CATAWBA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY PLATFORM
^{Adopted by the Executive Committee, September 26, 2006}

PREAMBLE

Acknowledging the great needs in our county for:

a) economic revitalization in the face of high unemployment, losses of jobs overseas, and nationwide economic problems,

b) reform of the democratic process,

c) an educational system that prepares our children to thrive in a global economy,

d) the fair and efficient administration of justice,

e) health care that is affordable and accessible,

f) preparedness for homeland security and natural disaster,

g) preservation of our social security system,

h) improvement in the quality of our air and water, and

With the recognition that the traditional values, which have for so long constituted the fabric of American society and given moral force to our public policy, have been trivialized, distorted and exploited by the Republican Party so as to create fear and division among our citizens and incite partisan rancor among our political leaders, and

With the vital goal of bringing competitive two party government back to Catawba County, and

With a strong desire to offer ourselves for leadership in county government,

We Democrats of Catawba County adopt the following party platform:

ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION/ ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

We support a “smart growth” approach to economic development, recognizing that economic, environmental, educational and social issues are interdependent.

Lifelong learning: We supportlifelong educational opportunities for everyone to discover his or her own individual talents, pursue personal interests, and attain knowledge and skills that will prepare people for gainful employment. A well educated and self-directed population is the best foundation for a competent, skilled and stable workforce.

Higher education networking, including the community college system, 4-year and graduate degree programs and the Hickory-Metro Higher Education Center, and the (Manufacturing Technology Center) is proving effective in revitalizing vulnerable existing manufacturing industries through innovation. It is driving the educational system to develop the capacity to respond to the altered economic climate by developing new training and educational programs that will match the workforce needs of newly- targeted potential growth industries.

We support public library programming on local government and local public issues. We support efforts by local community organizations that seek to : promote cultural understanding and appreciation through activities and events, mentoring and tutoring programs for at risk youth, and social enrichment programs designed to reach people in need.

Land-Use Planning: We support locating development on appropriate land near existing infrastructure and public services. This protects open space, natural areas, and air and water quality – resources that contribute to livable communities.

Rigorous adherence to land use plans and ordinances governing economic development must be the norm. This provides predictability and fairness to the business and investing community and the taxpayers. When changes are being considered for specific cases the public has a right to know and is entitled to access to the debate.

We support the broad range of housing options as offered in the ordinances that allow people to live as near to their workplace as possible.

We must commit to providing future infrastructure and public services to keep pace with development, without sacrificing future sustainability.

Business Development: Fundamental to progress is the presence of jobs in the existing manufacturing and service sectors and continuing the region’s entrepreneurial heritage. Through innovation and cooperation the higher education network can help businesses address vulnerabilities caused by the changing economic climate.

Aggressive recruitment is needed of new manufacturing industries that have been identified as long term growth industries that pay above the average weekly wage to diversify the economic landscape. Diversification is essential to protect against future economic downturns. It guarantees increased opportunities for more workers to pursue jobs that are personally fulfilling and economically sustaining. It further drives the educational system to strive for excellence and demonstrate to the public the value of higher education.

Diversification of the service sector is equally important. We support targeting “high pay-high growth” service industries. We support the nurturing of entrepreneurship and mentoring for small business design, start-up and management. We promote more business ownership among our minority and immigrant communities. Cultural expression through economic enterprise enhances the vitality of the entire community.

Responsible use of incentives can encourage industry owners and investors to locate here. Economic development incentives are a form of public investment which must be safeguarded but utilized only when the return to citizens from such investments are equal to or exceed alternative use of tax dollars. We support the use of clawback and recapture provisions and adequate disclosure and reporting. We support efforts to protect workers such as wage standards and health benefits as part of an incentives package. We support transparency in the incentives process and adding economic incentives to the budget process. These last two items empower lawmakers, and therefore all of us, by making explicit budget choices between tax expenditures for public programs and tax expenditures for businesses.

Public Participation in Economic Revitalization: Broad public representation, reflecting the diversity of the county, on economic development task forces, commissions and study groups should be standard.

Ongoing comprehensive, multifaceted public education about development strategies undertaken by the cities, towns and the county are essential to promote an informed public discussion and to inform the widest possible audience of new economic opportunities.

Decision making by city, town and county elected officials must be transparent.

Environmental Policy: We recognize that the environmental resources of land, air and water ultimately sustain economic development in Catawba County and thus must be protected. We promote environmental regulations that are consistently applied and based on science. 

We support the implementation, by local government, of 21st century economically friendly technologies, such as "green design" of public facilities (schools, office buildings, jails). We believe the proven benefits, both economic and life quality, will contribute to broad public education about the interconnectedness between environmental protection and economic development.

REFORM OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

Method of Electing County Commissioners: Catawba County Commissioners should be elected by district or nominated by district and elected countywide. This is the only method that would insure broad representation of all sections and various groups within our county.

US Constitutional Amendment for Drawing Congressional Districts: The US Constitution should be amended to forbid state legislatures from drawing US Congressional Districts within their states. Rather, the state legislatures should be required to appoint redistricting commissions composed of retired judges and other qualified persons who would be selected on a bipartisan basis, each party appointing an equal number of commissioners and the commissioners themselves electing, by a 2/3 vote, an additional member to serve as chairperson; no elected official or formerly elected official, other than former judges, shall be allowed to serve on the commission. This commission would be solely responsible for the redrawing of Congressional Districts based on factors weighted toward making the districts competitive between the two major parties but also geographically contiguous. The commission’s decisions would be subject to review in the courts for any abuse of discretion or arbitrariness.

The rationale for such an amendment is compelling and goes to the heart of what democracy is all about. Our country is divided, our politics has become extremely visceral, and our Congressional districts are drawn in a manner that only throws fuel onto this destructive fire. Congressmen routinely are reelected and seldom have serious competition for reelection. The reasons are obvious. One is money. The other is the way the districts are drawn. They are drawn to protect incumbents and/or one or the other of the two major political parties. The result is often districts that are weighted heavily with members of one political party or the other. This inherently causes political discussion/debate within the district to be weighted toward one party or philosophy. Citizens’ views harden in favor of one side or the other. We’ve seen a tremendous rise in media sources that are biased in favor of one political persuasion or another. Free and fair exchange of ideas and information is stifled.

Just as our economic system cannot thrive without competition, our political system, our democracy, will not survive, much less operate effectively, without fair competition between opposing parties and philosophies. We have become a country of mini-dictatorships within each Congressional district. Some say the Politburo in the former USSR had a higher turnover rate than the US Congress. This is not democracy.

To facilitate the passage of this amendment, its effective date should not begin until ten years from its passage so that current members of Congress voting on the amendment will be much less influenced by: 1) how such redistricting would affect incumbents now, or 2) how it would affect the balance of power between the two major political parties.

North Carolina Congressional Districts: Our state should not wait for the passage of a US Constitutional Amendment as described above. We should change now our method of drawing US Congressional Districts and adopt a redistricting commission as just proposed. We call on the Governor of North Carolina to urge and support the adoption of such a commission by our state legislature. Let our state be a model for the rest of the nation.

North Carolina Legislative Districts: State House and Senate districts should also be drawn by a bipartisan commission formed and constituted in the same manner as the redistricting commission for US Congressional Districts, and for the same reasons stated above.

FAIR AND EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Merit Selection of Judges: The North Carolina state constitution should be amended to require that all judges in North Carolina, from the state Supreme Court to local trial judges of the District and Superior Courts, be appointed through a merit selection process, rather than through popular elections.

Judicial elections are now plagued by the necessity of campaigning judges to raise large sums of money, most of which comes from lawyers. This predicament inherently creates an appearance of impropriety by members of the bench and perverts the administration of justice. For example, litigants have no assurance of an impartial judiciary where an opposing litigant or his lawyer may have given campaign money to the trial judge, or where the litigant or his lawyer supported the trial judge’s opponent in the last election. It also interferes with the attempts of fair-minded jurists to decide cases impartially and without distraction, as trial judges must be concerned about whether their decisions are viewed as showing partiality towards a campaign supporter, or bias against a political opponent. And members of the public who wish to support a judicial candidate may refrain from doing so because it could disqualify that judge from hearing any case that involved that contributor. Moreover, the recent creation of nonpartisan judicial elections has not effectively removed partisanship from such races.

EDUCATION

Recognizing that education is vital in any democracy and that:

Our area ranks last out of the metro areas in North Carolina.

• An educated populace can better prepare itself for economic security.
• Education is an effective weapon against crime
• Without education there is no democracy.

We believe that ALL citizens are entitled to a quality education and that this is necessary for any true democracy. In order to achieve this we support:

• Better educational infrastructure planning. Currently mobile classrooms dot the campuses of our new public schools because there isn’t enough classroom space. Recognizing that by 2007, 20 out of 25 schools are projected to be OVER and above their capacity, we realize that we must act NOW. Students cannot be expected to learn effectively unless they have classrooms, therefore we believe that we need to act NOW to ensure that there is adequate classroom space for our students.
  
• Fully supporting the Champions of Education Cabinet in developing a 21st century High School Reform plan. This plan needs to be created using teachers and business people on the committee to reform our local school districts. Efforts such as the new Catawba Valley Early College High School ("Challenger High") are good starts, but these need to be expanded to take care of students unmet needs. The particular areas of research should include:
• Developing a new form of “vocational education” tailored to the vocations of the 21st century.
• Developing a specific educational plan for the Catawba County Alternative School. This is necessary considering that it is a large contributor to Hickory’s drop out rate of over 10%.
• Developing a plan to address the achievement gap as minority and low-income students achievement levels “lag unacceptably behind the scores of higher-income and white students in local schools” ( Foresight report) – largely resulting in 25 out of 40 of our schools being labeled “failing schools” as they failed to meet the annual No Child Left Behind goals in 2002-2003.
• The development of a plan to reduce school crime, as Catawba County Schools have twice as many criminal or violent incidents as the state average.
• Increasing the Per Pupil Expenditure in our region to meet the state averages. This will help ensure that we can pull the “failing schools” up so that they meet their yearly goals.
• Serious study should be made of the feasibility/desirability of a state university campus in the Hickory Metro area, which might:
• Provide more educational opportunities for area citizens.
• Bring in much needed jobs to the area.
• Bring in revenue to the area.
• Help our adult populace deal with the current job loss & retraining situations.

Additionally we agree with the NC State Democratic Party’s platform that supports quality educational experiences for all and opposes such measures as private voucher systems that would take money from the public school systems and give it to private individuals.

THE “VALUES” DEBATE

We are concerned and appalled over the manner in which Republicans have trivialized, distorted and exploited moral issues in our public discourse. This portion of our platform, admittedly, is not something that would ordinarily appear in a party platform. It is not a statement supporting any particular policy position. But, we feel compelled to say:

Moral Values: We Democrats of Catawba County realize and affirm that effective political leadership speaks to the heart and soul as well as to the mind. We have to speak to the basic values that exemplify and enhance the public policies we advocate.

Modern Democrats haven’t been comfortable talking about faith and moral values. We’ve been afraid of appearing self-righteous, and we should be. We are careful to show respect for religious differences among us, and we should be. We are extremely wary of politicians who act like they think God is on their side, and we should be. Contrary to anything Jerry Falwell says, God is not a Republican nor a Democrat.

But the fact also remains, we Democrats must demonstrate the moral force behind our policy positions. Basic values such as integrity, faith, stewardship, hard work, personal responsibility, citizenship, justice, equality and even humility are the foundations of our society, and especially here in the South. Democrats can not continue to let Republicans claim ownership of every virtue while they do things that actually harm people. That’s got to stop.

Democratic ideas have never been value-less or faithless. For an example, Franklin Roosevelt in his acceptance speech at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, during the Great Depression, pledged to “put men to work”, not just for the security of having a job, but because of the “moral and spiritual values that go with” work. The next year in his inaugural address he said we must “face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike.”

It’s a peculiarly American thing that our greatest leaders have had the ability not only to see what was right, but to give their vision a moral grandeur, and inspire us all to follow. It’s what Thomas Jefferson did in the Declaration of Independence. It’s what Lincoln did in the Emancipation Proclamation. It’s what Teddy Roosevelt did as he fought to protect the environment during an industrial revolution.

This is the type of leadership that Democrats have given us over the last century. It’s what FDR did in building up a strong middle class that became the backbone of America. It’s what Kennedy and Johnson and Martin Luther King did in the ‘60’s fighting for civil rights, fighting for those who still had not realized Lincoln’s vision of equality for all men and women.

We’ve given our country the vision of Woodrow Wilson and John Kennedy, both providing models of citizenship, not just on the national level but also on a global scale. We Democrats have given our country the integrity of Harry Truman, the righteousness of civil rights, the compassion of Jimmy Carter, and the competence of Bill Clinton.

We Democrats must again provide our nation and our county with a quality of leadership manifested in our party’s history, demanded by our party’s highest principles, and so desperately needed by our citizens.

Abortion: This continues to be a most divisive issue in American politics, even though the abortion rate has declined since its peak in 1980 and teen abortions have declined significantly. We recognize and respect the varying opinions of all Catawba County citizens on this issue.

As noted by the US Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, this whole debate centers on the question of how to protect competing interests: the rights of women to privacy versus the right of the state to protect human life. The differences between pro-choice and pro-life Americans are often exaggerated. Many pro-choice advocates support a significant amount of regulation of abortion, especially after the first trimester. Many pro-life Americans are in favor of allowing abortion in the case of sexual abuse or to protect the life of the mother. In other words, a great majority of Americans believe that some abortion should be legal, but abortion in general should be rare.

Most Democrats continue to defend a woman’s right to choose and believe the government, at least in the first trimester, should not dictate this private decision. Moreover, we believe abortion rights are necessary to give women some control over their lives. However, abortion has obviously become a symptom of bigger social problems, which must be corrected, if we want to prevent unnecessary abortions.

The question we must deal with is not legality, as that has already been decided. We must seek solutions to the causes. Economic conditions, lack of education, and lack of health care are underlying factors. These are things we can and should work to change.

Women contemplating ending a pregnancy face a difficult, emotional, and lifelong decision. Counseling on various levels (spiritual, emotional, other options such as adoption, and financial) could be very beneficial for the individual and provide a better chance of life for the fetus.

Family planning, education, and access to birth control (especially for those without health care or of low financial means) are needed, in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Local organizations such as the Catawba County Council on Adolescents strive to teach abstinence and reduce teen pregnancy locally and we commend them for their efforts.

While preventative pre-abortion measures are of great importance, so are post-abortion. Any abortion should be followed by counseling and education measures, in order to prevent repeat occurrences. Male partners whenever possible should take part.

If we want to stop abortion, we must cure the conditions that lead to it. Rather than a political issue, all parties must begin to see it as a public health issue.

The legality of abortion must be defended only as the compromise necessary for the protection of the rights of women to privacy, to control their own wombs, and to avoid unsafe, amateur abortion procedures.

HEALTH CARE/HUMAN SERVICES

We adopt and reaffirm the following statements on this topic made in the NC Democratic Party Platform: We recognize that every person is entitled to basic health care, regardless of income or geographic location.

Behavioral Health Care: We support a mental health system that provides access to appropriate treatment for mental, behavioral, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse. Such a system must provide a comprehensive array of services that emphasizes community-based treatment offering equal access for those in need. There should be insurance coverage for all health disorders, including mental disorders.

Biomedical Research: We support the increasing leadership role of North Carolina’s biomedical researchers in exploring medical advances that will benefit all humanity. Recognizing the critical role that stem cell research can play in addressing diabetes, various cancers, spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other afflictions, we encourage an increased level of support for stem cell research with appropriate ethical controls.

Education: In order to prevent pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, we support medically and factually-comprehensive, age-appropriate educational programs in our schools and public health agencies encouraging abstinence and providing information about safe sexual practices.

Health Care: We encourage healthy lifestyles. Health care issues such as smoking and obesity cost taxpayers an estimated $6 billion in medical costs and associated costs. Moreover, we recognize that health care decisions are best made within the context of the healthcare provider and patient relationship. Thus, we believe that each person has the right to choose his or her own physician without interference from government or insurance companies. We support health care reform that provides universal and portable coverage, expanded preventive health care, and public efforts to provide the prenatal care needed to reduce infant mortality.

Patients' Rights: We North Carolina Democrats authored and continue to support the Patients’ Bill of Rights, established to improve the relationship between patients, doctors and insurance companies.

Seniors and Persons with Disabilities: We support alternative healthcare delivery systems to allow the elderly and persons with disabilities to remain in a home setting as long as possible. We insist on their protection from abuse, neglect, and deprivation of their rights as persons. We applaud efforts to provide State-supported health care to the poor and to uninsured and underinsured persons.

Welfare Reform: We believe that welfare is intended to help families and individuals through extremely tough financial times. We support continued efforts to reform North Carolina's welfare system by emphasizing work, personal responsibility, and helping more welfare recipients to get effective job training get jobs and become self-sufficient.

Women: We believe that every woman should have access to prenatal and postnatal care and appropriate counseling, as well as access to information and counseling regarding all choices related to pregnancies.

SOCIAL SECURITY

We believe Social Security is a contract that must not be compromised. We oppose privatization and the diversion of Social Security funds for other purposes. We condemn massive federal budget deficits, which force the government to borrow from the Social Security Trust Fund. However, we also believe that our national party leaders can not continue to simply criticize the Republican proposals for privatization without also eventually formulating a Democratic plan to deal with our aging population in the decades ahead.

HOMELAND SECURITY/LAW ENFORCEMENT

We adopt and reaffirm the following statements on this topic in the NC Democratic Party Platform: We believe that the best way to defend our home is to be prepared, and that North Carolina should have safeguards in place to protect from attacks and to be adequately prepared for natural disasters. This preparation should include the best technology and other appropriate tools for local and State law enforcement officials.

Energy Policy: We recognize that a primary source of financial support for our Nation’s enemies stems from our own dependence on foreign oil. We encourage the creation of a comprehensive energy policy - emphasizing the use of alternative fuel sources and energy efficiency - as a means of reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil and depriving terrorists of their source of income.

Health: We support vigilant protection of North Carolinians' health, and a registry of potentially deadly biological agents that could be used as weapons.

Law Enforcement: We support law enforcement efforts to obtain additional resources for improved communication and better intelligence gathering. We also encourage better cooperation in sharing information, detaining suspects and alerting the public, within the framework of the Constitution.

Public Information: We believe that North Carolina residents have a right to know when their safety is threatened in order to make informed decisions about their safety. We encourage rapid alerts in case of danger, and full disclosure, when appropriate, in times of crisis.

Public Servants: We also strongly support our men and women in uniform who protect our communities every day. We are proud of and thankful for our police and fire/rescue forces and other public servants.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Our President has “led” us from a situation after 9/11 when the world rallied behind us in Afghanistan to a situation now where our friends are furious with us and our enemies, Iran and North Korea, are advancing their nuclear programs, something they hadn’t done before the Iraq invasion. This climate has made it much easier for Al Qaeda to incite Islamic extremists against us. A leader of the International Institute for Strategic Studies confirms that terrorist recruitment in Europe has increased since the Iraq intervention. And we’ve seen this fact manifested in the Madrid and London bombings, and very recently in the foiled plot to blow up commercial airliners flying from Britain to America. Iraq is now a terrorist training ground.

We Democrats demand the wise and competent use of our arms. We are determined to unite nations against terror, not divide them. We believe in an America that will earnestly fulfill our proper and historic role as a faithful partner to those who, through the principles of freedom, justice and democracy, would seek to bring peace to our still troubled world.

We support increased diplomatic and cooperative measures by the United States government to ensure peaceful solutions to international problems by – but not limited to – participation in the International Criminal Court and the Kyoto Accords, and the full funding of our financial contributions to the United Nations, especially humanitarian endeavors.