It was a very special family Thanksgiving this year. My family is very proud that will be working on issues which are so important to Wake County. We have been very blessed this year. Enjoy your holiday and may you have a blessed year as well. State and Local Politics

In the News

We had a excellent little gathering to celebrate the election. Thank-you to everyone who attended.

"Just because you do not take and interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take and interest in you." Pericles 430 B.C.

Too often people try to use government to impose their personal views of taste on their neighbors. This is why it is important to carefully research the places you want to live. If you don't want anyone in your community to have pink flamingos on their lawn then move to community with a restrictive covenant that bans that form of yard art. Don't make it a countywide ban with a law or regulation. These sorts of regulations tend to be worse than the supposed offence. Because then the government will have to increase taxes to hire people to police yards for pink flamingos. Neighbors who may have an axe to grind will tie up authorities with pink flamingo reports. They will rat out offending neighbors or even place illegal pink flamingo on a yards while their neighbor is away on vacation only to come home to a notice with a $100 fine for having an offending pink flamingo on their lawn.

I long for a time when people actually talked to their neighbors and voiced their concerns. I long for a time when people would work out their problems without demanding more oppressive laws. I long for a time when people would respect the private property rights of their neighbors.

I was thinking about this as I visited one of the last old time feed and seed stores in Carpenter. Now that it is in Cary's crosshairs they want to enforce their sign ordinance on this piece of Norman Rockwell Americana. I remember the feed and seed stores of my youth. Places where my grandfather would sit with local men and play hours of rook. He would also sell Hail Insurance there as well. These stores were gathering places but now people don't seem to see beautiful history they see something ugly. Isn't it in the eye of the beholder and shouldn't this storeowner have private property rights? If you don't like the feed and seed don't shop there but don't use government like a club to oppress this person’s freedom of expression.

It has been a very exciting past few days campaigning around Wake County. I haven’t met one person who hasn’t understood that eminent domain is a very pressing issue. That the abuse of that official power has made it so no one is safe in his or her own homes, shops or even places of worship. Every where I have requested to place a home made sign in a yard not one person has turned me down. They all seem sick of professional politicians and bureaucrats meddling in their lives. Even in this low office with the very limited power it offers an opportunity to stand against big government abuse of the people. I would love to write more but I have more work to do and places to go with people to visit. All I ask is that you get out and vote and don’t forget the Soil and Water Conservation Race it is on the back of your ballots. Send them a message about eminent domain abuse elect Joy Elliott in that race.

“Almost all pollution takes place on government property on government lands and roads, in government lakes, rivers, and streams. If someone dumped garbage on your property every day, you’d call the police and get them to stop the trespasser from polluting your property. But government has allowed companies to dump toxic wastes in its lakes and streams, and to clear-cut or strip-mine its lands. Then, as public outrage has became overwhelming, the government responds by passing new laws and setting up new agencies that harass companies and property owners who have always taken far better care of their property than the government has.” - Harry Browne