Todd Paris, Staff Writer and Salisbury Attorney
♦ Salisbury City Council will meet Tuesday, July 11, 2017 at 5:00 P.M. to hold a public hearing and adopt an ordinance to enact their residential Remedial Action Plan. Readers will recall this is the old “run them out of town” ordinance that will permit Salisbury Police and the City Hall to financially penalize landlords for criminal acts that occur on their properties. Public comment is at 6:00 p.m. however public comment on this ordinance may occur at any time. Landlords and tenants who wish to be heard should arrive at 5:00 p.m. While I can’t find a copy of the proposed ordinance on any of the city’s websites, a copy of the second version can be found in my February article below.
I will attempt to get a copy of the final ordinance and post it on the RFP Monday. I will walk into someone’s office to get one. In any other municipality it would appear strange that the final draft of an ordinance is not prominently displayed two days before the public hearing and the vote to adopt it. This is typical behavior by the current city hall.
The Rowan Republican Party’s Executive Committee will meet August 1, 2017 to name the NC Senate District 34 choice for Rowan County to succeed Andrew Brock who retired from the NC Senate for a far better paying job. The Rowan County Executive Committee is primarily made up of all Republican elected officials in the county and precinct chairs. The Rowan choice will be taken to the District 34 meeting later in August where the eventual successor will be named. Since most of District 34 is in Rowan, it is expected that Rowan’s decision will carry major weight.
It appears that one-time Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Bill Graham laid claim to this appointment. Bill Graham is a Salisbury Attorney and partners with Mona Wallace in the firm Wallace and Graham, a nationally known mass tort litigation firm. Based upon Bill and Shari Marshall Graham’s huge philanthropic efforts in the local community, I suspect there would be more than enough money available to hold this seat for the GOP if he is appointed. It remains to be seen if any other Republicans from Rowan will mount a claim in opposition. At least one well known Republican official is said to have dipped his toe in the water politically speaking and found it entirely too hot.
