A new John Locke Foundation Regional Brief questioning Salisbury’s decision to risk taxpayers dollars for a fiber-optic cable system generated interest from The Salisbury Post. Research Director and Local Government Analyst Michael Sanera wrote the report with Research Intern Katie Bethune. The Post interviewed Sanera about the report, followed up with a response from city officials, and highlighted the report a third time in an editorial. Sanera also contributed to an upcoming edition of News 14 Carolina’s “Political Connections.” The show, which airs one week from today, focuses on environmental issues in North Carolina. In other news related to the JLF research staff, Fiscal and Health Care Policy Analyst Joseph Coletti and Education Policy Analyst Terry Stoops joined Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray for a presentation on education-related budget issues to the N.C. House Republicans’ education caucus. (Gray also hit the road this week for a presentation to the Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce about the legislature’s impact on business.) Coletti also contributed an article to the North Carolina Medical Journal on consumer-directed health, and The Charlotte Weekly quoted him in a story about the potential impact of state employee furloughs. ([Joe] Coletti, a financial analyst at the John Locke Foundation,
a nonprofit think tank, said the pay cuts didn’t need to happen. “I
think (Perdue’s) just reacting as things happen, instead of developing
a cohesive policy,” Coletti said. “Maybe this will get us through the
end of June, provided that things don’t get any worse.” Coletti
suggested that instead of trimming salaries, the state cut $141.7
million using an alternative budget he created.) The Wilmington Star-News turned to Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst for expert analysis in an article about the legal problems surrounding Wilmington’s recent decision to annex Monkey Junction.