2A
THE NEWS-JOURNAL
Raeford, N.C.
August 4, 2010
Viewpoints
Lentz helped others, passed the test
While he left us early, Bill
Lentz had a life well lived. Bill
and Betty were high school
students of mine. They were
two fine young people. At the
memorial service many of Bill’s
friends talked about his golf
and his sense of humor. In all
the high school students I had
over the years Bill was the one
I thought could have made it on
the PGA tour. He had an even
temper, never got upset over a
shot gone astray, and he enjoyed
playing with anyone who loved
the game, although they didn’t
have a chance of winning. Bill
chose a different route for his
life’s work and he was a suc
cessful businessman; however.
Bill did not judge his life by the
amount of money he made. He
judged it by the contribution
he made to his fellow human
beings and those he influenced.
There is no greater legacy than
a life devoted to helping oth
ers; Bill met the test. We shall
all miss our friend, but we can
take comfort in knowing that
the One in charge of all of us
said, “Well done, thy good and
faithful servant.”
A View
from the
Country
Raz Autry
All churches are having a
hard time meeting their budgets;
people simply do not have a lot
of money. We can see that at our
peach orchard. On the upbeat
side of the issue I truly think
people who attend church give
what they feel they can afford.
Unfortunately, that never seems
to be enough as far as those in
charge see it.
Ireni and I joined the Meth
odist church 57 years ago. The
bishops moved the ministers
every four years. If a church
had a minister they loved, they
only kept him four years; if one
wasn’t the congregation’s fa
vorite minister, they still loved
him for four years. When we
got new bishops, we began to
change that practice.
Some of our ministers stayed
put for years; however, bishops
come and go, and the one we
have now is not one of my
favorite, which doesn’t mean
he will not sleep good tonight
because of my opinion. He is not
a realist. Just because he orders
the district’s superintendents to
obey his instructions doesn’t
mean the congregations are go
ing to obey them. As Christians
we are responsible for our own
deeds - the bishop or anyone
else is not the go-between
for our God and us. Politics
are politics and they are as
prevalent in the church as they
are in all parts of society. The
present bishop didn’t get his
position because he was the
best candidate. I know several
pastors who would take a more
sensible approach than he does
with congregations. He got ap
pointed because he was a better
politician. That, for those who
disagree, is how it is done.
My parting thought: In class
the teacher was trying to get the
students to think. She asked if
the pilgrims were alive today
what would they be famous
for. One little smart aleck said,
“Their age.”
We Get Letters
Lost warm,
fuzzy feeling
Our home was burglarized
on July 14. We have now, after
living in this county over seven
years and never a problem, had
to put in a security system and
chains and locks on our gate.
Today I talked to the sheriff’s
department to see what leads
they had or if the fingerprints
they dusted came back. I was
told that they had attempted
to lift the prints but for some
reason they were no good. I’m
not a detective but I’m angry at
myself for not taking a picture
of the prints because they sure
looked pretty clear to me! The
footprint on our back door
was also very clear (about a
size 121). As I sit here today
thinking about my conversation
with the detective, I am very
disturbed. He said they had 20
break-ins over the weekend?
About two out of every 10
cases gets solved? Does any
of this info bother any other
Hoke residents? Is there any
preventive action going on in
Hoke County? I, myself, do not
have a “warm, fuzzy feeling”
anymore!
Dorothy Patton
Lumber Bridge
Letters policy
The News-Journalwelcomes
letters to the editor and encour
ages readers to express their
opinions.
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limit the number of times an
individual writer may submit
a letter for publication.
Time to plan well for affordable housing
By Anne Ehlers
The shadow of the housing
crisis is still looming large
over North Carolina. With
next year’s foreclosure starts
projected at above 70,000 and
more than two million North
Carolinians still lacking quality,
affordable housing, the chal
lenge seems insurmountable at
times. But, while challenges test
our collective spirit, they often
inspire innovative and progres
sive solutions.
Witness the recent decisions
of the state legislature to extend
and expand our state’s Foreclo
sure Prevention Program, add
greater protections for hom
eowners and homebuyers against
predatory real estate practices,
and create a statewide Sustain
able Communities Task Force
to promote connections between
affordable housing, transporta
tion, and economic development.
In the same fashion, local
municipalities are finding that
the time is ripe to address the
issue of affordable housing
and the concept of providing
a range of affordable choices
throughout their counties. In
Raleigh, the city is revamping
its development code and has
put together a group of local
experts and stakeholders to
investigate ways to provide
incentives for developing af
fordable and mixed-income
housing. In Charlotte, after re
cent heated community battles
over proposed affordable hous
ing developments, city leaders
are working to rewrite the city’s
“locational” policy that guides
where assisted multifamily
housing can be built.
While it is heartening to see
affordable housing taking a
higher profile in the public and
political consciousness, there
remains a great need for local
leaders to be bold in their deci
sion-making. It is not enough to
create policies that dictate only
the location for certain types
of affordable housing, as with
Charlotte’s locational policy.
Leaders need to look at the issue
of housing policy holistically
and as part of a greater eco
nomic development strategy.
They need to create policies
that promote the development
of quality housing choices in
areas where they are needed -
near transit, jobs, and in areas
where little affordable housing
is available or few safe, quality
housing choices exist. Hous
ing is inextricably connected
with a community’s economic
wellbeing, its public health,
the welfare of its schools, its
environmental impact, and its
overall social harmony.
There is little reason to
avoid affordable housing de
velopments and every reason to
support, encourage and invest
in their growth. The days of
unattractive, obvious develop
ments are long gone. The issue
of appearance is irrelevant as
today’s affordable housing is
thoughtfully designed to com
plement the existing commu
nity. Developers and property
managers have set the highest
standards for tenant screening
and maintenance and research
shows these developments
have little to no effect on home
values. Residents of affordable
housing include seniors living
on social security, persons with
disabilities, teachers, police
officers, nursing assistants
and young professionals just
starting out.
Indeed, such developments
have proven to be significant
assets in community redevel
opment. Investing millions
Editorial Deadlines
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Computer consolidation might stUl be problem
By Scott Mooneyham
Capitol Press Association
Earlier this month. Gov.
Beverly Perdue sent a memo
around to state agency heads
urging their cooperation with
an effort to consolidate state
computer networks.
“The goal is to move ag
gressively toward an improved
IT (information technology)
infrastructure that will lower
costs, reduce complexity and
redundancy, improve the utili
zation of resources and increase
security,” Perdue wrote.
She also wants to create a
one-stop website for residents
and businesses conducting busi
ness with the state, a sort of port
of entry for anyone conducting
Internet transactions with the
of dollars in new, attractive
and well-maintained develop
ments entices other businesses
and organizations to put down
roots in the community as well.
And, much like the domino
effect, the community begins
to thrive. When affordable
housing is utilized as part of
a comprehensive community
development strategy, it helps to
provide stability and economic
opportunity for all.
For these and other reasons,
policy makers should consider
several strategies that stimu
late development of afford
able housing - especially in
expensive, high-growth areas.
One option is for counties to
purchase additional land when
buying space for new schools
and then sell it to developers
for affordable rental housing.
Another option is to utilize a
transit-oriented development
strategy and require affordable
housing to be built in proxim
ity to transit stations. Finally,
providing subsidies to assist
in purchasing land in more
expensive areas will help make
financing with existing subsidy
sources possible.
The bottom line: All North
Carolinians (regardless of
status or income) deserve a
safe, affordable place to lay
their heads at night. Happily,
well-developed, comprehensive
locational policies ensure that
affordable housing is an asset
to its community, provides
economic opportunity to its
residents and gives people the
choice about where they live.
All that we lack is the political
will to make this “win-win”
solution reality on a large scale.
Anne Ehlers is the Develop
ment and Communications Co
ordinator at the North Carolina
Housing Coalition.
state.
Perdue’s plan is laudable.
But she’s wading into waters
where the state hasn’t enjoyed
a lot of success.
The governor’s description
of her goal could have easily
been taken from former State
Controller Robert Powell when,
in 2008, he launched a new pay
roll and personnel computing
system called BEACON.
The effort was beset with
problems, both of and not of
its doing.
Even before the new system
was put in place, some agen
cies opted out, a move that the
Easley administration allowed.
BEACON hadn’t been up
and operating for long before
thousands of state employees
were phoning into a call center
to complain that they’d been
shorted on their paychecks.
Hundreds more complained to
the state workers’ union, the
State Employees Association
of North Carolina. Workers
from Dorothea Dix psychiatric
hospital became so upset that
they were nearly arrested while
demanding to see the state’s top
healthcare brass.
In some cases, the system
made mistakes computing pay;
in others, agencies hadn’t been
following state rules in tallying
overtime. When the new system
uniformly enforced those rules.
some workers weren’t happy.
As problems began to sub
side, a glitch caused errors to
show up on state workers’ IRS
W-2 forms. The state had to
reprint W-2s for 17 percent of
the state workforce whose pay
was overseen by the system.
But transition to the BEA
CON payroll system was
relatively smooth compared to
some other, earlier IT disasters
in state government.
The public schools’ NC
WISE student information
system was still beset with bugs
and delays eight years after
the installation began. It never
really lived up to its promise.
When the state decided to
go with a new Medicaid claims
processing vendor, the largest
information technology con
tract in state history became
bogged down with delays and
contract disputes. The state
eventually fired the new vendor
and started anew.
The problem with informa
tion technology contracting in
state government is twofold.
Over the years, state agen
cies grew their own information
technology operations. Then
they looked to protect that turf.
The creation of the state Of
fice of Information Technology
Services was one attempt to
get around the turf protection.
Perhaps Perdue’s effort will
further undo it.
But she may find herself
running into the other problem
when government does IT.
State workers overseeing
the projects often don’t have
the same level of expertise as
the vendors they hire. With the
uneven tilt, the state can be
shortchanged.
Fuacjme.
The News-Journal
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