DALE FOLWELL
DALE FOLWELL: WHY I WANT TO BE
ELECTED THE NEXT N.C. GOVERNOR
BY Cash Michaels
For the NCBPA
Editor’s note - Recently, Democratic candidates for governor - state Attorney General Josh Stein and retired Associate State Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan, took time out from their busy campaign schedules for the March 5th primary, to speak exclusively with the newspapers of the North Carolina Black Publishers Association.
NCBPA then invited the three top candidates for governor running in the Republican primary to interview with us. Only state Treasurer Dale Folwell, so far, has responded to our invitation. He was asked the same seven questions that Mr. Stein and Justice Morgan answered.
Regretfully, the campaigns of GOP candidates Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Atty. Bill Graham did not respond to our repeated efforts for an interview.
Early voting in North Carolina for the March 5th primaries begins on February 15th. Voter I.D. is required.
State Treasurer Dale Folwell - began his career as a blue collar worker and became a Certified Public Accountant and investment advisor after earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in accounting from UNC-Greensboro. Folwell was first elected to public office as a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education. He was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 2004, where he served four terms in the House of Representatives including one term as Speaker Pro Tempore. In 2013, Folwell was named Assistant Secretary of Commerce.
1. Is there one particular issue that you believe must be addressed beyond all others once you’re elected to the Governor’s Office?
FOLWELL - That’s very difficult to answer, but my answer would be customer service. No one calls state government to book a cruise. They call because state government has not responded to them. It could be the Board of Elections, the DMV, the DOT, Mental Health, Foster care, Dept. of Revenue. So I think one issue that needs to be addressed is to create a culture of conservatism - which means to save - common sense, which is not so common; courtesy, which means to answer the telephones; humanity, which we’re short of in our society; humility, which means when mistakes happen you have to own them and disclose them; and ethics, which means what you do when no one is watching, and what you do when the powerful forces of this world want you to look the other way.
2. Will you commit today to lead an administration of qualified professionals that closely reflects the diversity of North Carolina?
FOLWELL - As the assistant secretary of commerce, and as the keeper of the public purse, my focus has always not been on politics, but on performance. I can look at the people who work in the Treasurer’s Office and visually see their diversity, but it’s not just the diversity in how somebody looks that’s important. It’s also the diversity of how they make think differently to help us solve problems.
So, when I get asked about this question, the biggest…the person in North Carolina who has the most responsibility for the largest pool of money …in this state, is a black female. I inherited her, and I’m glad she’s there because of her performance (her name is Rhonda Smith, and she controls $49 billion in the State Treasurer’s Office).
I commit to leading North Carolina with qualified individuals…period.
3. What is the state of public education in North Carolina, and how can it be better?
FOLWELL - The state of public education is that people are screaming past each other. When the lockdowns occurred, it put sunshine on what was not happening in some instances in public education. So, my track record, whether I was in the minority party or in the majority party, is to focus on what I am and the blood that runs through me, which is I’m a Quaker, and Quakers met in circles. And when you meet in a circle, you have to look people in the eye.
I will tell you, in terms of public education, we’re going to be meeting in circles, open meetings, and these are going to be toothbrush meetings. A toothbrush meeting is we don’t know how long it’s going to last, so you better bring your toothbrush.
People’s confidence ….well 75%…77% of North Carolinians have no direct involvement in public education except that they’re asked to pay for it. There’s all types of fingerprinting going on regarding teacher pay. People are not working off the same set of facts . For example, the teachers in Texas do not pay into the Social Security system. But yet, often times we’re compared to other states.
When you talk about not paying into the Social Security system, that’s a big percentage of somebody’s income.
So we will be having meetings in circles, where we will be talking about all these topics like teacher pay, making sure the lottery proceeds are going where they’re supposed to go for public school construction …which they weren’t, especially harmful to low and fixed income lower income counties.
And the last thing, which I experienced for most of my public education life, is that we’re going to have a discussion about the bigotry of low expectations in terms of our students. And I have real life examples of why that feels like as a person.
4. In what ways have you and the African-American community worked together successfully, and how can you do so again as governor?
FOLWELL - My reputation is that I have always focused on saving lives, saving minds and saving money. I don’t accept the premise of your question because with everything that’s dividing our society these days, which is political party, race and gender, none of that exists at the Treasurer’s Office.
As the governor I will continue to do what I’ve always done, and that is to advocate for the invisible. I describe the invisible as those people who don’t have lobbyists, and are not connected to power. They work one and two jobs, pay their taxes, and pray for a better outcome in their life.
The great majority of the people in this state are these types of people, and they’re all colors.
I will tell you that Senator Tillis has not endorsed me in this campaign, and [state] Sen. Bergen has not endorsed me in this campaign. I don’t know why, but I can tell you that I’m not afraid to ask the tough questions, and I don’t care how much power a person has, or how much money they have. I know who I am, I know who I love, and I know who I belong to on this Earth and beyond. And I will never look the other way when it comes to being fair and just.
5. There are parts of North Carolina that have historically cried out for jobs and economic development. What will you do as governor to directly address this concern?
FOLWELL - I will do as governor what I have done as state treasurer, and that is to understand that the state line of North Carolina does not end at Raleigh and Charlotte. There are people who live in Western North Carolina who can actually drive to Tallahassee, Florida quicker than they can their own state Capitol. There’s tremendous needs west of …all over North Carolina, but especially west of Highway 77 in Charlotte and west of Highway 95 in Raleigh.
And it’s not just what I will do, but what I have done. We were on the verge, a few years ago, of having the first county in North Carolina, having to default on their debt since the depression. Not because an act of COVID {19] or act of GOD, but because an act of the state government.
An administration made the decision through the correction system to shut down the Tyrrell County prison. The problem is is that under the Hunt administration is that that county - one of the lowest income counties in North Carolina - had borrowed millions and millions of dollars to build a water treatment plant so that the people in that prison could take showers, flush toilets and wash potatoes.
So when you sit down somebody who is using 30% of your water and sewer, you’re going to have a financial mess. I’m always there to advocate for the invisible, as I’ve said in an earlier segment. I asked and the governor [Cooper] eventually paid the water bill and the sewer bill that he would have paid if he had not made that decision (to shut Tyrell County prison down).
That’s what it really means to govern, which is a verb.
6. If Republican Mark Robinson is elected governor in November, why is that a bad thing for North Carolina?
FOLWELL - Mark Robinson is the latest example of someone trying to rise to power by spewing hate. [He says ] that women talk too much. That the Holocaust was hogwash. And the very disparaging remarks about Martin Luther King [Jr.] and the civil rights movement. The fact is is that nearly fifty years ago I registered as a Republican based on conservatism - which means to conserve. Common sense not so common. Courtesy, which means in state government to answer your telephone. Humility, humanity and ethics - an ethics is what you do when no one is watching.
Mark Robinson possesses none of those qualities.
7. After the March 5th primary, win or lose, you have to help bring the party together. What will you do and say?
FOLWELL - What I will do is and what I will say is what I have said during this whole campaign. I have a track record of not only governing but explaining conservatism in a way that doesn’t offend people.
The state of the union is in peril. And both political parties are responsible for this. What I will do is number one, stay reminded of who I am, who I love love, and who I belong to on this Earth and after.
In terms of the Republican Party, my first responsibility te day after the primary is to continue to be the state treasurer of North Carolina and keeper of the public purse. That’s my number one job.
And secondly, I’ve been the best treasurer that money can’t buy, and as the nominee for the Republican Party, I will be the best governor money can’t buy.
I think your listeners and readers have to sit back and ask themselves a few questions. The first question is, “Why would somebody spend a hundred million dollars to get elected to a job that pays $160,000 a year? And the answer is it’s not about the pay of the governor. It’s about access to a $30 billion budget.
Second question is “Who can they see themselves voting for that they can be proud of?” I’m not Mark Robinson and I’m OK with that.
And lastly, knowing how precious some automobiles are to them, “Who would they hand the car keys to state government over to for four years, and expect to come back four years later and that car is in better working condition?” And that “car” being the DMV, the DOT, the Board of Elections, DHHS, [the Dept. of ] Mental Health, Crime Lab, Foster care and all of those other important functions that report directly to the governor of North Carolina.
I’ve been working since I was ten years old. And with all the different jobs that I’ve had, including being a garbage collector and a motorcycle mechanic, I wasn’t quite sure that I could do what was being asked of me to do, especially at such a young age.
I can tell your readers that I’ve never been more confident, and more prepared to lead North Carolina over the next four years.
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ELECTED THE NEXT N.C. GOVERNOR
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Editor’s note - Recently, Democratic candidates for governor, state Attorney General Josh Stein and retired Associate State Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan, took time out from their busy campaign schedules for the March 5th primary, to speak exclusively with the newspapers of the North Carolina Black Publishers Association. They were asked the same questions so that our readers could compare their answers on issues of interest to the African-American community.
Regretfully, the campaign of Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson did not respond to our repeated efforts for an interview.
Early voting in North Carolina for the March 5th primaries begins on February 15th. Voter I.D. will be required.
State Atty.General Josh Stein “…grew up in Chapel Hill and Charlotte and is a graduate of Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and Dartmouth College. Stein has served as a state senator before being elected to the office of state attorney general twice.
Retired Associate State Supreme Court Justice Michael Morgan was born in Cherry Point, and grew up in New Bern, N.C.. He received a bachelor's in history and sociology from Duke University and a J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law. He has worked in North Carolina State Government for 44 years, and has served as a judge in North Carolina for 34 years.
Answers have been edited for space.
1. Is there one particular issue that you believe must be addressed beyond all others once you’re elected to the Governor’s Office?
STEIN - We must strengthen public education in North Carolina. From pre-kindergarten, early childhood education through K-12, through our community colleges and universities, including our HBCUs.
It is a disgrace how the General Assembly has defunded public education in the state. North Carolina ranks 49th in the country in the share of our state’s economy that we spend on K-12 education.
We don’t pay our teachers enough, there are not enough support personnel in our schools, or school counselors or school nurses. And we don’t have enough affordable early childhood education slots in North Carolina. We can do better, we must do better.
MORGAN - It’s education.We have spent too much time as a state denying the opportunity for those who are in areas of our state, particularly rural areas, to get the constitutionally required sound, basic quality free education that the North Carolina Constitution says all students in North Carolina’s public schools are entitled to have.
This Republican-led legislature has methodically and systematically determined, for whatever reason, that we’re going to have children in North Carolina that don’t have that opportunity for that. And that comes primarily in rural areas that have lots of black and brown children in the majority in those counties.
I want to make sure that we don’t waste any time making sure that we restore the opportunity properly for all children in North Carolina to get the education they so richly deserve. I’m also concerned about the fact that teachers and school administrators don’t get proper pay in order to make sure that we keep them in our public school system. We need to pay them at least at the national average. And thirdly, we are seeing this Republican-led legislature take public school monies out of the public school system, and allow them to go into private schools, merely because there are those in the public school system that elect, for whatever reason, to go into the private schools, and the legislature allows public monies to follow that student into the private school. systems. That’s wrong, we need to make sure that we keep public school monies for those who support our public schools.
2. Will you commit today to lead an administration of qualified professionals that closely reflects the diversity of North Carolina?
STEIN - I will. I firmly believe that we make the best decisions when all perspectives are around the table. I’ve always prioritized hiring people who come from a variety of different backgrounds.
MORGAN - Yes. I will unequivocally say that, and I do all that I can to make sure that there is a government of North Carolina that reflects North Carolinians in terms of our makeup, be it geographically, be it demographically, whatever. Because we need to as a state government reflect North Carolina with all of the diversity that we are blessed to have in this state, coupled with the fact that we have so many who are well qualified that have not had opportunities to step forward and to show their talents, and be able to draw upon those skills and those educational opportunities that they have worked hard to gain and to exhibit.
3. What is the state of public education in North Carolina, and how can it be better?
STEIN - We want to make sure that every kid who starts kindergarten is healthy and ready to learn so that they have every opportunity to succeed in K-12. And we want to make sure that when children graduate from high school, they have the skills and knowledge to succeed whether they start college, or start their careers.
We have to [develop more] career and technical education programs for folks who want to go straight into the workforce in order to provide for his or her family. We have to keep our eye on the cost of higher education to make sure that the doors of higher ed are open to all in North Carolina. And address the disparity of funding that the state has failed to invest in HBCUs for decades, and we need to begin to redress those disparities by investing more in our state HBCUs.
And we have to support our educators. We have to raise teacher pay dramatically in North Carolina. Starting teacher pay is like 48th in the country. That is not the recipe for success. We want to attract our best and brightest into our public schools to help our young people learn what they need to learn in order to thrive.
MORGAN - When it comes to public safety in our schools, we need to make sure that our schools are safe! Health and safety should reign supreme in all of our schools, and our students should be able to more concentrate on the correctness of their test scores, instead of the correctness of their school safety drills. So I would add that to what I already have said about the state of public education, which is we need to fortify our public schools with the proper funds, we need to make sure that we not only have good teachers and administrators, but also retain them with incentives to remain in the public schools, and we need to make sure that we keep our public schools fully funded, and not allow those funds to go over to the private schools.
4. In what ways have you and the African-American community worked together successfully, and how can you do so as governor?
STEIN - My whole career has been about trying to expand opportunity for all people in North Carolina. My first job out of law school - I had two jobs - one with a so-called credit union in Durham transforming a band of rental properties into affordable single-family homes for working folks in Durham’s Walltown neighborhood. My other job was with the North Carolina Minority Support Center, strengthening minority credit unions across North Carolina, raising capital so that they can invest back into their communities and into small businesses and home ownership.
And I’ve been addressing the disparity that exists in our criminal justice system. I’ve been very honored to have co-chaired the Task Force for Racial Equity and Criminal Justice along with N.C. Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls - who I’m very grateful she’s endorsed our campaign - but we worked with a broad coalition of stakeholders in the criminal justice system to identify ways in which black and white people are treated differently in the criminal justice system, and then come up with specific recommendations to address those disparities, and we’re working hard to implement as many of those recommendations as possible. Obviously there’s a lot more work to be done in that regard, but I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished to date.
And as governor I will continue my focus of trying to make sure that every person in this state has every opportunity to achieve whatever it is that they want in their dreams for their futures.
MORGAN - Even at an early age, when I was eight years old back in my hometown of New Bern, I worked with my parents, who worked with the larger African-American community…as I was the first black student to integrate an all-white elementary school in my hometown. Also when I was 14 years of age and in high school at that time, I became the first black drum major of our only public high school, once forced integration had the formally black high school to have to close, with all students going to the theretofore all-white public school. I went with the African-American community at that time, even at that age, to make sure that there was a smooth process with my taking the reins of such a high profile position in our town at a time when racial tensions were high.
I mention that only from the standpoint that an early age, I have worked with the African-American community, even in childhood. I have done that throughout my professional life, and throughout my political life. And even in my extracurricular life in terms of the community efforts that I have made. I’ve been very purposeful and very active in my extracurricular activities through fraternity events, through Divine Nine events, through church events, through community engagement and civic activity events, to make sure that in my public life, I demonstrate that as an elected official, that I have a duty, and I have the privilege to make sure that I do all that I can to uplift our immediate community.
Living in Southeast Raleigh as I have since I moved to Raleigh shortly after I finished my collegiate career and my law school education, I have been fully aware of the African-American community, and the role that I must play in it, patronizing it, in my everyday life as I go to church, as I go to the barbershop, as I shop. So I have, in every conceivable way, tried to be a good citizen in the African-American community supporting it every way that I could, and I continue to do that.
5. There are parts of North Carolina that have historically cried out for jobs and economic development. What will you do as governor to directly address this concern?
STEIN - I believe that every person should have every opportunity to succeed, no matter where they live in this state, including small town North Carolina. A person should not have to leave their hometown in order to make it.
And so we have to help rural communities, plenty of which are struggling, and some urban neighborhoods, again many of which are struggling, to thrive., to create conditions where folks can succeed, whether that’s getting a good paying job or whether that’s starting a small business.
So we have to build the economy from the bottom up, and the middle out, not the top down - that’s how we grow the middle class. It means investing in broadband, water and sewer, roads and railroads, ports and airports to keep our state moving.
It means tackling the high cost of living, which is making it so hard for too many families. Raising the minimum wage - the minimum wage hasn’t been raised in 15 years. It’s an embarrassment that it’s $7.25. And we have to cut taxes for working families.
I talked earlier about investing in strong public schools. We need to make sure that all communities in North Carolina have strong public schools, and have a functioning healthcare system, because it’s very difficult for businesses to locate to a community if they don’t believe that the kids of their employees are going to get a good education, or if somebody gets sick, there’s not an emergency department nearby, or they can’t get reliable internet.
These are all things the state can help to create conditions for success in rural North Carolina.
Somebody in Raleigh can get high speed internet, meaning they have access to it. The question is, “But can they afford it?’ as a practical [matter], and you’ve got to address the issue of affordability in addition to access because if folks can’t get the internet, it just makes everything more difficult for them going forward. More difficult for their kids to succeed in school, more difficult for them to get healthcare that they may need and could get through telemedicine, more difficult to have a small business that they can do from their home.
So, we’ve got to look at that question of affordability as well.
MORGAN - I’ll continue to look at what is the best for all of North Carolina, and North Carolina citizens. I subscribe to the principle that a rising tide lifts all boats. And there does not need to be an emphasis on business to the exclusion of the uplift of all of our people in North Carolina to make sure we have the kind of workforce that matches the kinds of businesses and industries that we want to see in North Carolina. I particularly look at the rural areas in North Carolina.
I have staunchly said that we should not have casino gambling extension in rural North Carolina, because I don’t want the legislature to get off so easily
in feeling as though if there is expansion of casinos in rural North Carolina, that that somehow satisfies North Carolina’s obligation to uplift some economically depressed areas in North Carolina.
Casinos do not bring a sustained growth, nor do they bring the kinds of jobs that are going to uplift a community. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t
have an industry like the casino industry that merely relies upon the ability of the economy to allow people to have enough disposable income to support casinos when you have the ebb and flow of an economy that at times, will not allow casinos to flourish.
Also those are not the kinds of jobs that are going to attract people to come and lay down roots in areas, because people come to casinos to escape their usual everyday lives and have fun, but they leave and don’t plant roots in such an area. We need to have businesses that are economically entrenched in areas of North Carolina, particularly in rural North Carolina to make sure that we uplift all those areas.
We also in terms of a more global view of it, need to have the kinds of transportation systems that are in place, to make sure that we connect the rural areas to the urban areas so that the rural areas have an opportunity to experience the growth and the attractiveness of the ability to grow.
We’ve also got to make sure that our urban areas are also better connected.
There’s been a lot of emphasis lately on the Raleigh to Richmond thoroughfare of travel. We need to concentrate within our own state. Look at the Raleigh to Charlotte thoroughfare - the two largest cities that are responsible for the most economic attainment in North Carolina, need to be better connected. We need to make sure that the rural areas are connected to all of these urban areas through the proper kinds of transportation.
6. If Republican Mark Robinson is elected governor in November, why is that a bad thing for North Carolina?
STEIN - Mark Robinson would drag North Carolina backwards. He disrespects women saying they are not called to lead. He wants to ban abortion is all instances with no exceptions here in North Carolina. He denies the climate crisis. He denies the 2020 election results, says that Joe Biden stole the election. He even denies the Holocaust.
He’s about dividing people and not uniting people.He says that the civil rights movement was the worst thing that ever happened to black people, and was a communist inspired movement. Called Martin Luther King (Jr.) a mediocre preacher and a communist.
He just doesn’t have an appreciation for the inherent value of every single person in North Carolina. We are all children of GOD. We all have something to contribute to make this state everything it can be. And I want to tap into the incredible power, energy and dynamism of the people of North Carolina. We don’t have the luxury of saying some people don’t count.
MORGAN - It would take North Carolina back generations. It would take North Carolina back fighting culture wars, except that this time it would be culture wars on steroids because with social media, the internet, cable television, all of those kinds of entities that did not exist when we were at our worst decades ago, will make those worse in this day and time. And when you have someone like Mark Robinson who says despicable, disgusting, revolting things about people with whom he chooses to disagree in terms of who they are, the lifestyles they lead, and other aspects that he wants to make sure that for his own political advancements, and the people he feels he represents, that’s just wrong. The fact is leaders unite, leaders do not divide. Leaders lift up, they don’t tear down. And Mark Robinson and those who he leads, and support him, what Mark Robinson does is bring out the worst in us, instead of the best in us.
Leaders don’t do that. I, as a leader in this state, seeking to be governor of our great state of North Carolina, understand the responsibility I would have as governor to make sure that I don’t engage in regressive measures, but I proceed with progressive measures. Progressive is not a bad word, although some would want to politicize it to be a bad word. The root word of progressive is “progress,” and I will make progress in North Carolina as governor.
7. After the March 5th primary, win or lose, you have to help bring the party together. What will you say?
STEIN - First I want to say how much respect I have for Justice Morgan, and his decades of service to the state and our people. And I’m not going to attack any fellow Democrat because the stakes are too high for North Carolina.. Whether it’s Justice Morgan or me, or Marcus Williams or anybody who gets the Democratic nomination come March 5th, we all have to come together because Mark Robinson is simply wrong for North Carolina, and we have to do that.
MORGAN - I would say to those who would not vote for me ….that I am going to be the leader for all North Carolinians. My whole campaign has been about uplifting all North Carolinians. I respect the fact that there are those who did not support my candidacy. I understand the fact and respect the fact that there are those who support my chief opponent. When I win, that’s what I am going to be, especially as the Democratic nominee, a nominee for governor who everyone can be proud of going forward to being the next governor of our great state.
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