about a percentage of less than one percent

347

– one half of one percent statewide. The property rights issue is, you have a business that has restrooms, and they’re available, and I’m having the government tell me you can’t have your restroom unless a male and female can use the same restroom. HB2’s good for that. SMN: At the Mountaineer forum when you closed, you said you were a bible-thumping, gun-toting, adorable intolerable but what I think you were trying to say was ‘deplorable.’ What’s curious to me is that Michelle Presnell said the exact same thing when she closed her debate right after yours. Was that something you two worked out together or is that…

MC: [laughing] I gotta laugh, that is very funny. I did hear that. We did not script that.

SMN: That’s understandable – it’s Trump language, you know, so it’s not surprising.

MC: Well it was no coincidence that Michelle Presnell was at the Trump rally [in Asheville Sept. 12] and was a speaker, and there was no surprise that I was at the Trump rally behind the scenes, and behind him in the stands. That being said, a lot of that came from being at the Trump rally, simply because Hillary Clinton has made it a point to talk about the blue collar people. I’m retired fire service, we’re talking about farmers and nurses and police officers, all your tradespeople are all blue collar. There’s no disrespect in that. She was disrespectful in calling them deplorables. I may have gotten tongue-tangled there but I think people understood what I was trying to say.

SMN: You and Presnell are on the same page with your language by coincidence. That indicates that a lot of the things Trump is saying are filtering down to and starting to get instilled in people’s heads. So would you say that the Republican Party in North Carolina is unified behind him?

MC: Yes sir, absolutely. Regardless about what people say about any kind of division or turmoil or whatever, we are unified as a party in North Carolina, especially in the western districts –

348

Michelle Presnell, myself and [House District 120 candidate] Kevin Corbin, we are all on the same page and just by relating or passing on that Trump has passed down with his verbage, we’re recognizing that people relate to that and I am capitalizing on that when I can to let people know that I‘m on board with Trump. That’s my president. I’m good with that. No problems, so hopefully that coattail effect will carry on with me for this third time.

SMN: Last question and it’s either the easiest or hardest, depending on how you look at it. Tell me the nicest thing about Joe Sam Queen.

MC: [long pause] His absence.

Q & A with Joe Sam Queen

Smoky Mountain News: The 2010 census says that almost 20 percent of this county is made up of people aged 18 years or less. What do we do to keep those people here or draw them back once they’ve earned their degrees?

Joe Sam Queen: The absolute key is jobs. They would love to stay if they could find work here. By not expanding Medicaid we lose 400 healthcare jobs. By not keeping our commitment to higher ed, we’ve lost 130-some teachers and teaching assistants. Those are primary jobs in rural Haywood County – that’s over 500 that the legislature and the governor have cut from us. And every primary job you lose loses a secondary job, so we’ve lost a thousand jobs. If you lose a thousand jobs, you lose a thousand families and a thousand breadwinners because of the governor’s and the legislature’s job policies.

SMN: Let’s talk about high-speed internet. It seems every single candidate running for office agrees on the need for high-speed internet, but not one has talked about how we get it.

JSQ: I was chairman, when I was in the majority in the Senate, of science and technology, our subcommittee. We had sessions on it for a full year. We worked up every aspect that we could. There

349

is a good route to universal broadband this year – any time the General Assembly and the governor want to do it.

It basically is high-speed smart meters on the back of every home brought to you by your utility company. Then you have a customer interface with their utility company so they can save energy, so the energy savings pays for the investment of high-speed internet to every meter. The utility company saves lots of money on their side of the meter by having this high-speed connection to their customer, and the customer saves energy. It saves the customer energy, lowers their utility bill, saves the utility company energy, makes them much more efficient on their side of the meter, and the energy saved can be sold in the market which we’ve already paid for, because our utility bills are not — we’re really not paying for kilowatts. We’re being billed by kilowatts, but the utility commission sets the rates based on capacity. What is the capacity you need — we ask the utility companies to provide the capacity and that cost is subdivided down to a kilowatt amount.

So if you can keep people out of peak power and save power, a kilowatt saved is a kilowatt earned. You can sell it on the market. Duke Energy can sell it on the market to their neighboring states. It’s a commodity that moves on the wires. So all of it pays for itself – we’d have universal broadband.

Now there’s some nuances, because technology allows really smart things to happen. You put chips in these smart meters, because I’m not saying we’re going to buy internet for everybody – everybody’s going to have to buy their internet, but in half of my district, my citizens can’t buy high-speed internet at their house at any price. They can get it from satellite and things like that like you do in Africa, but it’s wildly expensive relative to what it should be.

So you put a chip in the meter so little boys and girls can get a laptop for school, and the department of public instruction would pay a fee so that every one of these laptops would have,

350

basically, Wi-Fi. So we would have every kid connected. That would mean so much to education.

SMN: Jobs was another of your big priorities, and we’ve talked about the technology economy creating jobs. We’ve also talked about the health care industry creating jobs. There’s a school of thought that says that if you cut taxes on the rich, that money will overflow and that will trickle down and that will create jobs. Do you believe that?

JSQ: No. It is voodoo economics. It’s been voodoo economics but the likes of Mike Clampitt haven’t got the message yet. They’ve drank the Kool-Aid. Bull.

Rich people don’t make jobs. Innovators make jobs. Small businesses make jobs. Not big business. We’ve given the top 200 corporations and average of a million dollars each in tax cuts in this last legislature. Did they invest that million dollars or did they give their CEO a bonus? You check the CEO compensation. It is an embarrassment. It is ridiculous. They cut jobs when they can.

I sympathize with many of the Trump voters that think somebody stole their job. The global economy has definitely changed — there’s a global labor market, and we compete in it. Now I can tell you, you shouldn’t be competing for low-wage labor. A low-wage labor market does not make you a great state. What you want is a high value employee, not cheap labor. You can let China and Mexico have their cheap labor market, if you’re adding value to the product.

SMN: HB2 — good for N.C. or no?

JSQ: There wasn’t one, not a single, never, not the first transgender abuse in North Carolina. They’ve started this big firestorm, it’s cost us a billion dollars. The law protects no one. It legalizes discrimination. It is bad for business and business has said so.

SMN: But you were absent on that vote, weren’t you?

351

JSQ: I was. They called a special session for something that had no merit, it was Holy Week, and I had some obligations in my community.

SMN: But if you had made it to the session, you would have voted against it.

JSQ: I would assume so. Nobody saw it. The didn’t see it until up in the night. So it’s hard to know what you would have done. I just knew it was arbitrary and capricious, and political theater.

SMN: So you get back to the legislature and HB2 comes back around.

JSQ: I would vote to repeal it in a heartbeat.

SMN: It’s clear that mistakes have been made in the legislature. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made since you’ve been a legislator?

JSQ: I can tell you one that I learned on the job. I went down when I was first elected to promote wind energy for the mountains. This was in 2002. And I’m an architect, and I hadn’t done my proper site work on the issue. So I was promoting smart energy and big wind for the mountains. Then I got to realizing how big these windmills were. And I went to Mount Mitchell, which was in my district, and there was a company wanting to put like 20 of these giant industrial windmills up there. And if you‘ve ever been to Winston-Salem, they’re about as large as the tallest skyscraper in Winston-Salem. And that’s on flat land. We’re going to put them on top of the mountains. So our beautiful mountains would have been a Christmas tree light, and I said, “Oh my God, I’m promoting the wrong idea here.”

SMN: Last question — tell me something nice about Mike Clampitt.

JSQ: Well, he is a reenactor, Civil War buff. The Civil War is an important little slice of history, and I give him credit for adding a little historical pizazz to the community. I have always liked my

352

firefighters, he’s a retired firefighter. I give him credit for his fire service, and we share that interest in history.

The after-action report: 50 fast facts from the Haywood election results (11/16/2016)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/18813-the-after-action-report-50-fast-facts-from-the-haywood-election-results

...N.C. House District 119

The 10 Haywood County precincts (plus the other half of Ivy Hill) not in Rep. Presnell’s district are in the 119th District, as are Jackson and Swain counties. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, saw his opponent Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, pull a 1,400-vote swing from previous elections.

36. In Clampitt’s two previous outings against Queen — in 2012 and 2014 — he earned 48.3 percent and 47.4 percent of the districtwide vote, respectively. In 2016 he improved to 50.4 percent.

37. Queen recorded almost 300 more votes in Haywood County in 2016 than he did during the last presidential election year of 2012.

38. Clampitt recorded almost 600 more votes in Haywood County in 2016 than he did in during the last presidential election year of 2012.

38. Queen lost to Clampitt districtwide by 301 votes.

39. From U.S. President to U.S. Senate to U.S. House on down the ticket through N.C. Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Auditor, Agriculture Commissioner, Insurance Commissioner, Labor Commissioner, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Treasurer, State Senate, State House and the Haywood Commissioners, the only Democrat to win Haywood County was Queen.

353

40. Queen and McCrory were the only legislative candidates on the ballot to win Haywood County but lose their races.

41. Queen and McCrory were the only incumbents on Haywood County ballots to lose their races.

Locked in the longest-running ping-pong match in mountain politics, Joe Sam Queen reflects on his latest loss (11/30/2016)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/18889-locked-in-the-longest-running-ping-pong-match-in-mountain-politics-joe-sam-queen-reflects-on-his-latest-loss

Joe Sam Queen counts his campaign wins and losses like innings in a baseball game.

He’s run a staggering eight times for the state Senate and state House, nearly all of them hard-fought and high-dollar.

He wins some, and he loses some, but he’s never fancied the bench. He’s always back up at the plate, bat in hand, ready to take another swing.

“I’ve run eight times, and I’ve lost three,” said Queen, a Waynesville Democrat.

Queen’s upset this November came as an unexpected shock, however. He narrowly lost his seat in the House of Representatives — by less than 300 votes out of 35,000 cast in the race — to Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, who Queen had fended off twice before by a comfortable 3 to 5 percent margin.

“No one was more surprised on election night than me,” Queen said. “I didn’t think I would get beat.”

Queen’s rise and fall over the years — with a total of six years in the state Senate and four in the House — has closely mirrored the national political tide. Queen’s races have tipped on a fickle fulcrum according to the top-of-the-ballot current.

354

“I’ve always had tight races. We are in a transitional time in a transitional region,” Queen said.

Party affiliation isn’t a tidy affair in Southern Appalachia. In a region where Lincoln Republicans and Southern Democrats differ in name only — a mere label that harkens back to what side their ancestors were on in the Civil War — reading the electoral map is increasingly more art than science.

But Queen, like the vast majority of America, didn’t see the Trump curveball coming his way this election.

“We didn’t think Trump had a snowball’s chance,” Queen said. “It was the most unpredicted outcome of my political career.”

Queen spent time and money during the campaign season stumping and fundraising for fellow Democratic candidates running in other Senate and House seats. Queen was frustrated after four years of fighting a Republican majority in the legislature and governor’s mansion, and wanted to see more Democrats join him in Raleigh.

“You might say ‘Joe Sam you needed to worry about your own election,’ but I wanted to build a majority,” Queen said. “I worked extra hard for Roy Cooper’s election. No one worked harder in Western North Carolina than Joe Sam Queen for Roy Cooper.”

Queen began to see warning signs as Election Day approached, however. A fellow Democratic candidate who overlapped with his district shared internal polling data with Queen in late October that hinted at a Trump landslide in the rural west.

“If you get in a big wave and you’re down the ballot you can get swamped,” Queen said.

Queen wasn’t alone.

The trend was acutely rural. Elsewhere in the state, four sitting Democrats from rural districts lost their House seats. Democrats

355

picked up four House wins in urban areas where Trump was trounced — like Charlotte where Hillary won with 62 percent.

While Queen didn’t think he was vulnerable, he didn’t take his seat for granted either.

“I was not arrogant. I did not slack up. I was attentive and I listened. Elections are for listening,” Queen said. Nonetheless, “If I had thought I was going to lose by a scant 277 votes, I would have doubled down and done some more.”

Collateral damage

Queen is no stranger to the sting of defeat. His first loss came in 2004, after just two years in the state Senate. The election that year was marked by a dismal showing by presidential candidate John Kerry in the mountains.

“I got a presidential slam that year,” Queen said.

Queen is accustomed to his lot as collateral damage over the years.

“In politics, it is sometimes better to be lucky than right,” Queen said.

Luck had been on his side when he first ran in 2002.

Queen’s home base of Waynesville was but a speck on the edge of the sprawling six-county district, reaching as far north as Linville and far east as Morganton, taking in counties where registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats eight to one.

“It was a wild district,” Queen said. “I was not supposed to win.”

Yet, he’d scratched and clawed his way to first place, but he technically only netted 49 percent of the vote. If not for a Libertarian on the ballot, who stole votes from his Republican opponent, Queen likely would have lost.

“I won on hard work and sweat — and the luck of a Libertarian candidate taking 3 percent of the vote,” Queen said.

356

His first two years in Raleigh were a honeymoon. He was an upstart darling of the Democratic leadership, a folksy mountaineer who knew how to lead a square dance but was also the only architect in the legislature. Marc Basnight, the powerful Democratic Senate leader from down east, even took Queen under his wing as a protégé.

The state Republican Party poured big bucks into ousting Queen in 2004, hoping to stop him before he got entrenched in the seat. But Queen’s real undoing that year was the trickle-down effect from John Kerry’s miserable showing among rural mountain voters.

Where Queen fell short on votes, he made up for in resolve.

“I decided on Wednesday morning after the election, I would run again and try to win that seat back to help the mountains,” Queen recalled. “I was literally running from that Wednesday morning until Election Day two years later. Most people still thought I was their senator those two years. If someone had a constituent issue, even though I wasn’t a senator, I could still take it to Raleigh and get it solved for them because my party was in the majority.”

Despite his low odds in a Republican leaning Senate district across six far-flung counties, Queen reclaimed the Senate seat in 2006 and held it again in 2008.

“I had worked this unbelievable district into a Democratic district,” Queen said.

Queen had been bracing for another hit in 2008 like he witnessed in 2004, however.

“I thought I was going to get slaughtered by the presidential vote, but it was one of those parabolic elections,” Queen said.

While Obama didn’t carry the mountains, his grassroots, on-the-ground campaign fared far better than predicted here. Obama netted 10,000 votes more than Kerry had four years earlier among voters in Queen’s Senate district.

357

“That was huge for me. My good luck was Obama worked like a son of a gun,” Queen said.

But it was a win he ultimately couldn’t sustain. In 2010, Queen lost the Senate seat again.

And once more, he pledged on the spot to run again.

“I was committed,” Queen said.

But new legislative lines drawn in 2011 shifted Haywood County into a new Senate district, meaning Queen would have had to challenge former state senator John Snow in a 2012 primary to try and wrest the seat from then-freshman Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, who had beaten Snow in 2010.

So instead, he ran for a seat in the House of Representatives — a district representing Jackson, Swain and the greater Waynesville area of Haywood County. That seat had long been held by Rep. Phil Haire, D-Sylva, but as luck would have it, Haire retired just as Queen needed something to run for.

Four years later, Queen is at a crossroads once more.

This time, Queen isn’t as quick to commit to another run. He isn’t sure what the cards will hold. But he doesn’t plan to bow out either.

“I’m not going to give up politics because I‘ve got it in my blood,” Queen said. “I want public education to thrive. I want to stop fracking before it begins. I am committed to advocacy for health care, education, rural economic development, and the environment. I will continue in some role to be an advocate. These are important issues to the future of North Carolina.”

Queen has reached out to Governor-elect Roy Cooper to offer his assistance.

“I plan to help Roy Cooper be successful,” Queen said.

A higher calling

358

Despite his personal and financial sacrifices over his political career, Queen doesn’t have any regrets and doesn’t want anyone’s pity following his latest loss.

“I didn’t do this for myself. It cost me money, absolutely. But it is important to my children’s future, my region’s future and my state’s future,” Queen said. “It’s your life, your fortune and your sacred honor. That’s what politics is. The writers of the Declaration got that right.”

Queen rose from his chair and began rummaging through the jumbled piles of books and papers spilling from the bookshelves that ring his office. Artifacts paying homage to his Appalachian heritage topped the precarious mounds — a powder horn engraved with the Sons of the American Revolution, a set of Cherokee stick ball sticks, a random jar of honey.

Despite the disheveled façade, Queen knew the wheat from the chaff and quickly located what he was looking for: a pocket-sized copy of the Declaration of Independence. He flipped to the last line.

“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” Queen read. “It means you will either stick together or hang together.”

Queen comes from a long family line of Jeffersonian and New Deal Democrats, and he believes a progressive government plays a fundamental role in a strong society.

“I love liberty, but you have to have justice. It is liberty and justice for all, and justice has to do with the general welfare and the public good and the common purpose,” Queen said.

In the tradition of great Southern orators, Queen was a populist before it was en vogue.

“I believe in government by the people, of the people and for the people. That is America’s great contribution to civilization. We brought good government to the world,” Queen said. “The idea you would drown it in the bathtub is treasonous to me.”

359

When Queen launched his political life at the age of 52, he knew it would take a toll on his career as an architect. But he’s managed to keep his shingle up, pulling in one or two jobs a year — including high-profile projects like the new Haywood Arts Regional Theater building and the renovation of the Folkmoot Friendship Center.

Queen laughed when recalling his wife’s reaction to his mid-life career transition.

“I said ‘Well, sweetheart, what do you think about me going into politics?’” Queen recounted. “She said ‘Well Joe Sam, I always hoped you’d amount to something.’”

Queen’s wife, Kate, is so devoted to her professional life as a doctor, she was OK with him going to Raleigh part of the year.

“My wife works 100 hours a week. She always has,” Queen said.

Queen’s top concern when deciding to run back in 2002 was missing out on his son’s last years at home. His daughter, Sarah, was already in college, an architect student at North Carolina State University like her father.

But his son, Charlie, had two years of high school left. So they made a deal: if Queen won, Charlie would apply to the School of Math and Science, and they would head to the Triangle together.

“We had a wonderful two years down there,” Queen said.

Born a populist

There’s one thing Queen won’t miss about Raleigh: the dismantling of a progressive government that state Democrats were forced to witness.

“I won’t miss the frustration of feeling powerless,” Queen said. “I was in the minority and couldn’t stop it and that was very frustrating.”

Queen lamented a long list of Republican carnage from the past four years — cuts to higher education, public schools,

360

unemployment benefits, environmental protections, Medicaid expansion and rural economic development initiatives.

“They were unraveling all of the institutions that made our state great to pay for rich people’s tax cuts,” Queen said. “I was fighting against a conservative ideology of trickle down economics. Cutting the rich people’s taxes was the only strategy they had. And it was just poppycock.”

Aside from his architectural firm, Queen owns and manages around 150 rental properties. It gives him a front-row seat to the struggles everyday people face.

“My tenants don’t have jobs. If you are trying to house people without income, that’s a real problem,” Queen said.

He shared the latest down-and-out story of one of his tenants, a minimum wage worker at McDonald’s with a physically disabled girlfriend. They eat at the Open Door soup kitchen regularly and struggle to make ends meet after losing $130 a month in food stamps due to state cuts in social welfare support, he said.

Queen isn’t angry at Trump voters for dragging him down. He claims he’s on their side actually. He’s been battling against rural disparity and for the struggling middle class for years — the very demographic that drove Trump to victory.

“The rising middle class, that’s what I’ve always fought for,” Queen said.

While it had repercussions for Queen, he’s glad they’ve come to the table.

“I am glad they are out there voting. I want citizens to be interested and I want the populist message to thrive,” Queen said. “Now they need to see if their standard is met.”

Queen pointed out that a couple thousand Trump voters crossed over and voted for him. Trump won among voters in House District 119 by 54.5 percent, but Clampitt only won the district

361

by 50.39 percent — or 19,214 Trump voters compared to 17,757 Clampitt voters.

“Joe Sam got a lot of Trump votes, because he represents a broad spectrum and the people like him and I will continue to be a voice for them,” Queen said.

Queen also pointed out that he fared better than any other Democrat on the ballot in Jackson, Swain or Haywood.

Queen gave Clampitt credit where credit is due, however. Like Queen, Clampitt didn’t give up running for the seat despite losing the first two times he took Queen on.

“God kept tapping me on the shoulder and saying ‘Don’t give up,’” Clampitt said. “I did get a little tired from time to time. It does take a lot out of you. But sometimes you do the things that are hard because God wants you to do things that are hard.”

Clampitt kept trying, despite the Democratic-leaning voter base in Jackson, Swain and Haywood.

“I felt in my heart it was winnable from the very first time I ran in 2012,” Clampitt said. “My message was consistent all three times I ran: belief in God and country and family. My opponent had not fufilled a moral obligation to the communties he was wanting to serve. His positions just did not represent the values and traditions and morality of the people of Western North Carolina, and people finally picked up on it.”

By the numbers

N.C. Rep. Joe Sam Queen, D-Waynesville, was narrowly defeated by his Republican opponent Mike Clampitt from Bryson City this fall. Since 2002, Queen’s yo-yo wins and losses for state House and Senate seats have mirrored national political sentiment.

2016 Results for House District 119

Clampitt: 17,757 (50.39%)

Queen: 17,480 (49.61%)

362

Swain

Clampitt: 3,275

Queen: 2,669

Jackson

Clampitt: 9,164

Queen: 8,970

Haywood*

Clampitt: 5,318

Queen: 5,841

* The N.C. House of Representatives District 119 includes all of Jackson and Swain counties but only a portion of Haywood, namely the greater Waynesville area from Balsam to Lake Junaluska.

Presidential results among voters in House District 119

Trump: 19,214 (54.5 %)

Clinton: 14,068 (40 %)

Other: 1,935 (5.5%)

Swain

Trump: 3,566

Clinton: 2,196

Jackson

Trump: 9,870

Clinton: 7,713

Haywood*

Trump: 5,778

Clinton: 4,159

363

Mountain legislator to be sworn in (1/4/2017)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/19072-mountain-legislator-to-be-sworn-in

It took Bryson City Republican Mike Clampitt three tries over six years to finally become a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives.

When he officially does so on Jan. 11, he’ll join a veto-proof 75-45 majority of Republicans in the house, alongside a 35-15 Republican majority in the senate.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to bring some issues to the table,” said Clampitt, who is currently awaiting notification of his committee assignments and preparing for a training session he says will teach new legislators the ins and outs of government.

Both Republican legislative majorities grew by one seat as a result of the Nov. 8, 2016 General Election; Clampitt’s victory over longtime Waynesville Democratic legislator Joe Sam Queen in the 119th District was surprising to many in Haywood County, despite Clampitt’s pre-election predictions that 2016 would be Donald Trump’s year and that Trump’s electoral success would benefit Republicans across the country.

Queen’s defeat leaves Haywood County — the most populous in the district — without a legislator of its own. Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, represents outlying areas to the north and south in the 118th District, while Clampitt now represents the core of the Haywood County, along with Jackson and Swain counties.

Accordingly, Clampitt will hold a swearing-in ceremony of his own in the Swain County Heritage Museum at 2 p.m. on Jan. 7, in what may signal a shift of district priorities from Haywood further west.

During the campaign, Clampitt had criticized Queen for his supposed lack of efficacy in the legislature, particularly in

364

responding to the concerns of constituents from Jackson and Swain counties; Clampitt promised to open offices in all three counties to better serve citizens.

“That’s what representation means to me,” Clampitt told The Smoky Mountain News in October. At the time he said his priorities for the 2017-2018 legislative session would include strengthening trade and vocational schools, health care and senior workforce re-entry training.

His oath of office will be administered by Haywood resident and newly elected NC Court of Appeals Judge Hunter Murphy, who likewise secured a surprising victory in his race Nov. 8, becoming the only Court of Appeals judge from the western part of the state.

Clampitt’s ceremony in Swain County will feature at least two interesting sidelines, reflecting his love of local lore and legislative history.

The last person elected to the state legislature from Swain County was Republican John T. Burnett in 1901; a farmer and merchant, Burnett served several terms in the legislature, on the county school board, and as mayor of Bryson City from 1915 to 1916. A descendant of Burnett’s will serve as Clampitt’s master of ceremonies during the event, which is free and open to the public.

But most importantly for Clampitt, the Bible upon which he will take his oath will be held by his 85 year-old mother, who resides in a local nursing home due to dementia and Alzheimer’s — another reason he wanted to hold an event of his own, closer to home.

“She gave me that Bible when I was 4 years old,” he said.

365

Despite district distractions, groups prepare for 2018 (8/16/2017)https://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/20566-despite-district-distractions-groups-prepare-for-2018

...

Love him or hate him, President Donald Trump may already be the most polarizing political figure in American history.

Given that a president’s first mid-term election is usually a good gauge of public support — even on down to the statewide level — 2018’s elections could be interesting, to say the least, especially considering the effect Trump had locally in 2016.

Haywood’s legislative delegation — all Republicans — benefitted from his strong showing here, and no one more so than Bryson City’s Rep. Mike Clampitt.

In a shocker, Clampitt bested popular, long-time Western North Carolina legislator Joe Sam Queen by a margin of less than 300 votes after falling short in two previous attempts.

Rep. Michel Presnell, R-Burnsville, also saw a surge, posting her highest percentage win ever.

How closely their fates are intertwined with that of Trump — whom they both enthusiastically supported — is unknown at this pint, given the seemingly endless crises his administration has been dealing with since January.

Democrats, however, are already targeting Presnell and Clampitt.

A group associated with the Indivisible movement called Flip NC says it’s taking “targeted, evidence-based action” to elect progressive candidates around the state, and recently issued a list of target districts it calls “flippable.”

Currently, Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in both houses of the N.C. General Assembly.

366

According to Flip NC, demographics in the state Senate make the House a more attractive target for concerted effort; of the 74 Republican-held seats, 14 are flappable, and if flipped would knot the House at 60-60.

Although Flip NC representatives couldn’t be reached for comment for this story, its website says flippability exists in districts where Republican representatives serve large numbers of voters who chose Democrats in the gubernatorial, senatorial and presidential races in 2016.

The list says that Rep. Susan Martin, R-Wilson, may have the best chance of being unseated, based on high vote shares in her district for Democratic U.S. Senate and N.C. Governor candidates in 2016.

The highly-visible Nelson Dollar, R-Cary, comes in at a surprising second, followed by Chris Malone, R-Wake Forest, followed by Clampitt.

Presnell, on the other hand, doesn’t even belong on the list, statistically; she’s far stronger demographically than each of the preceding 13 candidates on the list; however, Presnell’s inclusion is explained by an asterisk.

“*N.C. House District 118 appears less competitive based on statewide elections but is included due to local political conditions and N.C. House voting history in the district.”

Presnell appears once again prepared to accept a challenge by her 2016 opponent, Democrat Rhonda Cole Schandevel, who was defeated in a margin that was larger than many Democrats expected.

Schandevel is hosting a “Campaign Kickoff” event at noon on August 26 at the Canton pool on Penland Street, and although the Facebook event doesn’t say what she’s running for, it’s assumed that her strong campaign in 2016 has encouraged her to give unseating Presnell, who said she will run again, another shot.

367

Clampitt, however, has been vulnerable from the start; a thin victory over Rep. Joe Sam Queen has had Democrats in the 119th District salivating since November, but Clampitt thinks his actions in Raleigh speak for themselves and warrant reelection.

“I believe I have been able to show people that I’m effective and able to accomplish goals in Raleigh, rather than just give a bunch of lip service,” he said August 14, adding that he “absolutely” plans to run again in 2018.

Queen wasn’t as certain as Clampitt, but refuses to rule out another run for his old seat.

“I’m definitely considering it,” Queen said. “I’ve been listening to people, gathering input, doing the data analysis and being thoughtful as to whether I’m the best candidate or if there might be someone else.”

Queen said he’d possibly decide after Labor Day as he continues to talk with county party chairs and supporters.

He also thinks that Western North Carolina Districts like those of Presnell, Clampitt and Kevin Corbin, R-Franklin, won’t change much, if at all.

“[The Republican-controlled redistricting committee] will do exactly what they feel is in their best interest,” Queen said. “They have proven that. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Déjà vu: candidates walk familiar path (10/4/2017)https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/20907-deja-vu-candidates-walk-familiar-path

A spate of early announcements by local candidates hoping to gain seats in the North Carolina General Assembly may have voters feeling like they’ve been here before — because the candidates certainly have.

368

“I’m running again because my values are the same that they were in the last election and they have been for years,” said Rhonda Cole Schandevel, the Beaverdam Democrat who failed to unseat Burnsville Republican Rep. Michele Presnell in 2016’s District 118 race. “This community is my backyard. These are people I grew up with, went to school with, that I worship with, and I care about their wellbeing as much as I do my own.”

“I’m running again because of what’s really important in the state of North Carolina — good government,” said Joe Sam Queen, the Waynesville Democrat who was unseated by Bryson City Republican Mike Clampitt in 2016’s District 119 race. “Good government matters. Funding education at all levels matters. Health care matters.”

The results of that 2016 election were affected dramatically by the hard-fought Presidential contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton; Trump’s victory, at least locally, buoyed Republicans across the board. But if the 2016 election was a referendum on Trump, what will that referendum look like in 2018? And how will it affect Queen and Schandevel?

The Trump tide

There is perhaps no better demonstrator of the effect Trump had on local Republicans than in Michele Presnell’s district.

Presnell defeated Democrats Ray Rapp and Dean Hicks in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Both candidates earned 48.7 percent of the vote.

Some of Presnell’s decisions haven’t been well received by local leaders — the partisan school board flap and yet another rejection of an increase in Haywood’s room occupancy tax, to name the most recent — which is why Democrats thought she was somewhat vulnerable in 2016.

Given that almost 50 percent of the votes in Presnell’s district come from Haywood County, Shandevel was viewed as a strong candidate.

369

Indeed, Schandevel said while announcing her intention to face Presnell again on Aug. 26, state party officials told her she’d outperformed every other Democratic candidate on the ballot.

But Schandevel earned just 44.6 percent of the vote; making matters worse, Presnell’s best performance came in Schandevel’s home county of Haywood, where Schandevel won just 3 of 18 precincts.

Presnell topped her two prior opponents, Rapp and Hicks, by less than a thousand votes, but her margin of victory over Schandevel was more than 4,200 votes.

Not so coincidentally, it’s estimated that about 3,000 more Republican votes were cast in Haywood County than would have been expected.

“It’s absolutely true,” Queen said. “They were angry for a reason, they just don’t know who to be angry at.”

Mike Clampitt’s victory over veteran legislator Joe Sam Queen was likewise unexpected; in his two previous contests with Queen he earned 48.3 percent and 47.4 percent of the vote in 2012 and 2014, respectively,

In 2016 he improved to 50.4 percent due to a 1,400-vote swing in the results; Queen was the only North Carolina Democrat to win in Haywood County, but it still wasn’t enough — he lost the closest legislative race in the state by less than 300 votes.

That election, however, occurred before Trump was inaugurated as the nation’s 45th President on Jan. 20, 2017.

Since then, he’s emerged as a polarizing figure to say the least. His opponents seem to be as vigorous as his supporters, and it’s hard to say what net effect that has had on voters up to now, or what effect it might have after another year of administration failures and scandals, or accomplishments and victories.

“Although I believe there is still strong support for Trump among the Republican base in Haywood County, it's doubtful that many

370

of the 3,000 new voters who cast ballots for the first time in 2016 will feel the same motivation to go the polls in 2018,” said Myrna Campbell, chair of the Haywood County Democratic Party. “I've spoken with Democrats who are experiencing ‘voter remorse’ — many of them say their vote wasn't really ‘for him,’ but was against Hillary. My sense is these Democrats will reconnect with the Party in 2018.”

Campbell added that she thought so-called “Trumpocrats” were simply reacting to a person, not to a party or to a change in their core values.

“They will gradually realign with the Democratic Party and we'll come back strong,” she said. “On the local and the state level.”

The same but different

Voter turnout during presidential election years is always higher; the thinking is, more people are attracted to the highly visible presidential campaign and end up voting in down-card races while they’re at the polls anyway.

Higher turnout usually benefits Democrats the most, but the 2018 election is not a presidential election, and turnout can be expected to be a third less than last time.

Furthermore, from 2008 to 2016, Democratic votes declined 29.7 percent while Republican votes increased 46.5 percent.

Schandevel and Queen acknowledge those challenges, but remain enthusiastic.

“There’s several different reasons for that,” Schandevel said. “One of the main reasons is that I think Democrats are going to be more engaged in voting. They were complacent, a lot of people were complacent, and weren’t excited about the top of the ticket and a lot of people like me got hurt.”

“It’s always different,” said Queen, who’s about to embark on his seventh legislative campaign, not counting primaries. “It’s

371

different every time. I didn’t expect to lose last time but people listen and people learn. I’m listening and I’m learning.”

Queen will formally announce his candidacy Nov. 9 at the Balsam Mountain Inn.

“I believe Schandevel and Queen are feeling optimistic about the 2018 election due to the activist movement that has re-energized the Democratic Party,” Campbell said, adding that even with a “very active” voter outreach initiative in 2016, they’re party is seeing plenty of new volunteers and also seeing existing volunteers pledging to work even harder.

“A record number of volunteer forms were submitted at our county fair booth this year, and our collaboration with the Progressive Nation WNC has definitely broadened our range of impact within the county,” said Campbell. “Both Queen and Schandevel are closely aligned with Governor Cooper and I expect his statewide ‘Break the Majority’ initiative will have a positive impact on their campaigns.”

Republicans including North Carolina Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse believe that Presnell and Clampitt have more than proven their worth.

“Rep. Presnell and Rep. Clampitt have become key members of the Republican majority, capable of delivering solutions and results to the people of Western North Carolina,” Woodhouse said. “Having worked with them closely, they never miss an opportunity to advocate for their constituents.”

Clampitt says his biggest argument for re-election is that he’s been more effective than Queen.

“I’ve had more traction in getting bills introduced that were passed, and more influence in identifying needs in Swain, Jackson and Haywood counties to help local farmers and fix infrastructure,” Clampitt said.

He also said that his performance will speak to voters more than party affiliation or presidential popularity.

372

“Naturally, I’m concerned in any election, presidential year or not,” he said. “I think people recognize the lack of traction Mr. Queen had in the past, of getting things accomplished for the district, and I think my record will stand.”

Other Democrats have been rumored to be considering a primary challenge to Schandevel or Queen — candidate filing ends Feb. 28, 2018 — but regardless of who runs, the choice is clear, according to Woodhouse.

“Certainly voters have the opportunity to stick with members whose voices count heavily in Raleigh, or go with Democrat insiders that simply will not be able to deliver the kind of results the people of Western North Carolina deserve.”

373

Southern States Police Benevolent Association:2012 NCPBA Endorsed Candidates (5/4/2012)https://www.sspba.org/gen/articles/2012_NCPBA_Endorsed_Candidates_236.jsp

This is a list of all of the endorsed candidates that the NCPBA has endorsed in 2012. We would like to congratulate each of these candidates on their endorsements and we hope to work with them into the future to help make the law enforcement profession better for our members. Please show your support for these candidates at the polls on November 6th...

Joe Sam Queen - House, District 119

The North Carolina Police Benevolent Association Mountain Chapter makes candidate endorsements (10/3/2012)https://www.sspba.org/gen/articles/The_North_Carolina_Police_Benevolent_Association_Mountain_Chapter_makes_candidate_endorsements__289.jsp

The Mountain Chapter of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association recently held a series of candidate screenings for those candidates seeking election for various elected offices. During the interview process Phillip Feagan, Susan Fisher, Jonathan Jordan, Joe Sam Queen, Athena Brooks, Emily Cowan, and Peter Knights demonstrated why their experiences and values make them uniquely qualified to represent the voters of their respective districts. They also demonstrated to the NCPBA Mountain Chapter that they are committed to making strong, effective law enforcement a priority in their campaign. The North Carolina PBA is proud to announce the following endorsements:

Phillip Feagan - House, District 47

Susan Fisher - House, District 114

374

Jonathan Jordan - House, District 93

Joe Sam Queen - House, District 119

Athena Brooks - District Court Judge, 29B (Brooks Seat)

Emily Cowan - District Court Judge, 29B (Fox Seat)

Peter Knights - District Court Judge, 29B (Knight Seat)

These candidates are deeply rooted in the community today and the North Carolina PBA is proud to put our full support behind them in the upcoming election and we ask that you do the same.

According to NCPBA division Vice President and NC Mountain Chapter President Brandon McGaha, “A vote for these candidates is a vote for the men and women of law enforcement and the citizens they serve.”

2014 NCPBA Endorsed Candidates (7/10/2014)https://www.sspba.org/gen/articles/2014_NCPBA_Endorsed_Candidates_495.jsp

This is a list of all of the endorsed candidates that the NCPBA has endorsed in 2014. We would like to congratulate each of these candidates on their endorsements and we hope to work with them into the future to help make the law enforcement profession better for our members. Please show your support for these candidates at the polls.

North Carolina Mountain Chapter....

Joe Sam Queen

House, D49

375

The Mountain Chapter of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association Makes Candidate Endorsements (9/19/2014)https://www.sspba.org/gen/articles/The_Mountain_Chapter_of_the_North_Carolina_Police_Benevolent_Association_Makes_Candidate_Endorsements_506.jsp

The Mountain Chapter of the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association recently held a series of candidate screenings for those candidates seeking election for various offices. During the interview process, a number of endorsed candidates demonstrated why their experience and values make them uniquely qualified to represent the voters.

These candidates also demonstrated to the Mountain Chapter of the North Carolina PBA that they are committed to making strong, effective law enforcement a priority in their campaign. The Mountain Chapter of the North Carolina PBA is proud to announce our endorsement of the following candidates:

...Joe Sam Queen

House, D49

Watauga Watch: Taking the Wind Out of Alternative Energy (7/15/2009)http://blog.wataugawatch.net/2009/07/taking-wind-out-of-alternative-energy.html?m=1

The attempt to cripple wind power in the North Carolina mountains continues apace in the N.C. General Assembly, led principally by two mountain Democrats, Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe and Joe Sam Queen of Haywood counties.

What's worse (we won't quite say "nefarious" yet) is that the attempt to ban the wind generators that might actually produce some serious alternative energy is being wrapped up in a seemingly high-minded environmentalist doctrine ("the mountain views, O my brethren!") while in reality it serves the interests of

376

the worst polluters on the planet, Big Oil and Big Coal, industries which are openly hostile to wind power.

The big "tell" in this proposed legislation is that the bill, as introduced by Steve Goss in March, was originally designed specifically to exempt wind turbines from provisions of the "ridge law." But other senators got their hands on it and completely reversed its thrust, first to ban effectively wind power in the mountains ... now merely to cripple it decisively. For example, the bill currently would severely limit how much wind-generated power the Big Boys like Duke Energy would have to buy for their monopolized grids. That's a sweet deal for Duke.

If there is a justifiable concern about huge wind farms invading our mountain ridges, give counties the (ahem) zoning power to control their location (as Watauga has already done).

It's transparent what political ideology is leading the fight against wind energy. Just take a look at any of the jillion John Locke Foundation websites and blogs in the state (like this and this). Their "free market" fundamentalism includes an impulse to squeeze the life out of anything that might free us from fossil fuels.

New (And Old) Democratic Talent for 2018 (2/4/2018)http://blog.wataugawatch.net/2018/02/new-and-old-democratic-talent-for-2018.html

Juicier and juicier. But nobody's kidding himself: it's going to take voter enthusiasm and lots of on-the-ground volunteer work....

Joe Sam Queen, running in the 119th NC House District

The 119th takes in a lot of mountain landscape and some lowlands -- from Waynesville, Cherokee, and Bryson City, down through Sylva and Cullowhee and south through Cashiers to the South Carolina border.

377

Incumbent Republican: Mike Clampitt is brand new in the House and is going into his first reelection campaign. He ran twice unsuccessfully for this seat against then incumbent, Democrat Joe Sam Queen, and finally beat Queen in 2016 by less than 300 votes. Clampitt otherwise has a thin resume. From Ballotpedia: Clampitt earned a degree in Fire Science and Technology from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in 1976. His professional experience includes being a retired Fire Captain for the Charlotte Fire Department and Asst. Sergeant at Arms for the North Carolina General Assembly. He's an unadulterated conservative and a flashy dresser. He's also become in recent months a Confederate flag-waver, and when a woman at a town hall in Haywood County called it racism, he reportedly got tears of frustration in his eyes that anyone would think him racist.

Democrat Joe Sam Queen. This re-match comes closest to a grudge contest of any race you see this year. Joe Sam Queen is an architect in Waynesville. Politically, he provides color and and he's got plenty of grit. His family speaks to his success: "My wife, Dr. Kate Queen, is a rheumatologist for Haywood Regional Medical Center. My daughter Sara is an outstanding young architect and professor at NCSU, as well as a new mom to my first grandson Cole. My son Charlie, a chemist, is the Lab Director for Panacea, a North Carolina start up company in the field of personalized medicine. Both are graduates of the University of North Carolina system. As a united Methodist, I've taught Sunday school for over 20 years, led Boy Scouts, and coached youth soccer. And, like my granddaddy before me, I call the Appalachian Square Dance." He's served in both NC House and Senate. He won the 47th Senate District in 2002, lost it in 2004, and came back and won it again in 2006 and kept it through the election of 2010. That's grit. He was a vocal leader in the call to expand Medicaid in North Carolina and raise teacher pay. He is strongly against fracking in North Carolina and has made strong public remarks against it.

378

If you would like to contribute to Joe Sam Queen, https://secure.actblue.com/donate/joesamqueen

WLOS:WATCH: 119th House District debate (Video) (9/27/2016)http://wlos.com/news/local/nc-119th-house-district-debate-planned

WLOS — ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Western Carolina University and WLOS-TV are sponsoring a series of debates before the November election. The second debate took place Wednesday, October 12 between the NC 119th House District candidates, Republican Mike Clampitt and his challenger Democrat Joe Sam Queen.

The debate took place at WCU's Health and Human Services Building Room 204. The event is free and open to the public. However, with limited seating, guests will be seated on a first come, first served basis. Doors will open at 6:15. The debate will take place between 7:00pm and 8:30pm.

News 13's Frank Fraboni will moderate the debate. The public is encouraged to email questions to ppi@wcu.edu

Late election controversies and their impact on votes (11/1/2016)http://wlos.com/news/local/late-controversies-and-their-impact-on-vote

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr is apologizing for remarks he made over the weekend picked up on tape.

379

Burr could be heard saying he was surprised there wasn't a bulls-eye on Hillary Clinton’s picture on a rifle magazine.

"There was a copy of Rifleman on the counter. It's got a picture of Hillary Clinton on the front of it. I was a little bit shocked that it didn't have a bulls-eye on it,” Burr said.

Burr called his remarks inappropriate and apologized.

News 13 wondered whether these last minute election surprises, including more investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, have an impact on voters.

News 13 took the question to a political science professor at Western Carolina University.

“These last minute things make for great media fodder. They may move it at the margins. But they tend to not have large effects at the presidential level,” professor Chris Cooper said.

But Cooper says the Senator Burr-Deborah Ross race is close, and his recorded remarks could make a difference.

“Even if it changed things by a half a percentage point, in the Burr-Ross race, that could be enough to really decide the winner,” he said.

Ross said Burr's comments divide the country. And she says joking about gun violence against Clinton is irresponsible.

“The more that we are talking about violence, I think the worse it is for American democracy,” Cooper said.

For the first time, Western Carolina University students are voting on campus.

Republican State Senator Jim Davis was on hand for WCU’s “Raise Your Voice Festival.” His comment on Burr’s remarks, “Probably not the wisest thing to say especially in front of the press,” Davis said.

380

Democratic State Representative Joe Sam Queen was on hand Tuesday, as well. “It's just been one thing after another all along,” he said...

381

Internet Hits:

Ballotpedia: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)https://ballotpedia.org/Joe_Sam_Queen

382

383

384

385

Blue Ridge Heritgage.com: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)http://www.blueridgeheritage.com/traditional-artist-directory/joe-sam-queen

Dance caller

Waynesville, NC (Haywood County)

"Sociability is the whole point of the Appalachian dance," Joe Sam Queen says, in Blue Ridge Music Trails. "Appalachian big round dance includes everybody in the community. Everyone joins in, young and old, rich and poor." Queen—dance caller, architect, farmer, and North Carolina state legislator—feels that this welcoming aspect must not be lost sight of as mountain

386

dancing is carried into the future. He feels that the essence of public dances is hospitality.

The Queen family's love of and accomplishment in dancing goes back at least five generations. Joe Sam's grandfather, Sam Love Queen, Sr., founded the Soco Gap Cloggers and was the caller for Waynesville's street dances. Sam Love Queen's own grandmother danced even at the age of ninety-six.

Joe Sam Queen, like his ancestors, has a lot to do with the vitality of mountain dance in Haywood County and environs today. A native of Waynesville, he has an extensive record of community service that includes work with Folkmoot USA, the Appalachian Music and Dance Preservation Society, and the Friends of Mountain History. For more than thirty years, he directed the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival. He organizes and calls the Summer Street Dances on Waynesville's Main Street, and is generous with his time and talent in teaching mountain dance traditions to a rising generation.

Availability:

Joe Sam Queen calls public dances, and is occasionally available to call dances at weddings and for other occasions. He is also available for classes and workshops to teach callers.

Blue Ridge Music Trails: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)http://www.blueridgemusicnc.com/listen-and-learn/artists/joe-sam-queen

Joe Sam Queen is an architect and state legislator who lives in his native Haywood County. He is also a flatfoot and buck dancer, a clogger, and a square dance caller.

The street dances in Waynesville are a traditional thing. They’ve happened here ever since the time when we first got a good paved road in town, and they danced on the dirt road before that. I’ve been helping out with street dances here for thirty years. I’m in the third generation in my family to do so.

387

The dance always starts in a big circle. The circle of joining hands is a symbol of the community. The first movement of the Appalachian American big round dance is the Grand Right and Left. That’s where you turn and greet your partner, and then you go right and left all the way around the circle. After the dance gets started, the figures break down into various shapes. All these shapes are little play parties—little parables and stories. Like the one that you usually open a dance with—it teaches people manners:

“How did you do?”

“Fine, thank you.”

Sociability is the whole point of the Appalachian dance. Appalachian big round dance includes everybody in the community. Everyone joins in, rich or poor.

I like to tell my children that if you know who you are and where you’re from, then you can go any place, meet anybody, and feel at home and a part of it. You’re not an outsider to the world if you know where you’re from. Instead you’re a part of the world.

There are not a lot of places left that have such a strong sense of place, but Appalachia’s one of them that does. It’s a wonderful place to visit, and to learn to feel that sense. Maybe visitors who come here can take a part of that back home with them, and establish it where they came from—and learn to appreciate their own place in the circle.

Civitas Action.org: Queen Mailer (Undated)http://www.civitasaction.org/mailers/pdf/services_queen.pdf

388

389

Follow NC Money.org: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)http://www.followncmoney.org/candidate/joe-sam-queen

Grade NC Politicans: Grading the General Assembly (Undated)http://act.progressnc.org/whipcount/grade_the_legislature?target=2344&akid=&source=&referring_akid=

390

Guidestar.org: KATE AND JOE SAM QUEEN FAMILY FOUNDATION (Undated)https://www.guidestar.org/profile/52-2364202

Mountain Grown Music: Sam Queen (Undated)http://mountaingrownmusic.org/sam-queen.html

Sam Queen: the Square Dance King

By Todd Callaway

The rhythmic echo of feet shuffling on pavement can still be heard on warm summer evenings at downtown Waynesville’s old-time street dances. It’s a fond sound for many folks in Haywood

391

County who remember nights long ago spent in the loft of a barn on Moody Farm in Maggie Valley, square dancing to the calls of Sam Love Queen, Sr.

Queen was born in 1889 in the shadow of Soco Mountain at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. He began to buck dance, or clog, when he was “hoe handle high” as he used to used to say. His grandmother, Sally, was his teacher. It was said that at 96 she could still dance a jig and cut the pigeon wing.

Queen was one of Haywood County’s most beloved residents and colorful characters. More than 5,000 people signed the register at his funeral. He did more to preserve the mountain square dance than any person around, and he helped to publicize the region, according to family and friends. “You danced in the front yard, in the barn or in the middle of the parlor floor,” said Joe Sam Queen, a grandson of Sam Queen. “It was the genuine folk dance. It was a social institution of the day. It’s where you courted, socialized with your neighbors. It was an art form.”

DEDICATED TO DANCE AND MUSIC

Though he died in 1969, Sam Queen’s influence on the mountain square dance scene is so strong that half a century later his interpretations of the old steps and calls still set the standard for dancers today. The mountain square dance, as Western North Carolinians call it—Appalachian square dance to others—has it roots in Irish jigs, Scottish flings, French quadrilles, English reels and singing games. It’s accentuated by clogging, a buck dance that gives way to individual expression and creativity.

Love of the dance ran in Queen’s blood. Folks remembered that his father, a giant of a mountain man in those days at 6 feet, 2 inches tall and 240 pounds in his prime, “was as light on his feet as a feather.” By his death, Queen was known far and wide as “the dancing-est man in the land” — the Square Dance King.

DANCING WITH THE KING

392

Gertrude Welche became Sam’s partner in 1934, and for nearly eight years shared the spotlight with him. Welche began dancing when she was 16. “Back in the 1930s, everybody went to the square dances,” Welche recalled. “Of course we knew everybody at the dances. And Sam made sure that before the night was finished that everybody had a turn.

“He was a good dancer, and he was so light on his feet, sometimes it seemed his feet didn’t even touch the floor. I loved dancing with him.” In the 1920s and ‘30s, dance and music were common attractions in Haywood County, and the person organizing barn dances at the time was usually Sam Queen.

“He’d get the band together, and he’d call the dances,” said Joe Sam Queen. “He was a charismatic person. He was an entertainer who made his livelihood entertaining folks at the Moody Farm barn dances and in the hotels, motels an inns in the county.”

PERFECTING THE DANCE

All Sam Queen needed was a fiddle, a banjo and a good guitar, and he’d have a dance. It became a form of family entertainment that Queen eventually carried far beyond his beloved mountains. Queen’s Soco Gap dance team favored a low, smooth, shuffling step that took them through fast swirling figures and drew upon the old dances and the caller’s imagination. Within that framework, Queen gave free rein to individual expression.

“Sam, he really perfected a lot of dances that came from all over the world,” said Kyle Edwards, former Soco Gap Dance Team member and owner of the Stompin’ Grounds in Maggie Valley. “He put it all together into a pretty good product, and it was protected in this area because we were isolated.” Queen often said,

“Dance is the body language, and clogging allows a dancer to speak with all the gusto at his command,”

393

Queen is gone now, along with many of the original members of his Soco Gap Dance Team, but the legacy he and his team left behind lives on today in the numerous clogging and dance teams that have carried on his style. “My father invented the double-shuffle,” said Richard Queen, one of Sam’s sons and a former member of the dance team. “It’s shuffling twice as your feet hit the floor. Done almost in the wink of an eye. Before he came along with the double-shuffle, folks did a slower gliding step. Another thing about my father, he always wore broad red suspenders when he danced. It was sort of his trademark.”

North Carolina Progress Portal: The Board (Undated)http://www.ncprogress.org/board-queen.htm l

Hon. Joe Sam Queen

A native of Waynesville, NC, Joe Sam Queen has an an extensive past of serving North Carolinians. He graduated from North Carolina State University with a Master in Architecture in 1974, and he has become a successful architect, farmer, and businessman.

Queen’s involvement and leadership in civic activities are evident in the numerous community boards that he has served on, including the Appalachian Music and Dance Preservation Society, Haywood Regional Medical Center Foundation, and Folkmoot USA. He has also served as president of several boards such as Haywood 2000, Voices in the Laurel Youth Choir, the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival and the Haywood County Arts Council. Furthermore, Queen dedicates time as a member to the Downtown Waynesville Association, Haywood County Chamber of Commerce, Waynesville Historical Society, Leadership Giving Circle of United Way, and the Waynesville Rotary. Although not all-inclusive, this list shows how broad Queen’s community and professional commitments and engagements are.

While serving in office Queen took seriously his responsibilities as an elected official and initiated innovative legislation. While he

394

was the Senator representing the 47th district, which constitutes Avery, Haywood, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties, Queen pursued solutions to improve conditions for his constituents and North Carolinians as a whole. He continues to work toward a better educated and more cohesive state through his efforts.

Queen is also a devoted husband and father. His wife, Dr. Kate Queen, is a Rheumatologist, his daughter Sara is a graduate of North Carolina State University’s School of Design and is now an intern architect, and his son, Charlie, is a student at the NC School of Science and Math.

About the Board: http://www.ncprogress.org/board.htm

The North Carolina Progress Board is a permanent, independent state board made up of 24 members appointed by the Governor, leaders of the General Assembly, and the Board itself to represent a cross section of the state. It is chaired by the governor.

North Carolina Sons of the American Revolution: Leadership (Undated)http://www.ncssar.org/about/leadership/

LEADERSHIP

The leadership of the North Carolina SAR is highly-devoted to preserving the people, places and events of the Revolutionary War in North Carolina.

...

Joe Sam Queen

Historian

209 Hillview Circle

Waynesville, NC 28786

395

(828) 452-4286

joesam@joesamqueen.com

NC Trout Capital: About the Trout Capital (Undated)http://nctroutcapital.com/about-the-area/

Jackson County moved one step closer to becoming the N.C. Trout Capital™ on Wednesday, June 1 in Raleigh, as members of the state legislature recognized the county as the state’s Premier Trout Fishing Destination.

N.C. Senator Jim Davis and N.C. House Representative Joe Sam Queen both participated and spoke before the legislature in support of bestowing this honor upon Jackson County. Also in attendance in support of the hearing in Raleigh were Julie Spiro, Executive Director of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce; Brian McMahan, Chairman of the Jackson County Commissioners; Jackson County fly fishing guide and co-founder of the WNC Fly Fishing Trail Alex Bell; Jackson County fly fishing guide Shannon Messer; and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Assistant Director Kelly Donaldson.

The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce in Sylva and Jackson County Commissioners requested from the North Carolina General Assembly to proclaim Jackson County the official Trout Capital of North Carolina on April 21.

The General Assembly recognized the county’s immense natural resources and its place in history as home to the first fly fishing trail in the United States.

Rep. Joe Sam Queen, who presented the Member Statement on the House floor June 1 said, “It’s part of our heritage and it’s key to our economy. I’m all for supporting it.”

Queen said the possibilities for economic growth are endless.

396

“There are crafts, there is clothing, hats, creels, the making of the flies, there is a good fly fishing club at WCU, it’s just endless,” said Rep. Queen.

Later that afternoon, Sen. Davis presented a Senatorial Statement on the Senate floor as well.

Jackson County contains 4,600 miles of trout streams and receives an annual stocking of 92,800 trout, which is the most of any county in the state. It also features the state’s longest contiguous stretch of NC Mountain Heritage Trout Waters. Three of the 13 towns designated with Mountain Heritage Trout Waters are in Jackson County: Sylva, Dillsboro and Webster.

A recent N.C. Fish and Wildlife study found that trout fishing opportunities have a $174 million economic impact to Western North Carolina.

The designation will move forward through the state House and Senate for a vote, potentially designating Jackson County as the official N.C. Trout Capital, which could occur in early 2017 during the state’s long session.

Jackson County Commission Chair Brian McMahan said, “We are very excited that Jackson County has support among the members of the N.C. General Assembly in proclaiming Jackson County as the Premier Trout Fishing Destination in the state.

“We will continue to campaign on behalf of the official Trout Capital designation that may come early in the 2017 long session of the N.C. General Assembly, with the filing of the bill,” McMahan added.

In 2009, Jackson County Chamber Director Julie Spiro co-founded the Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Trail™, a first of its kind in the industry that directs anglers to 15 prime spots to catch trout in the county. She knows the trail’s positive impact on Jackson County and hopes this designation brings similar results. The Chamber has spearheaded the official designation efforts.

397

“We are pleased our legislators have been supportive of our efforts to increase the visibility of fishing industry in Western North Carolina,” Spiro said. “We’re excited and optimistic, and look forward to branding Jackson County as the Premier Trout Fishing Destination in the State, and ultimately the Trout Capital. This adds credibility to the success of the WNC Fly Fishing Trail™, and provides additional opportunities for fishing and accommodation packages, retailers and outfitters expansion of offerings, and potentially a new festival for our region.”

For more information on trout fishing in Jackson County, or to receive a free guide to the WNC Fly Fishing Trail™, call (828) 586-2155, or go to www.NCTroutCapital.com.

Southwestern Community College: State representative Joe Sam Queen donates to SCC’s Student Success Campaign (Undated)https://www.southwesterncc.edu/news/state-representative-joe-sam-queen-donates-scc’s-student-success-campaign

In order to help more students have the opportunity to earn a college education, state representative Joe Sam Queen recently gave $2,000 to the Student Success Campaign at Southwestern Community College.

Queen made the donation in memory of his cousin, Mary Jane Queen, a Jackson County musician who passed away in 2007.

“Mary Jane Queen is the matriarch of the musical Queens of Caney Fork,” said Rep. Queen, who lives in Haywood County. “The Jackson County Queens and the Haywood County Queens are descendants of two Revolutionary War brothers. We’re kinfolk and kindred spirits. Her and her family have been so important to the music, dance and craft in Jackson County. She’s my Jackson County kinfolk, so I just wanted to honor her for her art and the roots of heritage that we share.”

398

The most ambitious fundraising effort in the Southwestern Community College Foundation’s history, the Student Success Campaign aims to narrow the gap between scholarship need and availability by raising more than $1 million through the help of a federal challenge grant.

That Title III grant matches every dollar (up to $300,000) received before Sept. 30.

“We’re thrilled that Joe Sam Queen is supporting our Student Success Campaign,” said Mary Otto Selzer, director of the SCC Foundation. “We had 225 students apply for scholarships this academic year, but we were only able to fund 43 of those due to limited resources. Generous donations like the one Joe Sam made are going to allow us to help more students in the future.”

That opportunity to help students achieve their dreams is what led Queen to make his gift.

“I’m all about student success,” Queen said. “It’s important to have scholarships available for our students in need. We want everyone in Western North Carolina to have an opportunity … Education is the ladder to success. If young people will stick in there and do the work, I’m happy to provide the scholarship.”

Wells Funeral Home: Rachel Queen McKay (Undated)http://www.wellsfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Rachel-Queen-McKay?obId=3004841#/obituaryInfo

Obituary for Rachel Queen McKay

Loving Wife, Mother and Friend

“Unique in this world”

Waynesville, Mary Rachel Queen McKay passed away unexpectedly on Friday, March 9, 2018.

Rachel was a native of Haywood County, the daughter of the late Sam Love and Mary Moody Queen. She was a member and

399

Valedictorian of the first graduating class at Tuscola High School in 1967 and later graduated from Duke University. She taught English at Tuscola and loved raising her children as well as the neighborhood children. She was an avid reader and read novels to a generation of children at Hazelwood School and Waynesville Junior High. She read the bible to seniors at Queens Retirement Center.

Known for her “green thumb,” she provided flowers for Grace Church in the Mountains, where she was a member for 47 years. Flowers and horses were often on her mind.

Rachel is survived by her husband of 45 years, Mackie McKay; a daughter, Heather McKay and husband, John R. Colvin III of Hillsborough; a son, David McKay, of Waynesville; a brother, Joe Sam Queen and wife Dr. Kate Queen of Waynesville; Sister-in-law, Jane Stamey of Waynesville; an aunt, Sara Q. Brown; and niece and nephew, Sara Glee Queen and Charlie Queen of Raleigh. Grace Ellen Queen of Seattle is a beloved cousin.

A celebration of life service will be held at 2:00pm on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at Grace Church in the Mountains with Reverend Joslyn Ogden Shaefer officiating. Rachel’s ashes will be spread among the Easter lilies of the church memorial garden. The family will receive friends following the service in the fellowship hall of the church.

Memorials may be made to Grace Church in the Mountains, 394 N. Haywood Street, Waynesville, NC 28786.

The care of Rachel has been entrusted to Wells Funeral Homes and an online memorial register is available at “Obituaries” at www.wellsfuneralhome.com

To send flowers or a remembrance gift to the family of Rachel Queen McKay, please visit our Tribute Store.

Wikipedia: Joe Sam Queen (Undated)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sam_Queen

Joe Sam Queen

400

Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives

from the 119th district

In office

January 9th, 2013 – January 8th, 2017

Preceded by R. Phillip Haire

Succeeded by Mike Clampitt

Member of the North Carolina Senate

from the 47th district

In office

January 24, 2007 – January 26, 2011

Preceded by Keith W. Presnell

Succeeded by Ralph E. Hise, Jr.

In office

January 29, 2003 – January 26, 2005

Preceded by None (district created)

Succeeded by Keith W. Presnell

Personal details

BornJune 18, 1950 (age 67)

Waynesville, North Carolina

Political party Democratic

Spouse(s) Dr. Kate Queen MD

Residence Waynesville, North Carolina

Alma mater North Carolina State University (BS) (MS)

Profession Architect

Website [1]

401

Joe Sam Queen (born June 18, 1950) represented the 119th district in the North Carolina House of Representatives, until he was defeated for reelection by Mike Clampitt of Bryson City, in the 2016 general election.[1]

He previously represented the state's 47th Senate district, including constituents in Avery, Haywood, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell and Yancey counties. He served from 2007-2011 after having served one previous term (2003-2004 session) in the state Senate before being defeated in 2004 by former Yancey County commissioner Keith Presnell. Queen then defeated Presnell in 2006 and again in 2008. He was elected to the North Carolina House, defeating Mike Clampitt in 2012, then again in 2014. He began his second term in the North Carolina House of Representatives (5th term in the General Assembly) on January 14, 2015. He represented the constituents of Jackson, Swain and Haywood counties.

An architect and a sixth generation resident of Haywood County, Queen is also heavily involved in other civic and cultural activities, including producing the summer street dances on Main Street in Waynesville and serving as director of the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival for more than 30 years.[2][3] He has also served as a boy scout master, a Sunday school teacher, a youth soccer coach and on various boards and committees. He attends many arts and educational events in his district, including plays and concerts. He is married to Dr. Kate Queen and has two children, both of whom are graduates of North Carolina State University. He has an architectural practice in Waynesville.

Queen served as the vice-chairman of the Aging Committee[4] and was a voting member of committees on Agriculture, Transportation, Appropriations, Appropriations General Government, Judiciary II and Regulatory Reform.[5] He was a vocal leader in the call to expand Medicaid in North Carolina and issues such as raising teacher pay.[6] He is adamantly against fracking in North Carolina and has made strong public remarks against it.[7]

402

Hemophilia of North Carolina: Senator Joe Sam Queen Recognized as Hemophilia of North Carolina Legislator of the Year. (6/9/2009)https://www.hemophilia-nc.org/Advocacy/LegislativeDay-2009/index.html

Dozens of Hemophilia of North Carolina members met at the State Legislative Building in Raleigh on June 9th to recognize the work of Senator Joe Sam Queen of North Carolina's 47th Senate District and attend the 2009 HNC Legislative Day.HNC Delegation

Senator Queen, working for the people in the hemophilia community since coming to Raleigh in 2002, earned the distinction through his work in health policy and support of understanding and championing the needs of those with a rare chronic illness.

"To advance legislation in a complex policy area, such as Medicaid, allies like Senator Queen are an invaluable resource to Hemophilia patients and their families," said association member Leonard Poe. Poe presented Senator Queen the 2009 Legislator of the Year award as association members looked on

Ed, Warren and Tim"I understand the challenges you face in health care with getting the proper treatment and medicine. I'm pleased to be able to support the hemophilia community and honored to receive this award today," Senator Queen said.

Members gathered in Raleigh to promote legislative interests including reinstating the funding of a safety net program to assist families of Hemophilia patients with medical and other expenses (Hemophilia Assistance Plan). Additionally, the state's Medicaid regulations allow patients the freedom to choose medications that work best for them and the group asked legislators to support Senate Bill 324, a bill introduced by Senator Queen, to make permanent the statute that is due to expire on July 1, 2009. Reid, Gayle and Steve The $100,000 cap

403

on specialty drugs in the High Risk Pool (Inclusive Health) was also discussed and members requested support to review this requirement since it makes the plan virtually useless to a person with hemophilia.

HNC was also able to secure space in the lobby of the Legislative Office Building to share information with legislators and their staff throughout the day.

In the Field (NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Blog): House and Senate face off in milk-chugging contest (7/8/2009)http://info.ncagr.gov/blog/2009/07/08/house-and-senate-face-off-in-milk-chugging-contest/

going…

Going…

gone!

The General Assembly has been known to get hot-headed from time to time, but today members of The House All-Stars and The Senate Speedy Super Sippers came together over cold pints of milk in the annual milk-chugging contest at the legislative building. Both teams were made of agriculture committee members. The House team consisted of Reps. David R. Lewis, Roger West and Arthur Williams, while the Senate was represented by Sens. Bob Atwater, Joe Sam Queen and Andrew C. Brock. Sen. Brock had a strong closing performance and pushed the Senate to victory. After the bout, House members could be heard talking in defeated tones and planning their strategy for next year. The friendly competition is sponsored by the N.C. dairy industry and the NCDA&CS to promote the 321 dairy farms in North Carolina. In 2008, the state’s 54,000 milk cows produced about 104 million gallons of milk.

404

Topix.com: Joe Sam Queen, how bad can it get!! (6/2010)http://www.topix.com/forum/city/waynesville-nc/TPT5CJ5VT9FMB231H/joe-sam-queen-how-bad-can-it-get

Jhonnie

Stanley, NC

#1 Jun 12, 2010

I am glad to see Joe Sam Queen kicked off his campaign with strawberrries and expensive wine. Queen do you know how we are hurting? Do you have a clue how many people are trying to put food on the table for their families while you and your rich snobs party? Did you know we do not have jobs? Do not try to take it off of your Facebook!! By the way, what kind of beer are you opening?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Morganton, NC

#2 Jun 13, 2010

Joe Sam Queen does not care. He is all about Joe Sam Queen.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Casar, NC

#3 Jun 13, 2010

You did not need to take the pictures off of your FB of your high dollar strawberry and wine fundraiser/party at your house with the wealthy. You could have even left the picture of you opening your beer for all the voters of the district to see. We need jobs not political corruption. I could not believe your fancy fund

405

raiser. Do you know how hard people are having it? Take your strawberries and give them to the Domestic Violence Shelter in Haywood County.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Casar, NC

#4 Jun 13, 2010

Wonder how much that expensive wine cost Joe Sam Queen? I can not wait to see the bill on this party for the elite.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Casar, NC

#5 Jun 13, 2010

How much money did Tony Rand give you? Is he going to avoid jail over insider trading?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

LMAO

Spruce Pine, NC

#6 Jun 15, 2010

I don't know who Ralph Hise is yet but according to the survey I just received by e-mail he is already beating Joe Sam!! http://www.carolinastrategygroup.com/

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

406

Polkville, NC

#7 Jun 15, 2010

I read Hise is the Mayor of Spruce Pine. I heard from someone who attended the debate between the three Republican candidates and he had established himself as a very smart, knowledge candidate. It appears Queen has a very qualified opponent. I hope so. We can not stand much more of Queen's rich friends getting their government pay-offs in grants that only creates jobs for his wealthy friends' buddies. Joe Sam Queen is not good for Western North Carolina. Queen does not care about the average person, the poor or folks that do not like the arts. He thinks we do not fit into his social class. Queen go listen to the Primitives over July 4th It will help you.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Nebo, NC

#8 Jun 15, 2010

I think the wind mills would bring us more jobs than the high fashion strawberry and wine fund raiser. Maybe, we can send you a message from the voters in November when you are voted out of office. Average common folks vote the same as your high class folks do. Look for us in November.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Money man

Stanley, NC

#9 Jun 20, 2010

407

Where on earth does Queen get his millions to finance his campaign? I have read the Easley Basnight, Perdue, Tippett , Fain and Carter are being investigated for raising campaign fund illegally and using state funds for political gain. An example would be the use of grant funds for political gain. Joe Sam Queen appears to be the King of getting money at election time to gain votes and keep his job. How could a state senate be worth that much money? That would be taxpayer money!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Charlotte, NC

#10 Jun 22, 2010

Queenie must have deep pockets somewhere. I did not know persons of the professional choice as Queen and his wife to have such incomes.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Charlotte, NC

#11 Jun 30, 2010

I just read the article in the Asheville Citizen about Joe Sam Queen in regards to wind mills. Is Queen not a Democrat whose party platform is for solar power, wind etc. I also read this project could create many jobs in a very depressed area. Then, I reviewed Queen's contibutions to his campaign and then I saw the light. It is not about Travel and Tourism, it is about croonies, corruption and MONEY. What is even more troubling about this article, Queen thinks the voters in the 47th District are too stupid to understand the questions of the survey. Public Policy

408

Polling is a Democrat leaning pollster. I can not wait until November.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Charlotte, NC

#12 Jun 30, 2010

As least Queen has a job with money to buy wine, strawberries and beer. Most of the people of the 47th District do not have jobs. Yet he would work to pass a bill that would prevent jobs from coming. Worthless, Worthless!!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

INFO

Spruce Pine, NC

#13 Jun 30, 2010

Here is the article. Queen's comments are on page 2.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Wayne

Lincolnton, NC

#14 Jul 10, 2010

Where was Joe Sam Queen last night? What no square dancing calling from a man whoes party has presided over the most corruption in the history of state government? I guess he was still in the capital city wasting our money. Better still, Joe Sam Queen stayed to clean up all the corruption from Easley, NC-

409

Highway Patrol, Aloca, electrical companies and DOT. Also, he was trying to get the lobbist money just a few days before voting on bills.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Jonas Ridge, NC

#15 Jul 13, 2010

How could a North Carolina Senate Seat be worth a $1,000,000.00? Joe Sam Queen is in debt to himself nearly $900,000.00. He just loaned himself $102,000.00. What is this really about?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Casar, NC

#16 Jul 13, 2010

Is Joe Sam Queen that rich? I knew he was comfortable, but hell,$102,000.00 in his account at one time. Where in the hell is he getting that kind of money? How can one follow the money?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Terrell, NC

#17 Jul 13, 2010

With all of that money, he has not brought us any jobs. We have some of the highest unemployment rates in the state. He is buying the office for himself, not for the citizens of the 47th

410

District. More spending, more taxes, more corruption but no jobs, Joe Sam Queen has go to go!!! He needs to take that money and give it to our hospital. He is wasting his money and our time. He is doing nothing to turn this economy around.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Sunshine

Terrell, NC

#18 Jul 13, 2010

We need jobs!!!! Take your money and give it to some poor person. Is that not the Democrat way? You are pitful. How can you waste this much money on yourself? Selfish! Selfish! Selfish! Our schools, libraries, and shelters could have used this money. Shame on you!!!!!!!!!!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Lawndale, NC

#19 Jul 17, 2010

I just read about all the corruption in Raleigh with the Democrat Party. The head of the Highway Patrol resigns at Bev's request and she had intervened in his promotion. A State Board of Election official was told to delete a portion of a report about Rickard Moore. Why is Joe Sam Queen silent on the corruption in his party? Why is he saying nothing? Why does he not have a PLAN TO BRING ETHICS REFORM TO HIS OWN PARTY? Why are you being silent on this Joe Sam Queen? Where are you?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Stanley, NC

411

#20 Jul 17, 2010

Joe Sam Queen you need to take all that $102,000 you have put in your campaign and improve your properties for your renters. Then that would be about helping someone other that yourself. Have you visited your properties lately?

Mountaineer

Shelby, NC

#21 Jul 19, 2010

The North Carolina Democratic Party just keeps on giving and giving with corruption. Now, Bev did help Patrolman Glover get his job before she threw him under the bus. Larry Leake did tell an employee at the Board of Election to stop investigating. Absolute power corrupts!!!! Snow, Queen, Rapp, and Haire, where do you stand on all of these issues? Come on, would you say these things are wrong?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Stanley, NC

#22 Jul 25, 2010

I attended the opening event for Folkmoot. When is Queen and nonprofits going to realize it is not appropriate to show favorites in an election throught that organization.I have will have to say he did better than last time when he advocated himelf and Ray Rapp. This is taxpayer money putting on this event. The nonprofit status could be lost. Grants of taxpayer money should be on merit not friendship to a political party,candidate or office holder. I know the argument being used is Joe Sam Queen has

412

done so much for this festival. The problem is he only does for a select few and nothing for the average working man on the street. He raises their taxes, not a good thing.When tax money in the form of grants is used to further a politican's career, it is not good. This is not democracy.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Lawndale, NC

#23 Aug 1, 2010

One of my firends just received a telephone suvey about Joe Sam Queen. He was asked the question, if Joe Sam Queen did so and so would you vote for him. I understand this type of polling is called push polling. Queen is trying to frame his message around what people respond to given a set of circumstances. My friend said he would not vote for Queen regardless because he had NOT TOLD THE TRUTH YET. Another friend reponded Queen had done nothing but destory the potential for jobs. Wonder how thoses reponses were counted?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Lawndale, NC

#24 Aug 7, 2010

Joe Sam Queen, what do you think about all the money Larry Leake has spent of taxpayers' money to fly to Raleigh? Now, he is one or your boys from over in Madison County,correct? How do you explain the contract with the printer for ballots and the cost three times as much? Then, the owner of the printing company of the ballots gave Perdue a large contribution, do you have a

413

problem with this waste of taxpayer money as well as corruption? I guess not.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Boone, NC

#25 Aug 11, 2010

Senator Queen: I call on you to request a complete investigation of the North Carolina Board of Election. Printelect has 80% of the state's contract for ballots which are three times higher. Printelect takes election officials on expensive activities and gives large donations to Gov Perdue and the Democrat Party. Is there any reason the state is broke? This is not right!! Why are you silent?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Boone, NC

#26 Aug 15, 2010

I just read Duke power gave the North Carolina Democrat Party $200,000.00 at a fund rasing event by Perdue and other top leaders in the Democrat party. So, who is representing the average Joe on the street when utility rates are on the table? Not Queen and Perdue, correct Senator? I believe you were at that fundraiser, is that correct?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Stanley, NC

414

#27 Aug 15, 2010

JSQ what do you think when the leader of your party, the President, thinks it is okay to build a mosque near Ground Zero? Surely, you have written him a letter asking him to remember the victims? If not, you should have. Yes, we all value religious freedom, but this is very bad. Three thousand innocent people died that day. Surely that accounts for something. The President thinks this is an emotional issue. What do you think?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Technician

Clarksville, TN

#28 Aug 18, 2010

I want to learn more about this Mountain Resoures Commission in which Joe Sam Queen secured the passage.

What rights do local governments give up to this group or to the State?

What kind of powers would this group have over builders?

What rules and regulation could be imposed by this group without imput from the public?

Why is a similar group so hated on the coast of North Carolina?

What kind of regulations did this group bring to that area of the state?

We need to pay attention to this organization!!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Bostic, NC

415

#29 Aug 19, 2010

I just read the story about the SBI. Chills ran down my spine. To know there are 230 cases were known flawed evidence was supplied and innocent people are sent to prison, what the hell? Where was Roy Cooper and our former Attorney General Mike Easley? Joe Sam Queen, why are you so quiet on all of these issues? All elected official that serve in state government must be voted out of office. No one is paying attention to the hen house.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Messer

Bostic, NC

#30 Aug 19, 2010

We must make a change!! Numbers released today unemployment is the highest in nine months. We can not go on this way.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Morganton, NC

#31 Aug 21, 2010

The head of the crime lad for the SBI was just asked to step aside. He had a background as a disc jockey and in communications, not science. Roy Cooper needs to resign, now. Queen needs to call for an outside investigation. We will pay for this in the hundreds of lawsuits filed against the state. JSQ, why are you silent on this? Corruption, Corruption, Corruption!!!!!!!!!!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Tiny

416

Stanley, NC

#32 Aug 24, 2010

No Jobs! NO Jobs! Joe Sam Queen does not care. He rewards his friends. He does not care about people without a job. He must go!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Alexander

Lenoir, NC

#33 Aug 26, 2010

Joe Sam Queen, you need to call for a complete investigation of the DOT especially the division that operates the Ferry system. Relatives are hired, overtime is charged and the taxpayer is being ripped off. Do you care?

Corruption, corruption, corruption. It is no wonder we need $3 billion next year to balance the budget. Why are you so silent on all this corruption? The state is broke and you sit by silently with all this corruption.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Alexander

Vale, NC

#34 Aug 27, 2010

Joe Sam Queen, did you know that the Department of Transportation paid $3.5 million in overtime wages for the folks who worked for the ferry system? Do you think our tax money is being wasted? Are you doing anything about it? Did you know relatives are being hired in violation of state policy? Do you care?

417

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Bryant

Eddyville, KY

#35 Aug 27, 2010

Do you care when taxpayer money is wasted? If you do, then do something about it.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Mount Ulla, NC

#36 Aug 30, 2010

So you are behind in all of the polls, that is a good thing. People are tried of you, they are tried of being thought of as stupid, backward, and as you knowing what is best for us without you listening to the people. We dislike your Sex Education Bill and we are going to vote you out of office.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

LOL

Spruce Pine, NC

#37 Aug 31, 2010

Have you seen the "TAX TWINS" ad on TV. I'm glad someone is finally willing to expose Joe Sam Queen. He has hurt us here in Haywood County for too long!!!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

418

Stanley, NC

#38 Sep 3, 2010

As I reviewed your voting record, I believe money gotten for this district is "pay to play" It is like you get money for special interest groups that will help your campaign. You never do anything to help create jobs for the entire district. I do laugh when I see the ads on TV and the mailouts about you. Just remember YOU wrote the playbook on dirty campaigns and negative ads. The shoe is on the other foot and I know you do not like it. Life is fair.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Associate

Lincolnton, NC

#39 Sep 4, 2010

How many people showed up at the fundraiser in Avery County? Was it that bad?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Shelby, NC

#40 Sep 6, 2010

What on earth was all those people in Canton doing yelling and clapping for Hise? Are you in political trouble? What have you done to make the fire department angry?

New Moon

Bessemer City, NC

419

#41 Sep 8, 2010

I just do not like Joe Sam Queen. He thinks he knows more than anyone, and he does not. He thinks he owns Haywood County, he does not. He reminds us daily what he has done for us. He thinks he owns us and we need to walk lock step with him. In American, I make my decision for whom to vote. Joe Sam Queen helps his high power friends and he really does not care for the common folks or the poor.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Morganton, NC

#42 Sep 10, 2010

Fact or fiction, did some of the people whoes name appeared on the invitation list for your event in Avery County have no idea their name was going to appear as a sponsorship list? Are you corrupt?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Elite Bisque

Morganton, NC

#43 Sep 11, 2010

Joe Sam has not worried about ethics yet, why do you think he would begin now? Joe Sam Queen thinks taxpayer money is his campaign budget to award grants and state money for projects to his big shot friends and donors. Queen is our money you are wasting, not your give away campaign budget. Where are the jobs? You plan is not working.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

420

Corn Maze

Morganton, NC

#44 Sep 12, 2010

If you interested in what Joe Sam Queen is doing as the Senator of the 47th District, go to Google and enter his name. His name will indicate 5,240 sources. If you take the time to look at every search and then put them in catergories as I have done, you will find his interst and the focus of Joe Sam Queen. My conclusion are as follows as to how he spends his time and focus.

FOCUS OF JSQ:

Square Dancing/Calling Square Dances: 62%

Fundraising with Perdue, Basnight, Hagan,etc: 18%

Announcing grants and creating new agencies: 11%

Jobs and Job creation:5%

Bull and Political BS:4%

AMAZING

Judged:Agree1Brilliant1Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Associate

Iron Station, NC

#45 Sep 13, 2010

Corn Maze that is a very funny post, perhaps true but very sad.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Quartermaster

Mount Ulla, NC

421

#46 Sep 16, 2010

JSQ is falling further and further behind.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Mount Ulla, NC

#47 Sep 16, 2010

Oh my goodness,latest poll shows Joe Sam Queen is behind 12 points!!!! Now JSQ, I hear you have some polls you have had conducted but will not release them!! Why is that? When will your dirty trick start?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Mortgages Bad

Stanley, NC

#48 Sep 19, 2010

Joe Sam, I am concerned about some things,mainly jobs. All of the money you have brought home it does not help the average person on the street without a job. Do you know how bad it is? Nothing you have done helps me. I do not want welfare, food stamps, or medicad. You do not care about the working men and woman. You need to go home!!!!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Entry Level

Stanley, NC

422

#49 Sep 19, 2010

Joe Sam Queen,

Do you think Obama is doing a good job?

Entry Level

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Maiden, NC

#50 Sep 22, 2010

Hope and Change

Bev Perdue

Kay Hagan

Joe Sam Queen

Barrick Obama

These people have not worked for us. JSQ gives away our tax money to his friends and our job rate is nearly 10%. JSQ needs to go home.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Free Market

Stanley, NC

#51 Sep 23, 2010

I was down at the lunch counter in Waynesville and people were talking about your fundraisers and how just a few people were showing up. Why is that?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

423

JSQ NOT

Mount Ulla, NC

#52 Sep 23, 2010

How much money have you spent as of today on your campaign? Is it really a million dollars in the last thirty days and you still are losing?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Primitive

Mount Ulla, NC

#53 Sep 23, 2010

Does Joe Sam Queen own stock in the Mountaineer Times?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Florists

Lenoir, NC

#54 Sep 24, 2010

I just saw your ad on WLOS. Why is it you do not say Re-Elect? Do you not want anyone to know you are in office? Then no one really does know you are in office.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Management

Lincolnton, NC

#55 Sep 28, 2010

424

I hate your ads. They really do show a lot about you and your character, lacking or none there of. You are not for families and the working people. Nothing on your list of "good works" shows you help families, just special interest. You help your big shot friends, nothing for the little guy.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Local

United States

#56 Sep 28, 2010

I just read on a FB that all three of Queen's claims in his commerical are lies. I am going to find out and if he has lied, I will pay to have the ad run. You may have gotten the last vote out of me.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Marriage vows

United States

#57 Sep 29, 2010

Marriage vows are important.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Carolina Fit

Stanley, NC

#58 Sep 29, 2010

Joe Sam Queen made a promise when he was defeated by Keith Presnell, he would never run another clean campaign. So a group of us are keeping track of all of JSQ lies and not good behavior.

425

Currently JSQ has told 49 bold lies, 22 soft lies and 10 white lies.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Best Deals

Casar, NC

#59 Sep 30, 2010

If you are keeping up with bad behaviors of JSQ, there are not enough numbers.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Albemarle

Casar, NC

#60 Sep 30, 2010

Look, I am glad Hise has taken the high road and is talking about jobs. Joe Sam Queen is on a negative campaign as always and he is the worst senator in the senate. He brings home money for his friends and the rest of us are left with no jobs. Queen is using our tax money as his campaign budget.

Map Deal

Casar, NC

#61 Sep 30, 2010

I have heard a rumor. Joe Sam Queen could not name a time when he disagreed with his Democrat party. He does agree with Obama, Pelosi and Reed. He agrees with the health care reform and all the stimulus money. North Carolina has received 11 billion dollars and it created 55 jobs.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

426

Lunar Silver

Casar, NC

#62 Sep 30, 2010

My conern is the deficit spending in North Carolina. We all know Joe Sam Queen will say and do anything or spend any amount of money to get elected. I heared he just purchased $750,000.00 in advertisement to trash his opponent.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Package Handler

Casar, NC

#63 Sep 30, 2010

Joe Sam Queen does not care he is telling lies, it is his nature.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Bisque

Casar, NC

#64 Sep 30, 2010

If the health care reform bill is allowed to become a reality and the tax cuts are not restored, I will have to close my business. I can not afford to continue. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. I am not alone and I have tried to get Queen to listen to me but he will not.So, I agree with the above post, Queen could/would not answer when asked when he had disagreed with his own party. My small business does not matter.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Entry Level

427

Casar, NC

#65 Sep 30, 2010

Joe Sam Queen, the United States ranks 25th in Math and Science in the world. We have put millions and millions into education and we are still falling further behind. You only use this as a political tool to gain support but never offer a solution. I care about my child and their ability to funtion in a global economy and society.Could you care about the children for once and stop looking out for a way to get votes?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Soul

Lawndale, NC

#66 Oct 1, 2010

Most political leaders have no charceter, Look at John Edwards, he lied to his family, to the press and to the nation about his affairs. For many years, he carry on with many different woman even after his wife had breast cancer. Character is so important to a candidate.But, he was eventually was caught.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Mail Room

Lawndale, NC

#67 Oct 1, 2010

I can not believe anything Queen says. He is going to loose not because of politics but because of other issues. You know what I am talking about. Tell them Joe Sam Queen. You know about telling lies, sneeking around. Tell them. We are listening.

428

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Car Repairs

Lawndale, NC

#68 Oct 1, 2010

I was driving through Maggie Valley and my goodness there must have been a hundred of Joe Sam Queen opponent's signs. I think you are in trouble in Haywood County.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Fixed Rates

Lawndale, NC

#69 Oct 1, 2010

I saw them as well. People are so feed with Queen's lies. Queen will be going home and he created his own nightmare with his lies.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Yellow Pages

Bessemer City, NC

#70 Oct 2, 2010

So do you disagree with your/our governor and do you agree with possible criminal charges against a sitting governor(Perdue)?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Appeal

Terrell, NC

429

#71 Oct 3, 2010

In reviewing your claims of helping business get government money, list each business that has gotten state dollars, how much, what is the wealth of the owner and where is their home base. Is some of NC money going to business owners outside of NC? Our system is so corrupt and broken, I worry it can not be fixed?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Clean up the system

Lincolnton, NC

#72 Oct 3, 2010

I hope Chad Nesbitt reads this post. The Democrat Party is raising hell because the Republican Party held an event at the Swannanoa Fire Department. In reviewing, Mr. Queen's events, he is having a fundraising event at the Marshall Arts Council, a nonprofit organization that can not be political. The organization is even selling tickets for Queen. Now, I know Mr. Larry Leake is all over this injustice, since it is his home county.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Real Change

Gastonia, NC

#73 Oct 4, 2010

North Carolina is 7 billion dollars in debt and the US is 13 trillion in debt. Shuler and Queen must go.

Judged:Agree1Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Car Repairs

Gastonia, NC

430

#74 Oct 4, 2010

What Queen does not get is we need jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs!!!!

I do not care how many grants you get for your buddies! We need jobs.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Dentists

Lincolnton, NC

#75 Oct 7, 2010

Any nonprofit organization that openly supports a candidate could lose their nonprofit status. Queen does not care. He will use whatever he can or whomever he can, men or women. I could name many nonprofit in danger because they have become the arm of Joe Sam Queen campaign. Queen knows he is using these groups but he does not care. How cruel and what a shame, this man is dirt.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Fire Fighters

Lenoir, NC

#76 Oct 8, 2010

The picture get a little worser,(worst,etc) every day for the Democrats. Secretary of Human Resources Cansler awards a a $25 million contract to a former client without a bid. Joe Sam Queen do you know why corruption is not acceptable and why as the public we are feed up with you? You sit silently on the sidelines and say nothing. This is wrong. Will you ever look at all this waste and wrong, illegal things going on with our tax payer money?

431

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

People Search

Lenoir, NC

#77 Oct 9, 2010

What a liar you are,Hise is taking lunch money from children. You are desperate.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Filter

Stanley, NC

#78 Oct 10, 2010

Queen makes me think of John Edwards in so many ways.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Reliable

Stanley, NC

#79 Oct 10, 2010

Being like John Edwards, Pay to play, and the corruption in the Democrat Party in North Carolina are the reasons I will not vote for Queen. STOP the Negative Campaigning. It just makes me work harder against you.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Subs

Morganton, NC

432

#80 Oct 11, 2010

How are the fundraisers working out for you with the nonprofits?

Local Business

Morganton, NC

#81 Oct 11, 2010

Why can we not just talk about jobs? The Democrats have created a situtation that is killing business. I do not care about this other shit. Vote out all Democrats and move our region, our state and our nation forward. If ever there was a time we need change, it is now.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Best Deals

Lincolnton, NC

#82 Oct 11, 2010

How is it possible for a nonprofit organization such as a fire staton put up political signs? This is not legal and they could use their nonprofit status. Joe Sam Queen, this is not right. You are just like John Edwards.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Power

Jonas Ridge, NC

#83 Oct 12, 2010

JSQ

433

How much money have you spent on this race? Suggestion: Judging from the last mailout you sent, please get a haircut. I am embrassed for you.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Food Processor

Lincolnton, NC

#84 Oct 13, 2010

The lies of John Edwards and the lies of Joe Sam Queen, this is not a good picture.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Truth Truth Truth

Dallas, NC

#85 Oct 14, 2010

Joe Sam Queen, you know the truth and the more ads you run, the more lies you tell. But we know the truth and we know you lie just like the fallen Senator John Edwards.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Truck Driver

Dallas, NC

#86 Oct 14, 2010

I am going to call you out on this one. Your ad on Hise being for private schools is just to get the teacher's vote. Why will you not talk about the high unemployment rate in your counties and why have you not done anything about it? Did you vote to remove the cap on charter schools to get the Obama money for the Race to

434

the Top. You are just a two faced person. You have told so many lies you could not governor if elected.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Educator

Dallas, NC

#87 Oct 14, 2010

The problem with Joe Sam queen is he totally agrees with President Obama. He has said so many times. What he ignores is what is happening in Western North Carolina. He ignores his own party and the corruption. Gov Bev will have charges before she leaves office. Parents of so many students do not have a jobs. JSQ, you need to deal with the real issues. Your ads show you are out of touch with the plight of the people. The is election is about you and not about helping the people.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Petroleum

Clarksville, TN

#88 Oct 14, 2010

Joe Sam Queen will say anything, do anything to get reelected. He lies! He is bad!!!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Mortage

Mount Ulla, NC

#89 Oct 15, 2010

435

In the month of September, we had more home foreclosures in the history of this country. Unemployment rose in two of Joe Sam Queen's counties. The people are hurting and Queen does not get it. He continues to be a John Edwards. He has a deaf hear to what is happening. He has no plans and no solutions.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

The Bears

Crouse, NC

#90 Oct 16, 2010

Joe Sam Queen all you do is attack your opponent. I want to know what you are goiong to do about jobs. Stop using mountain families. You need to talk about debt, jobs and taxes. You are running from your party. You need to be who you are. People can see through this crap.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Classrom Teacher

Crouse, NC

#91 Oct 16, 2010

I hate to be used and we are not stupid. What are your plans to address the challenges facing education? What are you going to do to address the budget shortfall? Are we facing a third or fourth year without a pay raise? What are your views on testing? Do you think students should be allowed to retake the test until they pass it? What are your views on a top heavy adminstration at the local level as well as the state? When money arrives in Haywood, we add more to the county office. Do you favor charter schools? Do you support all the new programs that take away from the classroom? What should happen to students do not attend school? What should happen when school do nothing

436

about student who do not attend school?The only time I see you in the halls of schools in Haywood Schools you are talking to administrators, speak to a teacher when you visit. You will get a different view.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Samatha

Crouse, NC

#92 Oct 16, 2010

Are you going to cut state government? Please tell us where.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Doc

Auburn, AL

#93 Oct 18, 2010

I think it is wrong to threaten or imply a job or progran may be lost if you do not get somone's vote.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Plastic Surgeons

Lincolnton, NC

#94 Oct 18, 2010

Joe Sam Queen are you taking down politicals signs that are not yours? A picture is worth a thousand words. Right Joe Sam Queen.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Waynesville Medicine

437

Auburn, AL

#95 Oct 18, 2010

Have you been caught with your hand in the cookie jar? A picture is worth a thousand words.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Large Sub

Auburn, AL

#96 Oct 18, 2010

You have been caught red handed

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Local Deals

Auburn, AL

#97 Oct 18, 2010

It is hard to describe the depth of the evil of Joes Sam Queen and Basnight. They will do anything to hold on to power.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Fire Fighter

Morganton, NC

#98 Oct 19, 2010

Taking down a political sign is not becoming of the office of a state senator. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

438

Unemployed

Morganton, NC

#99 Oct 19, 2010

Queen,

Did he hear what Hise said in his ad, his dad lost his job after 34 years? Do you know how many people in your district identify with this ad? It is about JOBS! JOBS!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Kids Meal

Auburn, AL

#100 Oct 19, 2010

I connect with the Hise message. My family has lost their jobs. Queen does not get it.

Haywood Educator

Bessemer City, NC

#101 Oct 20, 2010

According to the N&O $1.5 million will be spent from the Race to the Top Money fot administrators to work in the Pink Elephant in Raleigh. This should not happen even of Perdue wants it to happen. Where are you Joe Sam Queen in protecting our teacher?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Truth

Lincolnton, NC

439

#102 Oct 20, 2010

You know the Town of Spruce Pine has a million dollar fund balance. You know there has been one anexation in four years and water rates are the lowest in the state. You are a liar and the truth is not in you. You are just like John Edwards and that needs to come out. You are a low life.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Best Deals

Lawndale, NC

#103 Oct 21, 2010

Joe Sam Queen have you put back the signs you took down?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Pressure Cooker

Lincolnton, NC

#104 Oct 22, 2010

So far, you have not told the truth in any of your ad. Lies= 100% Truth=0 Now let us look at JSQueen and just the truth makes one sick to their stomach.

Judged:Brilliant1Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

DOTTY

AOL

#105 Oct 23, 2010

440

I wOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU ABOUT RALPH,DURING THE TIME OF MY MOTHER'S SICKNESS,HE GAVE UP HIS JOB TO TAKE CARE OF HER, FOR EIGHT MONTHS, I SAW HIM FEED HER.GIVE HER HER MEDS, GO WITHOUT SLEEP AND PRAY WITH HER AND READ THE BIBLE TO HER. THIS RALPH.I WOULD ASK YOU TO VOTE FOR HIM. VERY SMART ALSO.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Current

Casar, NC

#106 Oct 24, 2010

Obama,Pelosi,Hagan,Perdue,Shul er and Queen, what a team!!!!!!!!!!The car is going off the cliff.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Entry

Lincolnton, NC

#107 Oct 27, 2010

Joe Sam Queen stop thinking how dumb mountain people are.You have been caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Lindsey

Lincolnton, NC

#108 Nov 2, 2010

Joe Sam Queen, well just let me say, if he gets elected, the whole world will be in danger!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

441

Im Unknown

Lincolnton, NC

#109 Nov 2, 2010

Joe Sam Queen sorry dude but on the way home from dinner, i was noticing all the boards with peoples names on them, like for what youre doing, and lets just say, nobody here likes you. I didnt see even one single board saying to elect you!

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Lincolnton, NC

#110 Dec 8, 2010

I think I saw Joe Sam in Winston Salem at the Obama rally clapping his hands and smiling.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Jhonnie

Lincolnton, NC

#111 Jan 18, 2011

Now I have spotted Queen in Marion.He needs to find a real job. He is a fraud.

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

really

Washington, DC

#112 Mar 25, 2011

442

Jhonnie wrote:

Queenie must have deep pockets somewhere. I did not know persons of the professional choice as Queen and his wife to have such incomes.

He's an architect and his wife's a doctor. You didn't know those professions earn high incomes?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Harold Jr

United States

#113 Mar 30, 2011

Which one, the architect of the doctor?

Reply » Report AbuseJudge it!

Bankruptcy over Women

Bostic, NC

#114 Mar 30, 2011

It will get you every time.

Vimeo: Joe Sam Queen caught without an answer in debate with Ralph Hise (Video) (2011)https://vimeo.com/15754019

7 years ago

I think this video speaks for itself - though I belive that good ol' Joe Sam can find no fault with his party & feel that WNC is doing well even though the loses of jobs in WNC.

Can we afford to return this man back to Raleigh?

443

WRAL.com: Queen Reply Brief (10/9/2012)https://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news/state/nccapitol/2012/10/09/11641341/queen_reply_constitutional.pdf

Click link to PDF of the reply brief filed by Queen's campaign in its lawsuit against the Hise for Senate campaign and the North Carolina Republican Party

FindLaw: FRIENDS OF JOE SAM QUEEN v. RALPH HISE FOR NC SENATE (11/20/2012)https://caselaw.findlaw.com/nc-court-of-appeals/1616118.html

ResetAAFont size:Print 13

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

FRIENDS OF JOE SAM QUEEN, a political committee, Plaintiff, v. RALPH HISE FOR NC SENATE, a political committee; and North Carolina Republican Executive Committee, a political committee, Defendants.

No. COA12–455.

Decided: November 20, 2012

Wallace & Nordan, L.L.P. by John R. Wallace and Joseph A. Newsome, for plaintiff-appellant and Frank G. Queen, P.L.L.C. by Frank G. Queen, for plaintiff-appellant. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. by Thomas A. Farr and Michael D. McKnight, for defendants-appellees.

Appeal by plaintiff from order and final judgment entered 14 December 2011 by Judge Gary E. Trawick in Superior Court, Haywood County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 10 October 2012.

I. Introduction

444

This case arises from alleged violations of the “Stand by Your Ad” disclaimers required for political advertisements under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A (2009) which occurred during the 010 campaign between Senator Ralph Hise and Senator Joe Sam Queen in North Carolina's 47th senatorial district. As both plaintiff and defendants failed to provide proper disclosures of the joint sponsorship of television advertisements by both the candidate committee and the political party, plaintiff's claim is barred by the statutory tu quoque defense. Since no prior case has interpreted N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A and given the ambiguity inherent in the statute, as discussed below, it is not surprising that plaintiff and defendants would in good faith come to slightly different understandings of the requirements of the statute, and we do not mean to imply that either plaintiff or defendants intentionally violated N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A. We affirm the trial court's order dismissing plaintiff's claim for the reasons below.

II. Background

Friends of Joe Sam Queen (“plaintiff” or “Queen Committee”), a political committee formed in North Carolina, filed a complaint on 28 January 2011 in Haywood County seeking damages under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f) from Ralph Hise for N.C. Senate (“Hise Committee”) and the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee, now known as the North Carolina Republican Party (“NCGOP”), also political committees (jointly, “defendants”). Plaintiff alleged that defendants violated disclosure requirements for advertising paid for by NCGOP during the 2010 race for North Carolina Senate.

In 2010, Joe Sam Queen was the Democratic candidate, and incumbent, for North Carolina Senate from the 47th North Carolina Senatorial District. His opponent was now-Senator Ralph Hise, a Republican. Both campaigns received substantial financial support for their media campaigns from their respective party committees, spending several hundred thousand dollars on television advertising over the course of the 2010 election

445

season. Each political party paid for the production of video messages to be used in its candidate's advertising. NCGOP transferred funds to American Media and Advocacy Group (“American Media”) for the specific purpose of media buys for the Hise campaign, and American Media held these funds in a separate account designated for Senator Hise until he authorized a media purchase with the funds. The North Carolina Democratic Party (“NCDP”), by contrast, donated money to the Queen campaign to be used to purchase air time through its media company, Envision, and Envision's subcontractor, Buying Time, Inc. Each contribution by the NCDP to the Queen Committee was transferred to the committee's account for a brief period of time, and held there normally no longer than several hours—once only eleven minutes—before being transferred to Buying Time. Both Senators Hise and Queen authorized all expenditures to purchase the air time.1 Substantively, the only difference in the actions of the plaintiff and the defendants is that the Democratic Party ran the contributed funds briefly though the candidate's campaign account before they were used for a media buy, while the Republican Party sent the funds directly to the media company to be held “in escrow” for the candidate to be disbursed for a media buy only at the candidate's direction. Both candidates listed the candidate or campaign committee as the “sponsor” of the advertising in the required on-air disclosure statements and neither listed a political party as a “sponsor.” Neither candidate committee had sufficient funds, but for the contributions of the respective political parties, to pay for their television advertising campaigns.2

Plaintiff filed its complaint on 28 January 2011, alleging that defendants violated the disclosure rules for political television advertising under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A. Specifically, plaintiff alleged that because the NCGOP paid American Media directly, as opposed to through the Hise campaign, it should have been disclosed as the sole “sponsor” of the Hise advertisements. Plaintiff further alleged that Ralph Hise for N.C. Senate was complicit in these violations and, therefore, also

446

liable under § 163–278.39A(f). Plaintiff also claimed that its campaign advertising had complied fully with N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A, as it must in order to bring this claim.

After defendants answered the complaint, denying that the alleged acts constituted violations and raising various defenses, the parties submitted affidavits, took depositions, and filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Defendants also asserted a statutory tu quoque (“you too”) defense under § 163–278.39A(f) analogous to the equitable defense of unclean hands, claiming that plaintiff engaged in equivalent conduct, so that if defendant's actions were in violation of the statute, the plaintiff's actions were also in violation, as they were substantively the same. Defendants further claimed that even if they were liable under the statute, § 163–278.39A violates their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well the parallel provisions of the North Carolina Constitution.

The trial court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment and denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment by an order entered 14 December 2011, thus dismissing the plaintiff's claims. Plaintiff timely filed notice of appeal from both rulings in that order on 22 December 2011.

III. Standard of Review

Plaintiff timely appeals from the trial court's final order denying its motion for summary judgment and granting defendant's motion for summary judgment.

“Our standard of review of an appeal from summary judgment is de novo; such judgment is appropriate only when the record shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that any party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.”

In re Will of Jones, 362 N.C. 569, 573, 669 S.E.2d 572, 576 (2008) (citation and quotation marks omitted). In our review of the trial court's judgment, “we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.” Beeson v. Palombo, –––

447

N.C.App. ––––, ––––, 727 S.E.2d 343, 346–47 (2012) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

IV. Cause of Action Under § 163–278.39A(f)

This case, which turns on the interpretation of the “Stand by Your Ad” law enacted in 1999, is one of first impression in this Court. N.C. Session Laws 1999–453. Although neither party raises this issue, we must address the preliminary matter of whether the proper plaintiff has brought this action. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278 .39A(f) provides that “a candidate for an elective office who complied with the television and radio disclosure requirements throughout that candidate's entire campaign shall have a monetary remedy in a civil action against” an opponent-candidate, candidate committee, political party organization, or other sponsor of political advertisements who violates the disclosure provisions of § 163–278.39A. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f) (emphasis added). The statute further provides that “[t]he plaintiff candidate may bring the civil action personally or authorize his or her candidate campaign committee to bring the civil action.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f)(2)

Some explanation of the structure of Article 22A may be helpful in our discussion of the issues raised by this case. The statutory definitions of several words are important in this case. Article 22A, entitled “Regulating Contributions and Expenditures in Political Campaigns,” includes in N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.6 (2009) a set of general definitions for terms used for most of Article 22A, while N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z (2009) includes additional definitions which are applicable only to Part 1A, entitled “Disclosure Requirements for Media Advertisements.” Plaintiff's claim is brought under a provision of Part 1A, specifically N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f). The terms “candidate,” “candidate campaign committee,” and “political action committee” have definitions which are applicable only to Part 1A and are different from the definitions of the same words in N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.6. See N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.6(4), (14); N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z(2), (3), (5). We will use the

448

definitions which are specific to Part 1A for these terms and will use the general definitions set forth in N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.6 for the other relevant defined terms.

For purposes of Part 1A, a “candidate” is an individual who has filed the requisite notice of candidacy or has otherwise been certified as such. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z(2). A “candidate campaign committee” is “any political committee organized by or under the direction of a candidate.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z(3). As noted above, these two terms are defined separately in Part 1A of Article 22A and are used as separate terms in subsection (f). N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 163–278.38Z, 163–278.39A(f) (stating that the plaintiff-candidate has a cause of action against “an opposing candidate or candidate committee ” (emphasis added)). The statute identifies the candidate as the injured party by vesting the individual candidate with the right to bring a cause of action. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f) (stating that “a candidate for an elective office ․ shall have a monetary remedy in a civil action) (emphasis added)). Thus, the statute clearly provides the right to bring such an action only to an individual candidate or to that candidate's candidate campaign committee where the candidate has specifically authorized the committee to bring the action. See N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f)(2).3

Here, although there is no allegation of explicit and direct authorization of this lawsuit in the complaint and no written authorization in the record on appeal, defendants conceded at oral argument that the present suit was properly authorized by Senator Queen. While in another case this absence could be fatal to the plaintiffs claim, as the parties agree that Senator Queen authorized his committee to pursue this action, we will consider the parties' substantive arguments.

V. Interpretation of N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 163–278.38Z, et seq.

This statute, known as the “Stand by Your Ad” law, was enacted in 1999. N.C. Session Laws 1999–453; N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 163–278.38Z, et seq. (2009). N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f) gives “a

449

candidate for an elective office” a cause of action against “an opposing candidate or candidate committee” or “any political party organization, political action committee, individual, or other sponsor” whose advertisement for “that elective office” violates the § 163–278.39A disclosure requirements for television and radio advertising. Plaintiff's only claim against defendants arises from this provision of the statute. In order to recover damages under this statute, plaintiff must prove that (1) his opponent or his opponent's candidate committee violated the disclosure requirements of § 163–278.39A, and (2) he violated none of those disclosure requirements. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f).4

A. Statutory Ambiguity in § 163–278.39A

Plaintiff contends that the trial court erred in denying its motion for summary judgment, and granting defendant's, because it presented undisputed evidence which indicates that defendant NCGOP paid for television advertisements that did not bear the appropriate disclosures required under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A and that therefore it is entitled to recover damages under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f) in the amount of three times the money spent on the improper advertising.5 In its complaint, plaintiff alleged that defendants violated the disclosure requirements of § 163–278.39A because they aired television ads indicating that they were sponsored by Ralph Hise for NC Senate when the NCGOP had provided the funds to pay for the air time directly to the media buyer, rather than first providing the funds to the Hise Committee so that the Hise Committee could pay for the air time. Plaintiff contends that the NCGOP should have been identified as the “sponsor” of the advertisements or at least as a joint sponsor of the advertisements, along with the Hise Committee. Under the facts presented in this case, Plaintiff's claim depends on what it means to be a “sponsor” of an “advertisement.” Therefore, our review must begin with an interpretation of that statute. See State ex rel. Thornburg v. Lot and Bldgs. at 800 Waughtown St., 107

450

N.C.App. 559, 562, 421 S .E.2d 374, 376, disc. review denied, 333 N.C. 170, 424 S.E.2d 915 (1992).

The “Stand by Your Ad” statute requires the following disclosures:

(1) Candidate advertisements on television—Television advertisements purchased by a candidate or candidate campaign committee supporting or opposing the nomination or election of one or more clearly identified candidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by the candidate and containing at least the following words: ‘I am (or ‘This is _’) [name of candidate], candidate for [name of office], and I (or ‘my campaign’) sponsored this ad.'

(2) Political party advertisements on television—Television advertisements purchased by a political party organization supporting or opposing the nomination or election of one or more clearly identified candidates shall include a disclosure statement spoken by the chair, executive director, or treasurer of the political party organization and containing at least the following words: “The [name of political party organization] sponsored this ad opposing/supporting [name of candidate] for [name of office] .” The disclosed name of the political party organization shall include the name of the political party as it appears on the ballot.

N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(b) (emphasis added). Similar provisions apply to political action committees, § 163–278.39A(b)(3), private individuals, § 163–278.39A(b)(4), and any other “sponsor”, § 163–278.39A(b)(5). Thus, whoever “purchased” the advertisement, i.e. the “sponsor”, must include a disclosure statement so indicating. The statute does not define what it means to purchase an advertisement and only defines “sponsor” as an entity or individual “that purchases an advertisement.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z(10). An advertisement is defined as “any message appearing in the print media, on television, or on radio that constitutes a contribution or expenditure under this Article.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z(1) (emphasis added).

451

Plaintiff claims that the “purchaser” or “sponsor” of an advertisement is anyone who furnishes money directly to a media buyer for air time, while payment for the production of the message which is aired is “not relevant.” Plaintiff argues that NCGOP “purchased” both the production of the Hise Committee message and the air time for its broadcast, so it was the sole “sponsor,” or at least a joint sponsor, by its participation in the air time purchase. Defendants first counter that the purchaser or “sponsor” of an advertisement should be defined as the individual or entity which has ultimate editorial control over the advertisement—the message itself. Defendants next contend that Senator Hise did actually “purchase” the air time for the advertisements, as he had control over the funds in the American Media escrow account and he authorized and directed each expenditure of these funds for air time. Defendants also argue that

[e]ven assuming that the NCGOP “purchased” TV airtime by sending funds directly to American Media as Plaintiff contends, nothing in N.C.G.S. § 163–278.39A or Chapter 163 defines the “purchaser” of an advertisement as the person or entity who purchases only the air time for the ad. Unlike the term “purchase,” the statute defines “advertisement” as “any message appearing in the print media, on television, or on radio that constitutes a contribution or expenditure under this Article.” N.C .G.S. § 163–278.38Z(10). Thus, a television “advertisement” requires at least two things: (1) a message and (2) air time on which to broadcast that message.

Although defendants' brief does not concede that they committed any violation of the disclosure requirements, they argue that if they did violate the statute, plaintiff did also, as the air time for plaintiff's advertisements was purchased with funds contributed by the NCDP which were deposited into Senator Queen's campaign account before being almost immediately disbursed for each purchase of air time.

452

“The cardinal principle of statutory interpretation is to ensure that legislative intent is accomplished. To determine legislative intent, we first look to the language of the statute.” Insulation Systems, Inc. v. Fisher, 197 N.C.App. 386, 389–90, 678 S.E.2d 357, 360 (2009) (quotation marks and citations omitted), disc. rev. denied, 363 N.C. 654, 684 S.E.2d 890. “When the language of a statute is clear and without ambiguity, it is the duty of this Court to give effect to the plain meaning of the statute, and” we need not look further. In re Hamilton, ––– N.C.App. ––––, ––––, 725 S.E.2d 393, 396 (2012) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Indeed, “when confronted with a clear and unambiguous statute, courts are without power to interpolate, or superimpose, provisions and limitations not contained therein.” Id. If, however, “the language is ambiguous or unclear, the reviewing court must construe the statute in an attempt not to defeat or impair the object of the statute if that can reasonably be done without doing violence to the legislative language.” Dayton v. Dayton, ––– N.C.App. ––––, ––––, 725 S.E.2d 439, 442 (2012) (quotation marks, citation, brackets, and ellipses omitted).

As noted above, a “sponsor” of an “advertisement” is the entity or individual “that purchases an advertisement.” Although the statute does not define “purchase, the normal dictionary definition is clear. See Black's Law Dictionary 1354 (9th ed.2009) (defining purchase as “[t]he act or an instance of buying.”). But the phrase “purchase,” an advertisement” is ambiguous, given the definition of “advertisement.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z(1) defines an “advertisement” as: “any message appearing in the print media, on television, or on radio that constitutes a contribution or expenditure under this Article.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z(1). Thus, a television advertisement consists of two parts—the message and its appearance on television, or the “air time”. Looking at the definition of “advertisement” grammatically, the term “message” is modified by two phrases: “that constitutes a contribution or an expenditure under this Article” and “appearing in print media, on television or on radio.”6

453

Where the same person or entity “purchases” both the production of the message and the air time to broadcast the message, there is no ambiguity in the identity of the “sponsor” of the advertisement. Here, the problem is that the political parties—both NCDP and NCGOP—paid for the production of the messages and then contributed funds to pay for the air time in slightly different ways; both of the political parties and the candidate committees jointly participated in the purchases of the advertisements.

The issue is then whether a “sponsor” is the one who purchases the message (i.e., production of the actual recording, video, etc.), the air time, or both. Given three possible interpretations, we must conclude that this provision of the statute is ambiguous, especially considering the uniquely powerful remedy against those who violate these provisions.7

B. Defining “sponsor”

“[W]hen the meaning of a statute is in doubt, reference may be made to the title and context of an act to determine the legislative purpose.” Preston v. Thompson, 53 N.C.App. 290, 292, 280 S.E.2d 780, 782 (1981), disc. rev. denied, 304 N.C. 392, 285 S.E .2d 833. This act is entitled “Stand by your Ad.” N.C. Session Laws 1999–453. As the title makes clear, the primary purpose of this act is to let the public know who is responsible for the content of the advertisement and to further the State's interest in “informing voters who or what entity is trying to persuade them to vote in a certain way.” Alaska Right to Life Committee v. Miles, 441 F.3d 776, 793 (9th Cir.2006); see KVUE, Inc. v. Moore, 709 F.2d 922, 933 (5th Cir.1983) (noting that similar Federal Election Commission rules “are designed to reveal whether a commercial is authorized by a candidate.”); Timothy Moran, Format Restrictions On Televised Political Advertising: Elevating Political Debate Without Suppressing Free Speech, 67 Ind. L.J. 663, 677–78 (1992) (discussing the purpose of political advertising disclosure laws).

454

As noted above, an advertisement has two parts: the message and its appearance on television. As the production of the message must occur prior to its broadcast, we will first address the “message.”

Plaintiff argues that the purchase of the “message,” or payment of production costs, is “not relevant” to the determination of “who purchased or sponsored the advertisement.” Plaintiff recognizes that an advertisement has two parts, the message and its broadcast but argues that only “the purchase and use of airtime on television ․ under the statute, turns a video into an advertisement.” This statement is true, but an advertisement also cannot exist without a message and the message must exist before the “use of airtime” can occur. We believe that ignoring the fact that the “message” is an essential part of the “advertisement” would fail to give effect to the statutory language and would undermine the purpose of the statute, which is to inform the public of who is trying to influence them. Air time without a message is white noise; the message is the only portion of an “advertisement” with any substantive content. Failure to identify the entity which paid for the message's production would be contrary to the primary purpose of the “Stand by Your Ad” law.

In further support of its argument that payment for production costs for the message is irrelevant, Plaintiff notes that the statute does not mention “production costs or the other tangential costs affiliated with the making of political advertisements.” Yet the definition of “advertisement” itself specifically defines an advertisement in part as “any message. that constitutes a contribution or expenditure.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.38Z (1). For a message to constitute a contribution or expenditure, some transfer of money or thing of value is needed. Art. 22A broadly defines “expenditures,” “contributions,” and “independent expenditures”, all of which include some form of transfer of “money or anything of value” to “support or oppose the nomination [or] election” of a “clearly identified candidate.” The

455

payments of expenses for the production of videos which supported or opposed the elections of both Senators Hise and Queen were reported as “in kind contributions” and “coordinated expenditures” under Article 22A by Senators Hise and Queen as well as the NCDP and NCGOP.

Plaintiff also contends that payment for the message production is irrelevant because the statutory damages are calculated based on “the total dollar amount of television and radio advertising time that was aired and that the plaintiff candidate correctly identifies as being in violation of the disclosure requirements of this section .” See N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f)(2). But the fact that the General Assembly chose to base the damages just upon “time that was aired” and not upon production costs as well makes sense, as no one is misled by a message or the disclaimer on a message that has not been aired yet—no violation can occur until a message is actually disseminated by airing it.

We hold that payment of production costs for the “message,” here the videos, constitutes part of the sponsorship of an “advertisement” under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(b). Thus, for the “sponsors” to be properly identified, all of the purchasers of both parts of the advertisement must be identified in the disclaimer.

This interpretation best advances the purpose of the statute while avoiding violence to its language. Indeed, it is clear that the legislature contemplated the possibility that an advertisement could have multiple sponsors. In § 163–278.39A(e1), the statute provides fairly detailed instructions on how to properly disclose joint sponsors:

If an advertisement described in this section is jointly sponsored, the disclosure statement shall name all the sponsors and the disclosing individual shall be one of those sponsors. If a candidate is one of the sponsors, that candidate shall be the disclosing individual, and if more than one candidate is the sponsor, at least one of the candidates shall be the disclosing individual.

456

N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(e1). Thus, where different entities or individuals jointly purchase the message, the air time, portions of either, or both, they must disclose joint sponsorship under this section.

The facts regarding payment of production costs for both the Hise and Queen Committees television advertisements are undisputed, and were summarized by Plaintiff as follows:

The NCDP paid Envision Communications directly for the cost of producing these TV ads. Production costs paid by the NCDP were reported by the NCDP on its campaign finance reports as a “coordinated party expenditure.” The Queen Committee reported these payments by the NCDP as “in-kind” contributions.

The [Hise Committee] ads were produced by a media company called Innovative Advertising. The NCGOP paid Innovative Advertising directly for the costs of producing these ads. The NCGOP's payments to Innovative Advertising were disclosed on the campaign finance reports of both the NCGOP and the Hise Committee as “in-kind” contributions to the Hise Committee for “media production.”

It is undisputed that the NCDP paid for the production of the message, or video, for the Queen Committee advertisements, and that the NCGOP paid for the production of the video of the Hise Committee advertisements. It is also undisputed that the Queen Committee advertisements identified only the Queen Committee as the “sponsor” of the advertisements; NCDP was not identified as a joint sponsor under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(e1). Thus, Senator Queen is not a “candidate for an elective office who complied with the television and radio disclosure requirements throughout that candidate's entire campaign,” and he cannot recover under N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f) even if defendants also violated the disclosure requirements because of the manner of the transfer of funds to American Media for the air time.

457

As we have determined that plaintiff is barred from recovery for failure to disclose the joint sponsorship of the Queen advertisements, we need not examine the second portion of the definition of “sponsorship” of an advertisement, the method of payment for the air time. Whether we were to determine that Senator Hise purchased the airtime for his advertisements because he paid for the airtime with funds which were held by American Media, or that NCGOP actually purchased the airtime because the funds were transferred directly to American Media instead of to the Hise Committee campaign account, the result would be the same, since neither NCDP or NCGOP was identified as a “sponsor” of the advertisements based upon their payment of production costs. It is therefore unnecessary for us to address the parties' various arguments regarding the method by which NCGOP and the Hise Committee actually paid for the airtime for the Hise Committee advertisements.

VI. Conclusion

Plaintiff's only claim against defendants depended on showing that the NCGOP was the “sponsor” of advertisements run in Senator Hise's name and that plaintiff's advertisements included a disclaimeridentifying all sponsors in compliance with N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A. Because we have determined that neither plaintiff nor defendants fully complied with N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A, plaintiff's claim is barred by N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f). Therefore, we need not reach defendants' other statutory or constitutional arguments. As there were no genuine issues of material fact and defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law, the trial court did not err in granting defendants' motion for summary judgment or in denying plaintiff's motion for summary judgment.

AFFIRMED.

FOOTNOTES

1. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.17 (2009) provides in part that “each media shall require written authority for each expenditure

458

from each candidate, treasurer or individual making or authorizing an expenditure.” There is no dispute that both Senators Hise and Queen properly authorized the media expenditures at issue in this case.

2. The NCDP contributions paid for approximately 91% of the Queen Committee advertising, and the NCGOP contributions paid for approximately 84% of the Hise Committee advertising.

3. It is worth noting that our Supreme Court has observed, in a different context, that a candidate committee “is the creature of the candidate ․ [and] is, in effect, the alter ego of the candidate.” In re Wright, 313 N.C. 495, 497, 329 S.E.2d 668, 669 (1985). But this particular statute consistently differentiates between the candidate and the candidate committee. Perhaps N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f) could be considered the “Stand by your Lawsuit” provision of the “Stand by your Ad” law.

4. The plaintiff must also file the necessary notices under § 163–278.39A(f) to preserve the right to bring the action. There is no dispute that Senator Queen did so here.

5. A plaintiff-candidate under this statute is entitled to treble damages if after notifying the opponent that his advertisement is improper, the opponent continues to run the advertisement. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.39A(f)(2). Plaintiff here sent such a notice.

6. N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.6(9) defines the term “expend” or “expenditure” as “any purchase, advance, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of funds, loan, payment, gift, pledge or subscription of money or anything of value whatsoever, whether or not made in an election year, and any contract, agreement, or other obligation to make an expenditure, to support or oppose the nomination, election, or passage of one or more clearly identified candidates, or ballot measure.” N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163–278.6(9) (emphasis added).

7. The enforcement mechanism chosen by our legislature is unique in the world of election law. Many other jurisdictions have analogous disclosure laws. See, e.g., 2 U.S.C. § 441d (2006)

459

(setting out federal disclosure requirements for political advertisements), Md.Code Ann., Elec. Law § 13–401 (West 2010) (requiring an authority line on campaign material), Va.Code Ann. § 24.2–957.1 (2011) (requiring on-air disclosures for political television advertisements). However, after diligent searching, it appears that North Carolina has the only statute that provides candidates with a private cause of action against their opponents for advertising disclosure violations, rather than enforcement through government-enforced criminal or civil penalties. See, e.g ., 2 U.S.C. § 437g(6) (2006) (authorizing the Federal Election Commission to institute civil enforcement actions), Md.Code Ann., Elec. Law §§ 13–602, 13–603, 13–604 (West 2010) (making knowing election law violations, including violation of Maryland's disclosure and disclaimer requirements for campaign materials, misdemeanors prosecutable by the State), Va.Code Ann. § 24.2–955.3 (2011) (establishing civil and criminal penalties, enforceable by the State Board of Elections, to be paid to the state), Fla. Stat. § 106.1439 (2008) (making election law violations misdemeanors), 10 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/9–23 (2010) (establishing civil penalties for election law violations, enforced by the Attorney General), Tenn.Code Ann. § 2–19–120 (West 2003) (requiring disclosures for political advertisements and making violations criminal), S.C.Code Ann. § 8–13–1520 (2011) (making violations misdemeanors), Cal. Gov't Code § 91000 (West 2012) (establishing criminal penalties for election law violations), Minn.Stat. §§ 211B.16, 211B.19 (2010) (providing for criminal penalties enforced by county attorneys), Iowa Code § 68A.701 (2012) (making violation of campaign finance and disclosure laws a “serious misdemeanor”), Del.Code Ann. tit. 15, § 8043 (2006) (providing for criminal penalties for election law violations), N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 664:21 (2012) (establishing civil and criminal penalties to be pursued by the State for violations of election law), but see Cal. Elec.Code § 20010 (West 2003) (providing candidates a civil action against those who maliciously misappropriate their image in political advertising). Indeed, the most analogous statutes appear to be those punishing non-

460

criminal fraud of various sorts, or for violation of telemarketing disclosure rules. See, e.g., N.C. Gen.Stat. § 58–2–161 (2011) (providing cause of action, including treble damages, for false statements regarding insurance claims), N.C. Gen.Stat. § 75–16 (2011) (providing cause of action, including treble damages, for those injured by the breakup of a monopoly), N.H.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 664:14–a (establishing a civil action for those injured by political “robo-calls”, including treble damages for willful violations); see also 47 U.S.C. § 227(d), (g) (2006) (requiring disclosure statement at the beginning of “robo-calls” and authorizing civil enforcement action against violators, including treble damages), and Maryland v. Universal Electronics, 862 F.Supp.2d 457, ––––, 2012 WL 1940543 (discussing civil enforcement action by Maryland against company who made robo-calls without the required disclosure).

NC BLOGS FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: THANK YOU REP. QUEEN & REP. EARLE (9/30/2013)https://prochoicenc.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/thank-you-rep-queen-rep-earle/

Today’s pro-choice champions are Representative Joe Sam Queen & Representative Beverly Earle

Representative Queen is a pro-choice champ because he understands and defends the legality of choice! During the House Floor debate on SB 353, Queen exposed the underlying purpose of the bill: “The outcome of this bill is to make it harder for health care providers to provide women access to their constitutionally protected medical procedure. It is not about safety. This is just government obstruction of women’s rights.”

461

In addition to defending the constitutionality of abortion, Queen scrutinizes the hypocritical and secretive GOP:

462

463

During the debate on the motorcycle safety act Thursday, the subject of motorcycles only entered the debate once. "I own a motorcycle," said state Rep. Beverly Earle. "I want to let my motorcycle...

As a member of the Judiciary Committee, which was planned to consider the Motorcycle Safety Bill, Queen was not made aware of the abortion amendments in advance.

In addition, Queen accurately explains that reproductive rights and services include but are not limited to abortion: “When they attack the abortion issue. . . they eliminate a lot of other very important women’s health issues that these clinics serve.”

Thank you, Representative Queen, for upholding women’s rights and being a pro-choice champ!...

Western Carolina Medical Society: 2013-2014 Voting Records on Key Healthcare Issues (10/15/2014)https://www.mywcms.org/news-and-events/newsroom/2014-voting-records-on-key-healthcare-issues

WCMS recently conducted a virtual candidate forum to help WNC physicians, families and staff in their voting decisions, asking each candidate about five key healthcare issues and their opinions on each.

In addition, there were some important healthcare bills voted on during the 2013-2014 legislative sessions. Below is an

464

explanation of WCMS' position on each bill and how WNC Senators & Representatives voted on said bills.

SB4- No N.C. Exchange/No Medicaid Expansion

This bill proposed NC would not operate its own health benefit exchange and NC would reject the Affordable Care Act's optional Medicaid expansion

WCMS supported a "No" vote on this bill. Click here to see more about WCMS' position on Medicaid expansion.

Voting Record of WNC Representatives:

Ayes: Mike Hager (R), Chuck McGrady (R), Tim Moffitt (R), Michele Presnell (R), Nathan Ramsey (R), Roger West (R)

Noes: Susan Fisher (D), Joe Sam Queen (D)

Did not vote: Josh Dobson (R), Chris Whitmire (R)

Voting Record of WNC Senators:

Ayes: Tom Apodaca (R), Jim Davis (R), Ralph Hise (R)

Noes: None (Vote occurred prior to Sen. Terry Van Duyn filling the District 49 Senate seat. At the time, Sen. Martin Nesbitt voted No)

HB1181- North Carolina Medicaid Modernization

The House version of this bill proposed using physician-led ACO's for Medicaid in the future.

WCMS supported an "Aye" vote on the House version of this bill.

Voting Record of WNC Representatives:

Ayes: Josh Dobson (R), Susan Fisher (D), Mike Hager (R), Chuck McGrady (R), Tim Moffitt (R), Michele Presnell (R), Joe Sam Queen (D), Nathan Ramsey (R), Roger West (R), Chris Whitmire (R)

Noes: None

465

The Senate version of this bill proposed adding private, out-of-state, Managed Care Organizations as another option for Medicaid.

WCMS supported a "No" vote on the Senate version of this bill.

Voting Record of WNC Senators:

Ayes: Tom Apodaca (R), Jim Davis (R), Ralph Hise (R)

Noes: Terry Van Duyn (D)

HB18- Youth Skin Cancer Prevention Act

This bill proposed raising the minimum age to use tanning beds from 14 to 18 (prohibiting minors from tanning).

WCMS supported an "Aye" vote on this bill.

Voting Record of WNC Representatives:

Ayes: Susan Fisher (D), Chuck McGrady (R), Tim Moffitt (R), Joe Sam Queen (D), Nathan Ramsey (R), Chris Whitmire (R)

Noes: Josh Dobson (R), Mike Hager (R), Michele Presnell (R), Roger West (R)

The Senate sent this bill back to committee, did not call a final vote.

HB181- Physician Supervision Required/Nurse Anesthetist

This bill clarified that NC law should require physician supervision of all nurses providing anesthesia services.

WCMS supported an "Aye" vote on this bill.

Voting Record of WNC Representatives:

Ayes: Mike Hager (R), Chuck McGrady (R), Tim Moffitt (R), Michele Presnell (R), Nathan Ramsey (R), Roger West (R), Chris Whitmire (R)

Noes: Josh Dobson (R), Susan Fisher (D), Joe Sam Queen (D),

466

The Senate sent this bill back to committee, did not call a final vote.

Democracy North Carolina: REALTORS, HOMEBUILDERS SATURATE GENERAL ASSEMBLY WITH CONTRIBUTIONS (7/2017)https://democracync.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/RealtorsBuilders.pdf

467

Now or Never NC: Endorsed Candidates (2018)http://www.nowornevernc.org/2018_endorsed_candidates

Joe Sam Queen

HD 119: Swain, Jackson, portion of Haywood Counties

(Waynesville, Cullowhee, Sylva, Bryson City)

www.joesamqueen.com

Stamp NC BLue: March 9, 2018: Get to know NC House District 119 (3/9/2018)https://www.stampncblue.org/2018/03/09/mar-9/

nchd-119We'll focus on one of our selected districts each day this week, introducing the candidates who have filed and providing some background info about the area. Stamp NC Blue does not endorse candidates.

We are staying in the mountains for today's district. House District (HD) 119 includes part of the Asheville metropolitan area, in addition to parts of Haywood, Jackson, and Swain Counties. Much like HD-93, HD-119 is much less diverse than North Carolina as a whole. It also has a relatively older population, with fewer residents aged under 50 than the state average and significantly more of retirement age and above. It is also a less wealthy than average district, with a median

468

household income of $39,500 compared to a state average of $46,300.

This district is represented by Republican Mike Clampitt, who was elected with a very narrow victory (50.39% of the vote) in the last election. This was his first successful election attempt after two previous runs for the seat in 2012 and 2014. Learn more about NC HD-119 here and more about its political history here.

In 2018 the Republican incumbent is being challenged by Democrat Joe Sam Queen.

Republican Mike Clampitt does not have an active Facebook campaign page or website, although his personal Facebook page can be found here. He serves on multiple committees in the NCGA and is a retired fire chief. For more information about his legislative record, check out his entry on Ballotpedia.

Joe Sam Queen represented the district prior to 2016. He describes himself on his website as "an architect, a businessman, a father, and a husband" and lists his key areas of policy interest as jobs, education and healthcare. He is a teaching fellow at North Carolina State University and lists many civic activities and memberships on his website. For more information on his legislative record, check out his entry on Ballotpedia and for updates, find his Facebook page here.

HD-119 encompasses some of the most beautiful places in North Carolina, including part of the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway. Take a look here for more photos of this very special part of our state.