Oh, this is good. Big, big surprise in Gov. Whatshisname’s latest budget. Lotsa bond money for the UNC system, but none — zippy, zero, goose-egg, nada — for UNCC.
With apologies to Monty Python, “Come and see the mendacity inherent in the system!”
Check out the official reason given by one of the governor’s henchmen:
“Charlotte got theirs last year,” said Easley budget adviser Dan Gerlach.
That’s when state legislators and Easley approved $45.8 million in bonds to build a 150,000-square-foot classroom building uptown.
See how this works? Jim Black secures the building the Uptown crowd wanted above all else — it helps make the case, they think, for the $650 million choo-choo up Tryon Street — but at a steep price. Not only were other higher priority local needs ignored, UNCC is now being punished for getting “theirs” early. Was it worth a few months head start?
And do not overlook the message Whatshisname is sending to the Uptown crowd. It says that now that Black is gone, you’ll have to deal directly with me. Make me happy, or you’ll get nothing.
Bloody peasant.
