High
NC
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE
As Republican lawmakers had hoped,
the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered a hold
on the redrawing of legislative maps, and
special elections this year, until it reviews
an appeal from the GOP of the original
federal court order.
A three-judge federal panel ruled sev
eral months ago that 28 of 170 voting dis
tricts drawn as part of the 2011 legislative
redistricting map were racially gerryman
dered, and determined they were unconsti
tutional. Shortly after the November 2016
general election, the judicial panel ordered
the North Carolina legislature to redraw
the maps by this March, and then hold
special primaries this August or early
September, followed by a special legisla
tive general election in November.
Democrats were pleased with the rul
ing, but Republican lawmakers balked,
asking the federal appellate court to keep
the current voting districts in place since
they were used for the recent general elec
tion. That request was turned down, but
before he left office, former Republican
Gov. Pat McCrory asked the US Supreme
Court to stay the appellate order, and it did
Tuesday afternoon.
“The application for stay of the order
of the United States District Court for the
Middle District of North Carolina entered
on November 29, 2016, presented to The
Chief Justice [John Roberts] and by him
referred to the Court is granted,” the High
Court decision read,"... ending the timely
filing of a statement as to jurisdiction.
Should such statement be timely filed, this
order shall remain in effect pending this
Court’s action on the appeal. If the judg
ment should be affirmed, or the appeal dis
missed, this stay shall expire automatical
ly. In the event jurisdiction is rioted or
postponed, this order will remain in effect
pending the sending down of the judgment
of this Court.”
In effect, the U.S. Supreme Court has
to decide whether to actually hear argu
ments in the case for the hold to remain.
The eight-member High Court is sched
uled to convene in conference next
Thursday on Jan. 19 to decide which cases
it will hear going forward. If it decides not
to hear the redistricting and special elec
tions case, the hold placed on it Tuesday
automatically expires, and the judicial
order is maintained for state lawmakers to
follow. . 1 .
While state Republican legislative
leaders like Rep. David Lewis (R-Hamett)
applauded the Supreme Court hold, the
Southern Coalition for Social Justice,
which represented plaintiffs in the case,
made clear this was perfunctory.
“Today’s action just puts everything
on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court
considers the appeal of whether the district
court was correct to order special elections
in 2017,” Anita Earls, SCSJ executive
director wrote. “On behalf of our clients,
we continue to trust that the district court s
ruling will be upheld and new districts
ultimately will be drawn that are not based
on race.”
"We are grateful the U.S. Supreme
Court has quashed judicial activism and
rejected an attempt to nullify the votes of
North Carolinians in the 2016 legislative
elections," House Speaker Tim Moore (R
Rockingham), and Senate President Pro
Temp Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), said
in a joint statement.
County is now considering mandatory recycling
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
When the county ended
its recycling collection
service for residents in
unincorporated areas of
Forsyth County, it resulted
in many calls from unhap
py former customers.
The county started
offering voluntary curbside
recycling service for a
monthly fee to unincorpo
rated residents in 2012.
Due to low participation
and a downturn in the com
modities market, recycling
contractors couldn’t pro
vide the service without a
loss.
After a second compa
ny decided not to renew its
contract, the county ended
the service on Jan. 1.
The county deregulated
the service in hopes that
private companies would
come in and negotiate with
housing developments in
incorporated areas to pro
vide recycling services.
This has not happened
yet, leaving 2,600 former
customers without the serv
Plyer
Barnette
Marshall
Commissioners’actions
During the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners meeting on Jan. 9, the commis
sioners voted unanimously to:
*Move forward with $21.8 million in two-thirds bonds for maintenance needs for Win
ston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, county parks and facilities, courthouse renovation
planning and Forsyth Technical Community College.
'Award a design-build contract for the new Kernersville Library from the 2010 library
bonds to Frank L. Blum Construction Company LLC and Steven Lloyd Architecture,
PLLC. •
'Renew a one year lease for the county’s parole, probation and community services of
fices at 8 West Third Street, with an option to leave earlier when space in the county’s
Public Safety Center is ready for them.
'Certify local budget support for Forsyth Tech’s first two projects from the 2016 bond
referendum: the renovation of the Oak Grove Center and the creation of an aviation
center at Smith Reynolds Airport.
ice.
“All the 150 plus peo
ple who have called are dis
appointed the service is
ending,” Minor Barnette,
director of Forsyth’s envi
ronmental assistance and
protection office, told com
missioners during a Jan. 5
briefing.
Barnette said that the
calls were 10 minutes on
average because residents
wanted to make sure the
county knew how impor
tant recycling is. Some said
they were willing to pay
more to see the service con
tinue.
Commissioner Gloria
Whisenhunt said some
were also upset because
they didn’t know the serv
ice was ending until their
collection bins were taken.
A notice about the serv
ice’s end was on the final
bill, but many costumers
didn’t read it.
Three companies have
expressed interest in get
ting permits to provide the
service, but only one,
North Davidson Garbage
Service, has indicated defi
nite plans to offer service,
which would be in the
southwest comer of the
county near Clemmons.
County commissioners
were concerned that if the
recyclables aren’t picked
up, residents may simply
throw them away, or worse,
resort to dumping, instead
of traveling to the county’s
three recycling centers to
properly recycle them.
“You’re going to fill up
the landfill with recy
clables if we don’t do
something,” said County
Commissioner Chair Dave
Plyler.
During the discussion,
Barrette said that if the
county made recycling col
lection a mandatory pro
gram, combined with
garbage service, he
believed he could find a
contractor interested in
servicing the 22,000 unin
corporated households and
negotiate the price down to
$16 or less per household.
The low cost intrigued
commissioners .
Commissioner Richard
Linville said he wasn’t
committing to support a
mandatory program, but it
was worth exploring for
that price. Plyler told
Barnette to explore the
mandatory option and
come back to the commis
sioners with a report.
Commissioners
Everette Witherspoon and
Walter Marshall were the
sole “no” votes on de-regu
lating recycling collection
last' year, because both
believe it should be a
mandatory service.
“There is no other solu
tion,” said Marshall.
City Council calls for more
diversity in historic landmarks
^jjj Adams
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
The approval of the lat
est local landmark prompt
ed some City Council
members to call for more
inclusion in the historic
program during the coun
Clark
cil’s latest meeting.
Last week, the council
unanimously approved a
local landmark designation
for a house originally
owned by John L. Gilmer
at 605 W. Cascade Aye. in
Washington Park. Gilmer
moved to Winston-Salem
in 1893 where he started or
helped develop a number
of businesses. The house,
now owned by Richard
Sickles, joins 133 other
local landmarks that are
eligible for a 50 percent
property tax deferral, but
now must maintain its his
toric character and any
changes to the property
will need approval from the
county’s Historic Resource
Commission, which is an
appointed citizen commit
tee.
“It is an important part
of the Washington Park
area, it is an important part
of the history of Winston
Salem,” said City Council
Member John Larson, who
represents the South Ward
where the house is at.
City Council Member
The historic Gilmer house in Washington Park is the city’s newest official historic landmark.
D.D. Adams voted for the
measure on Tuesday, Jan.
3, but used it as an opportu
nity to lament the lack Of
local African-American
landmarks.
“We don’t have much
of that left anymore,” said
Adams “When rehabilita
tion or Model Cities or
urban renewal came
through, most of our histo
ry was taken with it.”
Adams said there was
little left to denote the
prominent families that
shaped the city’s black
community. She said that
the city needs to work to
find a way preserve its
black history for future
generations.
Other council members
echoed those thoughts,
including Vivian Burke,
James Taylor and Jeff
Macintosh, who suggested
the house of the late
Winston-Salem State
University Basketball
Coach Clarence “Big
House” Gaines is a good
candidate for a landmark.
Taylor and Council
Member Robert Clark also
said they’d like to see a
more uniform standard that
requires a public benefit
from the landmark.
“We seem to have a lot
tery every now and then
and somebody wins,” said
Clark about the way land
marks are chosen.
The Gilmer house is
already included in tours of
Washington Park, which
Clark said led him to sup
port it as a landmark, as did
its importance as an
“anchor” for the neighbor
hood.
To become a local land
mark in Forsyth County, a
property should be at least
50 years old, have special
historical significance and
have a strong degree of its
original integrity intact.
Owners of the property
have to fill out an applica
tion, which costs $50,
which is reviewed by the
Historic Recourse
Commission and has to be
approved by the local gov
erning body, which for
Winston-Salem residents is
the City Council.
There are already sev
eral locally designated
African-American land
marks, including the house
and brickyard of George
Black, the Odd Fellows
Cemetery, and historic
black churches Lloyd
Presbyterian Church and
www.wschronicle.com
St. Paul United Methodist
Church in Kemersville.
Michelle McCullough,
historic resources officer,
said that while many
homes may qualify to
become a landmark, not
everyone wants to do so
because of the costs of
using historically accurate
materials and restrictions it
puts on upkeep of the
building. The local land
mark designation is a per
manent one, so future own
ers of the property have to
abide by it and each proper
ty owner’s would have to
apply for the tax break. In
the case of thie Gilmer
house, Sickles’ son Morgan
told the city council his
father was interested in
making sure the house was
preserved after he’s gone
and not in the tax credit.
The landmark program
Larson
is separate from the
National Register of Deeds,
which the Washington Park
neighborhood is already
on. It also different from
the state’s historic tax cred
it, which gives historic
properties tax credit on a
percentage of their restora
tion costs. It’s also separate
from the Historic Resource
Commission’s Historic
Marker Program, which is
often used to denote his
toric places that no longer
exist like 14th Street
Elementary School, a his
toric African- American
school that once stood on
the comer of 14th Street
and Cameron Avenue
that’ll be getting a marker
later this year.
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest
H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing
Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, N.C.
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