Delivered by Chairman Jennifer Roberts
March 27 2009
Good morning, and welcome to the 2009 State of the County address for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Thank you all for being here today. I can remember standing here last year and talking about how much we have to be proud of and thankful for in Mecklenburg County. And I am here today to say all of that is still true. Even though we find ourselves in the midst of an economic crisis which has hit Charlotte/Mecklenburg particularly hard, even though our regional unemployment stands at 10.5% and our food stamp applications have risen 39% from this time last year, we know that we will turn the corner and that this region will soon be on its feet again. We know that regional collaboration is stronger than ever, that our Chambers of Commerce and our workforce initiatives are working overtime, and we know that our communities have opened their arms and reached out to help the most vulnerable of our residents.
We have indeed been hit by a tsunami of crises. It has been a perfect storm that has impacted every aspect of life in our region, bringing our unemployment rates higher than both the state and the nation. This economic crisis began in the financial sector, which has been a mainstay of our economy and of our growth. It spread to negatively affect the housing and construction industries, manufacturing and automotive, retail, tourism, healthcare, and many others. As lay-offs increased, the needs for social services climbed. Then we were hit by crisis at our regional United Way, a much needed community partner in the social services area. The United Way of Central Carolinas raises millions of dollars for the poor, the homeless, the disabled, and the hungry. That organization experienced a controversy that resulted in a significant drop in donations, and combined with a declining economy, resulted in a $15 million gap in services. Next we confronted a decline in county and state revenues, based on declining consumption and sales taxes, which had a dramatic negative impact on not only the upcoming budget year but also the current year. Mecklenburg County had forecast a budget gap for FY09—which ends June 30 —of as much as $75 million. Through several County reductions in the current year, we have narrowed that gap to about $30 million. These reductions were spread throughout our departments and included cuts to employee travel and public information budgets, cuts in appropriations to most outside agencies, to MEDIC, to adult permanency and planning; a $2.1 million cut in funding to Carolinas Healthcare System for indigent care, over $500,000 to CPCC, and $5 million to CMS, among others. The State of North Carolina took an estimated $4.3 million of our distribution of lottery funds and money from the corporate tax fund which is set aside for school construction to help plug its budget gap. We voted to delay a debt issuance of $253 million, which will slow construction of several schools and other county buildings.
But the good news is that we have ample fund balance to plug the remaining $30 million in our current year budget. We are fortunate that most of our revenues come from the more stable property tax base, and we are on target to collect slightly more this year than last in property tax because of the growth in our residential and commercial real estate. The Governor also announced last week that she does not want the state to take lottery or school construction funds from the coming fiscal year 2010 budget. There will be millions of dollars coming to our region in federal stimulus dollars from the American Economic Recovery Act, in areas such as roads, school construction, energy efficiency, transit, housing, and others. I have been in Washington three separate times in the past two months to advocate for these grants. Our dialogue with city, state, and federal officials has improved and will allow us to use our resources in an even more efficient manner in the coming years. Last week, Governor Bev Perdue opened the very first Charlotte office of the Governor of North Carolina, right here in the Government Center. This collaboration between the economic powerhouses of Charlotte and Raleigh will begin a new axis of innovation that will help the state make progress in the economic recovery with 21st century technologies. And our community has also responded positively to these challenging circumstances. Upon hearing about the huge increase in social service needs, civic leaders came together and formed a Critical Need Response Fund that was launched with a million dollar gift from Leon and Sandra Levine. Leon Levine is the founder and CEO of Family Dollar Stores, headquartered here in Charlotte. This fund has plugged funding holes in those charities that reach our most vulnerable citizens in providing the basic human needs of shelter, food, clothing, and warmth.
Even in a declining economy, we continue to gain jobs and workers. GMAC just announced that it will bring 200 financial sector jobs to Charlotte in a corporate expansion, Time Warner Cable is adding jobs, and companies like ExecuScribe are opening new offices here. We will make it through this recession because in tough times, we in the Charlotte Region pull together to pull through.
I want to recognize many of our county employees and our community partners who are here today, because they epitomize those who are pulling together to help us pull through successfully, community groups, neighborhood organizers, parents, students, volunteers, faith leaders, teachers, business owners, and other caring souls who make our county what it is. We are a rapidly changing community, but we are still friends, neighbors, and family. There are also some other elected officials here. Thank you. (recognize some in the crowd)
Today I will highlight only a few of the many areas that county government touches upon and point out challenges and the progress we are making in meeting those challenges, in pulling through together. Last year at this time I announced our intention to create a Citizens Task Force to study Justice and Public Safety in Mecklenburg County and make recommendations to the Board for improvements. This Task Force was created and met for several months, finally making 16 recommendations to the Board in October 2008. Its number one priority was to establish an oversight function or position to promote collaboration and coordination across all components of the Criminal Justice System. The Board endorsed the County Manager’s appointment of General Manager Michelle Lancaster to fill this role and to lead an ongoing Criminal Justice Advisory Group to continue to implement recommendations and find solutions. In January of this year, the Board approved spending $3M to fund improvements in the system. The largest part of the money, $1.3M, will be used to increase staffing at the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office. We have also put resources into jail diversion, seeking to provide mental health and substance abuse treatment to end the revolving door of incarceration for many of our misdemeanor offenders. I have had the pleasure of speaking to all 3 classes of Police Officers and Sheriff Deputies who have completed CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) and have heard them confirm that they have better tools for identifying mental illness and de-escalating aggression in arrest situations.
With the help of our community partners, we have also focused on improving awareness and prevention of domestic violence. As part of the Mecklenburg County Legislative Agenda for the 2009 N.C. General Assembly, we are supporting legislation to establish and support the development of a Domestic Violence Fatality Prevention and Protection Review Team in Mecklenburg County, including immunity for service providers, to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence related deaths and promote collaboration among community service providers. We will model this after the Child Fatality Prevention Team that we have in place that monitors the safety of our children.
These are just a few of many ongoing initiatives in public safety. The Criminal Justice Advisory Group continues to meet monthly and is working with the Board Committee on Public Safety to continue to improve functions ranging from gang prevention to prosecution to work release. I want to especially thank the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, under the leadership of Sheriff Chipp Bailey and Deputy Chief Felicia McAdoo, for their constructive role in positive reforms.
We are also pulling together to pull through in the implementation of our 10-year Plan to End Homelessness in Mecklenburg County. Our school system has over 3,000 homeless children, and the mortgage and housing crisis has exacerbated the challenges of affordable housing in our region. Homeless Services demand has increased and is reflected in the workloads at CSS (Community Support Services) and in our partner agencies and of course in the Winter Count information. (There are more than 6,000 homeless persons in Mecklenburg County, half of whom are women and children.) The County helped lead in the opening of Warming and Cooling Centers on extreme temperature days for the homeless. Even with declining resources, the County remains an important funding source for partner non-profit organizations serving the homeless. But I also want to recognize that our private partners are stepping up in this area, reflected in greater collaboration with Center City Partners and Foundation for the Carolinas, for example.
We are also seeking federal support. In the Homeless to Homes Project – a partnership of the Urban Ministry Center and Mecklenburg County Community Support Services (CSS)—we are applying for a federal grant to provide permanent supportive housing to the chronically homeless population. This partnership brought to the Board the results of their 2-year pilot program with 14 chronically homeless people, and they have proven that supportive housing works, saving taxpayers millions of dollars by reducing emergency room visits and continual arrests for nuisance offenses. With expansion of the project, the role of our Homeless Support Services Division (HSS) will be to provide social work services to the chronically homeless population in this program. Additional funds may come from the federal Economic Stimulus Package to prevent homelessness, as the City of Charlotte will receive $1.9M as its share. The City will collaborate with the County on administering the funds. I also want to acknowledge and thank the leadership of St. Matthews and St. Gabriel's churches, who have worked closely with the County to increase their participation in ending homelessness. They are hoping to develop residential services for homeless families and provided funding for Hall House and HSS. The County’s Veterans Services Office, under the leadership of Bob Weeks, recently hosted its second Stand Down for Homeless Veterans, which brought together dozens of services under one roof to allow vets to access everything from free medical screening to applications for food stamps. Veterans Services has also been instrumental in pulling together other services that impact both our veterans and our active duty military community, through a program called CART (Charlotte Area Resource Team). I wish I had time to name all the other community groups we partner with, as there are over 20 agencies involved in the Homeless Support Network. (recognize any in the audience) We are eternally grateful for their passion and commitment to this important issue.
Our Department of Social Services provides a real picture of the stresses in our community. DSS administers local, state and federal programs ranging from food stamps and disability to foster care and adoption. DSS serves 165,000 people, which is almost one out of 6 Mecklenburg County residents. On Jan. 12, 2009, 1,171 customers came to the Kuralt Centre on Billinsgley (435 to apply for services & 736 were reception visitors), accompanied by over 1,000 family and friends. This is a record for total customers.
Here are some statistics for our Food and Nutrition Services program:
• In January, the average number of people who were interviewed solely for Food and Nutrition Services was 162 per day.
• So far in FY2009, applications for Food and Nutrition Services increased by 36 percent over Fiscal Year 2008.
• The total FNS caseload has increased 23% between February 2008 and Feb. 2009. Individual staff caseloads are 132 percent of the benchmark.
Other functional areas of DSS are also seeing increases, whether it is Medicaid cases, senior nutrition programs, transportation, or foster care. We currently have 945 children in foster care, and adoptions are up more than 10% compared with last year. Again, our partners are instrumental in our ability to reach more people with services. We are working with JCSU, for example, to pair foster children with JCSU students in an ambassador program for social work. We are also working with CMS to reach more children who qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch. There are numerous other partners working in nutrition services, ranging from Second Harvest Food Bank and Urban Ministry Center to Friendship Trays, who enable us to reach more of the hungry during this difficult recession.
We are in the middle of a re-organization of DSS in order to make it more efficient, effective, and able to serve our increased needs while staying within the County’s budget. DSS has established a comprehensive Change Program to facilitate the reorganization. As part of the Change Program, Action Teams, comprising employees at every level of the organization, have launched to identify key areas in every area of DSS that are ripe for improvement. We know that change is hard, and that many of our social workers are operating in a stressful environment. I want to personally thank all of our DSS employees for their mission-driven service to our community. Social workers encounter people who are experiencing life changing and life threatening circumstances in their lives, and they do not receive thanks often enough for the trauma and the stresses that they face day to day.
To address increases in customer demand for services as a result of the current economic crisis, DSS has launched the following initiatives:
1. DSS is extending service hours via telephone and in person to Mecklenburg County citizens to give customers the opportunity to access much needed services beyond traditional business hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
2. Administrative staff have been trained and moved to essential functions such as Community Social Work, Fraud Investigations, and Call Centers.
3. In late January 2009, intake and eligibility functions for public assistance programs were decentralized to DSS Chapin Hall facility at the new Valerie C. Woodard Complex. The community has responded as we’ve seen significant increases of 38% and greater in customer visits on a weekly basis. DSS also plans to further decentralize these functions to our locations off of Albemarle Road to relieve customers' reliance on transportation and serve a greater customer base in our community.
We believe all these changes are making it easier for citizens to access services at DSS. Later this year, we will get an update from the County Manager on how the department is serving those who need it in the most effective way possible. I want to especially thank all the community partners who help us in the social services area, pulling together with us, so that we can pull through this crisis.
Another area of County services that has seen positive change is Park and Recreation. Even in the midst of a slowing economy, the community came together and voted in November for a $250 million bond package to begin work on our new Ten Year Master Plan for parks and recreation. The plan was approved by County Commissioners to guide future development. It was drawn with careful attention to what citizens told us in community workshops held all over the county, and to the results of an extensive citizens survey. The Master Plan assigns top priorities for walking and biking trails, small neighborhood parks, nature center and trails, large community parks and regional parks, and indoor fitness and exercise facilities. This plan, however, will be significantly impacted by the “debt diet” that the Board voted on a few weeks ago. We will have to work within this new debt policy, which limits our capital spending each year and will delay many parks and rec centers well beyond our original plans.
Development of Little Sugar Creek Greenway near uptown Charlotte, through the Midtown area, is now clearly visible. This section will extend the greenway from Morehead Street to 7th Street beside Central Piedmont Community College. This greenway, which runs from Park Road Shopping Center through Freedom Park and in front of Carolinas Healthcare main facility to the campus of CPCC’s new Culinary Arts Facility on 7th Street, helped spur the development of the Metropolitan mixed-use complex. This greenway celebrates the rebirth of Sugar Creek with beautiful parks, gardens, fountains, and artwork.
In the past year, we added two miles to Four Mile Creek Greenway on the McAlpine-McMullen system. We added a mile to Irwin Creek Greenway and a half mile to Stewart Creek Greenway.
More than ever, greenways provide paths to parks, shopping, and schools, and with our region still not meeting EPA standards for clean air, these alternative transportation pathways are important. Toby Creek Greenway, because of its linkage of the Mallard Creek Greenway system to the campus of UNC-Charlotte, will be a heavily used path for commuters biking to the university. For this reason it qualified this year for stimulus grants, and we hope to see it completed soon.
In the past year, Park and Recreation opened:
• Robert L. Smith Park in West Charlotte
• Elon Park with four synthetic turf fields, a joint project with CMS
• A new dog park for uptown residents in Frazier Park
• A new indoor pavilion and soccer complex at Clanton Park
• An amphitheatre in Midwood Park
• The Center for BioDiversity Studies in Reedy Creek Nature Preserve
• And in cooperation with Partners for Parks, thousands of volunteers helped build “Race Playce,” our first fully-accessible playground for all children in Nevin Park
Our Park and Recreation Department has been undergoing an intense examination by the national Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies. An assessment team has just recommended that the department receive this prestigious accreditation, with the final decision to be made by the Accreditation Commission later this year.
Another way that Mecklenburg County is working with its partners to pull together is in regional collaboration. We worked to help achieve a coordinated response to conservation best practices when we experienced a severe regional drought last year. This collaboration continues and helps us to work upstream and downstream in the Catawba Basin to improve our water quality. For the past year and a half, I have been serving as the Chairman of the CONNECT council, which is a partnership among the Charlotte Regional Partnership, the Centralina COG and the Catawba Regional COG in SC, whose goal is to achieve a shared vision for the Charlotte region. This vision includes 6 precepts, ranging from sustainable development to enhanced educational opportunities, and there are now 29 towns and counties in our region that have voted to support this vision. Two parts of the vision have active committees that have been working on specific issues to bring about positive change: support for sustainable development and support for a clean and healthy environment. Under sustainable development, planners from different counties are working across state lines to ensure a coherent plan in terms of transportation corridors, open space, even a regional greenway system known as the Carolinas Thread Trail. We forget how regional our transportation network is: for example, we have CATS vanpools that operate in 10 counties to bring workers to Charlotte, and express buses that connect us to every county we touch. As part of the work of the environmental committee, regional partners are pulling together to apply for competitive grants that are part of the federal stimulus package. In areas such as weatherization, biofuels, and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, the Charlotte region has a head start in working on energy projects that will attract millions of federal dollars to our region. Community partners like the Centralina COG and the Carolinas Clean Air Coalition have been instrumental in helping achieve progress in these areas, especially as we continue to seek ways to improve our air quality before we have restrictions imposed on our transportation from the federal government.
There are many more initiatives that the Board has brought forward in an effort to find cost savings in our budget, to use our tax dollars wisely, and to avoid a tax increase in the coming budget year. I do not have time to mention all of them, but I will say that Mecklenburg County is not wasting the opportunities presented by this crisis. We are actively seeking improved dialogue with our state and federal partners, as well as with the city, the school system, and the region, to share the service burden and come up with innovative approaches to common needs. We had a very productive joint meeting with the School Board earlier this week to look at new constraints on our school construction program. I have asked for us to look for more opportunities to consolidate local government functions, possibly heading toward future city/county consolidation. Other board initiatives include 1) developing local food options, with a Gardens and Greenways program; 2) working to lower our school drop-out rate, 3) improving education and outreach toward ending the spread of HIV/AIDS; 4) exploring ways to structure incentives that encourage businesses to adopt green building and green operating practices; 4) improving dialogue between the schools and the county relative to our budgeting processes; 5) improving fairness to employees by exploring domestic partner benefits, and 6) tightening our debt policy to ensure that increased debt service does not become so large a part of our operating budget that it reduces our service levels.
I want to thank my colleagues who serve with me on the Board for their energy and varied expertise. We have veteran commissioners like Bill James, whose sharp pencil and accounting background has focused on our debt policy; Dumont Clarke, whose sense of history and broad regional involvement keeps us focused on progress; and Karen Bentley, whose constituent advocacy has helped us remember what individuals face in this current economic climate. We also have the energy of new commissioners. This November brought a big change to the BOCC, with 5 new commissioners sworn-in in December. We gained two former members of the Board of Education, George Dunlap and Vilma Leake, whose insights into school budgeting have helped us immensely on the education side of our budget; former city council member Harold Cogdell, who serves as Vice Chair and has helped us connect with both the city and the state; a medical doctor, Dan Murrey, who will provide terrific guidance on public health and environmental issues as well as business perspectives; and attorney Neil Cooksey, whose business sense and knowledge of the construction industry will prove helpful in many areas touched by the Board. With so many new members, we will have the strength of fresh ideas in helping us meet our many challenges. I know that we will continue to work across party lines as we deal with the budget challenges ahead.
I also want to recognize our manager Harry Jones and all of the staff that make Mecklenburg County such a terrific place to work. Their commitment to manage for results, and stay focused on our vision for Mecklenburg County, helps ensure that Mecklenburg County will continue to be a community of pride and choice for people to live, work and recreate. We have given ourselves concrete measures to aim for by 2015. We measure our progress every year, and any citizen can go on-line at the County’s website to track that progress. We also welcome citizen comments on any area of our governing, whether by phone call, email, or appearing in person at any of our evening Tuesday meetings. This year over 200 employees submitted ideas to their managers about ways to reduce costs and trim our budget, and each department has done a wonderful job of keeping expenses down in a very tight year. All indications are that we will have to do the same for the upcoming fiscal year as well.
Remember that here in Mecklenburg County, our community is pulling together in order to pull through. There is no doubt that we are restraining our budget, and stretching our dollars, in ways that we have not had to do for decades. We have to think differently about how we provide services, in even closer collaboration with our community partners. And we will pull through, perhaps even before the rest of the country. This is a time when we need every community partner, every community volunteer, to reach out a hand and help us meet the human service needs of our neighbors, our friends, and our families. And I know this is indeed happening because I see it every day, from one corner of the county to the other. In fact, I see many of the people in the audience here today who are making this happen. Thank you all for coming today and thank you for your support of the people of Mecklenburg County.
