What Issues Are Important to You?

Greer wants to know what you think on the issues of the day. She's LISTENING. Post your comments here.

Comments

[Lou Dohme]

In no particular order, these are the issues that have been on my mind lately.

1. Health Care. As the number of uninsured continues to rise, our elected leaders should be exploring ways to provide coverage to more (or all) of our residents.

2. Jobs. Tobacco money is gone. Textiles and furniture jobs are disappearing fast. North Carolina needs to find some new solutions that will provide stable, safe, clean industries that will help provide employment security for North Carolinians.

3. Education. Wake County has a great school system, all things considered. But that can't be said about large parts of the rest of the state. We shouldn't need a court order to remedy this inequity. We also must address the trend away from schools integrated by race and by income. The trend toward resegregation is alarming.

4. Food Safety. As a chef, I am very concerned about the safety of the food supply. As an example, I do not believe that we must accept pandemic salmonella infection of poultry flocks as normal or inescapable. I would also like to see a certification regimen for organics that has teeth and does not favor unfairly the big agri-conglomerates.

[Andrew G. Silver]

In the next few years crucial decisions about energy consumption, relating to transportation, home building, and electricity generation, will need to be made. Our civilization may continue its death march toward resource wars, resource depletion and global warnming, or it can turn toward sustainable alternatives as proposed by the Rocky Mountain Institute, NC WARN, and many others. During this period of crisis, I hope we can elect legislators who will do their homework, reject the favors of power company lobbyists, and come up with sane answers.

I also hope that all Democratic candidates will pledge to vote against Jim Black as speaker if he is re-elected to the House. The next step after that toward ending the dominating influence of corruption in the general assembly is to provide for publicly funded elections.