Gov. Cooper's disaster of a disaster area visit
Hurricane Matthew devastated areas of eastern North Carolina in October 2016. However, Gov. Roy Cooper's administration has been unable to get relief funding to the area - with no reasonable explanation yet offered.
This week, the first-term Democratic Governor visited the area for a photo op - telling people help was coming. He didn't know when that might be, but he promised help would be arriving.
At some point.
One problem for the stage-managed PR tour was the lack of actual homes that had been repaired over the last two years. All around are images and scenes of catastrophic loss, followed by neglect.
Luckily, as The Robesonian reports, the Governor found a house being fixed!
With money allocated by the General Assembly. Not via his administration:
The Essential Single-Family Rehabilitation Loan Pool – Disaster Recovery program is designed to help assist with rehabilitation of owner-occupied homes in disaster-affected counties. Through the Disaster Recovery Act of 2016, the General Assembly has authorized an allocation of $20 million to the agency through the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund to help many of the North Carolina residents who have suffered from these disasters.
The Lumbee Tribe was among 36 agencies and organizations that applied for the funding through the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. Money was divided based on needs. Some staff from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency joined Cooper on Monday’s visit.
The Lumbee Tribe has served 36 families and the total amount of funding spent is $948,473.
Imagine the news stories - state and national - had a Republican Governor showed such ineptitude, followed by a visit to the stricken area to promise help is coming - without any timeline for its arrival.
Governors in North Carolina don't have a lot of power in comparison to other states. This is by design.
But one of the responsibilities a Governor DOES have is disaster response. So far, Gov. Cooper has made a mess of it.
Maybe he could pay as much attention to this responsibility as he does to his appointment powers.
New UNCA dorms unlivable?
Classes start on Monday for UNC-Asheville students, but for those assigned to live in 5 new residence halls... it's going to take longer to settle in.
From WLOS:
Five new residence halls at UNC Asheville have been deemed unsafe and cannot be used, N.C. Department of Insurance officials said Thursday.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey said in a news release the buildings pose life and safety concerns to students and cannot be used.
The North Carolina State Construction Office granted UNCA occupancy of the residence halls Wednesday and students began moving in Thursday. Once the State Construction Office turned the buildings over to the university for occupancy, the buildings then fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Insurance.
The affected students will reportedly get shuttle service, temporary living spaces, and storage for their stuff.
But, wait! There's more!
No, the NC constitutional ballot question about victims rights has nothing to do with abortion.
The Topless Rally returns to Downtown Asheville this weekend.