Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Nov. 2, 1978, edition 1 / Page 2
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émois t connu ί| A New Blend For Quality by Bill Johnson Editor-Publisher Once again we are approaching the time when responsible concern ed citizens should cast their votes for the candidates they think will give us greater quality in public service. Assuring this quality will require that we look to the Dast as one means of projecting what these candiates may do inThëTufiirè, that is, how effective they will be as public : servants of the people. j The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners, caught-up in dis cord, chaos and personal hostilities over the past two years, is in need of some change in order to restore the quality needed for effective leader ship and public service. To fill four of the five seats on the Commission, we recommend incum bents ELIZABETH G. HAIR (D), ROBERT L. WALTON (D), and newcomers TOM RAY (D) and SAM SMITH (R). Mrs. Hair has demonstrated effec tive and compassionate leadership during three terms on the Commis sion. She is à committed public servant, who, with her willingness to listen, a vast knowledge of county problems, and the ability to find ——lî*:— · »—- - - %|mm«u4V0 uvi ivi α luurui term on the Commission, Whatever weakness she may have far out weighed by her strengths and pro fessional abilities. Wahon Shone Courage Robert "Bob" Walton, an incum bent has shown courage in not backing away from controversial issues or unpopular causée. His abrasivenees, candor and some times heated debates with fellow Commissionere may have some, but when viewed within the perspective of the issues at hand, they added to the effectiveness of the debates for solutions to problems. Walton has a depth of knowledge ÔI county problems, htf eemmahicates well with the citizenry and witf return to the Commission a business and public point of view unequaled by others. t : Tom Ray, a lawyer and long-time Apolitical activist, is making his first •bid for public office. He is consider !ed to be a political conservative. ••However, he has clearly demons tre ated that he's a man of social concern ;as evidenced by his six years of fquality service as a member of the jCharlotte Housing Authority. Ray :will take to the Commission, a •mature mind and a willingness to •serve faithfully. : Sam Smith, a businessman, was active in Mayor Ken Harris' election campaign and was a major force in the successful effort leading to district representation with the city Council. These activities clearly demonstrate Smith's commitment to public service by virture of fact that he is not a resident of the city that has benefitted by his labors. He has a suprisingly indepth know ledge of county problems, is articu late, knowledgeable and will, along with Tom Ray, be a welcomed blend into a revitalized County Commis sion. The lackluster interest in legisla tive service is evident by the fact that only five people offered them selves in the Democrat primary for the four Senate seats representing Mecklenburg and Cabarrus coun ties. These seats in turn will be filled by four lackluster candidates since none have outstanding legislative accomplishments and all are com paratively low key campaigners. For the four State Senate seats, we recommend incumbents FRED ALEXANDER (D), CRAIG LAW ING (D), CAROLYN MATHIS (D), and newcomer CECIL JENKINS (D). The single independent candi date, Jim McDuffie, ranks a distant fifth behind our choices and the lone Republican candidate, Thomas Ghent, shows little knowledge of governmental operations or the poli tical process. in tùe state House race Mecklen burg voters have a better chance to send some people of quality to Raleigh in selecting eight office holders from among 12 candidates. For seven of these eight House seats, we recommend incumbents PARKS HELMS (D), BEN TISON (D), MARYILYN BISSELL (R), LOUISE BRENNON (D). RUTH EASTERLING (D), GUS ECONO MOS (D), and newcomer PARKS TODD (D). Walls For Sheriff For sheriff of Mecklenburg Coun ty, we recommend JOHN KELLY WALL for two reasons. His 21 years of service in the county police department, retiring as a caDtain. should make him adequately able to assume the sheriffs duties. Second vendee that sheriff Stahl has gone through over the past four years. Our other recommendations are: -9th Congressional District, JIM MARTIN (R) -Appeals Court Judge, RICHARD C. IRWIN (D) -District Court Judge, JAMES E. LANNING (D) -District Attorney, PETER GILCH RIST (D) -Clerk of Superior Court, MAX BLACKBURN (D) Finally, the POST supports the bond issues for parks and recreatio nal facilities, CPCC, water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Voter, it's up to you to think, analyze, then vote your conviction on these and other candi dates and issues. Your vote does count in making government whatever it is or may be-Vote on Nov. 7. THE CHARLOTTE FOOT "THE PEOPLES NEWSPAPER" Established 1918 Published Every Thursday By The Charlotte Poet Publishing Co., Inc. 1524 West Blvd.-Charlotte. N.C. 28208 Telephones (704)378-0498-376-0497 Circulation, 9,915 βΟ YEARS OF CONTINUOUS SERVICE BILL JOHNSON... Editor Publisher BERNARD REEVES.. General Manager v SHIRLEY HARVEY... Advertising Director \ EDISON SEARLES.. Circ"'«tlon Director Second Class Postage No. 985900 Paid Af : Charlotte, N.C. under the Act of March 3,1878 Member National Newspaper Publishers Association North Carolina Black Publishers Association " Deadline for all news copy and photos is 5 p.m. a Monday. All photos and copy submitted becomes 5lhe property of the POST, and will not be returned. I National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc. =45 W. 5th Suite 1403 2400 S. Michigan Ave. INew York, N Y. 10036 Chicago, 111. 60616 (212) 489-1220 Calumet 5-0200 Our New Day Begun The NAACP Needs Funds by Benjamin L. Hooks Special To The Poet - When « group of Port Gib eon, Misa , merchant* won a masaive 11.25 million judg ment against the NAACP just over two years ago, Ameri cans rallied to save the dvll right» organisation from cer tain bankruptcy. Within a few months, NAACP branches, black churches, fraternal and social organisations provided the bulk of 91.· million that was needed under Mississippi law to post a cash band against the judgment. Although a federal district court reduced the bonding requirements considerably before the year's end, we still had to set aside more than ll million in certificates of depo sits to cover the judgment in case the NAACP loees the caae on appeal. While staving off these and other a tucks, th NAACP was continuing its regular civil rights programs Indeed, the obstacles to equality and the economic well-being for every black person are often greater than in previous year* Black Americans have certainly won numerous victories since the sixties But the harsh reality is that NAACP Executive Director opposition to prop— BM become more entrenched and elusive In many areaa. Black people now have lawa to pro tect their righta to vote, to live anywhere they wlah, to travel In the front of the bua and atay at any hotel In America. Thaaa righta are all guaranteed by law. Not aaaured, however, haa been their ability to pay for the enjoyment of many of theee righta. Nevertheleaa, attacka on af firmative action and school desegregation have been more extenalve and intense. More blacks are now out of work than ever before in the nat ion's history. The resurgence of the Klu Khn Klan is weU documented. The national mood to excessively conserva tive and certainly not suppor tive of programs for the poor and oppress»d. To develop the required strategies for this new phase of the struggle, the NAACP has had to expand its dimen sion and programs. We now have, in addition to education, labor, housing and voter regis tration programs, depart ments for church work and communication· A. depart ment of economic develop ment will soon be established. Also, our present staff has been actively developing and conducting programs on Afri ca. We have not only had to hire new people, but also to rent more office space. Still, as every black man, woman and child knows, our programs are hardly enough to meet the task The NAACP, however, U blessed with a dedicated staff which routinely contributes hundreds of man hours beyond their salaried requirements The staff provides the indis pensable support to our volun teer workers in 1,700 branches around the nstion. This work end expansion have been costly. As a result of the overwhelming support, we received during the Missi ssippi crisis, the NAACP was able to end 1977 111 the black, the first in about 13 year·. Aa Roy Wllklns, Walter White, James Weldon Johnson and all the other NAACP leaders knew, civil rights is a hand-to mouth endeavor. We have never had enough money to conduct the struggle the way it r i- · should be dooe. Mississippi, however, taught us that Black Ameri cana will support their organi zation whan Ua survival is at •take. TMs is again the chal lenge we now face. At the end of August, the NAACP was $900,000 in the red. Our other arm, the NAACP Special Contributions Fund, had a deficit of $380,000, for a combined total of $680,000. In snort, the Ν A ACT is an a serious financial cri» is. We are therefore appealing to every American who sup ports our goals to make t prompt financial contributioi to the NAACP. They migh send their contributions U 1790 Broadway, New York N.Y., 10091, or take out c NAACP membership witt your local branch. I>M HUM i · ! "Air Pollution b Major Health Problem" « 1— ■·-«— -J. - ·- -—— ··-- - - * MM «Mi·· ι Τ*Ι*ν » VU1IVIIU/ seeking ■ fourth term M Mecklenburg County Commis sioner, appeared on the Citi zen· Air Quality Commission Panel lest weak at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Char lotte describing air pollution in Mecklenburg County. Accor ding to Mrs. Hair, Mecklen burg County is a "Noo-Attain ment Area" because we don't meet minimum EPA stand ards for clean air. "Air pollution is a major health problem in Mecklen burg with the major pollutants being created by auto exhaust," she said. Mrs. Hair is concerned with the particu lar impact which pollution has on "small children and the «on-qr. "We arc being required to meet Federal Standard· by 1980 for clean air. At the present tint·, Environment Health is monitoring air quali ty and enforcing regulations concerning stationary sources of pollutants. If these and other efforts are not effective, the Federal Government will require inspection and maint enance programs for motor vehicles by 1962," she stated. According to Mrs. Hair, "It is impeistive thst people in Mecklenburg County under stand thx: air problems exist and work together tu combat them by voluntary measures to reduce *uu> emission such aa broader use of car pools ana public transportation." A* a County Commluloner and concerned citiien, Mr·. Hair Mid that she would cont inue to make a plea for public lupport by the ciUiem for effort* to help reduce pollution in one of the tnoat livable * HE HAVE BEEN AWAKENED TO JUSTICE BY THE SOUND OF SONGS AND SERMONS, SPEECHES AND PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS. BUT THE NOISELESS, SECRET VOTE WILL THUNDER FORTH A HUNDRED ONES MORE LOUDLY. ' #wjwewr jomhsoh vOvNVL Something Blacks Can Do For Themselves^.V ote Oar Defeatist Congress Kit Daaiaul Special To The Poet Throughout my career, I have been patted on the back innumerable times and smil ingly told that half a loaf is better than nothing. In most cases, the "Half loaf' repre sented a weak, disappointing compromise, but always something of substance, al ways something to build on in the future. Using that old cliche, many Congressional leaders have told us that working people, minorities, and the poor rec eived at least a "half loaf' from the 95th Congress. But an honest examination of the rec ord suggests a basic revision of the old analogy. Instead of a "half loaf' we received little more than a few crumbs. Some critics will surely ac cuse m« of undue bitterness, j^theafct^ 1 thinkj^more sheetofCwvressional actions I found it difficult to identify more than three moderately significant victories. Setbacks and stalemates, however, be came so numerous that I stopped jotting them down. Looking at the lists, my con clusion was easy: While we received crumbs, someone especially business interests-1 walked out of Congress with "nearly a full loaf." Interestingly enough, all our legislative gains came in cost free areas. For instance, the ransacked version of the Hum phrey-Hawkins Full Employ ment BUl-a proposal which Hubert Humphrey would barely recognize as his-will cost the government nothing. Likewise, full congressional representation for the District of Columbia, and the extens ion of the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amend ment involve no new expendi tures. Yet even for these basically symbolic, no-cost innuunst, we (mu ιο iigni bitterly. While we battled for new advances, our energies were frequently diverted to defen sive actions. Here, 1 believe, we did rather well. For exam ple, we halted the forward advance of the highly dange rous and simplistic Kemp Roth tax bill, a piece of legislation which would cause chaos in the public sector while further shifting the tax burden from the rich to low and middle-income groups. Energy legislation, specifi cally the question of gas dere gulation, serves as another example of political stale mate. While the bill adopted by Congress has serious defic iencies, It does, nevertheless, offer some minimal protection for energy consumers. The on the poor. And even more important, the energy pack age offers a faint glimmer of hope f6r the future develop ment of a comprehensive and fair energy program. Our defeats, I fear, heavily outweigh our victories. In the area of public service Jobs, for instance, revisions and cuts in the Comprehensive Employ ment and Training Act have eliminated approximately 100,000 CETA slots. To make matters worse, Congress approved an unnecessary and shocking amendment lower ing the already stingy wages paid to CETA workers. As Congress busied itself with various measures to tigh ten up services and income to the poor and Jobless, it adop ted a tax bill which provides new and broader loopholes for the rich, especially those who thrive on unearned capital gains income. As a result, the old aphorism about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, nas sadly gained renewal validity. Congress handed us other defeats as well. We also lost on key issues like labor law re form, consumer protection, hospital cost containment, and public financing of elections. We abandoned proposals like national health insurance, equitable tax reform and fair import controls. And we were compelled to accept a serious ly diluted version of our mini mum wage proposal. In short, we achieved painfully little, and frequently at enormous costs. How, then, does one account for all these stinging defeats and miserable disappoint ments, especially when Con gress includes so many avow ed friands of minorities and »î LAJH âBLXi MIT éd that rCon&&s ïiTsfiaW responding to a resurgence of "social meanness" through out the country. Americans, he asserts, no longer care about the unemployed, the poor, and the "welfare cases" of society.' As attractive as this "social meanness" analysis might seem, it is, I believe, funda mentally flawed. As I see it, we are not dealing with mean spirited people who enjoy kicking blacks, and stealing from the poor. And even if we were, there is no sure cure tor meanness. Instead our political prob lems arise more from a deep and pervasive sense of social defeatism rather than simple minded meanness. As evid ence of this, I point to several studies indicating that many people who support massive tax cuts, and a contracting public sector, vigorously sup port full employment, improv ed education, and assistance for the Door. .DJ TO BE EQUAL National Health Plan Debated With health costs skyrocketing and large numbers of people outside the makeshift private and federal health insurance programs, a debate over a national health program is under way. The Administration announced a set of princi ples designed to lead to a more detailed plan, but those principles have led to strong criticisms. The principles are vague. And since they call for , a national health plan to be phased in a step at a time, they invite Congressional distortion and dilution. The only workable national health plan is one that ic iiniuorcfll anH enmnrphonsiup F.UPrv citizen should be covered for complete health care services, and everyone should have equal access to such services. A step in the right direction is embodied in Senator Edward Kennedy's proposal for a National Health Insurance Act. ' ·« It satisfies the requirements that a workable national Health plan have universal and manda tory coverage, comprehensive benefits, quality cane for all, and accessibility built-incost control features, an essential element of any health programinthis most inflationary of all sectors of our economy. ~ Another key element is the involvement of the private sect-people would be insured by private insurers operating under federal regula tion and oversight. The Kennedy plan represents a reasonable compromise between those who would make only minor changes in the present system and those who support a sweeping reform of the entire system that would do away with fee-for service medicine. It is likely the most advanced proposal that could be passed today, given the political realities. The present health care system is a mess. Those who can afford quality care can usually buy it. But for those who are not affluent or whose work-related insurance coverage is less than adequate, health care is inferior. The urban and rural poor are largely outside the health care system, except for Medicare and Medicaid. M « national health system. Critics cite their flaws, and stress their escalating costs. But in my view, with all their faults, they provide evidence that federal intervention in the health care system is advisable. Before those programs, poor people were lartzelv cut off from health care Rv 1074 thniiah poor people were reported to be utilizing physician services slightly more than the rest of the population. Because of Medicare and Medi caid, health care has improved for the poor, the elderly, and minorities. Despite their importance, Medicare and Medi caid represent a two-tier health care system. They are for the poor; the rest of the popular enjoys health care that preserves individual dignity and is less liable to be exploited by unscrupulous practitioners. The private health insurance industry has done much to relieve the financial burdens of illness, but it too has numerous flaws, and it is unavailable to large portions of the population. Since so much insurance is work-related, through unions or employers, job losses such as we saw in the recession lead to major crises in koolfk nflM nn\rof>orfa
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 2, 1978, edition 1
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