Great News

Great news, Wilmington has expanded. The Wilmington City Council has seen fit to accept the bribe of a developer so the city can expand once again. The council, it seems, knows better than the County Commissioners what is best for New Hanover County. Did the city consider that the County Commissioners had already turned down this request? Did they consider the court case is still pending, and maybe they should wait for the conclusion of this case before acting? Did the city consider the opposition of county residents living in this area? Did they consider the problems of adding more traffic to an already congested and dangerous section of Market Street? Did they consider it is illegal and morally wrong to accept bribes? The counsel, it seems, feels they have the right and power to do anything they feel like as long as they can expand Wilmington.

The city might have done everyone a favor doing this. Hopefully the State Legislature will step up and put them in their place. Hopefully they will end forced annexation forever. End satellite annexation forever. Do away with radius laws that allow cities to control property and citizens that are not even in the city. Do away with voluntary annexations, unless the area to be annexed is directly next to the current city limits, and 80% of the property owners approve. Also, I hope they will do away with city zoning boards. There should be ONE zoning board per county, and it should be controlled by the county government. This way, the government that has the best interest of all county residents is making the calls.

I also wish the legislature would require a complete audit of Wilmington's spending for the last 10 years. It is clear with this last move the council made, that they feel they can do anything they please, and I think it is time for them to show and justify how the tax dollars have been spent. I feel the current residents (slaves) could probably have their taxes reduced, if the Mayor and Council were required to show how all money was spent (wasted) down to the penny.

And, if the legislature really wants to send Wilmington a message, they could allow anyone that was forcefully annexed to vote themselves out of the city with a simple majority. If this could possibly happen, maybe, just maybe, the cities could find out what it is like to be on the receiving end.