A sampling of editorials from NC newspapers

Policymakers must tap new water rules

When North Carolina found itself in a widespread drought that threatened communities across the length and breadth of the state, state policymakers discovered two key things: They didn't know enough about the state's water resources, including who uses how much water how often. And the state doesn't have a lot of authority to deal with water emergencies while local governments often didn't even have a drought plan to help them use declining water supplies. Now they do, thanks to a new law. That's good.

But the better news is that the General Assembly's Environmental Review Commission ordered a comprehensive study of the state's water and the way it is allocated. The study, conducted by researchers at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University, focused on four areas: drought response, water supplies insufficient to meet demand in key areas, the controversial interbasin transfer process, and local and state water supply planning.

What researchers found, among many other things, is that beyond certain allocation rules in areas already at capacity use, the main guideline is that water use be "reasonable." That's not very helpful in a state projected to increase in population by 50 percent by 2030. With demand rising and drought stressing water supplies as well as the public, the need for a comprehensive water policy that helps preserve supplies, create new ones, meet the needs of the state and resolve disputes is important.

To accomplish those goals, the allocation study recommended that North Carolina create a permit system for large water users — those consuming more than 100,000 gallons a day. It recommended developing planning models for each of the state's 17 river basins to establish water-use budgets. It called for water conservation rules statewide, and urged water systems to charge rates sufficient to cover the costs of supplying water.

That's critical. When users don't pay the full cost of water operations and maintenance, there's little conservation ethic — and not enough revenue to maintain the system, let alone improve or expand it. And it called for sharing water — in-state and regionally.

These recommendations are the kinds of steps the state ought to take to make sure there's sufficient water in this state's future, drought or no drought. But adopting them won't be easy in a legislative session that convenes Jan. 28 and which will have another drought in mind — a shortfall of revenue to meet state services.

Lawmakers must realize that without adequate water supplies, the state will have a difficult time meeting the needs of its residents, recovering from the recession and making sure there's enough water for industrial and commercial operations.

As the report's authors note, North Carolina had more water than it needed for its population for a long time. Legislators must make sure there will be enough water for the population on its way here.

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From Asheville Citizen-Times, Dec. 10

North Carolina must patch up frayed probation system

Tight economic times have families making tough decisions about spending. The same math applies to North Carolina's budget; the order of the day is to do more with less.

However, there are some areas where more spending is in order.

Social services are obviously going to be stressed and need attention.

On the flip side of the societal equation, there is a crying need for additional spending on some law and order sectors.

In the wake of an investigation by the Raleigh News&Observer, it's hard to argue there's a better place to begin than with patching up North Carolina's horribly frayed probation system.

The N&O probe showed "Since the start of 2000, 580 people have killed in North Carolina while under the watch of state probation officers — 17 percent of all convictions for intentional killings."

The bottom line is not a pretty one: it's not uncommon for probation officers to simply lose track of people.

There are plenty of reasons for this. One is sheer volume; the state is charged with tracking well over 100,000 persons on probation.

Probation officers face a high caseload, relatively low pay that has many — about one in five — working second jobs, and some counties have an overload of unfilled positions.

This is all topped off with a computer database that is about as advanced as "Pong." The N&O described its myriad drawbacks, including searches being limited to one county at a time.

For the record, North Carolina has 100 counties. It's not hard to do the math and come up with an equation that consumes an enormous amount of time.

In an era of Internet technology that makes it possible to talk to your cousin in Australia with a couple of clicks of a mouse, that's outrageous.

All told, the state has lost track of around 14,000 criminals.

Wake Superior Court Judge Donald W. Stephens told the N&O, "These mistakes would occurin the best of circumstances, and they're operating in the worst of situations. It's beyond frustrating. It's almost numbing."

The case that helped raise alarms regarding failures in the probation system was the tragedy involving Eve Carson. Carson, president of the UNC-Chapel Hill student body, who was shot and killed March 5.

The suspect, Demario James Atwater, had been handed a suspended sentence of three years in 2005 on a breaking and entering charge and put on probation.

In 2006, Atwater was arrested — with a handgun — by police during a burglary call. That should have triggered a revocation of his parole.

Instead, a year later he was convicted on the firearms possession charge — and proceedings to revoke his probation still did not begin.

A hearing on his probation wasn't scheduled until March 3, and due to a paperwork error his case was not called. Two days later, Eve Carson was killed.

As we said earlier, there are reasons for the sorry state of this system.

There are no excuses.

Yes, money's tight. Unfortunately, during such tight times we also tend to see an increase in crime.

Foot-dragging on addressing shortcomings in the probation system should not have been put off in the past and cannot be put off today.

The breakdowns in this area of the public safety system are putting the public in jeopardy.

Funding for up-to-date technology should be a top priority for the incoming administration and General Assembly.

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From Star-News of Wilmington, Dec. 9

Reform cannot wait until hurricane season

A direct hit from a Category 4 hurricane might have less impact than the whopper of a rate increase insurers want to impose on homeowners in coastal North Carolina.

Newly elected Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin will barely have time to change offices before confronting the rate-increase request as well as the woefully underfunded Beach Plan, which was supposed to be an insurance policy of last resort but which has become the major policy for many coastal homeowners.

The trouble is, the plan would be unable to cover likely damage from a major hurricane. It insures about $72 billion in property but only has about $2.4 billion in reserve. Damage from a major storm could easily top $7 billion. If the Beach Plan is broke, private insurers are required to cover the losses.

The plan — officially, it's the N.C. Insurance Underwriting Association — was established as a safety net for coastal property owners. Real estate with a direct view of the ocean or Intracoastal Waterway may be beautiful, but it's also riskier to build in coastal counties. Actuaries tend to dislike the odds, and private insurers in many cases refuse to write policies.

For that reason and because the rates are cheap — too cheap compared with the risk, according to insurers — the Beach Plan has become the policy of choice for many coastal dwellers.

The N.C. Rate Bureau, which represents insurers, wants to raise rates up to 70 percent for folks in some areas and an average of a little under 20 percent statewide. Naturally, people in other parts of the state are balking at paying higher rates to shore up a plan that benefits people in 18 coastal counties.

But as state Rep. Danny McComas, R-New Hanover, notes, the western regions of the state also have suffered heavy damage from hurricanes and tropical storms in recent years.

Some more modest rate increase may be justified to stabilize the plan. But homeowners already reeling from the last rate increases, as well as property tax increases, declining 401(k)s, higher electricity bills and other increased costs of living would have difficulty absorbing such a tremendous hit. It's common for rate increases to be much less than proposed, but no rate hike will be popular.

It's clear that reforms are needed, too.

Goodwin, who has been working in the Insurance Department as a deputy of Commissioner Jim Long, has previously made a solid suggestion — that North Carolina to enter into a pool with other states, possibly Georgia and Virginia to begin with, to spread the costs and the risk of insuring coastal property.

It's worth considering. Insurers also should create incentives for homeowners to invest in improvements to protect their property against hurricane damage.

The incoming commissioner has called the Beach Plan a "ticking time bomb." The time to fix it is before it explodes.

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From The News&Observer of Raleigh, Dec. 7

Reform must be priority for Perdue in fixing the state's mental health system

The nightmare of problems with public mental health care in North Carolina has become like some kind of horror-film series of sequels. But the public's sensitivity has not been dulled. On the contrary, the fact that inspectors now have determined that the state's new mental hospital in Butner, Central Regional, is unsafe for patients and thus may be in danger of losing federal funding only underlines the magnitude of the task facing Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue when she takes office in January.

The task will be all the tougher with the announced intention of Dempsey Benton, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, to leave government. The former Raleigh city manager was leading the effort to put the mental health system's pieces back together.

All four of North Carolina's state-run mental hospitals have either lost or faced the prospect of losing accreditation and funding because of patient deaths or documented incidents of abuse or neglect. A fifth hospital, which has been closed, also was cited when employees beat a female patient who was strapped down. And a series earlier this year in The News&Observer exposed shocking gaps in care for patients and hundreds of millions of dollars in squandered public money.

The latest problems at Central Regional, which was slated to absorb patients of Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh before that process was put on hold, have to do with the improper restraint of a patient, and a stairwell door that wouldn't open from the inside, an obvious risk to patients and staff alike.

Even if those things are corrected, much remains to be done. It's now clear Perdue will need to reorder reform, and the first step may well be to reverse the plans to close Dix Hospital in the capital city. More and more, that closure seems like a questionable move, even though it's been in the works for some time. The problems throughout the system seem to indicate that the last thing the state needs to do is rush to put more patients into Central Regional.

Reform was supposed to hinge on a well-intentioned shift to community-based care. But that hasn't panned out well. And there are other pressures, beyond reform, pushing the shutdown of Dix, namely what will be done with the choice property in downtown Raleigh. Some want a park. Developers would love to carve out a chunk for themselves. But the welfare of patients must come first, period.

This is no minor mess — on top of a budget deficit that may reach $3 billion — that Beverly Perdue will inherit. She already has cautioned public and private groups that there will be tough choices and that she will make some people mad. That's showing admirable gumption, which is what straightening out the mental health system will take. It also will take compassion, and a fearlessness when it comes to possibly scrapping some parts of the reform plan — services were going to be moved fromthe state to the counties — that aren't working.

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Dec 10, 2008 - 08:30 p.m. EDT

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