I have fallen into a situation in which someone who is well connected in Raleigh is feeding me very accurate information about the Ferry Tolls proposal. His name is Bob Phillips and he is the Executive Director of Common Cause North Carolina and spends all day, every day working with NC legislators at the Statehouse. He has a personal interest in this issue and has attended several of the meetings of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation which is where this issue is taking shape. It's important to note that he is not acting on behalf of Common Cause, but as an individual who loves Ocracoke and sees how badly this would affect us.
I am going to make a proposal to the OCBA next Tuesday that they put together a committee and provide funding to mount a campaign against this proposal. Much of the strategy which I will propose results from my conversations with Bob Phillips about the specifics of how this is going to come down, as well as my previous life in which I was way too involved in politics.
Here's a brief summary of the process that is underway: Where we were told previously that this would be an administrative action by the Ferry Division (though one forced on them by cuts in their budget), it is now clear that this will be an actual line item in the State Budget. That means that there are no mandatory public hearings and it will proceed through the legislature along with the entire rest of the budget. Each part of the budget is put together in subcommittee (like the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation), then goes goes to full Committee, then to the Appropriations Committee and finally to the full House for approval. The same happens in the Senate and finally differences are reconciled and once approved the budget goes to the Governor. Every step of the way...subcommittee, full committees, full House, ditto Senate, the members must vote. They are voting on a larger bill than just our Ferry Tolls issue, but it is in there and we need to be sure that everyone who acts on this bill, every time they act on this bill, hears from us with a clear message.
Both houses of the NC State Legislature are now controlled by one party (Republicans) and that will affect the timing on the budget - it is likely they will be pushing hard to get everything done and passed by both the House and Senate by mid June. That doesn't give us much time and we really need to go into high gear if we're to have an impact.
Right now, there is an immediate action which is important for everyone to take right away - here's the situation:
The Appropriation subcommittee on transportation met today (4-14-11) and did not get to the line items regarding the Ferry tolls. That will come next Wednesday (4-20) when they next meet. The committee plans to vote out the proposal including tolls on Ferries no later than the following day (Thursday, 4-21)
Between now and Wednesday- it would be important to get phone calls, letters and e-mails into the Chairs of the Appropriations Sub. on Transportation.
Phone calls will likely go to a staff person, but are effective - best, if you have the time, is both a call and a letter or email.
Rep. Phillip Frye (R) Mitchell Co.-- 919-733-5661 / Phillip.Frye@ncleg.net
Rep. Ric Killian (R) Mecklenburg Co. 919-733-5886 Ric.Killian@ncleg.net
These folks need to hear the message that any toll on the Ocracoke/Hatteras ferry will be a major hardship for residents
- Don't be strident or angry - these are decent people who are trying to solve a big problem and they don't really understand Ocracoke and how their proposal will affect the people here
- We are not asking for a special privilege - on the contrary, we do not want to be singled out as the only residents in North Carolina who must pay a toll to get home.
- Ask them to imagine having to pay money to travel the last few miles home every time they returned from Raleigh.
- Ask them to imagine how would affect their businesses if everyone of their customers was suddenly assessed a fee just to do business with them.
It is worth noting that the median family income in Ocracoke is below that of the state as a whole (34,315 vs. 38,829) and less than that of the US. Some folks think Ocracoke is Martha's Vineyard - it isn't, it is a (lower) middle class community (with high property values due to the scarcity of land). [data from 2000 US census]
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If you have any ideas as to how to best approach this strategically and/or mechanically, please feel free to contact me. I do not have time to take on the organizer's role here, but I don't mind being a facilitator for passing along ideas and trying to get something off the ground. As I said, I'm going to propose that OCBA form a committee and provide funding - I think we need to hire an organizer for something like 20 hours a week....ideas?
Tom Pahl
with thanks to Bob Phillips and Carol Pahl
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