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March leaders
issue call for
‘resistance’
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE
With the theme,
‘Taking Resistance to the
Ballot Box,” the 12th
Annual Moral
March/Historic Thousands
on Jones Street People’s
Assembly (Moral
March/HK On J People's
Assembly) in Raleigh on
Feb. 10 attracted thousands
of demonstrators from
across the state despite
heavy rains. With protest
signs castigating every
thing from the Trump
Administration, to North
Carolina’s legislative
Republican leadership, the
extraordinarily diverse
crowd of young, old, black,
white, Hispanic, straight,
gay and others, marched
through downtown Raleigh
from Shaw University to
just outside the state
Capital.
There they heard from
a plethora of speakers, rep
resenting the unique coali
tions involved, all implor
ing those gathered to make
sure their voices, and
votes, are heard come
November for the midterm
election.
Bishop Dr. William
Barber, the former presi
dent of the N C.NAACP,
spoke to those gathered by
phone, urging them to
indeed turn out the vote,
regardless of whatever bar
See March on A6
Photo courtesy of Phil Fonville
Rev. Dr. TVAnthony Spearman, president of the N.C. NAACP, speaks Feb. 10.
Candidate filings begin but court battles confuse
BY CASH MICHAELS
FOR THE CHRONICLE
From now until noon
Feb. 28, candidates for all
state offices, except judge
ships, will be filing for the
2018 May 8 midterm pri
maries. Filing began
Monday without a hitch,
though at the end of last
week, observers were con
cerned that another unex
pected court order could
possibly delay the process.
Indeed, on Friday, Feb.
9, the Fourth Circuit U.S.
Court of Appeals issued an
order that candidates for
the N.C. Supreme Court
and state Court of Appeals
could not file for the May 8
judicial primaries because
they will not be held.
Instead, those candidates
Will file during a special
judicial filing period June
18-29.
That order stayed an
original ruling by a federal
judge, who ordered primar
ies for state Supreme and
appellate court candidates,
but not for district and
superior court candidates.
The Republican-led
N.C. legislature last year
passed a law eliminating
the 2018 judicial primaries
CAMPAIGN
Local candidates file for
election. See Page A6.
for all judicial candidates
because of judicial redis
tricting, but Democrats
successfully challenged
that law. The federal judge
reinstated the judicial pri
maries for the state judicial
races, but not for district
and superior court races.
Now, that’s to the Fourth
Circuit appellate court,
there will be no May judi
cial primaries, and the spe
cial June filing period will
go forward, unless a court
stops that as well.
The legal back-and
forth have state Republican
legislative leaders seeing
red.
Thus far a three-judge
federal panel has had
Republican 2011 legisla
tive redistricting maps
redrawn twice, finally rul
ing that the maps drawn by
a court-ordered special
master be used for the 2018
elections. Republicans suc
cessfully petitioned the
U.S. Supreme Court, in
part, to stay that order for
Wake and Mecklenburg
counties alone, pending
review.
Republicans also were
successful in getting an
order by another three
judge panel striking down
their 2016 partisan con
gressional maps, stayed by
the U.S. high court. That
stay is pending review of
two other partisan gerry
mandering cases the U.S.
Supreme Court is consider
ing elsewhere in the nation.
And just this week, a
three-judge state panel
refused to take up the issue
of Wake and Mecklenburg
counties being blocked by
the U.S. Supreme Court in
the legislative redistricting
case involving the special
master. The judicial panel
cited, significant prac
See Candidates on A6
Commissioners to discuss social services,
health department consolidation
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
During a tumultuous time at the
Department of Social Services, Forsyth
county commissioners will be discussing
the possibility of consolidating it with the
Health Department.
•V
WINSTON SALEM. NC 27101-2755 60
The county com
missioned a study
last year by Cansler
Collaborative
Resources to look
into consolidating
the two departments,
an option given to
counties by a 2012
state law. The com
missioners heard a
presentation on its nt
options in December
and plan to discuss
them during a winter
work session on Feb. 22 that starts at 9
a.m. in the Forsyth County Library audito
rium. Former N.C. Health Secretary
Lanier Cansler, who owns the Cansler
firm, is expected to make a presentation
followed by a discussion by the commis
sioners. There is no voting during winter
work sessions, but commissioners may
give staff directives there that could result
in an item they’ll vote on later.
Currently both of these large depart
ments have their own boards, which hire
their department directors. Consolidation
mainly involves who runs the departments,
which would involve eliminating or com
bining the boards. Cansler’s study recom
mended that if the county consolidated,
that it use an option that involves a com
bined board of human services with a
human services director, which the county
manager would hire with the board’s
advice and consent. The board would have
similar positions to the current health
board, but with new required positions for
its DSS half, such as social services clients
and their family members. The State
Human
Resources Act,
which employees
of both depart
ments are under,
would be option
al.
County
Commissioner
and DSS Board
Chair Fleming
El-Amin said that
he’s reviewed the
information in
Cansler’s report,
but was still undecided on consolidation.
He said he’s heard success stories from
counties that have done it, but others have
had problems consolidating. He said he
wants what’s best for those that the depart
El-Amin
ments serve.
“I want to make sure it fits our needs,”
El-Amin said about any possible changes
to the departments.
In an unrelated matter, the DSS Board
voted to fixe the department’s director,
Debra Donahue, on Thursday, Feb. 8. In
early January, DSS employees were
informed Donahue would be absent as
Deputy County Manger Ronda Tatum
acted as interim Social Services director.
County Human Resources Director
Shontell Robinson said the county
couldn’t comment on Donahue’s situation
since then due to state law, but that the let
ter of dismissal she was sent last week was
public record.
The letter said that she was terminated
due to “unacceptable personal conduct and
grossly inefficient job performance.” The
letter said that Donahue didn’t renew a
See Services on A6
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