The Shell Game of Corrupted Government Exposed
Stark Contrasts Between Pendleton And Hanchette In House District 49
Publisher's note: The author of this post is Leslee Kulba, who is a contributor to the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.
RALEIGH — Republican Gary Pendleton believes the tax-cutting and program consolidation strategies he pursued while serving four terms as a Wake County Commissioner are a good template to follow as a state representative in House District 49.
He is facing small business owner Kim Hanchette, a Democrat who espouses more progressive politics, in the Nov. 4 general election for the open seat.
Hanchette gave a brief statement but did not entertain interview questions when she returned messages from Carolina Journal.
"We have three weeks to go, and we have got to just focus our efforts on where we can make a difference in District 49," Hanchette said. "We're knocking on doors and fundraising. We're done with media interviews, so I don't want you to waste any more time trying to call me."
Pendleton, who faced no opposition in the primary, has been serving in the House of Representatives since August, when he was appointed to fill the remainder of Republican state Rep. Jim Fulghum's term. Fulghum died in July, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.
Pendleton highlighted his achievements on the Wake County Board of Commissioners as strong points for electing him.
"In November [1992], right after my election as the only Republican on the board, I started in-depth research into the county budget, staffing, and effectiveness of county government," Pendleton said.
"Then I ran radio advertisements to inform citizens what I learned, and I asked them to please elect a Republican majority so we could implement" reforms, he said.
Pendleton lists as accomplishments during his four-year tenure downsizing government staff, reducing a $490 million budget by $51 million, and reducing taxes by 20 percent.
He also oversaw the consolidation of the county's health, mental health, and social services departments, thereby reducing overhead and freeing up $4 million annually for patient care. Another triumph, he said, was "privatizing WakeMed from a money-losing county hospital to a medical center respected nationally."
But Pendleton did not usher in a reign of austerity. In four short years, the county built a new campus for Wake Technical Community College, 13 new public schools, five new libraries, and six new parks. Wake County pays a teacher salary supplement, and teachers received raises in all four of his terms.
Pendleton is president of Pendleton Financial, a business he has owned for 38 years. He served 26 years in the Army Reserves, mostly as a tank commander, retiring with the rank of brigadier general.
If elected, Pendleton said, he would work for fair pay increases for all state employees, common-sense environmental protection, mental health reform, keeping taxes low through realizing government efficiencies, "improving the economic conditions for private-sector job creation," and "reducing regulations that hinder job growth."
Pendleton said he is not a partisan rubber-stamp politician, and can work across the aisle. Regardless of political pressures, he said, he wants to do "what he thinks is right."
House District 49 resembles a jagged letter C covering portions of western, north-central, and south-central Wake County.
District voters are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans at 35 percent of the electorate, and 29 percent unaffiliated. They gave Democratic President Obama 53.2 percent of the vote in 2012, and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory 50.9 percent. They voted in favor of Democrats in five of the eight Council of State races.
Hanchette beat Derek Kiszely in the May 6 Democratic primary. A month later Hanchette was among those arrested during Moral Monday protests organized by the state NAACP in opposition to the Republican-controlled General Assembly's actions and favoring progressive politics instead.
Hanchette is the founder of the nonprofit Diabetes Management Solutions. The education programs of the "Diabetes Bus Initiative" serve rural communities. She has served on the State Legislative Task Force on Diabetes. She also led a neighborhood campaign to address flooding along Big Branch Creek.
Economic recovery is not as simplistic as the current legislature believes, Hanchette argues on her website. "It involves education, attention to our beautiful natural resources, infrastructure, and a highly skilled workforce." She also would like to review regulations on the books, and "cut waste, fraud, and abuse."
She doesn't buy the arguments about recent tax reforms being good for business.
"The state's real tax rate for corporations was the third lowest in the country," according to the website. Suggesting that the new structure "gives money to luxury yacht owners, millionaires, and successful out-of-state corporations," she states, "the fact is that the revenue losses related to these millionaire tax breaks is why this administration and legislature cannot afford to compensate our teachers as they deserve."
Hanchette has made women's issues a central focus of her campaign. She notes that women make up 54 percent of the state's electorate, 22 percent of the legislature, and 75 percent of public school teachers "harmed" by the current legislature's actions.
She questions the legislature's involvement in women's health care, but argues on her website, "If the General Assembly had expanded Medicaid, paid for through the Affordable Care Act, more than 200,000 women would have had access to basic health care."
Her website says the legislature harmed education, and as a consequence, average teacher pay, and per-pupil funding, rank 46th in the nation.
If elected, she pledges to work toward increasing education funding at all levels, increasing per-pupil spending, and bringing teacher pay at least "up to the national average," according to her website.
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Tax-cutter vs. progressive in Wake County seat held by late Rep. Fulghum
RALEIGH — Republican Gary Pendleton believes the tax-cutting and program consolidation strategies he pursued while serving four terms as a Wake County Commissioner are a good template to follow as a state representative in House District 49.
He is facing small business owner Kim Hanchette, a Democrat who espouses more progressive politics, in the Nov. 4 general election for the open seat.
Hanchette gave a brief statement but did not entertain interview questions when she returned messages from Carolina Journal.
"We have three weeks to go, and we have got to just focus our efforts on where we can make a difference in District 49," Hanchette said. "We're knocking on doors and fundraising. We're done with media interviews, so I don't want you to waste any more time trying to call me."
Pendleton, who faced no opposition in the primary, has been serving in the House of Representatives since August, when he was appointed to fill the remainder of Republican state Rep. Jim Fulghum's term. Fulghum died in July, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.
Pendleton highlighted his achievements on the Wake County Board of Commissioners as strong points for electing him.
"In November [1992], right after my election as the only Republican on the board, I started in-depth research into the county budget, staffing, and effectiveness of county government," Pendleton said.
"Then I ran radio advertisements to inform citizens what I learned, and I asked them to please elect a Republican majority so we could implement" reforms, he said.
Pendleton lists as accomplishments during his four-year tenure downsizing government staff, reducing a $490 million budget by $51 million, and reducing taxes by 20 percent.
He also oversaw the consolidation of the county's health, mental health, and social services departments, thereby reducing overhead and freeing up $4 million annually for patient care. Another triumph, he said, was "privatizing WakeMed from a money-losing county hospital to a medical center respected nationally."
But Pendleton did not usher in a reign of austerity. In four short years, the county built a new campus for Wake Technical Community College, 13 new public schools, five new libraries, and six new parks. Wake County pays a teacher salary supplement, and teachers received raises in all four of his terms.
Pendleton is president of Pendleton Financial, a business he has owned for 38 years. He served 26 years in the Army Reserves, mostly as a tank commander, retiring with the rank of brigadier general.
If elected, Pendleton said, he would work for fair pay increases for all state employees, common-sense environmental protection, mental health reform, keeping taxes low through realizing government efficiencies, "improving the economic conditions for private-sector job creation," and "reducing regulations that hinder job growth."
Pendleton said he is not a partisan rubber-stamp politician, and can work across the aisle. Regardless of political pressures, he said, he wants to do "what he thinks is right."
House District 49 resembles a jagged letter C covering portions of western, north-central, and south-central Wake County.
District voters are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans at 35 percent of the electorate, and 29 percent unaffiliated. They gave Democratic President Obama 53.2 percent of the vote in 2012, and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory 50.9 percent. They voted in favor of Democrats in five of the eight Council of State races.
Hanchette beat Derek Kiszely in the May 6 Democratic primary. A month later Hanchette was among those arrested during Moral Monday protests organized by the state NAACP in opposition to the Republican-controlled General Assembly's actions and favoring progressive politics instead.
Hanchette is the founder of the nonprofit Diabetes Management Solutions. The education programs of the "Diabetes Bus Initiative" serve rural communities. She has served on the State Legislative Task Force on Diabetes. She also led a neighborhood campaign to address flooding along Big Branch Creek.
Economic recovery is not as simplistic as the current legislature believes, Hanchette argues on her website. "It involves education, attention to our beautiful natural resources, infrastructure, and a highly skilled workforce." She also would like to review regulations on the books, and "cut waste, fraud, and abuse."
She doesn't buy the arguments about recent tax reforms being good for business.
"The state's real tax rate for corporations was the third lowest in the country," according to the website. Suggesting that the new structure "gives money to luxury yacht owners, millionaires, and successful out-of-state corporations," she states, "the fact is that the revenue losses related to these millionaire tax breaks is why this administration and legislature cannot afford to compensate our teachers as they deserve."
Hanchette has made women's issues a central focus of her campaign. She notes that women make up 54 percent of the state's electorate, 22 percent of the legislature, and 75 percent of public school teachers "harmed" by the current legislature's actions.
She questions the legislature's involvement in women's health care, but argues on her website, "If the General Assembly had expanded Medicaid, paid for through the Affordable Care Act, more than 200,000 women would have had access to basic health care."
Her website says the legislature harmed education, and as a consequence, average teacher pay, and per-pupil funding, rank 46th in the nation.
If elected, she pledges to work toward increasing education funding at all levels, increasing per-pupil spending, and bringing teacher pay at least "up to the national average," according to her website.
| Competitive House District 2 Could Be GOP Pickup | Outlying Politics, The Region, Neighboring Counties, Op-Ed & Politics | HD 22 Challenger Smith Says He Offers 'True Conservative' Alternative |
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