Blog

Today, NCDOT submitted an application for $300 million in discretionary funding made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It is uncommon for us to notify the public when we apply to the U.S. Department of Transportation for funding; we typically wait until we receive the grant. But this grant application is unique.

We are applying for these funds to make critical improvements along I-85 in Davidson and Rowan counties, including replacement of the Yadkin River Bridge. This stretch of I-85 is immensely important to North Carolina. It is a major interstate used to move people and products throughout our state. It is also critical to people from all across the nation for the same reason.

North Carolinians from all corners of our state are publically pledging their support for this grant. Since the grant is “discretionary,” that matters. NCDOT created a Web site (www.ncdot.gov/recovery/i85corridor/), to demonstrate how critical this project is to those of us who rely on it everyday.

I encourage everyone to visit the Web site, review the details of the proposed project, read letters of support already submitted, and then add their own. Demonstrating to USDOT that we are united in this effort could make a difference. Please tell your story and share your support by clicking the “Project Support” tab.

Economic recovery funding for transportation is already helping North Carolina, both in terms of making infrastructure improvements and supporting jobs and economic development, and this grant money would allow us to make this vital project a reality.

We do not have a date as to when USDOT will decide which states and projects are selected, but we will keep you posted!

Helping young people is a fun and rewarding way to spend your time, and it’s one of the best ways I know to make a difference in the future of our state.   Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten to spend time with kids in Charlotte, Wilmington, Morehead City and Gaston County as part of the Badges for Baseball program.

Badges for Baseball is a crime prevention program sponsored by the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and my office that pairs law enforcement professionals with young people.  The officers serve as mentors and coaches to the kids, and help them learn how to make good choices in life.   I teamed up with the Foundation to bring Badges for Baseball to North Carolina because I believe helping children find positive role models is one of the best ways to prevent crime, fight gangs and keep kids out of trouble.

During my visits around the state, I got a chance to roll up my sleeves and play Quickball with the kids.  Quickball is a baseball-like sport that emphasizes teamwork and gives every child a chance to be successful, regardless of their age or size.   The kids have really taken to the game and it was great to see them playing with and learning from law enforcement officers. 

Badges for Baseball has worked well in other states. In some communities where kids used to run away from patrol cars, they now run up to talk to the officers.  The program helps young people know that law enforcement officers are their friends, not their enemies. 

Across North Carolina, we have 17 community organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs and Police Athletic Leagues and 36 law enforcement agencies participating in the program.  I plan to visit other locations around the state and look forward to meeting with the kids to see how this program is making a difference in their lives. 

I encourage all North Carolinians to get involved in their community.   The United We Serve campaign is a great way to find out about ways you can make a difference in our state.  To learn more about the campaign or to register to volunteer, visit www.serve.gov.  

Law enforcement professionals who want to get involved with Badges for Baseball can contact SBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike DeSilva at (919) 716-6400 or email him at mdesilva@ncdoj.gov. 

The N.C. Department of Transportation is moving full steam ahead with plans to enhance rail service for the train passengers of today and tomorrow.

Earlier this month, we officially opened the new Durham Train Station. It was an exciting event for me, a Duke graduate, and the community to see a project 16 years in the making become a reality. Over that time, the station evolved from a bus shelter to a modular unit “interim” station to finally the new 10,000-square-foot station that offers daily service on four state-sponsored Amtrak trains to Raleigh, Greensboro, Charlotte, eight other North Carolina cities and the northeast.

Our efforts to expand rail service do not stop there. We are also working hard to compete for a portion of the $8 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding available for high-speed rail. That money would help us develop the Southeast High-Speed Rail corridor between Charlotte and Washington, D.C.

We recently submitted a list of 90 rail projects to the Federal Rail Administration as part of the pre-application process. The list includes more than $900 million in “shovel ready” projects and more than $3 billion for corridor development projects, which will involve Virginia and North Carolina. The U.S. Department of Transportation will award the money on a competitive basis, and NCDOT is aggressively pursuing this funding.

The projects will not only improve service for current train passengers but will also help establish the framework for SEHSR. The projects include significant rail and highway work to add tracks, straighten curves, expand stations and build a rail shortcut between Richmond and Raleigh.

A good example of the benefits of this type of work is the I-85 Corridor Improvement Project in Davidson and Rowan counties. Making changes to the tracks under I-85 and the parallel bridges above them will allow us to increase track speed by 45 percent and lay the groundwork for SEHSR.

By improving our rail system, we can provide a safe and efficient alternative to car travel that also benefits the environment and the economy.

As chair of the 2009 State Employees Combined Campaign – and on behalf of our vice chair, Cultural Resources Secretary Linda Carlisle – I would like to invite all state employees to join us between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. July 31 for the annual Hot Dog Kickoff (PDF) event on the Bicentennial Plaza. Several participating charities will be there to talk about their programs, and hot dogs lunches will be sold for $1 each – with proceeds to benefit the SECC.

State employees have a proud tradition of supporting the SECC. Even during tough economic times, they contributed more than $5 million to the Campaign last year. The need for financial support among charitable organizations remains high as agencies struggle to meet the needs of constituents.

The SECC carefully screens its applicants to find those that meet community needs in the most cost-effective manner. It also has scrutinized its own operations, resulting in a leaner organization that, through reduced operating costs, will direct more resources to participating charities.

All state agencies have a Department Executive who coordinates its campaign with the help of Division Coordinators. If you are unsure who to contact within your Department and need help locating or completing your pledge form, call the SECC at 919-821-2886 or visit its website.

My mother taught me two important lessons that I continue to live by: education is the key to success and you should give back to your community. During my life, there have been great mentors who spent their time helping to shape my life. I have participated in community service efforts since I was in the third grade, so volunteering comes easy for me.  I still remember one of my first volunteer experiences, which was preparing care packages at my elementary school. It is uplifting to see those same youth who I have mentored graduate from high school and college and remain great citizens in their community.

You and other North Carolinians have the opportunity to serve our children this week and help shape our future.  As part of “United We Serve”, this week is Education Week, a time dedicated to serving in a variety of volunteer and continuous mentoring opportunities. This week, I will volunteer at Pearsontown Year Round Elementary School in Durham, which is where I started my education career as a teacher and will work with YO: Durham, a program for at-risk teens to learn about leadership and opportunities that exist beyond high school.

There are a variety of ways that you can give back, too. You can mentor and assist at a local school or community-based organization.  To find mentoring and other education-related opportunities, visit www.serve.gov or contact a local school to see how you can volunteer. A person who cares can make a life-changing difference for a child. You can make the difference today during Education Week.

When Governor Perdue asked her staff to volunteer in support of President Obama’s United We Serve initiative, the Governor’s Eastern Office was more than happy to oblige by cleaning the beaches that we all enjoy along our coast. The cleanup also worked in harmony with the Governor’s June 19, 2009 “Coastal Reserve Day” Proclamation. 

We focused our efforts on the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Reserve, which promotes informed management and stewardship of North Carolina’s estuarine and coastal habitats through research, education, and example. The Rachel Carson Reserve site is made up of four islands, which includes 2,675 acres, located across from the historic town of Beaufort, and is one of ten such sites throughout North Carolina. The Rachel Carson Reserve is home to scores of plant types, including some that are edible, as well as feral horses, river otters, gray foxes, raccoons, and marsh rabbits.

Governor Perdue’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Marion Sullivan, also participated in the service project. Along with Marion’s family and other volunteers, we were able to collect much of the debris on the reserve including: paint cans, a mattress, and enough construction material to fill up the front of our boat!  It was astonishing that most of what our team collected floated in with the tide. 

The Governor’s Office appreciated working alongside a devoted and knowledgeable team at the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management who share the Governor’s dedication to protecting the reserves along the NC coast.  We valued this opportunity to volunteer and recommend it to other state employees and citizens who are looking to serve their community.  We would particularly like to thank Rebecca Ellin with the Reserve for her tremendous enthusiasm and service to her state and country.

The goal of United We Serve is to bolster civic engagement by empowering people to participate in service opportunities and addressing the unmet needs in their communities. For information about United We Serve, including finding volunteer activities near your home, or registering your individual or group volunteer activities, visit www.serve.gov.

It’s been a busy week for the automotive sector in North Carolina.

On Monday, I had the honor of joining Gov. Perdue in Henderson County as she announced that brake systems and components manufacturer Continental Teves will expand its Fletcher plant. The company plans to invest more than $30 million and add 338 workers at the facility, which will more than double its current workforce of 288 people.

The company made it possible for first-shift workers to attend the event. Following the announcement, they had the opportunity to meet Gov. Perdue on the plant floor and shake her hand. It was a special experience for them – and us.

I also had the opportunity to visit again with plant manager Bobby Nelon and Henderson County Economic Development Partnership President Andrew Tate – both of whom I met in Germany last month when we visited with executives from Continental’s parent company to urge them to bring this expansion to Fletcher. Thanks to the team that made this announcement possible: Commerce, Henderson County, the Town of Fletcher, Blue Ridge Community College and the Henderson County Economic Development Partnership.

On Tuesday, Randolph Community College held a ribbon-cutting for the Richard Petty Education Center. The center will provide state-of-the-art training to students interested in joining North Carolina’s world-class automotive sector workforce. It was a thrill to be with “the King,” Richard Petty, and to celebrate this new facility.  Our state is home to more than 160 companies in the motor vehicle parts industry, and they employ more than 17,000 North Carolinians. And, of course, as Richard Petty would remind us, the best racing and motor sports teams are right here.

So even though the recession is not over, there IS good economic news in North Carolina.

In the interest of constantly improving customer service and meeting the huge increase in the number of folks who need ESC services over the past year, the agency is working to improve how telephone claims for unemployment insurance benefits are handled. On Friday, July 17, the ESC put in operation a new system to help with the overload of calls it gets each day dealing with initial claims and a variety of unemployment-related issues.

This system helps with initial unemployment claims and continued weekly claims. These are both automated systems. But, in the past, when the phone system ports were totally filled, customers got either a busy signal or a message, asking them to call back at suggested times. This new system involves a “hosted application,” meaning a third party is helping handle the calls transparently. In this manner, calls from customers are handled on a “first call” basis, reducing significantly the need for them to re-dial, providing better service.

With this change, a record number of callers can be handled better, enabling much needed and deserved unemployment benefits to be provided faster to those who qualify in this transitional economy.

Moses Carey Jr.
ESC Chairman

David L. Clegg
ESC Deputy Chairman & Chief Operating Officer

We’re excited to announce that the State Capitol will be hosting a rare exhibition of John Adams’s Thoughts on Government from July 21 through September 8, 2009.  This original, handwritten document will be on display in the north hall of the first floor.  Thoughts is one of Adam’s most influential writings and was the basis of many of the concepts adopted in December 1776 by the framers of our first state constitution.

In November 1775, Richard Lee, delegate to the First Continental Congress for Virginia, solicited fellow delegate John Adams’s thoughts on the ideal organization of American government, should the colonies actually separate from Great Britain.  In response, Adams composed an outline of what a new American constitution should include.  Five months later, William Hooper, delegate from North Carolina, approached Adams with the same request.  Hooper planned to use his advice when structuring North Carolina’s constitution.  Shortly thereafter, another of North Carolina’s delegates, John Penn, also requested Adams’s help.  Adams sent Hooper a letter containing his thoughts, while sending Penn a slightly altered version.  In all, Adams provided three additional handwritten copies to fellow delegates before consenting have the letter published as a pamphlet in Philadelphia.

Adams’s Thoughts on Government, as it would be known, describes his idea of an ideal republican government.  His design, he said, “is to mark out a Path, and putt [sic] Men upon thinking.”  In Thoughts, Adams explores fundamental questions about the making of a virtuous society, the powers and purposes of government, and the frailties of human nature.  Adams concluded that the purpose of government was to ensure the happiness of the people; therefore, the best form of government was that which produced the greatest happiness for the largest part of the population.

Thoughts on Government is considered to be one of Adam’s most significant Revolutionary essays, at the time attracting considerably more attention from his colleagues in Congress than he had expected.  By April 1776, Thoughts on Government:  Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies. In a Letter for a Gentleman to his Friend had been published and widely distributed throughout the colonies.

As for Adams’s original letter to Hooper, the North Carolina delegate delivered it to Thomas Burke, leader of the committee charged with framing a state constitution.  It remained with Burke’s papers until it was transferred to the North Carolina Historical Society and, later, the State Archives.  This will be the first time his letter has been on exhibit at the State Capitol.

The staff of the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office is accustomed to collaborating with other agencies equally committed to helping youth succeed. But last week, we exchanged ideas and outreach with a surprise ally: a group of 10 educators and school administrators from Russia.

We were connected to this group through the International House of Charlotte, a sponsor of the Community Connections Program of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The delegation wanted to learn about our programs for youth, such as SADD and Youth Legislative Assembly, both of which actively engage teens in leadership roles. And they wanted to hear about our case advocacy efforts and relationships with non-profits.

They also were interested in our State Government Internship Program. There is very high unemployment in their area and they’re trying to better educate kids for the job world. They could see that what we do is a step beyond most internships. It’s real, practical, hands-on education.

To talk with people who speak a different language, but ultimately do the same thing to focus on helping youth, is a very positive thing.  It was an honor to serve as a sort of ambassador for state government’s creativity and energy in helping our youth. The fact that visitors will come so far to talk to us about our programs is exciting and, I hope, evidence that we are doing things that truly make a difference.