ACTION ALERT FOR THE GRASSROOTS!

StopNCAnnexation received the following request from anti-forced annexation activists in Union County for support from activists across North Carolina:

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The Union County Board of Commissioners will be considering a resolution against forced annexation at their next meeting:

Tuesday,

Jan 18th 

7:00 P.M.

Union County Government Offices 

500 N. Main Street, Monroe, NC 28212.

TV and other media will be there to cover the meeting.

We intend on being there to offer our support for the resolution – bodies, signs, public comments, etc.

We are wondering if you know of anyone from neighboring counties/jurisdictions that might come to Monroe to offer their comments and support.

We could really use a show of unity against forced annexation in our fight against Marvin.

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If you can possibly attend this meeting to support the efforts of the Commissioners to speak out against forced annexation and the local activists encouraging them, please consider being there!

More and more County Commissioners are speaking up against forced annexation We still need them to speak up to the State Legislature as the local government officials who administer State Law and represent ALL the citizens of every County. 

We cannot rest just yet and trust that the right thing will be done this year in Raleigh.

We must continue to speak up and hold the feet of the new Legislature to the fire. 

 

Many of the former obstacles to ending forced annexation in the General Assembly are GONE and we have many reasons to see light at the end of the tunnel in this decades long struggle to change the law in NC and end the abuse caused by the current laws. 

 There should be NO MORE EXCUSES!

Rep.'s Larry Brown, Nelson Dollar and Stephen LaRoque tell us they are working on legislation right now.
They need to hear from as many people as possible that the #1 item that needs to happen is to put an end to forced annexation by giving the people being considered for annexation a VOTE!!
All the other issues in the current annexation law pale to near insignificance against getting this one thing done.

Rep Larry Brown Larry.Brown@ncleg.net

Rep Nelson Dollar Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net

Rep Stephen LaRoque Stephen.LaRoque@ncleg.net
 

This is what is happening on the NC House side of the discussion.

The NC Senate members also need to be encouraged to pass legislation that ENDS the practice of forced annexation once and for all.

 

Simple, yet civil, message: 

Restore the VOTE to those to be annexed! 

Senate ProTem Phil Berger: Phil.Berger@ncleg.net  

Thank you for keeping up the fight!

WE CAN DO THIS!  

Catherine Heath

Director

StopNCAnnexation Coalition

The Battle Continues.... post election

This past election brought undeniable historic changes to the State Legislature. The Republican Party will now control both the Senate and the House for the first time in over one hundred years and that is quite an event in itself. Aside from that, this new majority has the potential to turn the tide in favor of ending forced annexation once and for all. The stage is set for good things that COULD happen with Annexation reform in 2011, but what we get remains to be seen.

This coming year in the Legislature truly is a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity to see something actually get done about the forced annexation laws, but good change is NOT a given unless every person can do a little to speak up to these lawmakers encouraging them to do what is right by the people; Restore our Voice! 

It has taken nearly a decade of work and an alignment of other outside factors (indictments, arrests, resignations and the economy and the results of the Nov election) to have this opportunity.
Forces at work on both sides of the aisle, in favor of the status quo for the cities, are already hard at work to railroad legislation that won't change much. Adding your voice and support to pushing for what is right, instead of passing into law a very bad compromise, will be needed.

The message from the people has been so loud and clear that forced annexation was an issue that many of these new legislators ran their campaigns on. Please thank them for that!

Please consider sending a postcard to each of these new legislators to congratulate them on their success and to encourage them to address the annexation issue by restoring the voice of the people being considered for annexation. (I could not obtain their email addresses)Also ask them to support a Statewide Moratorium on FORCED annexation while they debate the issue further. There are a number of areas across the State that are battling in court and the clock is ticking for them. They can't wait for new laws.

The list below includes ALL the new Legislators; Democrats and Republicans.

Cities across the State have gone into panic mode and are making noises about forcibly annexing.

The League of Municipalities is kicking into damage control mode and plan to lobby for a resurrection of the bill they wrote for the Study Commission last year; H524!
Just say NO to the NCLM "20 Point Plan"!!  

Although it would be great to see the legislation that Senator Shaw submitted in 2009 brought back for consideration in both chambers, let's give this new majority a chance to settle in and show us what they will bring forward have for annexation reform legislation.

For now, let's stay true to the important talking points and make sure the legislators know what 'we the people' really want to see them do;

End Forced Annexation once and for all! 

•  Restore a meaningful voice in the decision when cities initiate an annexation
• Create meaningful oversight of city initiated annexations by the locally elected County Commissioners whom those being approached for annexation have voted for.
• Make it a requirement that the city that wants to annex must be providing urban services that are shown to be meaningful and needed in the area being annexed.

New Senators: Louis M. Pate, Jr. - Wayne (R) P.O. Box 945 Mount Olive, NC 28365 (919) 658-3637 Don Davis(D)* William Peter Rabon - Brunswick (R) 404 W. Brunswick Street Southport, NC 28461 (910) 457-5110 R.C. Soles(D)* former seat Thom Goolsby - New Hanover (R) 212 Walnut Street Suite 100 Wilmington, NC 28401 (910) 763-3339 Brent Jackson - Sampson (R) 2905 Ernest Williams Road Autryville, NC 28318 (910) 567-2202 "A" - E. S. (Buck) Newton - Wilson (R) P.O. Box 2047 Wilson, NC 27894 A. B. Swindell(D)* Wesley Alan Meredith - Cumberland (R) 113 Great Oaks Drive Fayetteville, NC 28303 Margaret Highsmith Dickson(D)* Eric L. Mansfield - Cumberland (D) P.O. Box 35935 Fayetteville, NC 28303 Rick Gunn, Jr. - Alamance (R) P.O. Box 308 Burlington, NC 27216 (336) 229-6981 Tony Foriest(D)* Dr. Gladys A. Robinson - Guilford (D) P.O. Box 20627 Greensboro, NC 27420 (336) 812-9076 Tommy Tucker - Union (R) 1206 Rose Hill Drive Waxhaw, NC 28173 (704) 596-8200 Kathy Harrington - Gaston (R) 3324 Lincoln Lane Gastonia, NC 28056 (704) 460-2998 Warren T. Daniel - Burke (R) 309 West Union Street Morganton, NC 28655 (828) 439-8075 Dan Soucek - Watauga (R) 313 Williams Ridge Road Boone, NC 28607 (828) 963-7426 Steve Goss(D)* Ralph E. Hise, Jr. - Mitchell (R) P.O. Box 86 Spruce Pine, NC 28777 Joe Sam Queen(D)* **********************(possible recount) Jim Davis - Macon (R) (likely winner) 37 Georgia Road Franklin, NC 28734 (828) 369-2054 John Snow - Cherokee (D)* (incumbent) 105 Van Horn Street Murphy, NC 28906 (828) 837-5052 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- An "A" before the name indicates "friend of the issue" * Names in red are the incumbents who have been retired by the voters on November 2nd ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Important Legislators that need to hear encouragement from the grassroots: Phil Berger - Senate (R)  Phil.Berger@ncleg.net Andrew C. Brock (R)  Andrew.Brock@ncleg.net Paul Stam - House (R)  Paul.Stam@ncleg.net Thom Tillis - House (R)  Thom.Tillis@ncleg.net Ric Killian - House (R)  Ric.Killian@ncleg.net Nelson Dollar - House (R)  Nelson.Dollar@ncleg.net

New Representatives: Norman W. Sanderson (Pamlico) (R) 269 Bennett Rd. #4, Arapahoe, NC 28510 252-249-3749 *Alice Graham Underhill(D) Jimmy Dixon (Duplin) (R) P. O. Box 222, Warsaw, NC 28398 910-590-1740 Bill Cook (Beaufort) (R) 75 Cape Fear Dr., Chocowinity, NC 27817 252-946-5876 "A" -Stephen A. LaRoque (Lenoir) (R) P. O. Box 1034, Kinston, NC 28503 252-523-7700 *R. Van Braxton(D) Phillip R. Shepard (Onslow) (R) 111 Vernon Shepard Lane, Jacksonville, NC 28540 910-389-6392 Susi H. Hamilton (New Hanover) (D) 206 Nun St., Wilmington, NC 28401 910-443-2830 "A" - Jeff Collins (Nash) (R) 1109 Culpepper Dr., Rocky Mount, NC 27803 252-443-1441 *Randy Stewart(D) "A" - Tom Murry (Wake) (R) P. O. Box 1054, Morrisville, NC 27560 919-886-4341 *Chris Heagarty(D) G. L. Pridgen (Robeson) (R) 1044 Mercer Mill Rd., Lumberton, NC 28358 910-608-3277 *Douglas Y. Yongue(D) Charles Graham (Robeson) (D) 479 Bee Gee Rd., Lumberton, NC 28358 910-739-3969 "A" - Glen Bradley (Franklin) (R) 144 Ridgewood Rd., Youngsville, NC 27596 919-374-2973 *John May(D) Michael (Mike) Stone (Lee) (R) 1123 Winterlocken Dr., Sanford, NC 27330 919-777-8419 *Jimmy L. Love, Sr.(D) Marcus Brandon, Jr. (Guilford) (D) 808 Glendale Dr., Greensboro, NC 27406 336-987-3357 John Faircloth (Guilford) (R) 2332 Faircloth Way, High Point, NC 27265 336-841-4137 Bert Jones (Rockingham) (U) 299 Fairfield Rd., Reidsville, NC 27320 336-342-6171 *Nelson Cole(D) Ken Goodman (Richmond) (D) 832 Williamsburg Dr., Rockingham, NC 28379 910-997-2712 D. Craig Horn (Union) (R) 5909 Bluebird Hill Lane, Weddington, NC 28104 704-844-9960 "A" - Harry Warren (Rowan) (R) 201 Kingsbridge Rd., Salisbury, NC 28144 704-603-8898 *Lorene Coates(D) "A" - Rayne Brown (Davidson) (R) 416 Lee Ave., Lexington, NC 27295 336-249-2608 *Hugh Holliman(D) Mark W. Hollo (Alexander) (R) 432 Westwood Lane, Taylorsville, NC 28681 828-632-1728 Jonathan C. Jordan (Ashe) (R) P. O. Box 744, Jefferson, NC 28640 336-846-1657 *Cullie M. Tarleton(D) Rodney W. Moore (Mecklenburg) (D) 1914 Yaupon Rd., Charlotte, NC 28215 704-449-6201 Bill Brawley (Mecklenburg) (R) 13612 O’Toole Dr., Matthews, NC 28105 704-574-0894 John Torbett (Gaston) (R) 210 Blueridge Dr., Stanley, NC 28164 704-263-9282 Kelly E. Hastings (Gaston) (R) 405 Jane St., Cherryville, NC 28021 704-473-3468 Mike Hager (Rutherford) (R) 342 Walking Horse Trail, Rutherfordton, NC 28139 828-748-2378 Timothy D. (Tim) Moffitt (Buncombe) (R) 3182 Sweeten Creek Rd., Asheville, NC 28803 828-651-8550 Chuck McGrady (Henderson) (R) 195 Fernbrook Way, Hendersonville, NC 28791 828-696-0672

After this weekend we will know who has been appointed to be Senate Pro Tem and Speaker of the House.

The 2011-2012 biennium of the North Carolina General Assembly will convene on January 26, 2011.

In courtesy to the families of the new legislators who would like to have a seat to watch their loved ones be sworn in, I am recommending that we DO NOT plan a trip to Raleigh for January 26. I do think we should plan to go as a large group early in the session, perhaps once we have some good legislation to support. Stay tuned!!

I attended a meeting last Tuesday with Kathy Hartkopf (Freedomworks), Doug Aitken and Tony Tetterton (FAC), and Daren Bakst to discuss the year ahead. The results of that meeting will be forthcoming as soon as more information is put together.

After taking a much needed break, I WILL be updating the website once again to help keep you updated on news in Raleigh and across the State. Thanks for your patience and a very BIG THANK YOU to ALL who sent a contribution recently. It will be needed in the upcoming year.

Please consider helping SNCA do what needs to be done in the upcoming year with a financial donation.

http://www.stopncannexation.com/Searchfiles/Contribute.htm

Thank you for all that you have done to move all of us toward success!

Catherine Heath

Director,
StopNCAnnexation Coalition