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Dole talks to local leaders
Mayors, execs share top issues
By TED STRONG
Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) was in Washington to meet with local leaders Friday.
Dole didn’t make any speeches or campaign locally, but instead limited herself to the closed-door meeting with the likes of Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Jeff Moss and National Spinning’s Jim Chesnutt.
“I thought it was a positive meeting,” Washington Mayor Judy Jennette said. “I think we were able to put some local concerns on the table, and some national concerns as well.”
The closed meeting allowed for an open, honest discussion, said Catherine Glover, the chamber’s executive director.
The more than hour-long meeting covered a number of local issues, including the U.S. Highway 17 corridor, Dole said after it ended.
She said she helped secure hundreds of thousands of dollars of funding for the project, which aims to streamline transit in the eastern part of the state from the Virginia border to South Carolina.
She said the state had once been renowned for its quality roads and bridges.
“Now we’re in a state of general disrepair,” she said.
Washington Mayor Judy Meier Jennette said that she asked Dole to look into revamping Federal Emergency Management Agency rules governing certain lots in the city.
FEMA has designated the lots unbuildable so the city owns them and must maintain them. Jennette asked that Washington be allowed to sell the lots to owners of adjacent properties on the condition that they not be built upon.
“It would enlarge their lots, and we wouldn’t have to take care of them,” she said. The change would also boost the city’s tax rolls, Jennette said.
Dole also reminded civic leaders that she pushed for a moratorium on Medicaid cuts supported by the Bush administration. She said that move saved Beaufort County Hospital $1.6 million each year.
Gas prices were another issue of interest, Dole said, and one that impacts local economies.
Dole proposes that any and all options for getting oil prices down be explored, she said.
“The big thing is getting off this dependence on foreign oil from people who hate us,” she said, rattling off the names of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Dole also pushed her roll in the tobacco-quota buyout.
“It allows farmers to retire with dignity or switch to another crop with help, or they can compete on the world market if they want to keep growing leaf,” she said.
Glover said the meeting was in line with the Chamber’s goal of helping local business issues find resolution.
“This is part of our mission,” she said.
By TED STRONG
Staff Writer
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) was in Washington to meet with local leaders Friday.
Dole didn’t make any speeches or campaign locally, but instead limited herself to the closed-door meeting with the likes of Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Jeff Moss and National Spinning’s Jim Chesnutt.
“I thought it was a positive meeting,” Washington Mayor Judy Jennette said. “I think we were able to put some local concerns on the table, and some national concerns as well.”
The closed meeting allowed for an open, honest discussion, said Catherine Glover, the chamber’s executive director.
The more than hour-long meeting covered a number of local issues, including the U.S. Highway 17 corridor, Dole said after it ended.
She said she helped secure hundreds of thousands of dollars of funding for the project, which aims to streamline transit in the eastern part of the state from the Virginia border to South Carolina.
She said the state had once been renowned for its quality roads and bridges.
“Now we’re in a state of general disrepair,” she said.
Washington Mayor Judy Meier Jennette said that she asked Dole to look into revamping Federal Emergency Management Agency rules governing certain lots in the city.
FEMA has designated the lots unbuildable so the city owns them and must maintain them. Jennette asked that Washington be allowed to sell the lots to owners of adjacent properties on the condition that they not be built upon.
“It would enlarge their lots, and we wouldn’t have to take care of them,” she said. The change would also boost the city’s tax rolls, Jennette said.
Dole also reminded civic leaders that she pushed for a moratorium on Medicaid cuts supported by the Bush administration. She said that move saved Beaufort County Hospital $1.6 million each year.
Gas prices were another issue of interest, Dole said, and one that impacts local economies.
Dole proposes that any and all options for getting oil prices down be explored, she said.
“The big thing is getting off this dependence on foreign oil from people who hate us,” she said, rattling off the names of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Dole also pushed her roll in the tobacco-quota buyout.
“It allows farmers to retire with dignity or switch to another crop with help, or they can compete on the world market if they want to keep growing leaf,” she said.
Glover said the meeting was in line with the Chamber’s goal of helping local business issues find resolution.
“This is part of our mission,” she said.
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tunne rat wrote on Jul 6, 2009 8:55 PM:
that is the biggest propganda word that every came out of butterfields and rino jones mouth in the past hundred years .
just 2 water boys for the obama socalist party , and a hand full of red necks that dont have a clue about whast they are talking about . "