POLITICS
How the GOP's
6<power grab"
hurts blacks in
Cooper administration
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE
During state Attorney
General Roy Cooper's suc
cessful run for governor, he
vowed to govern in the
interests of "all North
Carolinians," and promised
that he would lead a
diverse Cabinet and admin
istration.
Democrat Cooper said
that he was "mindful that
there are so many commu
nities out there who feel
targeted, and they yearn to
be heard, and they yearn
for respect." He added that
North Carolina needs a
governor who will work to
"make sure that we have
that mutual respect, and
part of mutual respect is
transparency."
",..[W]e should be
about being inclusive,"
Cooper said last January.
"The first thing we have to
admit is that racism does
exist."
Based on his posture as
a moderate Democrat,
Cooper attracted a lion's
share of the black vote in
November, enough to help
him unseat McCrory by
just over 10,000 votes to
become North Carolina's
75th governor on Jan. 7,
2017.
But now, thanks to
measures passed last week
by the Republican-led
General Assembly in an
extra special session and
signed this week by Gov.
Pat McCrory before he
leaves office, observers say
Cooper's ability to indeed
govern in the interests of all
North Carolinians, and
make sure that communi
ties of color across the state
are heard, respected and
reflected in his administra
tion, has been severely
compromised with the
removal of many of his key
appointment powers.
"The changes are
intended to more consis
tently reflect the checks
and balances called for in
the [state] constitution,"
Senate President Pro-tem
Sen. Phil Berger [R
Rockingham] told reporters
last week.
"This is the result of
voters picking a strong
Republican legislature, and
a Democrat governor by a
fingernail," Dallas
Woodhouse, executive
director the N.C.
Republican Party added.
Democrats were both
angered and aghast.
"At the height of the
Tea Party era, North
Carolina lies supine,
crushed under the heel of a
shameless tyranny of radi
cal Republicanism that
stripped the governor of
constitutional authority by
a blatant political power
grab," said an outraged
Michael Carmichael, for
mer special deputy attorney
general for administrative
affairs under state Attorney
General Rufus Edminsten
during Gov. Jim Hunt's
1970's term.
Gov-elect Cooper was
clear that what the GOP did
was far beyond just petty
politics. "Most people
might think this is a parti
san power grab, but it's
really more ominous,"
Cooper said, promising to
fight in court.
Why is any governor's
ability to hire and appoint
what is essentially his
executive branch team, so
vital for governance?
According To Tom
Hendrickson, a former
chairman of the N.C.
Democratic Party who has
extensive experience in
state government, "The
governor needs the histori
cal appointment powers to
boards and commissions,
as well as Cabinet level and
exempt positions, in order
to execute his vision for
North Carolina that was
embraced by the people of
North Carolina at the ballot
box."
Hendrickson continued,
"The legislative power
grab is insider politics that
focuses on raw power and
vendettas rather than deliv
ering on promises to our
citizens focusing on the
future of our State."
That means any inten
tion of Gov. Cooper to
deliver a more inclusive
state government to the
people who voted him into
office is now checkmated
at every turn by a
Republican-led legislature.
This legislature that, at the
very least, has demonstrat
ed, according to the federal
courts, a documented hos
tility toward African
Americans, especially
when it comes to suppress
ing voting rights, the racial
gerrymandering of voting
districts, the denial of
Medicaid expansion to the
poor, and the slashing of
the public'education budg
et.
Courtney Crowder,
who served as legislative
director and senior adviser
to Gov. Beverly Perdue,
North Carolina's last
Democrat governor in
office, said putting the
brakes on Cooper's vision
of an inclusive, fairer state
is exactly the reason why
the GOP moved so quickly
and decisively to gut his
power even before he took
office.
"There is no doubt that
what the legislature intend
ed to do was frustrate
Cooper's ability to install
diverse and representative
perspectives in as many
positions key throughout
state government as possi
ble," said Crowder, who
currently heads up his own
governmental consulting
firm.
For instance, the gov
ernor's Cabinet - nonelect
ed state officials Cooper
would hire to lead key
state agencies like the mas
sive Department of
Transportation, Health and
Human Services and the
Department of Public
Safety: Under House Bill
17, Gov. Cooper can select
anyone he chooses, but
now the state Senate must
provide "advice and con
sent" on those choices. If
the state Senate doesn't
like Cooper's picks, they
go nowhere.
True, that legislative
perrogative was already in
the state Constitution, but
throughout history has
been rarely enforced, until
now.
Cooper's ability to fill
exempt protected positions
in state government was
cut from the present 1300
for McCrory, to just 425
(Perdue had 500), meaning
Gov. Cooper's ability to
specifically hire over
1,000 more fellow
Democrats if he so chose,
was decimated by over
two-thirds.
The state Board of
Elections will now be
evenly split between four
Republicans and four
Democrats, with
Republicans chairing on
even numbered years
when most major elections
take place. All decisions
will require a six-member
majority. That's a big
change from now, where
the party of the governor in
power has the majority of
members on both the state
BOE, and the local county
BOEs.
And Cooper won't be
able to make appointments
to the trustee boards of
UNC System schools. The
GOP-led legislature
already controls appoint
ments to the UNC Board of
Governors, and will control
the trustee picks as well.
"...[Y]ou will see the
General Assembly look to
reassert its constitutional
authority in areas that may
have been previously dele
gated to the executive
branch," declared Rep.
David Lewis (R
Cumberland) to reporters
last week.
Former adviser
Courtney Crowder had to
deal with a recalcitrant
GOP legislature during
Gov. Beverly Perdue's last
two years in office. He says
while it's true the next
Democrat governor has
been wounded, Cooper can
still work with what he has
left, in addition to using his
statewide bully pulpit to
push his vision for more -
employment, a better econ
omy, more investments in
public education and a fair
er North Carolina.
And with the 2017 spe
cial elections coming up,
Gov. Cooper could excite
voters, and especially
African-Americans, to
make a change in the legis
lature.
"This is a fight he's
going to have to take on to
achieve those goals that
people are expecting of
him " said Crowder.
! i i | \$--W mow vy low jluc*
Tracy Parmon Ingram holds a sign for the street named after ^ mother as
(from left) Rep. Alma Adams, City Council Member DJ). Adams, Mayor Allen
Joines and Morticia Parmon look on.
n i???i african. nnccino comnensation forM
rarmon
from page A I
both her and the city. City
Council Member Derwin
Montgomery said she
never stopped being a
champion for the people of
Winston-Salem.
"There will always be a
legacy of Ear line Parmon
in this community, and that
is one person who lived her
life as a bridge builder
because today there are
still people who are walk
ing across the bridges that
she built," said
Montgomery.
Parmon was a long
time activist and politician
who helped mentor a gen
crauuu ui iuvoi ruuvw.
American leaders. She
served 12 years as a
Forsyth County commis
sioner beginning in 1990.
In 2002, she was elected to
represent District 72 in the
N.C. House of
Representatives. She
became the first black sen
ator from Forsyth County
when she was elected to
the N.C. Senate in 2012.
Parmon was also an
educator and school princi
pal who founded the now
defunct LIFT Academy
and was an associate min
ister at Exodus United
Baptist Church.
Among her major
accomplishments in the
General Assembly were
victims of the state's
eugenics sterilization pro
gram and the Racial Justice
Act, which let those on
death row appeal for a less
er sentence if they believe
race was involved in their
sentencing. The RJA was
later repealed by the
Republic an-majority
General Assembly.
Joines said the portion
of Maple that was renamed
will be extended to go far
ther east down the street.
There was previously an
honorary sign at the corner
of Bates Drive and Carver
School Road dedicating it
as "Honorary Earline
Parmon Drive."
NAACP
from page A]
any institution and the pub
lic's hope for rational gov
ernment just to keep a
political advantage," said
Bob Hall, executive direc
tor of Democracy North
Carolina, a nonpartisan
public policy group.
"This is majority rule.
We have elections.
Elections have conse
quences," Rep. Nelson
Dollar [R-Wake] told
members during
Thursday's special session.
Outgoing Republican
Gov. Pat McCrory signed
HB 17, which weakens
Gov. Cooper once he takes
office, into law Monday
evening.
Angry Democrats
called what the GOP did
nothing short of a "power
grab."
"This has been a year
of ineffective and reckless
governing," state Senate
Minority Leader Dan Blue
[D-Wake] said on behalf of
the Senate Democratic
Caucus on Monday. "We
have wasted thousands of
dollars on divisive legisla
tion that has created a larg
er wedge between parties
and between the people."
On the state House
side, Minority Leader
Larry Hall (D-Durham),
called what happened a
"disgrace."
"Let's be 100 percent
clear - the N.C. GOP lost
the governor's race, and
they lost the recount," Rep.
Hall said. "Now they want
to steal the election after
the fact. It's a disgrace."
State Rep. Cecil
Brockman [D-Guilford]
also expressed outrage.
"Last week we saw the
ridiculous new lows the
Republicans at the General
Assembly will stoop to in
order to cling to power.
This surprise session,
meant to undermine the
authority of Governor
elect Roy Cooper, was an
assault on democracy and
an insult to voters. I strong
ly oppose this partisan
power grab and will con
tinue to support the voice
of the people," Rep.
Brockman said.
N.C NAACP President
Rev. Barber reminds all
that since the GOP majori
ty in the legislature came
into power in 2011, they've
had many of their laws
overturned 13 times in*
court, and he expects no
less once they're sued
again.
"We're going to fight
this with everything we
have," promised Barber.
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